Trusted agarwood suppliers: what makes one reputable?

"Reputable supplier" is used loosely in the agarwood trade, often by sellers describing themselves. What separates a reliable supplier from an unreliable one is not the label but a set of specific habits that you can check before you buy.

Documentation

All Aquilaria and Gyrinops species are listed in CITES Appendix II, so commercial shipments of agarwood across borders need export permits issued by the exporting country's CITES Management Authority, as covered in agarwood and CITES explained. A supplier that ships commercially across borders should be able to talk about this confidently. Small personal purchases often come without permits, which is normal.

If you need to confirm a permit, the issuing Management Authority is the body that can do so. The CITES Trade Database maintained by UNEP-WCMC records reported trade volumes; it is not designed as a lookup for individual permits, so a seller suggesting you "check the serial number online" there is describing something it does not do.

For oil, some specialist sellers can provide GC-MS lab reports for expensive purchases, as covered in buying oud oil. A supplier who can produce this kind of evidence, even if only for higher-value items, is working differently from one who cannot.

Consistent, explained grading

There is no single international grading standard for agarwood. What a reputable supplier can do is use its own grade names consistently across its catalogue and explain what each one means in resin, density and origin. Some suppliers relate their grades to established conventions, such as those covered in Vietnamese agarwood grading and Middle Eastern oud grading. Grades applied loosely, or differently from one listing to the next, are a sign of less careful practice.

Track record

Time in business is a meaningful, if imperfect, signal: a seller who has traded for years without a pattern of complaints has had more chances to be caught out. Independent reviews that mention specifics, such as accurate descriptions, consistent quality or good handling of a problem, are more useful than star ratings alone. A new seller is not automatically untrustworthy, but carries more unknowns.

Honesty about limitations

A supplier who tells you that a batch is plantation grown rather than wild, that an oil has not been lab tested, or that a grade is mid-range rather than premium, is often more credible than one who describes every product in superlatives. Clear differences between tiers, at clearly different prices, are a good sign.

How to check these things

• Ask specific questions about origin, source, grade and documentation, using questions to ask before you buy oud.
• Look for independent reviews that mention details, not just praise.
• Compare how the seller describes similar items across its catalogue.
• Start with a small order before committing to a larger one.
• Treat vague answers, shifting grades and no checkable history together as a real warning sign, as covered in red flags when buying agarwood.

How our directory fits in

Our supplier directory lists distillers, sellers, wholesalers, growers and perfume houses by country and type. It records the sourcing, testing and permit claims suppliers make and flags them as unverified until we can confirm them. It does not vet or endorse sellers, though we do exclude businesses linked to fraud investigations or credible fraud complaints. Use it as a starting point for your own checks.