Step 2 · Check the payment documents
Pre-Deposit Risk Review
Quick answer
The Pre-Deposit Risk Review is a US$100 add-on to the Supplier Verification Report that reads your quotation, proforma invoice and payment instructions against the registered company we verified. Bought together the combined starting price is US$299, delivered inside the same report. It reports visible document inconsistencies and unanswered questions — it is not legal advice and does not guarantee that a payment will be safe.
This is a US$100 add-on to the Supplier Verification Report, not a standalone product. Combined starting price: US$299.
Combined starting price with the Supplier Verification Report: US$299
- Turnaround
- Included within report delivery where documents are complete
- You receive
- Document review section inside your English PDF report
- Note
- Add-on to the Supplier Verification Report. Not sold separately.
Fixed buyer-paid fees only. We take no commissions or kickbacks from the supplier being reviewed.
Who this service is for
For buyers who have a quotation or proforma invoice in hand and a transfer pending. This is the last calm moment in the transaction — the review is designed for it.
- Buyers about to send a first deposit to a new Chinese supplier
- Buyers whose PI names a company they have not verified
- Buyers asked to pay a beneficiary that differs from the seller
- Buyers under time pressure to transfer “to hold the production slot”
- Buyers who want a second pair of eyes on terms before committing
When buyers order this
The beneficiary is not the company on the invoice
The most common finding we make. Some mismatches are ordinary group structure; some are the entire problem. The difference is determinable — before the transfer.
The deposit percentage seems high, or oddly low
Deposit structure is negotiable and informative. We put your terms against common practice for the order type, and flag what should be renegotiated or explained.
The PI is one page and the product is complicated
What is missing from a PI causes more losses than what is in it: no inspection stage, no packaging spec, no balance trigger, no warranty language. We list the gaps as questions.
The supplier is pressing you to pay today
Pressure tactics around payment are themselves a reviewable signal. We name them in the report, so you can separate normal commercial urgency from something else.
What is included
- Quotation
- Proforma invoice (PI)
- Receiving company named on the documents
- Bank account name
- Payment instructions
- Deposit percentage
- Commercial terms
- Product specifications
- Packaging terms
- Lead time
- Inspection stage
- Warranty language
- Visible document inconsistencies
- Pressure tactics
- Unresolved questions to settle before payment
What is not included
- Legal advice on your contract
- Escrow or payment handling
- Any assurance that a payment will be recovered
- Credit assessment of the supplier
- Tax, customs or duty advice
Exclusions are part of the product definition, not small print. If your decision needs one of these, we will name the kind of specialist it needs.
What the review reads
Every document you can provide is read against the registered entity from the verification report, against common transaction practice, and against itself — internal inconsistency between a quotation and a PI from the same supplier is a finding.
- Quotation and proforma invoice, clause by clause
- Receiving company vs registered entity vs bank beneficiary name
- Payment instructions, including any changes made during negotiation
- Deposit percentage and the exact balance trigger
- Commercial terms: Incoterm, lead time, validity, MOQ
- Specification, packaging and warranty completeness
- Inspection stage: whether one exists, and when
- Pressure tactics and negotiation anomalies you describe to us
Deliverables
The findings are delivered inside your verification report as a dedicated payment-review section — one document, one risk picture.
- Entity-to-beneficiary match table with evidence
- Clause-level findings on the quotation and PI
- Deposit and balance-structure assessment
- List of specification, inspection and warranty gaps
- Visible pressure tactics, named
- Unresolved questions to settle before payment — ready to send
How it works
- Step 1
Order with verification
One order, one combined price, one report.
- Step 2
Send the documents
Quotation, PI and payment instructions by email.
- Step 3
Entity check first
The verification establishes who you are dealing with.
- Step 4
Document review
Everything read against that entity and against practice.
- Step 5
Combined report
Findings and pre-payment questions in one PDF.
Limitations
A document review can only see what documents show. It makes a transfer better-informed; it cannot make one safe.
Read this before ordering
- We review the documents you provide; terms agreed only in chat are invisible unless you share them.
- A consistent set of documents is not proof the supplier will perform — consistency is necessary, not sufficient.
- We do not provide legal advice, draft contracts, or assess enforceability.
- We do not verify bank accounts with banks; we compare names and details across documents and records.
