Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Amazon and Alibaba are two great sources if you are looking for how to boost your online business.
How to make your China import and export business successful? Buying and importing from Alibaba is an effective way.
I would say that finding an excellent supplier to work with is a critical step. The right supplier can support your business by giving a competitive price, solving the problem efficiently, understanding your demands, willing to grow the market together with you.
The critical question is how to safely source on Alibaba. And how to place an order on Alibaba without getting scammed?
Today we will introduce Alibaba hacks, eight steps to ensure a safe Alibaba buy after you read the post.
For most Amazon FBA sellers, buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon is a common way to generate more revenue. Alibaba is the largest wholesale site for a B2B business website. It’s the best choice when you want to find a supplier for your category while you are just starting your business.
What is Alibaba?
Alibaba.com is a well-known Chinese brand in global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. It is also the biggest and most active online trading market and merchant community in the field of global international trade.
Is Alibaba legit?
Alibaba was founded in 1999, it is a well-known and publicly traded company. Alibaba offers services like Trade Assurance, which protects buyers by guaranteeing refunds if the supplier fails to meet product quality or shipping commitments.
Most of the suppliers on this platform are safe. You can also choose “Verified” or “Gold” suppliers, which are verified suppliers.
Step 1: Understand the Basic Terms
Some people would ask how to find the right vendor and order from Alibaba.
Before approaching any vendors on Alibaba, here are some basic trading terms you should know when sourcing Alibaba products.
a) MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity. It refers to the minimum amount that can be ordered from a supplier.
b) FOB Price: It refers to the seller quoting a price, including all the costs of delivering goods to the nearest port.
c) CIF Price: Different from FOB price, under CIF Term.
The seller must pay the costs and freight including insurance to bring the goods to the port of destination.
Detail Explanation: Basic Trade Terms Alibaba Incoterms
d) OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer
It describes a manufacturer that produces or develops something that is sold by another company.
Here is an example: The Apple iPad was invented by Apple Inc, and then licensed out to Foxconn to produce.
e) ODM: Original Design Manufacturer
It refers to when the factories provide both design and production.
Step 2: Alibaba Keywords
Alibaba’s online shopping site works like a broad dashboard with a full range of Alibaba manufacturer directories.
Finding the correct keywords for describing your nitch is the 1st step when sourcing on Alibaba. Is it straightforward? Yes, it’s easy. But if you want to drive deeper into the resources you can find on wholesale sites like Alibaba, then you should invest more time in the product’s keywords.
1. Different Keywords are useful
In most cases, you may need to target more keywords when sourcing the products on Alibaba and then get more choices to find more suppliers online.
For example, you may need to use both “football” and “soccer” when you want to find the exact product you want. Both descriptions are correct, but you know the Chinese suppliers may just use one of them when they put on the details of products.
So always switch to 2-3 different keywords to see more in result pages.
2. Use the Keywords listed by the Suppliers
Checking what the keywords used by the Chinese suppliers are is necessary, especially if you can’t find the right products.
For instance, you may find a garment supplier is using the keywords” jumper” while you usually use the word “sweater” to source accordingly.
Then what you could do is see what’s the search result page for ” jumper”, ” pullover”…etc.
Remember, Alibaba wholesale suppliers are using English as a second language. Sometimes even people from English-speaking countries use different words when they describe the same thing.
A keyword is the primary and most crucial info that you need to gather when sourcing suppliers in Alibaba.
Step 3: Recognize and Select From the Various Suppliers
You will see lots of suppliers who may provide relevant products based on the typed keywords. It shows the best things to buy on Alibaba source.
But how to select the right vendor for your business?
Just like running a productive production line in the factory, pro sourcing is based on a series of guidelines to help you identify the best suppliers.
1. Who is that Alibaba Supplier?
You need to check who is the supplier, and what type of business they are doing. Are they a factory or trading company?
You need to understand the business type of your potential partner and then move to the next step.
2. Where are the Vendors?
If you have read my posts about the industrial clusters in China, then you would start to understand that you can find your product in advantageous regions where you may find the right supplier with competitive prices.
Also Read: China Factory Distribution in East of China
So look at their profile and understand where they are in the next step you can do.
3. What are the Categories?
By a glance at the major categories, you may have an idea about what kinds of products they are providing and whether they are trading companies or manufacturers.
4. Supplier reputation and buyer’s preference? Trick searching
By checking the reviews of the vendors, you would have a general idea about what kinds of products or services you might receive from the same vendor. Also, you can google the company name to see if there are apparent negative comments or scam info related to the suppliers on Alibaba. It’s critical before you finally contact them.
It’s essential to check the above four points before moving to the next steps.
Step 4: Check the Product Specification
Click the products that are the same or similar to what you wanted. After that, it will go to the features and specifications of the product page. You will get to view the following info.
- Reference price: the supplier will provide a reference price based on different quantities. The Alibaba prices here are only for reference.
- Items pictures: there will be more pictures of this product from a different angle
- Specifications: the product size and weight, packaging
- Material: it will show the product material, such as PP, PVC, ABS, etc., it’s also crucial info that matters in the final price.
- Check other details, such as available colors, certificates (FDA, CE, ROHS), MOQ (minimum order quantity), and lead time.
