Liam in China

Full Channel Audit: Liam in China (@liamsourcing)

Data pulled: 2026-10-11 ~09:37 UTC (public data only, via yt-dlp). Compared with the snapshot from 2026-10-10 ~19:03 UTC ([local file]). Workflow: channel-auditor SKILL.md.

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@liamsourcing · ID UCSZP38GkKbnmig66RVgYetA · 27 subscribers · 19 public uploads (4 long, 15 Shorts, no live streams tab) · 9,409 total views

0. Changes since yesterday (Oct 10 ~19:03 UTC → Oct 11 ~09:37 UTC, ~14.5 h)

• New uploads: none. Same 19 videos; none removed.
• View changes: +1 total. Only "Your Chinese Supplier Is Ghosting You?" went 13 → 14. Every other video, including the newest upload (SJS-rmY9p0o, 15 views), showed the same public count as yesterday.
• Caveat: YouTube's public counts can lag or be cached, so "0 change" may partly be a reporting delay. Still, no video picked up visible traction overnight.
• Newest upload's views/day has fallen from 7.1 to 5.5 as it ages with no new views.

1. Data table (all uploads, newest first)

Raw CSV: [local file]. Views/day = views ÷ days since upload at pull time. Comments show as "n/a" where YouTube doesn't expose a count (zero or hidden).

2. Baseline

All 19 uploads are within the last 90 days (first upload 2026-09-16), so last-90-days = all-time.

3. Outliers and flops

Thresholds: outlier ≥2× format median, flop <0.5× format median.

Long-form (median 47)

• Outlier: How a Foreigner Runs a Sourcing Business in China (e-5k6TPOwxI): 1,300 views (27.7×), 52.4/day, 13 likes, 15 comments (most on the channel). Thumbnail: Liam driving, "No English No Problem". It's an identity/story hook that makes sense without prior context.
• Flops:
  • 48 Hours Failed, But This Time I Have a Different Story... (SJS-rmY9p0o): 15 views (0.32×).
  • Your Chinese Supplier Is Ghosting You? (xtpatU4s9RM): 14 views (0.30×), posted Sun 01:00 UTC.
  • The "part 1" (9ogwy0S0O8E, "What I Found in 48 Hours…") is 79 views (1.7×).
• Long-form pattern:
  • Flops use one-word question thumbnails ("GHOSTED?", "48 Hours?", "Failed ?! Not At All") and teaser or sequel titles that need context.
  • The winner states a clear, standalone premise.
  • All four use the category People & Blogs, and none have chapters.

Shorts (median 359)

• Outliers (6, all 2.75–3.45×), all posted Sep 17 – Sep 28:
  • qL4HZJptGow "This might be the most satisfying toy I found in China 😂": 1,237 (62.5/day)
  • S6fwdZtz_nY "I'm in China finding Halloween products you can actually sell.": 1,116
  • zEwmkEKI85E "🎃 Halloween Is Coming! What Are You Looking For?…": 1,095
  • cVk9XbgOPO4 "Ever wondered where all those viral scoops you see on TikTok actually come from? 👀": 1,089 (84.5/day, best rate on channel)
  • GeYgXbar-Xg "You won't believe the cost of this toy from the factory": 1,001
  • C8ibtkEje5I "What toys are you looking for comment below": 987
• Flops (6, 0.05–0.37×):
  • Jw9sJTcc7kQ "crazy stress balls": 133
  • bVI4TXQWBH8 "Whispering My Way Through a Chinese Factory": 40
  • lMLitEcEZ1k "Im your eyes on the ground… I can help you source": 37
  • k3CC-9-EXpM "where your package actually goes…": 26
  • tz7JtafTY0A "factory challenge like this?": 20
  • FZGuEVAmTCE "Can you guess the price of this toy?": 17
• Rising: b5mFZUpeCio "Don't negotiate with Chinese you'll be surprised": 359 views but 75.8/day, the 2nd-best rate on the channel.
• Shorts patterns:
  • Topic: winners are concrete toy or seasonal product reveals (satisfying toy, TikTok-viral scoops, factory cost, Halloween products to sell). Flops are a service pitch, logistics, a vague "challenge", or a guessing game.
  • Title structure: winners promise a payoff ("most satisfying", "won't believe the cost", "you can actually sell", "viral … come from"). Flops ask a question with no payoff.
    • Near-identical idea, different packaging: "You won't believe the cost of this toy from the factory" (1,001) vs "Can you guess the price of this toy?" (17).
  • Length: no signal. Winners run 14–22s and flops 11–22s.
  • Timing: no clear signal. Most uploads are 10:00–17:30 UTC, and winners and flops share the same days and hours.
  • Trend: the first 5 Shorts (Sep 17–22) all hit 987–1,237. Of 10 Shorts since Sep 23, only one passed 1,000 (cVk9XbgOPO4). Performance has declined as topics drifted from toy/product reveals.
  • Thumbnails: Shorts use video frames; I didn't assess them individually.
  • Hook: I only checked captions for SJS-rmY9p0o (Oct 10). It opens mid-sentence, has a holiday-traffic tangent at 0:16–0:35, and a "follow my YouTube" ask at 0:41, before any payoff.