- Market-price fairness is out of scope.
- If a supplier changes bank details after our review, the review does not cover the change — treat any change as a new risk event.
Why this is an add-on, not a standalone product
Reading payment documents without knowing the registered entity behind them produces a review that looks rigorous and answers the wrong question. The central test — do the invoice, the entity and the beneficiary agree? — requires the verification first. So we sell them together, and price the addition at US$100.
The combined sequence
- 1 · Verify the entity. Who is registered, active, and actually behind the storefront.
- 2 · Read the documents against it. Does the paper trail lead to that entity, or somewhere else?
- 3 · List what must be settled. Questions to the supplier, in writing, before the transfer.
Combined starting price: US$299 · 2–3 business days
Example findings
The recurring pre-deposit findings, and how buyers used them. These are illustrative patterns drawn from the categories we review — not excerpts from real client reports.
“The PI shows a 50% deposit with the balance due “before shipment”, but no inspection stage anywhere.”
Once the balance is paid, leverage over a quality dispute is largely gone. The recommended fix costs nothing: an agreed pre-shipment inspection written into the PI before the deposit is sent.
“The beneficiary is a Hong Kong entity with no visible relationship to the mainland seller.”
Common, and resolvable in both directions. Where the relationship can be evidenced, the report says so; where it cannot, the buyer asks one precise question and the answer is usually decisive.
“The quotation and the PI state different unit prices for the same item.”
Usually an error, occasionally a tactic, always worth catching before payment rather than in a dispute. Internal inconsistency between documents from the same supplier is always reported.
“Payment terms changed from company account to personal account between drafts.”
A material change in who receives the money, made quietly. Whatever the explanation, the buyer needs it in writing before the transfer — and the report says exactly that.
Start with the Supplier Verification Report if you have not yet checked the company. If the manufacturing claim also needs testing, Video Verification Plus includes this review, the report and a live factory visit in one engagement.
Related services and guides
The base product this review extends.
Company, documents and factory in one package.
Guide: What to Check Before Paying a Deposit
The self-service version of this checklist.
Guide: How to Review a Proforma Invoice
Clause by clause, with the common omissions.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Pre-Deposit Risk Review sold on its own?
No. It is a US$100 add-on to the Supplier Verification Report, because reviewing payment documents without first establishing which company you are dealing with produces a much weaker answer. The combined starting price is US$299.
What is the most common problem you find in payment documents?
A mismatch between three names that should agree: the company on the proforma invoice, the registered legal entity, and the beneficiary on the bank instructions. Each mismatch has innocent explanations and serious ones, and the difference is usually resolvable with one direct question — but it has to be asked before the transfer, not after.
Should I refuse to pay into a personal bank account?
A personal account as beneficiary on a business transaction is a significant risk signal and removes most of your practical recourse, because the payment no longer sits against the company you contracted with. It is common in some small-supplier contexts and it is still a risk. We report it plainly and set out what to ask before you decide.
Can you tell me whether the price I was quoted is fair?
No — market pricing is outside the scope of this review and depends on specification, volume, materials and tooling that we are not positioned to price. What we do review is whether the commercial terms are complete and internally consistent: deposit and balance structure, lead time, inspection stage, packaging, warranty language and specification gaps.
What if the supplier changes bank details after I have paid a deposit?
Treat a mid-transaction change of bank details as a serious event and verify it through a channel you already trust, not through the email that requested it. This is one of the most common ways buyers lose money, and it frequently indicates a compromised supplier email account rather than a dishonest supplier.
Start with what you have
Send the supplier name, profile link, quotation or PI. We will confirm scope, price and turnaround by email before any payment is requested.
Scope and disclaimer
FactoryPass China provides practical business verification, document review, supplier risk screening, and fieldwork coordination based on information available at the time of review.
Our services do not constitute legal advice, financial advice, certification, a formal factory audit, a product inspection, laboratory testing, or a guarantee of supplier performance, product quality, delivery, regulatory compliance, or future conduct.
Customers remain responsible for final supplier selection, contracts, payment decisions, product compliance, professional inspection, customs clearance, and import requirements.
Fixed buyer-paid fees only. We take no commissions or kickbacks from the supplier being reviewed. Read more about how we stay independent or how we reach a finding.
Pre-Deposit Risk Review
+US$100