How to Check a Company Before You Order: Registers, Numbers and Red Flags

When a website or seller is unknown to you, the best check is also one of the simplest: look the company up in official registers. In most European countries, every business has a public identification number and the matching records can be consulted for free. Here is how to read these numbers, where to check them and which inconsistencies should worry you.

The numbers you may come across

Names differ by country but the idea is the same. In France, the SIREN (9 digits) identifies a company and the SIRET (14 digits) identifies one of its sites. In the UK, the company number is issued by Companies House. Germany uses the commercial register (Handelsregister) number, Spain the CIF or NIF, Italy the partita IVA, and so on. A VAT number usually begins with the two-letter country code followed by digits.

Whichever country, you are looking for three things: the company's legal name, its registration or VAT number and its registered address. These are the pieces to compare with what the website says.

What an online shop should display

Under EU e-commerce rules, a business selling online must make certain information easily accessible, typically on a “Legal notice”, “Imprint” or “About” page:

• the company name and legal form;
• a geographic address and contact details (email and, in practice, phone);
• the commercial register number and the VAT number where applicable;
• the terms of sale, the returns policy, and details on how to complain;
• for some countries, the name of the publication director and of the web host.

Total absence of this information is a strong signal. But its presence is not enough: you must check that it is accurate.

Where to verify, for free

1. The official company register of the country: Companies House (UK), the French national business directory (annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr), the German Unternehmensregister, the Spanish Registro Mercantil, and so on. Search by name or number to see the official record: status, address, creation date, activity, directors.
2. The EU's VIES service to validate an intra-EU VAT number.
3. Official gazettes and insolvency notices, which show insolvency and liquidation procedures (the BODACC in France).
4. The company's own website and social media: compare the details to spot inconsistencies.

Inconsistencies that should worry you

• The number matches nothing, or matches a different company from the name shown on the website.
• The company is dissolved or in liquidation while the site still takes orders.
• The creation date is very recent (a few weeks) for a site claiming to be a long-established brand.
• The registered activity has nothing to do with what the site sells: for example an IT consultancy running a clothing shop.
• The address is a mailbox, a domiciliation address or a location that matches no real business on an online map.
• The contact is a free email address unconnected with the site's domain name.
• Several shops share the same legal details, or the details are copied from a large retailer.

A five-minute method

1. Find the legal notice (footer or menu) and note the registration or VAT number.
2. Look it up in the official register: status, address, activity, creation date.
3. Compare with what the site says (name, address, email, domain).
4. Check the age of the domain name and look for independent reviews, outside the site.
5. Check payment methods and the returns policy before ordering. For your rights, see our guide to the right of withdrawal.

Scan Raccoon relies in part on this kind of public verification to help you judge a seller: you can also paste a website address directly to get an analysis in seconds.