If you wait until your goods arrive in your country, there is nothing left that you can do. You have ordered the products in China, India or Vietnam from a supplier that you trust. You even provided a good list of specifications. That is why you just had the products shipped to your country. However, we see that it happens all too often that products turn out not to be suitable for the Western market: a big percentage of the order is defect. Unfortunately it is then too late to solve the problem.

In the Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese case it is not always possible to send defect products back. It is sometimes even forbidden by law! The government implemented this measure to prevent tax evasion. It is also very unlikely that the factory will redo your order for free or refund your money. The factory might offer a discount on the next order. But who wants to be tied to a next order with a manufacturer that delivers defect products? Only with a good contract that mentions product specifications in detail there is a small possibility that you will get your money back. But the odds are against you.

If the products can be reworked, you might want to do so in your own country. Labor and materials are a lot more expensive in that scenario. Even if you would ship the products to another low-cost country for example like Hong Kong for repair you still pay for shipment and labor.

That is why you are better off checking the quality during the production process at the factory, or having it checked for you. You can give tips and instructions to your supplier. This usually works best if you don’t pay the full amount before repairs and changes have been made by the factory. Moreover, this is how you show the workers and technicians who actually work on the product what is acceptable for you.

Such a quality control is a small investment if you compare it to a container full of useless products. Therefore most importers choose a Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) a couple of days before the goods are loaded into the container. Depending on the risk you would like to take, inspections can also be performed at other moments in the production process.