← Blog · 2026-11-02
sourcing · supplier vetting · China
Most importers choose a globe supplier the same way: send a request to ten factories, take the three cheapest quotes, then discover in production that the map edition was wrong, the stand colour drifted, or the carton did not survive the crossing. This checklist is the sequence that avoids that.
A globe is a map before it is a product. In China, products carrying map graphics must be reviewed before export, and the approved map must show a review number, the 审图号. Ask the supplier to state that number for the exact edition you are ordering. If the answer is vague, or the number belongs to a printing house rather than the manufacturer, stop there — a shipment without a compliant map can be seized.
Compare the address on the business licence with the address in the video. Ask how many people work on the floor and how many machines run. A factory that can answer with specific numbers — staff count, machine count, monthly capacity — is usually real; one that answers only in adjectives usually is not.
Almost no globe factory prints its own maps; that is normal and not a weakness. What matters is knowing where the line is. A supplier that tells you plainly which steps are outsourced is more trustworthy than one claiming full vertical integration.
Quotes look very different depending on this. "500 pieces" per model with mixed models allowed in one container is workable for a first order. "500 pieces per model, per colour, per packaging print run" is not. Get it written down, not explained on a call.
Ask for the sample in the same map edition, material and stand finish as the bulk order. Photographs hide sphere seams, print registration and base weight. Paying for a sample is normal; a supplier who refuses to make one is telling you something.
Generic certificates are not evidence. If you sell into the EU, ask for EN71, REACH and RoHS documentation that names the material or model. For illuminated globes, confirm how the electrical part is covered. For the Gulf, ask about SASO/SABER early — it changes the timeline, not just the paperwork.
A globe is a fragile sphere on a thin meridian. Ask what inner protection is used, what the carton grade is, and whether the factory will run a drop test on request. This is where the cheapest quotes quietly recover their margin.
Three numbers matter: sample lead time, production lead time after approval, and the realistic buffer your forwarder needs. A supplier quoting 20 days when the industry standard is 25–40 is either misunderstanding the question or planning to subcontract.
If you pay for custom tooling or a private map design, the ownership should be explicit in the order documents. Without that sentence, moving to another supplier later can mean paying twice.
FOB, CIF and DDP place very different obligations on each side. Confirm which port, who arranges insurance, and what the payment schedule is. A supplier who will not put 30 percent deposit and balance before shipment in writing is not ready for a first order.
If you sell in Spanish, Arabic or Russian, ask for a sample label and manual in that language, not a promise that it is possible. Full-spec labelled globes are a different production run from English-only stock, and the difference shows up in the first carton.
A supplier passing all twelve is not automatically the cheapest, but it is the one whose price you can compare honestly with everyone else. LEQI is a globe factory in Yuyao, Ningbo producing desktop globes 10–32 cm for B2B buyers. Request a quote or read our map compliance notes.
Usually a factory. A trading company adds a margin layer and cannot change production details on your behalf. The exception is very small trial orders, where a trader can consolidate several factories into one shipment — but you lose control over map compliance and packaging.
Ask for one unedited video of the production floor showing lamination, vacuum forming, assembly and packing in sequence, and compare the address with the business licence. A supplier that can only show finished cartons in a warehouse is trading, not manufacturing.
Business licence, the map review approval number covering the exact map edition you are buying, EN71 / REACH / RoHS reports for that model if you sell into the EU, and a signed proforma invoice stating MOQ, lead time and Incoterms.
Two to three is enough. Beyond that, sampling cost and time outweigh the information gained. Compare them on the same map edition so the quotes are genuinely comparable.