How it works

No mystery about the method.

If you are going to rely on somebody else’s eyes, you should know exactly what they look at, in what order, and what they will refuse to conclude.

From first message to report

The sequence, in the order it actually happens.

Most of this is our work, not yours. You add us on WeChat, tell us the address, approve a scope, and pay. The rest is a person travelling to a building and recording what is there.

  1. Add us on WeChat

    About a minute

    Scan the code or send your WeChat ID to our email. No form to fill in, no account to create, and no sales sequence after. If we are not the right service for your situation, we will say so in this step.

    You
  2. Tell us the supplier and what you are deciding

    Same day

    The company name, the address you were given, what you are buying and what worries you. Voice notes are fine. If the address sits outside the belts we cover, you hear that now rather than after payment.

    Both
  3. We confirm the scope in writing, then you pay

    Within 24 hours

    You get what we will check, what we will not check, the date, the fee and the refund terms. Nothing is booked until you approve it. Payment is WeChat Pay or Alipay, arranged with us directly.

    Both
  4. A local verifier goes to the address

    2–3 hours on site

    Someone based in that industrial belt travels to the site and calls you from the gate. You stay on a live video call while they film one continuous take, then photograph the sign, the licence on the wall and the street outside.

    Us
  5. Evidence and report delivered

    72 hours after the visit

    The unedited video, every original photograph and the written report — including the list of what this visit could not confirm. No watermark, no time-limited access. Yours to keep.

    Us

Step 01 · start here

WeChat.

That is the whole contact page. Send the supplier’s name and the address, and we will tell you whether we can reach it, what it costs and when we can go.

WeChat ID oceanplans

Why only WeChat. It is what everyone in China actually uses, including the factories we visit. Text, voice notes, video and live video calls all happen in one app — so the call from the factory floor arrives on the same thread we have been talking on.

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The filming route

Twenty shots, always the same order.

Every visit follows this route so that a report from Dongguan and a report from Ningbo are directly comparable. Nothing is cut.

  1. 01 Street approach — road name, surrounding buildings
  2. 02 Neighbouring premises on both sides
  3. 03 Nearest junction or village entrance, if it is an industrial village
  4. 04 Gate and company sign, wide shot
  5. 05 Gate and company sign, close shot
  6. 06 Building number plate
  7. 07 Building exterior, full height
  8. 08 Yard, vehicles and loading area
  9. 09 Workshop entrance, shot from outside first
  10. 10 Production hall, wide shot
  11. 11 Machine nameplates, close up
  12. 12 Line in operation
  13. 13 Work-in-progress goods
  14. 14 Raw material storage
  15. 15 Finished goods and packing area
  16. 16 Loading dock
  17. 17 Quality control area, if one exists
  18. 18 Notices posted on the wall: business licence, permits, safety
  19. 19 Office or meeting room where the contact receives us
  20. 20 Exit shot, timestamped
Why one continuous take. A cut is the thing that makes a video fabricable. The moment you edit, you can move a shot from another factory into this one. So we don’t cut — even when the footage is boring, even when it’s inconvenient.

The report

Ten sections, one of which we never skip.

01

Who, when, where

Named verifier, date, arrival and departure time, the exact address visited, GPS coordinates.

02

Observations

Five to eight bullets of what was seen. Written as observations, never as conclusions.

03

Identity check

The name on the building, the name on the business licence, the name on the company registration, photographed side by side.

04

The site

Plant, office, warehouse or residential unit. Estimated footprint. Signs of shared occupancy.

05

Production

Lines present, machines, work in progress, whether anything was actually running, visible staffing.

06

Logistics (full day)

Truck and container movements with plate, type, load and duration. Raw material in, finished goods out.

07

Price review (full day)

The interrogation record: their answers on materials, processing, tooling, packaging and margin — in their own words.

08

Points to resolve

Things that did not add up, stated as questions for you to put to the supplier. No verdicts.

09

What this visit could not confirm

An explicit, non-negotiable section. Everything from capacity to product conformity to ownership of the plant.

10

Interests declaration

Signed statement that no factory offered or paid us anything, or a full disclosure if one did.

Read a full sample report

What we need from you

Less than you’d think.

  • Required: the supplier’s company name and the full address in China
  • Required: what you are buying, and roughly what the order is worth
  • Useful: a photo of the business licence, if you have one
  • Useful: the proforma invoice, so we can check the payee name before you pay anyone
  • Useful: the contact’s name, phone and WeChat, so we know who to ask for
  • Helpful: the one thing you are most worried about — it changes what we spend the hour on