4. Branding review (what a new visitor sees in 5 seconds)

• Handle / name: @liamsourcing / "Liam in China". Clear and consistent with the content.
• Banner: a New York skyline at sunset (Empire State Building) with no text. It says nothing about China, sourcing or factories, and actually suggests the US. There is no upload schedule or value line.
• Avatar: Liam in a gym, black tank top. Recognisable face, but nothing signals China or sourcing.
• About / description:
  • What it covers: sourcing from China, supplier verification, factory tours, life in China. Contact options: email, Instagram, WhatsApp.
  • It promises "new videos every week." Channel keywords are set (China sourcing, factory, Yiwu, etc.).
  • The description leads with sourcing-agent topics (Alibaba verification, import guide). The views come from toy/product-reveal Shorts, which it doesn't mention.
• Channel trailer / featured video: none detected. The home tab shows only a "Videos" shelf and a "Playlists" shelf. There's no Shorts shelf, although Shorts are 85% of channel views.
• Playlists: one, "Sourcing Diaries".
  • It contains SJS-rmY9p0o, xtpatU4s9RM, 9ogwy0S0O8E, plus one unavailable/private item (UWIqycD1rBY).
  • It does not include the best long video (e-5k6TPOwxI).
  • Its description still has unfilled template placeholders: "[your-business-email]", "New episodes every [week].", "Subscribe: [channel link]".
  • There are no Shorts playlists and no search-friendly playlist names.
• 5-second read: "A fit guy, a New York skyline, and 'Liam in China'." A visitor can't immediately tell this is factory and product finds from China.

5. Consistency

• Frequency: 19 uploads in 23 days (Sep 16 – Oct 8), about 5.8/week. By ISO week: 4, 6, 6, 3 (the current week is partial). The longest gap is 2 days. Cadence is strong and beats the "every week" promise.
• Format mix:
  • About 1 long-form a week: Sep 16, Sep 24, Oct 4, Oct 8.
  • Shorts almost daily: Sep 17 – Oct 6. No Short since Oct 6, the longest Shorts pause so far.
• Promise consistency:
  • Shorts are mostly toy/product finds, plus a few service pitches.
  • Long-form is a sourcing-diary series.
  • Branding promises sourcing-agent tips and life in China, with a US skyline banner.
  • So the three don't match.

