Export House vs Factory vs Trading Agent: What You're Really Buying From Each

Short answer: the useful question is not "are you a manufacturer?" It is "who is responsible if the goods are wrong, and whose name is on the export documents?" A factory and an export house are both accountable sellers. A commission agent usually is not.

The three models

Where each one is the right choice

• A factory suits a large, steady order of one product. You get the plant's best price on what it is built to make.
• An export house suits a buyer who wants towels, sheets and robes on one order, in smaller runs, with one party answering for all of it.
• An agent suits a buyer who already knows which factories they want and needs someone local to follow up.

Where Anabyn sits

We are an export house. Each stage of your order, from yarn to stitching and labels, runs at a specialist unit that does that one job. We own the spec, check the goods at every handover, and ship as exporter of record. If something is wrong, you deal with us, not with a unit you have never heard of.

We do not own the plants, and we say so. What we own is the responsibility.

Five questions that show which you're dealing with

• Whose name will be on the invoice and bill of lading? It should be the company you are talking to.
• Whose bank account do I pay? Same company, same name.
• Who inspects, and can I have the report?
• If the bulk is off-spec, who fixes it and who pays?
• Can I see my order in production? A real operator can arrange it.

Warning signs

Be careful if the company name on the bank details differs from the name on the quote, or if nobody will say who is liable. More in red flags in a supplier's first email.

Read more

Our longer comparison of direct factory versus trading company covers pricing in each model. Check our registrations on the verification page, then ask us for a quote.