1. A legal identity you can check, in a jurisdiction you can reach
Ask for the registered company name, licence number and registered address — not the brand name, the legal one. Then check it against the issuing registry. A supplier trading through a UAE entity gives you a jurisdiction where a commercial dispute has a route; a WeChat contact with no registered entity gives you a story.
Ours, for the record: EngineCore, operating as ENGICOR under an Ajman Free Zone Sole Professional License — printed at the foot of every page of this site.
2. A live video from inside the warehouse
Photos can be borrowed; a live video call walking the racks cannot. Ask to see the specific engines you are discussing, with their serials readable on camera. Any supplier with real stock can do this within a day. A supplier who cannot is brokering someone else's yard — which is a different price and a different risk than what you are being quoted.
3. Per-unit serials that tie photos to engines
A quotation for '90 engines, mixed' is not evidence of anything. A quotation whose packing list ties each serial to a photo set is a document you can enforce: if unit EC-2K7R-0483 arrives different from its photographs, you have a claim, not an argument. No serials, no claim — walk away.
4. The bank account name matches the company name
The oldest red flag in the trade, and still the most reliable. If the invoice says one company and the beneficiary account says another — a personal account, a different company, a different country — stop. A legitimate supplier's payment instructions match their legal identity, every time.
5. A grade defined in writing, per unit
'Tested' is marketing until it is written down. Ask what the grade guarantees, what the warranty covers, how long it runs and how a dead-on-arrival unit is settled — replacement, credit, or apology. Get the per-unit grade in the packing list.
A supplier who sells only one grade and says no to everything else is telling you something useful about how they run their yard.
6. A named person who answers in writing
Fraud hides behind sales desks. Ask who owns the company, and whether that person will put their name on the quotation and the warranty. You are wiring five figures across a border: the counterparty should be a person with a name, a licence and something to lose.
Price a container yourself
Build the mix you want in the online quoter — exactly 90 units in a 20-ft or 130 in a 40-ft — and the FOB total reaches your inbox the same minute, at our published per-unit prices, every unit Grade A. Prefer to ask? Tell us the destination country and the codes you need and we reply within one business day, usually within hours, with photos.
Frequently asked
Is an Alibaba Gold Supplier badge enough?
It is a paid listing tier, not an audit of the engines. Run the six checks regardless of platform badges.
Should I use an inspection company instead?
A third-party inspection verifies the goods on one day; these checks verify the counterparty, which matters more. A supplier whose own audit gives you per-unit serials, photos, video and a written right to reject provides continuous evidence — the serial-to-photo trail protects you long after any inspector would have gone home.
What deposit structure is safe?
The structure matters less than the counterparty, but the safest shape is staged: a small deposit that buys a visible deliverable, a second payment tied to a per-unit audit you can approve or reject, and the balance only after you approved the audited lot — all against a quotation with serials, from a verifiable legal entity. That is how we structure our own 10% / 20% / 70% ladder. Full prepayment to an unverifiable supplier is how the losses happen.