Who this program is for
Marketplace sellers list cable on large online platforms, often under their own brand, and ship through platform fulfilment centres or their own warehouses. The products are standardised and comparison-driven: a buyer sees ten 305 m Cat6 boxes side by side and picks on price, reviews and the words in the listing. That pressure is exactly why the category is full of cable that is not what the box says. The most common problem is copper-clad aluminium (CCA) sold as Cat6. For a seller, one bad batch can mean returns, negative reviews, a listing taken down or a dispute with a professional installer who tested the cable.
Lines marketplace sellers usually buy
- Cat6 and Cat6A LAN cable in 305 m pull boxes or reels, U/UTP or shielded; see LAN and coax cables.
- Coaxial cable such as RG6, where the conductor may be copper-clad steel or bare copper per datasheet; the listing must say which.
- Fibre patch cords in SC and LC, simplex and duplex, in retail bags with test labels.
- Solar PV cable H1Z2Z2-K in 100 m coils, red and black, for small solar and off-grid kits.
The CCA problem, and how the desk handles it
Category cable requires solid copper conductors. CCA has an aluminium core with a thin copper skin. It is roughly 30% lighter, cheaper to make and hard to spot in a photo. It has higher DC resistance, heats more under PoE, breaks more easily at terminations and commonly fails channel tests. Selling it as Cat6 is counterfeit, not a cheaper grade. The desk therefore treats conductor material as a pass or fail item on every LAN order, written into the spec sheet and checked on random boxes at inspection, whatever the price point of the listing. A quote that looks far below others for the same category and jacket is the first signal to ask for a sample box and weigh it.
| Check | What it shows | When the desk does it |
|---|---|---|
| Box weight against reference | A 305 m Cat6 U/UTP box of the reference construction weighs about 13.5-14 kg gross; a much lighter box is a warning | Sample approval and inspection |
| Scrape test on conductor | Copper colour throughout; aluminium shows silver under the copper skin | Random boxes at inspection |
| XRF test | Confirms conductor material where scraping is unclear | On request or by third-party lab |
| Conductor diameter | 0.555-0.58 mm for 23 AWG reference construction | Random boxes at inspection |
| Batch test report | Electrical performance against TIA-568 parameters | Per batch, from the partner plant |
More detail on spotting it is in CCA vs copper and counterfeit cable signs.
What the desk prepares
For each SKU the spec sheet fixes the category, AWG, conductor material, shield type, jacket compound and colour, jacket print text, box or reel artwork and carton marks. Box labels and listing claims are checked against the partner plant's actual reports. NEC fire ratings for building cable run CMP, then CMR, then CMG or CM, then CMX; a rating can only be printed where a listing held by the partner plant covers that construction, and US buyers generally expect the listing to be checked in the certifier's public database. For EU buyers, LAN cable for permanent installation in buildings needs a CPR class declared on the DoP. The desk inspects box count, length marks, print, carton marks and barcodes before loading; see testing and inspection.
MOQ, lead time and packing
Plant listings for Cat6 commonly show 50-100 boxes per order, with some accepting 10, and lead times from 5-25 days up to about a month. PV cable coils typically start from 100 m per colour, with larger plants preferring 500-2,000 m. Patch cords are ordered per length and connector type. Fulfilment centres often have their own carton, label and weight rules; send them with the brief so cartons are marked correctly at the plant. Everything is confirmed in writing per order; see MOQ and lead time.
Other risks for sellers
- Undersized gauge: a box marked 23 AWG with 24 AWG conductors. Diameter checks catch it.
- Unsupported fire ratings: CMR or CMP printed without a listing for that construction.
- Short boxes: 305 m marked, fewer metres inside. Start and end metre marks are recorded at inspection.
- Patch cord loss: cords shipped without IL and RL values. Per-cord test labels are written into the spec sheet.
Send your SKU list, platform, destination and carton rules through the quote form.