As you may know, Alibaba is the Largest B2B online Trading Marketplace in the world. This
is a place where you can get suppliers without
knowing their Physical store location or
factory.
Are you looking at venturing into online Importation Business?
Where you can buy cheap goods in large and small quantities and make
between 200% – 1000% ROI depending on the
goods you are importing?
Then, you are talking about Alibaba.
There are thousands of cheap products you can buy on the trading platform
ranging from Electronic Products, Children and
Adult wears, Phones and accessories, Sporting
goods and so on. Just think of any product you
would like to buy and resell for maximum
profit, chances are that you will find a
supplier or Manufacturer on Alibaba that will
offer you the goods at a dirty cheap price.
Although, Alibaba is a fantastic way to find suppliers, Manufacturers or
Distributors, there have been several reports
about people getting scammed by unscrupulous
Suppliers/Manufacturers that are available on the Trading Platform. Despite the efforts of Alibaba in ensuring that the Marketplace is safe for both the Sellers and the buyers, some dubious elements still found their ways to the marketplace and rip off unsuspecting buyers.
Having been a regular buyer on Alibaba for over 3 years,
Here are 6 ways not to fall into the hands of scammers available on the
site, based on my experience.
1. Just
Forget Brand Names
HP, Adidas shoes, Sony Plasma TV, Canon digital cameras are all available for purchase
on the site. However, your purchase of these
branded products would result in you getting
counterfeits or not getting any product at
all. If at all you get the counterfeit of
these product shipped to you, it will be very
hard to find customers that will buy the
products from you, because there would be an
obvious difference with your products and its
original version available in the market. And if you are able to get a customer, its either you sell it at a very cheap price which might give you little or no profit at all.
Manufacturers like HP, Sony, Samsung, Apple, Nike, Adidas already have strict
arrangements with select
distributors/wholesalers which I’m not sure
you would ever find on Alibaba
2. Never
Purchase a Supplier’s Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)
Immediately
The Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) is the least quantity of a particular product you
can order before the supplier can do business
with you, You will always see this on the
product’s information page. Although, it’s not
every product on Alibaba that has MOQ. But for
the products that have MOQ, It’s advisable you
first order for small units of the product to
have a glimpse of the product and detect any
irregularities before going ahead to place
order for the quoted MOQ.
You should only go ahead to order for the MOQ provided you are satisfied with the
sample you ordered for.
Although, Many suppliers will tell you that they have a MOQ on their advertised product
pages,
Most will work with you on small orders in order to build your trust, Most especially
when you tell them you are ordering a large
quantity but you want to test their product
first by ordering a small unit.
3. Never
Believe Too Much Gold Suppliers Are Scam Free
There is a general advice that you should only do business with Gold suppliers. Gold
Suppliers are those suppliers that have been
verified by Alibaba and are perceived to be
safe. However, there have been several
resolved and unresolved cases about some Gold
Suppliers getting money and not sending the
goods to the buyers. This is to say scammers
have also found their way to the League of
Gold suppliers and nobody can be trusted
again. But despite this, Gold suppliers still
remain the safest set of suppliers to deal with
on Alibaba. To confirm if a Gold Supplier is genuine
or not, Just follow these three advices:
1. Use the Company name they provide to find their company website on Alibaba
2. If the products offered to you by a supplier is in a different category to those in
Alibaba showroom, you may be dealing with a scammer. E.g if a company sells clothes but offer to sell you an iPad
3. It is advisable to contact suppliers using Alibaba TradeManager to confirm their
company details and their genuine email address.
4. Never
Believe too Much in Free Samples
Scammers are known to always use the bait of free samples to gain buyer’s trust and
later abscond with your money or send you
junks after placing a big order.
5. Always Use The Escrow Service
Whenever you are buying goods from Alibaba, Always make sure you use their Escrow
service in making the payment. Rather than
paying the supplier directly, you will pay
Alibaba, who will hold the money till you get
the goods and confirm your satisfaction. If
you are not happy with the product after
receiving it or you didn’t receive it at all,
you lodge a refund complaint and Alibaba will
refund your money.
6. Always
Do Your Due Diligence
Always make sure you carry out some background check on the suppliers you
want to transact with. Take your time to
research on the Alibaba Forums if there have
ever been any complaint about the supplier.
check the number of years they have been
around and the goods they majorly produce or
sell.
Remember you are in this business to maximize profit and not to get ripped off by
some unscrupulous elements. Hence, always do
your due diligence before transacting with any
supplier.
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See you at the top my friend!!!
