“Alibaba is a SCAM” – you’ll find this written everywhere online! The truth is, yes, it is possible that you may get scammed on Alibaba.com IF you don’t know what you’re doing. However, with the information you learn in this blog post, the chances of you getting scammed on Alibaba will be very slim.
Is Alibaba Legit?
Just to be clear: Alibaba itself is not a scam. In fact, it’s one of the largest companies in the world, with a market value of tens of billions of dollars. Alibaba.com is simply a platform where buyers and sellers meet. Yes, there are some scammers on Alibaba, just like any other online platform, but that doesn’t mean Alibaba itself is a scam. By that logic, you can say that eBay, Amazon and Gumtree are scams because you can find MANY unscrupulous businesses on those websites, too.
That’s why I find it hard to answer when people email me asking for an Alibaba review, because that depends entirely on the seller. If you’re asking purely for my review of Alibaba as a website, then the answer is I love it! Yes, it is reliable! It’s made sourcing from China, and many other countries, incredibly easy and opened up opportunities for people who previously would never have been able to start their own private label business. So if you’re wondering if Alibaba is legit and safe to use, then my answer is a resounding yes. But of course, that is true IF you know what you’re doing.
And that’s what today’s blog post is all about. I’m going to show you how to spot scams on Alibaba and how to find trustworthy and reliable Alibaba suppliers, using the 15-step system which I’ve used to find suppliers for my own 7-figure Amazon FBA business.
The Myth of the Alibaba Scam
And for me the biggest problem that this “Alibaba scam” myth creates is that it makes people who are new to importing too afraid to even start their research process. They have that one line repeating in their minds “Alibaba is a scam, Alibaba is a scam, Alibaba is a scam….” and that’s why, with today’s blog post, I want to clear the air once and for all. I will give you a step-by-step filtering system that you can use to spot Alibaba fraudsters and avoid 99% of scams on Alibaba and unlock the potential of one of the world’s biggest online marketplaces.
Also, we need to differentiate scams from bad suppliers. A scam is when you buy something and never receive it. Or receive a fake item. That’s a scam. A bad supplier is someone who suddenly changes an item’s price in the middle of the order, has a high defect rate in the final order, sends you poor quality goods, etc. That’s a bad supplier and unreliable supplier and someone who you should no longer consider trustworhty with respect to your expectations, but it’s hard to call it a scam, as maybe they simply can’t produce goods that are up to quality you want. That is a whole other conversation, of course, but this article is specifically focused on obvious SCAMS where the “supplier” takes your money and disappears with it.
Before we get into the actual verification and scam filtering process, let me quickly remind you that you cannot get any kind of branded items wholesale from mainland China. I’m talking about everything from electronics, video games and software to designer clothes, shoes and other similar items. If you’re looking for anything branded, China is NOT the place to go. At worst, you’ll get scammed and receive nothing. At best, you’ll receive worthless fakes.
What is a branded product?
By branded products, I mean products that are manufactured by well-known companies, like:
- Apple
- Under Armour
- Samsung
- Nike
- Sony
- Lego
- Etc.
These are brands that are well known to everyone, and even though most of their products are manufactured in China, you CAN’T buy them wholesale from Alibaba or other similar sites—you simply cannot!
Companies with manufacturing operations in China have very strict distribution policies in place, so it’s not like someone can walk out of a Foxconn factory (they do most of Apple’s products) with ten iPhones or iPads in their pockets to sell on Alibaba. It is simply not possible to buy iPhones directly from Foxconn, even though they’re the ones who manufacture them.
This is NOT how things work in China!!
All of those well-known brands only distribute their goods through official, tightly secured channels. You won’t find these products advertised on Alibaba. If you do see ads for such products, there’s a 99%+ chance that it’s a scam!
Another product type you have to be VERY careful with is licensed products. These are products that carry some sort of intellectual property on them, such as:
- Disney cartoon characters
- Images of famous people
- Sports team logos
- Olympic logos/themes
- Video/mobile game characters (Angry Birds, Pokémon Go, etc.)
- Automotive industry logos, trademarks (Audi, BMW, etc.)
