Safe Business in B2B Marketplace

Safety Tips For Doing Business in B2B Marketplaces 

The following tips could save your company some heavy financial losses.

1. Verify the Contact details of your potential business partner

Always confirm if the address, phone number and email address given to you by your trading partner belongs to the same company. If a trader provides inconsistent contact details, for example an address in the USA and phone number from another country, we recommend you look up the address in the local phone directory and call this number to confirm that the person you are in touch with actually works for the company.

2. Check company background information

In many countries the existence of a company and its legal status is a matter of public record. If you cannot get access to that information, you can gain further knowledge about your potential partner by ordering a credit report online.

3. Test the knowledge of the potential buyer or seller

Test the knowledge of the buyer or seller. Ask questions such as country of origin, quality certification, warranty and other technical questions that are specific to your products. If the potential partner is serious, they will be able to answer you quickly.

4. Research the market value

Look for the market value of the products you are interested in. If the seller is promoting prices that are too good to be true then you should start to be suspicious.

5. Meet Your Partner in Person

After doing all the suggested verifications, try to meet in person in order to visit the company and make an assessment yourself. If you are going to travel to a foreign country, contact your embassy for assistance to better plan your trip.

6. Be cautious when ordering or providing Samples

If you are a buyer, make sure to request a sample before confirming your order. This will allow you to see if it meets your requirements and quality standards. If you are a seller, make sure to request payment for any samples especially products that have a high resale value.

7. Use Pre-Shipment Inspection Services

As a buyer, you can avoid poor quality products by ordering these services for quality control.

8. Exercise caution for advanced payment

As a buyer, it is normal that a potential seller requests partial payment. Avoid all payments with services where it is hard to properly identify the person of the account receiving the money. Use Letters of credit which is a much safer option.

9. Be aware of high risk countries

Pay close attention to shipping or contact addresses located in regions with high reported incidences of online fraud, such as Eastern Europe and Western Africa.