The Golden Rule: Verify Before You Pay
The used-car export trade rewards professionals and punishes shortcuts. Nearly every horror story traces back to skipping one of the checks below.
Checklist 1 — Verify the Seller
– Export license. Ask for the company’s used-car export license number and verify against the Ministry of Commerce announcement lists.
– Business registration. Check the company on China’s National Enterprise Credit Information system (gsxt.gov.cn) — registered capital, establishment year, litigation records.
– Physical presence. A real showroom or export yard you can visit (or have inspected) filters out 90% of risk. Video-call an unannounced walkthrough of the actual vehicle before paying any deposit.
– Track record. Ask for two recent Bill of Lading copies (redacted) to prove real shipments to your region.
Checklist 2 — Verify the Vehicle
– Mileage sanity check. Cross-check odometer against maintenance records and registration dates. Chinese late-model vehicles average low mileage, so suspiciously high or perfectly round numbers deserve scrutiny.
– Third-party inspection. Budget for SGS, Bureau Veritas or a CNAS-accredited inspector. Cost is trivial against a container’s value.
– For EVs: require the SOH (battery health) report — non-negotiable.
Checklist 3 — Structure the Payment Safely
Standard and acceptable:
– 30% T/T deposit, 70% before shipment (stock units)
– Payment to the company account matching the business license — never a personal account
– Proforma Invoice with vehicle VIN, agreed price, Incoterm and delivery window
Red flags:
– Requests for full prepayment before inspection
– Personal account details or “agency” accounts in a third name
– Prices 15%+ below market — the discount is usually the product
Checklist 4 — Get the Total Landed Cost Right
Your real cost = FOB/CIF price + destination duties + port charges + inland transport + clearance fees. Before ordering:
1. Confirm your country’s duty calculation basis (some use invoice value, others use book value).
2. Check age limits and emissions rules — several markets updated these recently.
3. Confirm homologation requirements (lights, speedometer units, conformity certificates) for your market.
Checklist 5 — Control the Shipping Step
– Insist on loading photos and video before container sealing.
– Verify the container number on photos matches the Bill of Lading.
– For mixed containers, demand a packing list with each VIN’s position in the container.
– Consider marine cargo insurance — usually below 0.5% of cargo value for door-to-port peace of mind.
Conclusion
Importing from China is a repeatable, profitable playbook — if you treat it like professional procurement: verify licenses, inspect independently, pay through company accounts, and document every stage. Buyers who follow this checklist build supplier relationships that compound for years; buyers who chase the cheapest quote fund someone else’s lesson.