There is no per-product price list. A quote is the people and days the job needs at one published day rate, plus the tickets to get there at cost. The sheet below is the whole arithmetic; three real-shaped trips are priced underneath it.
Days × people at the day rate, plus rail, car and hotel at cost with receipts. The sum on the quote is the sum you pay. No line is added after the visit.
USD 861 all-in, 5 September 2026: a used 5.5-tonne excavator at a yard in Anhui, two inspectors, a technician for the make, rail, a car and one hotel night. The full breakdown is on the page about pre-purchase inspection of a used excavator.
| Line | What it covers | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Inspector day | eight hours on site: inspection, audit or accompaniment; overtime $10 an hour after that | $60 / person-day |
| Rail or flight | second-class high-speed rail or economy flight, route agreed before the trip | at cost |
| Car for the day | only when the yard or factory is off the rail line; driven by our own staff | at cost |
| Hotel · meals | business-standard hotel near the site; meals at the local business standard | ≤ $55 / night · ≤ $24 / day |
| Seller company check | who owns what you are paying for: licence, PI seller, bank beneficiary lined up | included |
| Rush · public holiday | 24 hours' notice; national holidays | +20% · +50% |
| How it is paid | 70% to schedule the visit; 30% once the team is on site and you have the live video; the written report follows within two days | 70 / 30 |
| Your quote | the days you need + the tickets to get there, written before anyone travels | fixed in advance |
When the goods are a machine, a technician for the make joins the inspector; his day is a separate line, priced and itemised further down. Full schedule as a PDF: XILINK service fee structure, 2026 edition. Remote areas are discussed before the quote, never added after it.
One is the quote we sent this week. The other two are built from the same published rates for the shape of job we see every week; your own numbers depend on the city and the days.
Sixteen-item worksheet, a cold start and an hour under load, video of every item. Before the trip was priced, the seller was asked for three photographs.
Worksheet, three photos and the full sheet: pre-purchase inspection of a used excavator
Nameplate and engine and pump brands against the PI, options and voltage as ordered, a run under load where the floor allows, packing for the container.
Most factory acceptances within two hours of Jinan by rail look like this.
Cartons counted against the packing list, samples pulled to the agreed level, every layer photographed as it goes in, seal number on the last picture.
Loading days run long; the overtime line is there for a reason.
For comparison, the large inspection firms quote per man-day before travel: QIMA $290–380 for consumer goods and $500–700 for specialised or industrial work; SGS and Bureau Veritas $400–600. They send a general product inspector; the Anhui trip above includes a technician for the make. The full price comparison, checked July 2026.
A new machine, a batch of goods and a used machine fail in different places. The rows are the questions every report answers; the columns are how the answer is obtained.
Swipe the table sideways
| Question | New machine at the factorybefore the balance is released | Batch of goods or partsbefore or during container loading | Used machine at a yardbefore the balance on a machine you found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is it the one on the paper? | Nameplate, serial number, engine and hydraulic pump brands read against the PI line by line. | Product, model, marking and carton labels against the purchase order and the packing list. | Three photographs before the trip: ID plate with the full 17-character PIN, engine emission label, hour meter. |
| Does it match the specification? | Dimensions, options, voltage and attachments as ordered; anything the factory substituted, named. | Random sample against the specification to the agreed AQL level; defects logged as minor, major or critical. | Claimed year, hours and condition tested item by item with a technician for the make. |
| Does it work? | A run under load where the floor allows; function test of every control. | Function test of the sample; measurements against the spec. | Cold start, then at least one hour of digging, travelling and slewing on ground the seller provides. |
| What is under the paint? | Factory welds and paint as expected; leaks, fit and finish. | Workmanship, surface, fit; packing that will survive the voyage. | Every non-factory weld photographed, coating-thickness gauge on the major structures, undercarriage measured. |
| Is the count right, and is it loaded right? | Crating and packing for the container; loading and seal on request. | Carton count, every layer photographed as it goes in, seal number on the last picture. | Loading check on a later visit if the machine passes and ships. |
| Who owns what you are paying for? | Factory or trading company on the licence; PI seller and bank beneficiary lined up. | The same. | Five names lined up: shop header, PI seller, bank beneficiary, licence, and who holds the machine at the yard. |
Your order, whichever column it sits in: the quote comes back as a sheet like the one at the top.
Get your quote in 24 hoursAn inspector can count, measure and photograph. Whether a low-hours excavator really has those hours, or a pump was swapped, or a boom was welded and repainted, takes someone who has repaired that make. He is priced separately because not every job needs him, and because you should see the whole day before paying for it.
His own rate, passed through at cost, on top of the $60 inspector day. On the Anhui quote he was a third of the bill and the reason the report can say "the hours on the meter are not credible" instead of "looks fine".
