If you have ever tried to source products from India on IndiaMart, you have probably noticed something unsettling. The platform has millions of listings, plenty of verified badges, and almost no way to know who you are actually dealing with.
Buyers are noticing. Recent reviews paint a consistent picture. Two supposedly different suppliers sent the same crypto wallet address for payment. Negative reviews disappear from seller profiles. Buyers report being bombarded with calls and emails from sellers for weeks after a single inquiry, with no way to remove their contact information from the platform.
The problem is not unique to a few bad actors. It is structural.
Why IndiaMart's verification does not actually protect you
IndiaMart offers several verification tiers including TrustSEAL, Leading Supplier, and Verified Exporter. They sound reassuring. But here is the reality: these badges are part of a paid service. Suppliers pay a significant premium to IndiaMart to receive them. A badge that can be purchased is not verification. It is a listing upgrade.
IndiaMart does limited background checks, meaning scammers can pay a premium to buy verified badges and use them to lure buyers into placing bulk orders.
IndiaMart primarily operates as a directory. It does not mediate disputes or enforce outcomes. If something goes wrong, they may provide communication records but the resolution is largely on you.
The lead quality problem
Beyond outright scams, there is a subtler issue. IndiaMart's sales team aggressively marks businesses as leads regardless of relevance. Buyers report being contacted by dozens of suppliers who have nothing to do with what they searched for. As one Reddit user in r/IndiaBusiness put it, the platform is used by many sellers as a reference point to find contact information, not as a genuine marketplace for transactions.
A badge that can be purchased is not verification. It is a listing upgrade.
What actually protects buyers sourcing from India
The missing piece on IndiaMart and most B2B directories is simple: someone with skin in the game who actually verifies the supplier before connecting them to a buyer.
That means physical verification, checking the facility exists, confirming the products match the listing, reviewing export documentation, and assessing whether the business has the capacity to fulfill international orders. None of that happens with a paid badge.
Platforms that do in-person supplier verification before listing are a fundamentally different category from directories. The verification happens before you ever make contact, not after something goes wrong.
Dyraja is building exactly that for Indian, Kenyan, and Vietnamese manufacturers. Every supplier is visited in person by our local team before they go live on the platform. If you are sourcing from India and want suppliers you can actually trust, join our buyer waitlist at dyraja.com.