Buying wholesale from alibaba.com

limits21

Hi,

Im just wondering if anyone here has had any experiences buying from suppliers on alibaba.com. They have great wholesale prices on most items but may be too good to be true?

Also, is there a way I can check if suppliers are genuine and are not just out to scam me?

Replies much appreciated.

Thanks

okidoki987

BBC1 Watchdog during one their programmes recently mentioned somebody doing a scam and using alibaba to sell.
Can't remember what it was though.

Max Power1

full of chinese tat and scammers tbh. Id stay well clear.

borderlinemeath

Depends on what you want to buy.

Majority of electronics seem to be forgeries.

Anything branded seems to be counterfeit.

Plenty of the suppliers are scam artists.

But if you're looking for cheap chinese knockoffs then it's the place to go!

James2693

Only way to be safe really is by using paypal. If the seller mentions western union...stay well clear

Tidy

yes , Use paypal is more safer . usually there is no problem deal with alibaba.com ,I have heard that alibaba have a new website for small wholesale order ,www.aliexpress.com , was is it ture ? and the price also looks OK .
Anyone have tried with it ?

Max Power1

Tidy wrote: »

yes , Use paypal is more safer . usually there is no problem deal with alibaba.com ,I have heard that alibaba have a new website for small wholesale order ,www.aliexpress.com , was is it ture ? and the price also looks OK .
Anyone have tried with it ?

aliexpress is the same as alibaba, full of tat, crap, scammers, fakes, and imitations.

jor el

James2693 wrote: »

Only way to be safe really is by using paypal.

There's never a safe way to deal with scammers. The only safe thing to do is steer clear of them. Scammers now how to beat the system, and it is possible to scam someone even when Paypal is involved.

KatoAfrica

I have used alibaba.com for general product price checks and product information, but as mentioned there are a lot of scammers.

Some are middlemen (traders), they might be ok to deal with, but you'll end up paying more - since they aren't the actual manufacturer/factory...which is who you want to deal with if you are concerned with price.

Also anyone (at least from China), who lists their product here knows they are targetting foreigners and will generally quote a higher price than say if you were a local chinese person contacting them...of course you can try bargain...

One useful feature I head a friend uses is the 'escrow' - a supplier will list if they support this in their profile (I think there is a little graphic/logo under their name now). From what I understand you pay into the escrow account and then you are sent the goods, when you receive the goods and they are ok, then you have to select 'approve' and only then is the supplier paid from the escrow account (which is controlled by Alibaba), if the goods are no good/faulty when you receive them you dont pay (I think the supplier has to pay for the return)...

aidan_walsh

KatoAfrica wrote: »

I have used alibaba.com for general product price checks and product information, but as mentioned there are a lot of scammers.

Some are middlemen (traders), they might be ok to deal with, but you'll end up paying more - since they aren't the actual manufacturer/factory...which is who you want to deal with if you are concerned with price.

Also anyone (at least from China), who lists their product here knows they are targetting foreigners and will generally quote a higher price than say if you were a local chinese person contacting them...of course you can try bargain...

One useful feature I head a friend uses is the 'escrow' - a supplier will list if they support this in their profile (I think there is a little graphic/logo under their name now). From what I understand you pay into the escrow account and then you are sent the goods, when you receive the goods and they are ok, then you have to select 'approve' and only then is the supplier paid from the escrow account (which is controlled by Alibaba), if the goods are no good/faulty when you receive them you dont pay (I think the supplier has to pay for the return)...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogus_escrow

KatoAfrica

Yeah, I'm not saying I disagree - its possible the alibaba escrow could be bogus.

But on the other hand, I'd also say they seem to be the operators of it (its a functionality/service they provide themselves) - not the individual suppliers...and thus they guarantee it, its not a collusion with the supplier...

Maybe someone that has used Alibaba escrow could comment...

jor el

Alibaba does not operate an Escrow service. Any supplier claiming to use an Alibaba Escrow is a scammer.

KatoAfrica

There's a big ad on the bottom left of the alibaba homepage for Escrow...leads to this page, looks like its run by them to me:

http://www.alibaba.com/help/escrow/buyer/landing.html?tracelog=24293_home_escrow_seller

jor el

That's new then, because last I looked they didn't offer one, but lots of suppliers and buyers were requesting it. Still be careful when you buy, and make sure it is Alibaba's Escrow that is being used, and not some site that the supplier has set up themselves.

Max Power1

I have used an Ali Baba escrow in the past. I can confirm that it is run by the owners of the site.

KatoAfrica

Hey Max Power1 - did the service work well for you?

I'm wondering if it works well when you need to return the product for being faulty...

I saw there is a charge of 3.09% to use it...is there a limit as well I wonder...