- And so on!
To produce products with intellectual property designs on them, a manufacturer needs a special license agreement with the IP owner and has to pay fixed or ongoing fees for each item they produce. Most suppliers in China don’t have any such agreements in place, so they basically use these designs WITHOUT the owner’s approval. This is illegal, of course, and purchasing these items can get you in a lot of trouble.
In some cases, large manufacturers will have licensing deals in place, but you should always ask for proof and try to verify it if possible. These will be very rare situations, though, so in general, I recommend you STAY AWAY from any products that involve IP designs when ordering from Alibaba and China in general.
Now, back to Alibaba. The company has actually improved its website and listings significantly in regards to counterfeit and unlicensed products. These days, it’s very hard to find any “branded” items on Alibaba as they have removed most of these listings and suspended the offending advertisers. Years ago, you could do a search for any hot selling product such as consoles, shoes etc. and get hundreds of results full of Alibaba fraudsters. I just tried a similar search and it returned ZERO results.
They now even put up a special message when you make searches like these, warning you that it’s a branded product and you need to be very careful when ordering such items from suppliers on Alibaba.
Anyway, what does any of this have to do with our original topic? Well, the number one rule for how to avoid getting scammed on Alibaba is: STAY AWAY from anything branded! You can only source unbranded goods wholesale from mainland China!
That’s what you want anyway, right? I mean, if you want to source products from China to sell on eBay or Amazon, you will want genuine manufacturers who can supply you with products you can put your brand on, provide custom packaging, etc. There’s only a very small profit in brand-new branded goods for online resellers (in most cases), so it’s not even worth considering if you want to build a profitable business.
Marketplaces are full of sellers offering branded items and because multiple people sell the exact same product, the only differentiator is the PRICE! Whoever offers the lowest price for the item makes the majority of the sales. And trust me, when your competitors deal in tax evasion, grey imports and even stolen goods, you won’t stand a chance competing with them.
Once you eliminate branded goods, you’ll see that it’s actually very difficult to get scammed on Alibaba because most “normal” product suppliers on Alibaba are genuine companies.
And that’s why this is my number one tip for how to not get scammed on Alibaba.
Plus, Alibaba offers a range of tools to help us verify the supplier, use safe payment methods and they cover the whole transaction inside Alibaba’s Trade Assurance platform.
Still, by using the following Alibaba scam-filtering system, you will quickly and efficiently filter out bad suppliers and identify the best of the best! As I said, it’s not enough to simply filter out scams, you also need to avoid bad suppliers as no one wants to deal with defective products, delayed orders, mispacked items, etc.
Without further ado, let’s get straight into the process of finding GOOD suppliers on Alibaba, which will also show you exactly how to avoid scams on Alibaba.
15-Step Alibaba
Scam-Filtering System
This whole system relies on your ability to analyse a supplier’s profile on Alibaba (and outside of it) and to know if a seller on Alibaba is legit. If this is the first time you are using Alibaba’s website, take some time to analyse a few supplier profiles. This will help give you some context for all the information I cover in this post.
Once you become more familiar with the process, you will realise that you can filter out suppliers VERY quickly just by taking a look at their profile. So, there’s a small learning curve involved, but it’s really nothing to be afraid of.
Here are the 15 KEY elements to look at when you evaluate a potential scam on Alibaba.com:
1. Gold Supplier
What is GOLD supplier status on Alibaba? It’s a premium, paid account status for suppliers and it costs several thousand dollars per year. Having this status doesn’t necessarily mean that the supplier is 100% legit, but scammers usually don’t pay for Gold supplier status because they need to change accounts very frequently and this extra cost is simply too much for them.
Scammers usually stick with FREE Alibaba accounts and simply hope that newbies are unaware of this because they don’t understand how Alibaba works.
I personally NEVER deal with any free account suppliers as the concentration of scammers is the highest within this group!
If possible, I always try to stick with Gold suppliers who have at least a three-year track record on the site. Gold supplier status is still the number one thing to look for when searching for reliable suppliers on Alibaba and to avoid scams, especially when used in conjunction with filtering out first-year and second-year suppliers.
