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“Is Alibaba safe and legit?”, “How Trustworthy is Alibaba?”. Yes, many new importers have these concerns.
In today’s guide, I will reveal the most common risks you might face when buying from Alibaba. More importantly, I share some of the tricks of the trade, including what products cannot be bought, which types of suppliers to avoid, and so on. At the end of the article, a checklist to identify suppliers is attached (8 tips).
I write this guide based on my years of practical experience, and I assure you that full reading brings you a pretty comprehensive understanding of Alibaba. You can click the following links, which bring you to the related content.
“Is Alibaba safe and legit?”, “How Trustworthy is Alibaba?”. Yes, many new importers have these concerns.
In today’s guide, I will reveal the most common risks you might face when buying from Alibaba. More importantly, I share some of the tricks of the trade, including what products cannot be bought, which types of suppliers to avoid, and so on. At the end of the article, a checklist to identify suppliers is attached (8 tips).
I write this guide based on my years of practical experience, and I assure you that full reading brings you a pretty comprehensive understanding of Alibaba. You can click the following links, which bring you to the related content.
At last, I made a checklist to teach you how to identify and select suppliers before ordering.
Check whether there are Trade Assurance, factory, and product certificates, plus other Ali certifications. This is a preliminary screening for Chinese suppliers.
Check the professionalism of the store’s product line to determine if the supplier is a factory or trading company.
In the case of paper straw machines that became popular abroad, many small manufacturers started selling this product. For example, with the following store, you can judge from the store name that this is just a supplier of printing machines.
When you search “drinking paper straw machine”, you will also find that many store names end with tech or machinery, so you could go inside to view their product categories to make a brief judgment.
You can see paper tube machines shown in the catalog. Drinking paper straw machine is just developed based on the paper tube machine. That is to say, this is the supplier specializing in this type of machine (obviously) and it’s the type of supplier you are looking for.
Many sellers display related photos about their office, photos of exhibitors, photos of certification, and so on. You may say the photos could be done by Photoshop. I have to say that people cheating with these kinds of photos are few and far between. Suppliers are deemed more reliable if they can provide photos that show themselves in the factory, at a production line, or in small videos.
The response rate on the right side of the page can be viewed.
After you have conducted a preliminary screening based on the information displayed by the supplier’s store, you can communicate with the supplier for further understanding.
Usually, you are communicating with the supplier’s salesman. Most salesmen have apps that allow them to communicate in real-time, such as WhatsApp, Skype, WeChat, etc. A timely-responsive supplier can sensibly report your order status and also solve the problem quickly so that you feel at ease.
You could determine the professionalism of a supplier by asking about the material and functionality of the product. If sellers can supplement your problems, it can also be assumed that they are well-experienced in this product category.
Many suppliers’ product categories are outdated (or not updated) on Alibaba. You can ask the supplier if they have the latest product catalog and product manual. Especially for those products with high professionalism (products like large machines), you need more parameters and details.
For example, a slitter with a speed of only 120m/min and a slitter with a speed of 300m/min can vary in price from thousands to even tens of thousands of dollars. You need detailed product manuals to know more about them.
Some Ali suppliers are happy to show their customers, but not all suppliers are. In most cases, the supplier will reject your inquiry for their customers’ contact information to retain customer privacy.
You can ask for the customer’s company name or their company website so that you can also understand the strength of their customer base plus the strength of suppliers themselves.
Ask suppliers if they are attending any big exhibitions like Canton Fair. Small suppliers do not invest a lot in large-scale exhibitions that can be found in ones like Canton Fair. Suppliers who can participate in various large or professional exhibitions are generally big and standard.
The above aspects are preliminary judgments for you to screen Alibaba suppliers. You must select those who can cooperate according to your product category and business model. These specific details need to be carefully captured in the process of communication.
Focus on 2 key points as follows:
As mentioned above, the supplier’s attitude is important, especially when accidents or dereliction of duty in their own business happens. If so, responsible suppliers would contact importers on time and actively solve problems. After all, no one can guarantee there won’t be any mistakes made. One practical tip is to trust your gut when communicating with them.
Now it’s Your Turn
In short, Alibaba is legit and safe. I hope you learned something new or enjoyed brushing up on your knowledge of safer Alibaba purchases. If you have any further questions, just feel free to CONTACT US.
Now I want to turn it over to you: Which tips mentioned in today’s guide helped you? Or do you have any other concerns about Alibaba? Let me know by leaving a comment below right now!