6. Studio-only data: NOT AVAILABLE

Not public, so not reported (no estimates made). Please share YouTube Studio screenshots for:

• Impressions and click-through rate (CTR) per video, especially SJS-rmY9p0o, xtpatU4s9RM and e-5k6TPOwxI
• Average view duration / retention curves (first 30s), and Shorts "viewed vs swiped away"
• Traffic sources (Shorts feed, browse, search, suggested, external)
• Subscribers gained per video
• Audience geography, age, returning vs new viewers
• Whether Shorts have a "related video" link set (I couldn't verify this from public data)

7. Top 5 fixes, ranked by expected impact

1. Return Shorts to concrete toy/product reveals with a payoff title, and drop question and pitch Shorts.
   • Evidence: all 6 outlier Shorts (987–1,237 views, 2.75–3.45× median) are toy or seasonal product reveals. Flops of 17–40 views are pitches, logistics or guessing games.
   • Clearest pair: "You won't believe the cost of this toy from the factory" (1,001) vs "Can you guess the price of this toy?" (17).
   • Action: one specific product per Short, with a payoff title ("factory cost of…", "where the viral … comes from", "most satisfying…"). Keep service pitches in the description, not as Shorts.
2. Repackage long-form as standalone, product-plus-numbers stories instead of teasers and sequels.
   • Evidence: e-5k6TPOwxI (clear standalone premise) has 1,300 views. SJS-rmY9p0o (sequel, "Failed?! Not At All") has 15 with no change overnight, and xtpatU4s9RM ("GHOSTED?") has 14.
   • Action for SJS-rmY9p0o:
     • New title with the real product and numbers, e.g. "I Compared [N] Toy Factory Quotes in China — Real Price & MOQ Breakdown".
     • New thumbnail: Liam holding the actual product with two quote cards ("CHEAPER or SAFER?").
     • Add chapters (already listed in the description).
     • For future videos: payoff in the first 5 seconds, and the subscribe ask at the end, not at 0:41.
3. Make the channel home page sell the channel to new visitors.
   • Evidence: Shorts are 85% of views (8,001 / 9,409), yet the home tab has no Shorts shelf, no trailer and no featured video. The banner shows New York.
   • Action:
     • Banner showing China factory/product finds with a one-line promise and upload schedule.
     • Set e-5k6TPOwxI (best long, most comments) as the featured video for non-subscribers.
     • Add a Shorts shelf with the top toy Shorts first.
     • Update the description so its first line matches what actually gets views (toy and product finds from Chinese factories).
4. Turn the seasonal and negotiation winners into series now.
   • Evidence: the Halloween Shorts got 1,116 / 1,095 / 987, three of the top 7 videos. The negotiation Short b5mFZUpeCio is running at 75.8 views/day, the 2nd-best rate.
   • Action: start a Christmas / Q4 product-finds Shorts series and a negotiation follow-up (e.g. "How I negotiated a Chinese factory down on price — real numbers", using the real figures from SJS-rmY9p0o). Cut 2–3 Shorts from each long video, link them to it, and resume Shorts (none since Oct 6).
5. Clean up playlists.
   • Evidence: the only playlist ("Sourcing Diaries") has unfilled placeholders ("[your-business-email]", "[week]", "[channel link]"), an unavailable item (UWIqycD1rBY), and leaves out the 1,300-view e-5k6TPOwxI.
   • Action:
     • Fill in the description, remove or fix the unavailable item, and add e-5k6TPOwxI first.
     • Create search-named Shorts playlists, e.g. "Toys Found in Chinese Factories" and "Seasonal Products from China".
     • Consider switching category from People & Blogs to one that matches the content (the data doesn't show the effect; it's a low-cost test).

All changes are recommendations for Liam to make. Nothing was posted, uploaded or changed on the channel.

YouTube Coach revenue log: Liam in China (@liamsourcing, UCSZP38GkKbnmig66RVgYetA)

• revenue-log.csv: one row per weekly check-in (append only). Blank = not visible / not provided; never guessed.
• source: "studio-screenshot", "public" (yt-dlp subscriber count), or "both".
• revenue-screenshots/: Liam's Studio screenshots saved as YYYY-MM-DD-<page>.png.
• revenue-summary.md: latest numbers + week-over-week trend, rewritten after each check-in.