To see if a supplier has Gold status or not, you simply go to the product page or supplier profile and look for the number, which also tells you how many years the supplier has had that Gold status. This is the same number you can see in the search results, so if you get a huge list of suppliers for the product you’re searching for, you can identify the most established suppliers right from the search results.
If you see a Gold status supplier in their sixth, seventh or eighth year, it’s a sure sign that it’s an established company. The chances of them being scammers are incredibly slim. Scammer accounts simply don’t last that long. They get caught sooner or later.
There is an Alibaba fraud scam currently going on involving Gold suppliers, though, as scammers sometimes HACK Gold status supplier accounts or buy them from companies that go out of business. This is a very smart tactic because you, as a buyer, could tick all the boxes I cover here, and it could still turn out to be a scam.
So, how can you spot these scammers? In 99% of cases, scammers will use the Gold status supplier accounts they’ve acquired to sell highly popular BRANDED goods, like PlayStations and similar. Remember, I’ve already warned you that Alibaba is NOT the place to look for such items, so if you see these types of offers, you will know immediately that it’s a scam.
Furthermore, when you start communicating with scammers, you will quickly realise that they’re full of s**t! They oversell to you SO HARD by offering incredible deals, like “Buy two PS4 consoles and get one free”. All with FREE delivery, of course. C’mon! It’s way beyond a too-good-to-be-true deal! Plus, they will only use unsecure payment methods, which we’ll cover in more detail later in this post.
2. Verified Supplier
You can select the “Verified Supplier” filter right from the search page, if you want. I don’t do this, though, as not all suppliers are verified, so if you’re dealing with a product that is not very popular, you could filter out many suppliers who could be good, even though they’re not verified.
What does verified supplier mean on Alibaba? “Verified Supplier” means that a third-party inspection company (such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, TUV SUD or others) have carried out an independent inspection of the company. They check and verify things like:
- Company profile certification
- Business scope certification
- Enterprise qualification certification
- Product R&D capability
- Quality assurance capability
- Aftersales service capability
- Associated factory
- Cooperative factory
- Etc.
If the supplier has been verified, you will see the special verified logo on their Alibaba profile, as well as a list of things that have been verified.
Then, you can click on the individual items to get more information or access visual materials on the aspects that have been verified. This is a super powerful and easy way to see if you can trust this Alibaba supplier and if they’re who they say they are.
I have been in the business of importing goods from China for more than 15 years now and I have seen how Alibaba and suppliers on the Alibaba platform have progressed over the years. A decade ago, all we had to go by was the Gold supplier status—that’s it!
Nowadays, we get so much information, pictures, videos, certificates, verification seals, etc. It has never been easier to spot scammers because the good, genuine suppliers have nothing to hide. They know that people have “trust issues” with Alibaba, so they invest their money into Gold supplier membership, verification, panoramic images, videos and everything else!
As soon as you start researching suppliers, not only will you be able to filter OUT scammers and bad suppliers, but you will also be able to filter IN the really professional, established manufacturers from the short-lived trading companies and other middlemen.
So, please use all this additional information to your advantage. Be sure to check out all the verified documents, images, videos, certification and compare suppliers to find the most professional and reliable ones.
Ok, the next part of my filtering system is:
3. Trade Assurance
Trade Assurance is Alibaba’s own platform for placing orders and managing payments. If the supplier accepts Trade Assurance, it’s another great sign that it is a legit Alibaba seller. When orders go through Trade Assurance, IF DONE PROPERLY, you will get protection for your order and you will be able to use safer payment methods, such as a credit card.
Now, if you don’t use it properly, things can still go wrong with a Trade Assurance order, especially when there are differences in opinion about the quality of the items delivered. To minimise problems, you have to be very specific with your order, have all the item specs written down in your order, stick to the payment deadlines, etc. I won’t get into all the details in this article as I have written a separate guide on Trade Assurance here.