Swipe the table sideways
| What the technician does | How it is done and recorded | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| 1Identity of the machine and its parts | Plate PIN, engine number and the serial plates on the pump, travel and swing motors, controller and hour meter read against the machine; fastener and seal marks, colour and age mismatch photographed. | The real build year, and whether a major part was swapped since. |
| 2Cold start, then one hour under load | Digging, travelling and slewing, or the machine's own working cycle, on ground the seller provides; smoke, noise, temperatures and response on video. | Engine and hydraulics as they really are, not as demonstrated for five minutes. |
| 3Hydraulic circuits | Pressure gauge fitted at the auxiliary lines and the readings recorded; cylinder drift and seal weeping watched under load; pump and motor noise noted. | Wear the seller cannot see and a photograph cannot show. |
| 4Pins and bushings | Pry-bar test at every boom, stick and bucket pin, filmed; visible wear steps photographed. | Play that tells the real hours better than the meter. |
| 5Structure, welds and paint | Boom, stick, frame, undercarriage frame and blade surveyed close up; every non-factory weld photographed; coating-thickness gauge at set points and compared with factory paint. | Repairs and accident history under a fresh coat. |
| 6Undercarriage or running gear | Link pitch, roller and idler diameters and sprocket teeth measured; tyres, axles and brakes on wheeled machines; remaining life written as a percentage. | The biggest repair bill on the machine, and how far away it is. |
| 7Electronics and hours | Dashboard codes read and photographed; ECU hours and stored faults read when the dealer's diagnostic tool is available on the day, otherwise assessed from wear and the basis stated. | Whether the hour meter is honest. |
| 8Flood and fire | Silt lines on the cab floor and seat rails, corrosion inside connectors and the ECU, water in the oils, heat discolouration on metal and rubber; checked first at yards known for refurbishment. | The one damage a refurbished machine hides best. |
| 9Attachments, options and cab | Quick coupler, thumb, tilting bucket and breaker circuit tested if fitted; air conditioning and heater run at full setting; lights, wipers, alarms. | What was promised is fitted and works. |
The seller company check on the sheet is one page about a single question: is the company you are paying the company that owns the goods? Five names are lined up. Any two that differ become a line in the report.
The registered entity behind the marketplace store, and how many years it has been there.
The company name and address printed on the proforma invoice you were sent.
The account name and the country of the bank that receives your balance.
Registration number, registered scope, paid-in capital and the legal representative.
Who actually holds the goods where they stand, and under whose name.
On the Anhui quote, the marketplace store, the seller's own website and the invoice each named the company a little differently. None of that is wrong on its own. The report states which legal entity holds the machine and where your money is going, before anyone gets on a train. Checking a factory before a deposit is a different job with its own page: factory audits in China.
Nameplate, spec, function and count line up with the paper. If you want, the same visit becomes the loading check, and we book the truck, the container or the flat rack. Machinery shipping from China.
Three percent of cartons short, a substituted pump brand, an hour meter that has been disturbed. Each finding carries a measurement and a photo, so the conversation with the seller is about parts and numbers, and a re-check before loading costs one more day.
The wrong machine, a specification the goods cannot meet, a serial number that does not match, a seller who would not allow the test. The report is dated, itemised evidence for holding the balance and for recovering a deposit. The patterns we see most often.
One question from the table above, or one line of your PI, or one claim from the listing.
A number, a reading or a count, never "looks fine": link pitch in millimetres, cartons against the list, voltage on the plate.
The photograph or video clip that shows it, taken that day, with the machine or the cartons in frame.
Which line on the paper this finding confirms or contradicts, so a seller cannot argue about what was checked.
Matches, rework, or hold. Where the dealer's diagnostic tool was not available, the basis for the judgement is stated.
During the visit you get the photographs as they are taken and a video of the run under load, so a decision can be made the same day when the balance is due. The written report follows within two days.
Send the PI or the listing, the city, and when the balance is due. The quote comes back as a sheet like the one at the top.
Get your quote in 24 hoursA single sample: inspect it on arrival, it is cheaper than a train ticket. Goods whose price is not far above the cost of the visit. A seller who refuses the three photographs or cannot provide a working area for the test: that answer does not need an inspector, it needs you to keep the balance. We say so in the first reply, and the reply costs nothing.
Consumer goods bound for a marketplace, checked to an AQL sampling plan by the thousand cartons, are what the large inspection firms are built for. If that is the order, their rate card is the right one and the comparison above says what it costs.
New machines at the factory before the balance for buyers who found the factory themselves or bought through us. Batches of industrial goods and parts before and during loading. Used machines at a yard, with a technician for the make, on the worksheet the sub-page describes.
As a sourcing agent we have shipped 550+ orders since 2013, and each one was inspected by our own people before the balance was released. For those orders the inspection is part of the sourcing service; this page is for the order you found yourself.
All quality-control guides are in the guides library.
XILINK charges $60 per inspector-day plus travel at cost; a specialist technician, when the job needs one, is passed through at about CNY 2,000 a day. A one-day factory check near a high-speed rail line usually comes to $60 plus the fare. A used-machine inspection with a technician, two inspectors and an overnight stay came to $861 all-in in September 2026. Large inspection firms charge $290–700 per man-day before travel.
Yes. A technician who knows the make joins our inspector, the machine is run under load for at least an hour, and the seller's claims about year, hours and repairs are tested item by item. Before a date is quoted, the seller is asked for three photographs. The worksheet and the full quote are on the page about pre-purchase inspection of a used excavator.
Yes. Send the listing or the PI. The seller company check is on every quote at no extra line, so you know who you are paying before anyone travels.
You get the report either way, with a measured finding and a photograph for every item. Rework and a re-check before loading cost one more inspector day; walking away is your decision, and the report is written so that either conversation is about facts.
Most factories and yards in eastern China within a few working days of the advance payment; the exact date is on the quote. Rush jobs at 24 hours' notice carry a 20% surcharge.
Yes. The same visit can become the loading check, and we arrange the truck, the container or flat rack and the export paperwork. See machinery shipping from China.
Send the PI or the listing, where the goods are, and when the balance is due. Names and details stay between us; we do not contact your seller unless you ask us to.
Shandong XiLink International Trade Co., Ltd · Jinan, Shandong · inspecting for buyers in 45+ countries since 2013. Your details go to our own inquiry queue, not to a mailing list.