Product Identity Verification

Product Identity Verification

Before a product is created, renamed, or listed anywhere, its identity is verified against supplier correspondence — the actual order and invoice emails — not against listing names, older pages, or memory.

Why This Is Policy

The Da Dian Hao bing (2026): the wiki and the storefront both called it "2010 Da Dian Hao Yiwu '302 Collection' Sheng Pu-erh". The supplier thread in supplies@ (INBOX.Suppliers.TeaCurious, "Okay, back to wholesaling...!") told the real story: the order read "4 bings of 2011 Mangfei", the quote was "4 bings Mangfei = $85 / ea = $340", and the PayPal invoice was confirmed against it. The tea was the 2011 Da Dian Hao Mangfei "5 Year Anniversary" Old Tree bing all along — the "Yiwu" name leaked in because the same supplier also stocks a Da Dian Hao Yiwu offering, and sibling names travel well.

The identification flipped twice before the invoice settled it. Invoices don't flip.

The Rule

1. Order emails and invoices are ground truth for what a product is and what it cost. For supplier mail, check supplies@ first — vendors have their own folders under INBOX.Suppliers.<Vendor>.
2. Price anchors verify identity. A row's recorded batch price should match the invoiced price to the dollar (the Mangfei row's $85.00 matched "each 357g bing is $85" exactly). If it doesn't, stop and reconcile.
3. When two names disagree (wiki vs storefront vs registry), find the correspondence before picking a winner. Rename nothing on guesswork.
4. Sibling product names leak. Vendors carry product lines (Da Dian Hao makes Mangfei and Yiwu bings); a name from the same line is not the same tea.

Geography Notes Worth Keeping

• Yiwu (易武) is the famous pu'erh mountain region in Mengla, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.
• Mangfei (忙肺) is a village in Yongde County, Lincang Prefecture, Yunnan — a different region entirely. Da Dian Hao presses bings from both.
• Yiwu Qiaomu refers to old-arbor (qiaomu) trees of Yiwu — as in the Tavern's 2001 "Qiao Keli" brick (T-00023).

When in doubt, ask the supplier and save the answer. The thread is the documentation.