You can add several similar items to your Alibaba shopping cart. (Just like you did on Amazon, add to cart in the case when you need it)
After seeing this info, you should be able to judge if this is what you are interested products or not. If this is not what you’re looking for, then please go back to the above step and choose again. If you are interested in it, then it’s time to move to the next step, which is to check the profile of this supplier.
If you are going to order in a very small quantity, then Aliexpress (Alibaba Express) may work for you. Aliexpress wholesale is different from Alibaba. It’s more focused on the end consumer instead of the B2B business.
Lots of drop shippers are using Aliexpress as an excellent resource.
Step 5: Verify the Supplier
How to buy products from Alibaba safely? It’s an essential step to verify the supplier.
For further information, read this article: How to Verify Chinese Supplier’s Legitimacy
On the right side of the last page( the product specifications page ), you will see a short description of this supplier. You can find some critical info over there, such as the supplier’s transactions, response, on-time delivery rate, and the time of company establishment, longer establishment usually means the supplier has rich experience in their industry. Click the supplier’s name. It goes to the homepage of this supplier. Then you will see the complete description and info. There are the following sections on the top.
- Home page: there are some hot sell products on this page, you will also see the brands or customers that the supplier is working with and their available certificates( for some large-scale suppliers, they are qualified for supplying retailers )
- Products: the complete product line of this supplier, including all the products the supplier can provide. You can through this page to find your interested products.
- Company profile: on this page, you will see the complete info of the supplier, location, business type, ownership, employees, and the full description. You may also be able to check a video or some pictures.
- Contact info: if you are interested in the supplier, you can find the contact info on this page, fix and mobile number, and Email address.
- See company revenue: if the annual revenue is high, then maybe they are providing competitive products—numbers of the employees; Phone numbers, and Product certificates.
First, I would suggest you check the supplier’s catalog page.
It shows all the products that the supplier can provide. It may include different categories.
What you need to do is check the products that interest you. At this stage, you should have an impression of this supplier, which is a manufacturer or a trader. If they can provide different types of products based on different materials or industries, they are mostly a trader rather than a manufacturer. Also, you can check my last blog, which was How to Verify China Vendor? you will find the complete answers and guidelines.
Step 6: Contact the Supplier on Alibaba
If you are interested in this supplier after going through their website, you probably want to talk to them or get in touch with them. There are three different ways for you to communicate with them.
- There is contact with the supplier button on the right side. You can click the button and write down your needs and concerns and then send it to the supplier. You can choose to leave your contact info and ask them to contact you once they review your questions, or just wait for their feedback, and then decide to continue communicating or end the discussion.
- Online communication. There is also an online communication tool. You can click the button and talk to the supplier at any time. This is quite convenient, but due to the time difference, the supplier probably could not answer you timely.
- Phone call. If you are interested in this supplier and cannot wait to communicate with them, they have a phone call that would be the best choice for communication. As described in the last step, you can find the contact details in the contact section, pick up your phone dial the phone number, and talk with them, to avoid any misunderstanding, it is better to write an email with a summary afterward.
- At the end of the post, we will show a free email format for you to email your suppliers, and please download it when necessary.
Note: How to Pay Safely through Alibaba?
a) Use Alibaba’s Secure Payment Methods. Prefer Trade Assurance for payment protection. Accepted methods include credit cards, bank transfers (T/T), and PayPal (if offered).
b) Avoid Payments Outside Alibaba. Never pay via private bank transfers or apps outside the platform.
Please note that some merchants will ask you to transfer money privately for various reasons. Please do not believe it, as such payment is not guaranteed.
c) Request Proforma Invoice. Ensure all product and payment details are clearly documented.
Step 7: Conduct Video Factory Audit/Sudden Check
One way to ensure buying Alibaba safely is through a sudden check to the suppliers. You can avoid the Alibaba scams by doing this as well.
If they are the real supplier, then at least they can talk to you on Zoom, Skype, and WeChat to discuss the business.
You might request a sudden video meeting with your vendor to check the facility and the production line if they claim that they are a factory and produce for famous brands.
If the supplier always finds an excuse and fails to video with you, then it means they are not confident to speak English, or they are scammers.
Step 8: Other Features of a Reliable China Supplier
Above all, the essential skills to make your Alibaba safe buying from those Chinese suppliers. At last, I will share more about the features of proactive suppliers for reference.
- Complete and detailed reply about your question and provide extra info that may support your business
- Proactively and fast respond to your questions even if your order is in small quantity and willing to establish a relationship
- Be patient about your requests about the products or the packing, also sometimes make their work a little complex
If the supplier you met with the above features and can provide competitive prices with good quality, then they may become your partner.
From my point of view, the moment when you find the quality issues is one of the great moments to test if this supplier is worth working with or not in the future. Some will find an excuse or ask for an extra fee to solve it, and some responsible suppliers will try their best to fix it. Everyone makes mistakes, and the important thing is how to provide the solution and resolve it.
Read More Similar Posts:
Final Thoughts
Is it safe to buy from Alibaba? If you are equipped with enough skills, then the answer might be very positive.
We hope the article is helpful when you conduct your China product sourcing and manufacturing.
Below is the free email format you can download and send to your China suppliers.
Also, you can download the Alibaba app on your smartphone. Don’t forget to get it if you need product sourcing in China’s wholesale market.
OwlSourcing conducts responsible product sourcing and provides cheap shipping to the FBA warehouse.
If you have any questions or need any help when buying from China, please leave us a comment!
