Why Groundwork
Plenty of agencies will tell you they can check anything, anywhere. This page is about the opposite: exactly how one careful operator in China works, what you receive, and what you are not being sold.
You are hiring someone to answer a factual question on the ground and prove the answer. Everything below exists to make that trustworthy, in writing, before you pay.
One point of contact, start to finish
A single point of contact runs every engagement. You brief one person, and that same person owns the result. No call centre and no account-manager relay. On-site work is done by the operator; when they genuinely cannot be present, that is agreed with you before you pay, and any local representative then works under the operator's responsibility, never as a quiet swap.
You get evidence, not assurances
Every task is delivered with timestamped photos and a written report, plus video where relevant. The point is that you can check the work yourself: you see the place, the time and the finding, rather than taking an opinion on trust. Evidence from a completed task is delivered directly to the client who commissioned it, and is not published here.
A fixed written quote first, then payment
You approve a written fixed quote first, then pay, and only then does work begin. International clients pay through a PayPal invoice for the exact approved amount, paid on PayPal's own page. Clients already based in China can instead pay by Alipay, WeChat Pay or domestic bank transfer. Whichever method is used, we only ever invoice the exact amount in the written quote you approved, and we never ask for crypto, Western Union or card numbers by email. Your receipt carries a transaction ID and a timestamp.
For on-site days we confirm scope, travel and payment terms with you directly before anything is booked.
Transparent rates, travel at cost
Remote research is $129 per request, which is one eight-hour remote working day delivered within two business days. On-site work is $239 per working day, billed from departure with travel time counted as work time. Cross-city transport and accommodation are itemized at actual cost, with no markup, and appear in the quote you approve.
If we cannot do it, you are not out of pocket
Full refund if you cancel before we start, or if we cannot complete the task, and we keep evidence of the attempt. For remote requests, the cutoff is when we begin work on your request; a request we have not started is refunded in full. For on-site work, departure counts as starting. After work begins, any refund is pro-rated by the hour against the day rate and measured against your written quote: an item in the brief that is not evidenced in the delivered report counts as work not done.
Honest about being small and early
GROUNDWORK is a one-operator service, and the first client assignments are still being scheduled. There is no volume to advertise and no past results to display. The offer is simple: a factual answer from China, verified in person, on one flat rate with travel itemized, handed to you as a written report.