Personal name or shop name on a China order?
Use your full personal name, with your shop name alongside if you have one. Ask the supplier and courier to use the same buyer identity, and give your customs agent the matching importer details and EORI. Keep the delivery contact separate. Cambridge China Bridge can help coordinate the paperwork.
Put your identity beside your shop name
For a sole trader, you personally are the buyer behind the business. A practical order heading is “Alex Morgan trading as Fen Lane Goods”, using your actual full name and shop name. If you have no shop name, use your full personal name. Our guide to importing as a sole trader covers the wider liability position.
GOV.UK says your own official paperwork must include your name and business name, if you have one. For your purchase from China, ask the supplier to show both in the buyer details. This is a document control recommendation, rather than a claim about Chinese invoice law.
Send a reusable buyer details block
Before accepting the proforma, send the supplier and courier a written buyer details block. Ask them to copy the names rather than shorten, translate or substitute them. Use the same spelling as your customs registration records, and label the delivery address separately if it differs.
Keep identifiers in their own fields. Give your EORI to the party preparing the customs declaration and identify any VAT number separately. If a form asks for a company number or an unexplained tax number, explain that you are a sole trader and ask what identifier it needs. See which UK number a supplier wants.
| Field | What to provide |
|---|---|
| Legal buyer | Your full personal name |
| Trading name | Your shop name, if used |
| Buyer address | Your business address, checked against customs records |
| Customs identifier | Your EORI, labelled separately |
| Delivery details | Delivery address, receiving contact and telephone |
Check supplier and courier records together
Compare the buyer details on the purchase order, proforma and commercial invoice. Ask for corrections if the supplier uses only your shop name or puts the receiving employee in the buyer field. Keep the order reference consistent so the documents can be connected. Our purchase order and invoice guide explains their different purposes.
For the courier booking, ask where the buyer or importer identity is recorded and where the delivery contact belongs. If the courier system separates personal and business names, provide both in the appropriate fields. If it truncates names, ask how the full identity will reach the clearance team and request written confirmation.
Give explicit customs instructions
Send the customs agent your full personal name, trading name, buyer address and EORI together with the commercial invoice. Ask them to confirm that the importer identity corresponds to your registration records. HMRC’s declaration guidance calls for the importer’s full name, address and postcode where the importer name and address field is used.
Ask the agent which declaration fields apply to your shipment rather than copying the shop name into every available box. If delivery is to a warehouse or another person, describe that arrangement separately and ask the agent to confirm who will be recorded as importer. A delivery instruction should not leave the agent guessing.
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Resolve differences before dispatch
Review the final commercial invoice, courier booking and customs instructions side by side before dispatch. Check personal name, shop name, address roles and EORI. If a mismatch appears, ask the supplier or courier to correct its record and send the revised version to the agent. Ask whether the customs declaration has already been submitted.
Keep the approved versions and the correspondence explaining any correction with the order. If you change your shop name during the purchase, tell everyone handling the shipment and ask the agent whether registration details need updating. Use the first China order checklist for the remaining purchasing and dispatch checks.
Frequently asked questions
Can my first China order use only my shop name?
Ask for your full personal name alongside the shop name in the buyer details. This makes the person behind the sole trader business clear to the supplier, courier and customs agent.
What if I do not have a shop name yet?
Use your full personal name as the buyer. There is no need to invent a shop name for the paperwork. Give the supplier and courier the same buyer details.
Can the courier deliver to someone else?
Provide that person as the receiving contact, with the delivery address separately labelled. Ask the courier to retain your buyer identity and confirm the importer details with its clearance team.
What if the supplier invoice has the wrong name?
Ask the supplier for a corrected invoice and send it to the courier and customs agent. If clearance has started, ask the agent what correction is needed before assuming a replacement invoice resolves it.