# 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.