Alibaba - Some questions?

[Dunny]

How safe is it to use Alibaba?

What is FOB price?

How can I calculate the cost of shipping?

With electronic or mechanical items is a warranty normally provided?

By the time all of the costs are added (import tax?) is it really value for money?

Thanks

D

 

[Highland Park]

Your questions are mostly too vague to answer definitively, sorry.

FOB price: I would take to mean Free On Board meaning that you have no further costs in country of origin. Your goods are on a ship & your costs are from that point forward.

 

[davek17]

My personal experience of Alibaba is that it is a lot better than it was with many core manufacturers of components now selling direct on it. THey have brushed up a lot on the dodgy people.

Its great to source core products too. For instance it won't take you long to find out who makes all the different types of LCD's for smartphones and most of them are willing to sell to you direct. In this case always email them and get a dialogue going before you committ to anything.

Same rules apply though. Always check the company you give your money to, preferably try and meet them and ensure you check out the HMRC website for importing as a lot of goods are subject to all kinds of different taxes.

Try globalsources too as they have big meet the manufacturer events, and if you want an FOB price then you could get a drop shipper involved which is what all the Ebay crew tend to start up with.

 

[Dunny]

Your questions are mostly too vague to answer definitively, sorry.

FOB price: I would take to mean Free On Board meaning that you have no further costs in country of origin. Your goods are on a ship & your costs are from that point forward.

Thats OK, thanks for the response. Obviously I need to do a lot more research.

D

 

[Steven China forwarder]

How safe is it to use Alibaba?
-----most of suppliers there are really want to do biz , but some are frauds, especially when providing too low price than others, and askining you to pay all in advance (500USD below).

What is FOB price?
------free on board=seller's cost + profit + export local charges till it on board(like Customs Clear fee, Inspect, CFS, cartage,etc.)
search web, you'll learn more.

How can I calculate the cost of shipping?
------forwarders would bill you, when they're your forwarders. or you are experienced about export shipping charges. or sellers provide EXW and CNF rates, CNF-EXW,you will know the approx cost of shipping.

 

[Steven China forwarder]

How safe is it to use Alibaba?
-----most of suppliers there are really want to do biz , but some are frauds, especially when providing too low price than others, and askining you to pay all in advance (500USD below).

What is FOB price?
------free on board=seller's cost + profit + export local charges till it on board(like Customs Clear fee, Inspect, CFS, cartage,etc.)
search web, you'll learn more.

How can I calculate the cost of shipping?
------forwarders would bill you, when they're your forwarders. or you are experienced about export shipping charges. or sellers provide EXW and CNF rates, CNF-EXW,you will know the approx cost of shipping.

 

[foxyfashion4all]

Only my experience but I was scammed and lost £2,500. If abroad harder to check aswell.

 

[ihatebusy]

there are scammers existing on alibaba, actually scammers are everywhere...
FOB is a pricing include the products only, no shipping fee and others

 

[paulears]

Alibaba are a one way organisation introducing customers to manufacturers. It works pretty well, but if you do get a bad deal, thy cannot help. They'll pull the advertising of any dodgy companies but there is no redress. I got scammed for $800 - annoying, but not much I can do. Just use the clues that were there to not let it happen again.

 

[ChrisMono]

Alibaba used to have a horrific reputation. But they have cleaned up their act a lot! Escrow is really useful and some of the merchants even accept paypal. A lot of merchants will offer to dropship as well which can be useful for start ups.
I have had some luck with DHgate as well

 

[zgj512]

How safe is it to use Alibaba?

What is FOB price?

How can I calculate the cost of shipping?

With electronic or mechanical items is a warranty normally provided?

By the time all of the costs are added (import tax?) is it really value for money?

Thanks

D

1.To check those reputable suppliers on alibaba. They are more reliable.
2.FOB means free on board(seller's cost + profit + export local charges till it on board)
3.You can check the shipping cost with different shipping companies. From their quotation, you can judge the shipping cost.
4.yes
Hope this is useful for you

 

[paulears]

It's not correct to say they are safe. They are there to introduce business to business, and that works well. They do pull sellers if they turn out to be dodgy - but they have no ability at all to influence deals that go wrong. My single bad transaction was via an office in a building where I'd had good service. The scammers took the electronic transfers and vanished. alibaba can't do a thing. This seller vanished - their page now looks like this http://plemeira.en.alibaba.com/search/product?IndexArea=product_en&SearchText=microphone.

That is all Alibaba can do - remove the pages.

You MUST do research. My dodgy one was my own fault. A product I deal in, but much cheaper from this new seller. I put in the order without much thought, got the usual proforma back, paid it and waited, and waited. A very quick google search on their address brought back many people in the same boat. Stupid! I should have done this first, but didn't. I don't blame alibaba - just me.

 

[BensonYan]

i think you can find a trade company to help your business.

 

[richardho2007]

FOB is the product+inland shipment when they leave china
you can buy at FOB+shipemt cost from china to uk
www.sendfromchina.com
try to use this website to work out the shipment cost from china to uk.
need any help just pm me.

 

[BLintl.]

Agree with paulears. Alibaba may be good to find a supplier or buyer. Then you must do your own research, check the counterparty, analyse their website, payment methods they demand, contact information etc. Start with a simple registration check so you will know if the seller is a legitimate company or just a phony firm.

 

[beatrice-sz]

Alibaba used to have a horrific reputation. But they have cleaned up their act a lot! Escrow is really useful and some of the merchants even accept paypal. A lot of merchants will offer to dropship as well which can be useful for start ups.
I have had some luck with DHgate as well

Nice to hear it,we are also a wholesaler on DHgate for all kinds of mobile phone and accessories.Anything i could help you?

 

[necom-telecom]

paypal is a good patment tool, we like useing it make deal with customers , we offer mobile booster solver signal coverage problem in office and home ..

 

[livenz]

How safe is it to use Alibaba?

What is FOB price?

How can I calculate the cost of shipping?

With electronic or mechanical items is a warranty normally provided?

By the time all of the costs are added (import tax?) is it really value for money?

Thanks

D

FOB price= product cost+movement cost to the port.

you can ask for the freight forwarder for the shipping rate.

 

[mdsltd]

Stay away from anyone offering branded/designer products in mainland China.

 

[Chinestyle Fashion]

u said right.Now Alibaba has done many actions to clean frauds.
we can dropship with Escrow.if u interest in shoes&jewelry,pls give me PM,thanks!

Alibaba used to have a horrific reputation. But they have cleaned up their act a lot! Escrow is really useful and some of the merchants even accept paypal. A lot of merchants will offer to dropship as well which can be useful for start ups.
I have had some luck with DHgate as well

 

[Shirley Gao]

Alibaba is not like ebay. It is a business platform for companies. You could choose the product first and contact the company. They will give you the FOB or CIF price. Hope this could help you