Turkish Supplier Check After a Trade Fair: 8 Things to Verify Before the First Order

Trade fairs are one of the best ways to find suppliers in Turkey. You see products in person, meet the sales team and leave with a bag of catalogues and business cards. But a well-designed stand tells you very little about the company behind it.

A stand can be rented by a manufacturer, a trading company, an agent or a newly founded firm. Before your first order, a short Turkish supplier check turns a good impression into evidence.

Why fair contacts need a check* The stand is marketing. Samples on display may come from several factories.

* Business cards are not records. The name on the card is often a brand, not the legal company name.

* Speed often works against you. After a fair, suppliers follow up quickly with proformas and deposit requests while you are still sorting contacts.

Step 1: Turn the business card into a legal identityAsk for the full legal name (ending in A.Ş. or Ltd. Şti.; for a sole trader, the owner's name), the registered address, the MERSIS number and the tax number. An established company usually sends these quickly. Then check them against the official records: how to search the Turkish company registry.

Step 2: Is the company older than the stand?Look at the formation date in the Trade Registry Gazette. A company founded a few months before the fair, presenting "decades of experience", needs to explain.

Step 3: Manufacturer or trader?Compare the main activity code on the tax certificate with the products shown at the fair. Ask directly: "Which of these products do you make in your own facility?"

Step 4: Was the person at the stand authorised?The person who negotiated the price may be a sales representative without signing authority. Check the signature circular before you sign anything: signature circular: how to request and read it.

Step 5: Match the factory addressAsk for the production address and compare it with the registered address and with photos and video of the facility. Map and street views help here. A production site in an industrial zone and an office in a business tower can both be normal, but both should belong to the same company.

Step 6: Check the bank account before the depositThe proforma's IBAN must belong to the same legal entity. For an A.Ş. or Ltd. Şti., payment to a personal account, or to a company with a different name, is a reason to stop. Confirm bank details by phone using a number you found yourself.

A recent case from our work: a client asked us to check a supplier that was a properly registered Ltd. Şti., and the person they were dealing with was a genuine, registered employee of the company. Everything was in order except one detail: payment was requested to the employee's personal IBAN. That alone does not prove the supplier is dishonest. But a payment to a private account is not a payment to the company: there is no invoice, nothing in the company's books and, if something goes wrong, far less legal ground for the buyer to claim against the company. Our client asked the supplier for the official company IBAN, and the purchase went ahead on that basis.

Step 7: Compare the sample with the orderAgree in writing that the bulk production must match the approved sample, and keep a sealed reference sample. Fair samples are often made with extra care.

Step 8: Decide how deep to go* Small trial order: Desk check: identity, registration, signatory, bank account holder

* Regular orders, private label: Desk check + deeper record research and an outside check of the address

* Large or long-term contract: On-site factory audit before signing

A quick 7-point Turkish supplier check list1. Legal name, MERSIS and tax number in writing

2. Formation date fits the story

3. Activity code fits the products

4. Negotiator or signatory on the signature circular

5. Production address matches

6. IBAN holder = legal name

7. Sample agreement in the contract

Let us check your fair contactsNeed it done for you? See our Turkish supplier verification service.

EnterTurkey checks Turkish suppliers for European buyers. Send us the company name from the business card and receive a Lite desk verification report (USD 199, report in 24 hours). For bigger orders, Pro adds deeper official-record research, an outside check of the address and a sector view; Enterprise adds an on-site factory and capacity audit. See packages.