Quality control
Why it’s essential to do quality control when buying in China
Many of our customers underestimate the importance of quality control checks. They are used to guarantees and return\refund service policies back home. Suppliers in their home countries already did their QC work and made sure not to get any of the damaged good to clients.
You are responsible for things you by on your own in China and returning it is too expensive. Manufacturers assume if you took the goods from a storehouse, you’re totally satisfied with it.
Keep in mind, when accepting goods to open packages, assemble the furniture (if possible) and check the quality. After you unpack it at home and find out that something is missing, wrong colour or totally damaged, there is not much you can do.
That is why we do a thorough quality check before accepting the good and take full liability for damages.
Quality check routine
After the goods are ready, managers go to the factory and check the quality (they have to unwrap original packaging). All ready-to-assemble items are to be assembled. This is how we check each item:
- Produced items match the order (form, colour, shape, material and quantity)
- Spoilage
- Tracks of usage
- Material consistency. For example, sofa stuffing should be equally soft without any hole underneath the fabric
- Surface quality for wooden items
- Paint quality and uniformity
- Measurements (especially for customized items)
- Ceramics chipping and scratches
- Check hot-tubs and mini-swimming pools with water and check build quality of nozzles
If any of the above detected, we ask manufacturers to fix problems or remake an item.
What are the most common spoilages?
- The process of drying was disrupted, when applying paint to a wooden surface, as a result – a layer of paint separates from the surface or chips off;
- After painting the wooden surfaces with paint when packing or moving items around the warehouse, factory workers damaged the surface, and as a result, there were chips, scratches, impact marks;
- Disruption of upholstering process (leather or fabric) leading to the uneven surface. Also, there are traces of punctures, cuts, traces of a marker on the front surface;
- Order mismatch. For example, a client ordered wooden chairs with leather back and matt fabric on the seater. The manufacturer did exactly the opposite which means all of the work has to be redone.
Examples of spoilages and order mismatch
Usually, the more reliable the supplier, the fewer defects there are.
But some suppliers, simply cannot produce good quality no matter how many times they redo. After many years we’ve got enough experience to protect our customers from worst case scenarios. We have an unspoken rating of manufacturers which we worked with before. Our managers can usually say if it’s better to avoid particular manufacturers then solve problems with them after. See some of the common defects from our quality control checks below:
How we solve problems with manufacturers
We have a great experience dealing with chinese manufacturers and solve all the problems by ourselves. Most of the times, suppliers admit their mistakes and try to fix them but from time to time we have to contact the top management directly to speed the process up.
When placing an order we take management contact information, double check bills and documents.
We’ve done it many times and all of our employees are professionals.
Questions & Answers
Can I place an order in China myself and you will check the quality?
We don’t recommend placing orders without the presence of a manager because the only one who will benefit from this is the seller in the market. The Chinese raise prices for foreigners to leave an opportunity for bargaining.
Even if they reduce the price, it will be still higher than its real price. Our managers know the prices on the market. They will never let sellers raise prices and will bargain and try to get the best price for you.
If you still want to place the orders yourself, we will not check the quality since the documents for furniture needed for customs clearance in your country have not been requested. In Chinese markets, they are very strict about documents, especially if you intend to export furniture from the country.
If you find quality problems and you don’t have the necessary documents, it will be extremely difficult to make the supplier redo it. In addition, we do not take into account the cost of furniture purchased on your own in the amount of the order.
I would like to buy everything myself, can you help me with delivery and customs clearance?
Yes, our logistics specialists are always happy to help you. Please note that in this case we are not responsible for the quality of the goods. That means that it will arrive to you at the same state as it was in a factory warehouse. We do not open boxes in the warehouse, so we do not know in what condition the goods are: whether they are damaged or not. So if our managers haven't done a quality check for your goods, then we can’t be responsible for damage of the goods.
At the same time, we are very careful with all the packages and boxes that arrive at our warehouse, we make a detailed photo report that shows the state of the package in which the goods have arrived at the warehouse.