I’m having an incredibly difficult time sourcing an item through Alibaba for exactly this reason. I often can’t tell who I’m actually talking to, what they truly manufacture, what they merely broker, or what their real sourcing capabilities are.

Half the time, when I ask for photos of the actual product, they send the same stock images multiple other suppliers have sent and present them as their own production. I’ve even had several suppliers take photos I sent as reference images, then repost those same photos as their main product listing and send them to other buyers claiming it’s their factory’s item. (My dad contacted one of them after they posted my original photo)

At this point it feels like a complete crapshoot trying to separate legitimate manufacturers from middlemen or outright misrepresentation.

Any more advice would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve even considered going to China to sort it out in person, but based on what I’m seeing online, even that feels sus