How to verify a towel exporter in India before you pay — a buyer's checklist
In short. What an online check proves and what it doesn't: IEC, GST, certificates, who actually makes the towels, and which account the money should go to.
A supplier's website tells you what the supplier wants you to see. Before you send money to an exporter you have not met, a short set of checks will tell you whether the company is who it says it is, whether its papers belong to it, and where your payment should go. This guide sets out those checks in the order most buyers run them.
It is general guidance. The portals and their steps change, so confirm each one on the official site rather than on a copy of it, and ask your bank or customs broker about anything specific to your country.
What an online check can and cannot tell you
A registration lookup proves that a company exists, under which name, at which address, and whether the registration is active. It does not tell you whether the towels are good, whether the factory can produce your quantity, or whether the supplier delivers on time. Treat the checks below as the minimum before a sample is paid for, not as a reason to skip the sample.
Marketplace and directory listings are written by the sellers themselves. Use them to find suppliers, then verify the supplier independently.
Step 1: Does the company exist, under one name?
Ask for the registration details first and check each one yourself. A supplier who is reluctant to share them is giving you information too.
| Check | Where | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Importer Exporter Code (IEC) | The DGFT portal, which offers an IEC lookup | The legal name and address, and an active status |
| GST registration number | The GST portal's public taxpayer search | The same legal name and address, and an active status |
| Account for payment | The beneficiary details on the supplier's invoice | An account held in the same company name |
| Export promotion council membership | The council that issued it | A valid registration-cum-membership certificate (RCMC) in the company's name, where the supplier holds one |
The IEC is a ten-character code that an Indian exporter generally needs in order to ship goods out of the country. The point of Step 1 is consistency: the legal name, the address and the registration numbers should read the same on the IEC, the GST record, the invoice and the bank details. A mismatch is not always fraud, but it is a question the supplier should answer before you pay.
Step 2: Do the certificates belong to this supplier?
A certificate on a website is a picture. What counts is the entry in the issuer's own database.
- OEKO-TEX. Use the Label Check on oeko-tex.com and enter the certificate number. Confirm that the company named is your supplier, that the product scope covers what you are buying, and that the certificate is in date.
- GOTS. Search the public database on global-standard.org by company name or certificate number. If a supplier says its towels are GOTS certified and it is not listed, ask why.
- Scope matters as much as the name. A certificate can cover one mill, one process or one product line. Ask which of your products it covers. Our guide to what the certifications actually mean explains what each one verifies: the finished product, the fibre and its processing, or the factory.
Check the status again before shipment, since a certificate can lapse between the quotation and the order.
Step 3: Who actually makes the towels?
An exporter can be a mill, a manufacturer that exports its own goods, or a trading company that buys from mills. A trader is not a problem in itself, but you should know which one you are dealing with, because that decides who controls quality, lead time and a reorder.
- Ask which mill weaves the towels and where, and whether a sample can come from that mill's current production.
- Ask for dated photographs or a video walk-through of the mill, and compare the address with the one on the registrations.
- For a large order, consider an independent factory audit or a pre-shipment inspection.
Our guide to reading a pre-shipment sample covers what to check once the sample arrives.
Step 4: Where should the money go?
Pay into a bank account held in the legal name that appears on the IEC, the GST record and the invoice. Two things deserve a pause:
- A request to pay into a personal account or into a different company's account.
- A change of bank details partway through an order. Confirm any change by calling a number you already had, not one printed in the email that announced the change.
Our guide to payment terms compares T/T, letter of credit and collection, and shows which risk each one leaves with the buyer and which with the exporter.
Step 5: Start small
A sample and a first order of modest size tell you more than any document. Check the sample against the specification, keep the approved sample on file, and inspect the first shipment on arrival. Our guide to what sample-first protects against explains what it can and cannot catch.
What to ask a supplier
- Please send your IEC and GST details, and the legal name and bank account that will appear on the invoice.
- Which mill makes the towels, and can you show me the mill?
- Which certificates do you hold, which products and sites do they cover, and what are the certificate numbers?
- Do you hold an export promotion council registration, and with which council?
- Can the first order be a small one, with an inspection before it ships?
Our export team will share our IEC code on request. Check ours the same way you would check anyone's, and tell us what else you want to see before a first order.