Advice on using ALIBABA

[Arehman99]

Hi

Hope you are well. I was wondering if anyone can share their experiences on using Alibaba? Is good/bad, are there taxes, hidden costs, product quality any good etc? I have never used it before and I notice there are quite a lot of companies offering the products I require at a cheaper price then what I am currently paying. This is completely new for me so I wanted some advice. Thank you.

 

[Mr D]

It is good and it is bad.
Product quality is whatever you find it to be. Like asking what product quality the planet produces.
Up to you to check it.

Can find your samples come from one factory and your product from another. Or from the same place.

Can easily end up dealing with a middleman - not the factory.

Oh and don't forget shipping costs. Quite a bit higher than start of last year from what people are saying. And your import duty and taxes.
Its a good idea for anything but small quantities to deal with a shipping agent who can get the product delivered from factory to you. Small quantities can be dealt with by couriers.

 

[WaveJumper]

I used to source a lot of jet ski parts from China used Alibaba as a starting point. As MrD said you need to really check the quality, always sample, although thats not always full proof unless you have got someone checking the actual shipment before it leaves their factory. i always had the impression everyone in China seemed to be a middle man (or woman) so watch out for that one very difficult unless you take a trip out there.

Again as above people even before the shipping costs got hiked under estimated the cost of shipping and tax can make a very large dent in your profits if you are not careful in fact you mind find its cheaper to source local and a lot let hassle. As I type I remembered the only reason we went to China in the first place was the US where we were sourcing parts from were actually having them made in China

Ill warn you now you will get swamped with emails from companies on Alibaba once you start searching ...... best of luck