Just like with the Verified Supplier filter, you can select the Trade Assurance filter directly on the search page, under the Supplier Types dropdown menu:
Trade Assurance is definitely a good sign of a trustworthy supplier, but you shouldn’t automatically eliminate everyone else. Some perfectly legit suppliers on Alibaba do not use Trade Assurance. Basically, you have to look at it from the perspective of how many suppliers there are for the product you are searching for. If you get TONS of results, then it can be a good idea to only contact suppliers who accept Trade Assurance.
On the other hand, if there are only seven suppliers and three of them don’t use Trade Assurance, I would consider all seven before making any decisions.
4. Transaction History/Level
Transaction history is indicated by the small, orange diamonds next to the supplier name. These are also shown in the search results. Basically, it indicates how much in sales a supplier has done on Alibaba and, obviously, the bigger these numbers are, the better. It is a good indicator that it is a legit company with regular orders.
Of course this is fairly self explanatory – if I see a supplier on Alibaba with hundreds of thousands in sales, then it’s very unlikely they’re a scammer as after a few people complain of a scam then you can trust Alibaba to take the seller off their site.
I wouldn’t rule out any supplier simply because they have no transaction history, though, as only Trade Assurance orders are included and many companies work outside the Trade Assurance platform.
Just keep this filter in mind as an option for extra proof that you’re dealing with an established seller.
5. Ratings & Reviews
This is a relatively new feature on Alibaba, but it is highly welcomed as we can finally see what other buyers think about the supplier and their products.
It’s great that they also list which product the feedback/review was left for and the buyer’s country. I don’t know how much feedback manipulation goes on within this process, but so far it seems quite believable because the review numbers are not that high and, in most cases, they do seem quite honest to me.
It’s probably not that easy to scam the system with fake reviews as these are from genuine orders that go through Alibaba itself, so it would be a lot of hassle to game the system that way.
Anyway, I wouldn’t base any decisions on looking at the reviews alone—unless they’re very bad, of course! If they clearly indicate that the product quality is low, the supplier made mistakes with the order, etc., that’s a good reason to remove that supplier from your shortlist. As time goes by and the number of reviews increase, this will become a much more useful tool for buyers. Again, bad reviews doesn’t necessarily mean they’re an Alibaba fraudster, but it does mean you should keep looking for a reliable and safe supplier!
6. Factory Inspection
This is a SUPERB way of looking behind the curtain and seeing whether the Alibaba profile of the company matches with what they’re actually doing. One of the biggest problems that buyers encounter is separating trading companies from true manufacturers. An inspection report solves this problem as it will be OBVIOUS from the images in the report if it is a factory or trading company.
Trading companies usually don’t do these inspections at all, and if they do, all you will see is an office building or office space with chairs and desks. However, factory inspection reports will show you their manufacturing plant, the tools they use, their warehouse space, etc.
I have already written a guide on how to do Chinese supplier inspection on your own, but it’s great to see that Alibaba has implemented this into their portal and allows suppliers to do this themselves by uploading inspection reports on their profile page.
One thing to look out for on these inspection reports is the DATE of the inspection. If the report is several years old, a lot of things could have changed with the supplier. They could have moved locations or sold the business altogether. Ideally, I would want this report to be no older than one to two years at the most.
Not all suppliers will have them uploaded, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not a good supplier. I have often done inspections on my own, even paying for them if the final supplier I have picked for a product meets all other requirements, offers the best prices, has great sample quality, etc. Again, you can read more about that process in my Inspection Reports blog post.
7. Certificates
Many suppliers will show off scanned certificates for their products (CE, for example), their manufacturing facility (ISO) and other parts of their business. It’s just more proof that you’re dealing with a genuine supplier.
Also, there will be some products that require specific certificates to import goods from China, so be very careful when sourcing such products and always look for companies who have those certificates on hand.
Be warned, though! There are cases where suppliers use fake certificates, so to be 100% sure, you should verify these certificates. Usually, you’ll find the company/organisation name of the certificate issuer on the certificate itself. You can then contact them and ask for verification of that certificate.
Many testing houses even have online testing facilities that allow you to check such certificates for free, instantly, like on SGS’s website, for example.
Once again this is an expense that most scammers simply won’t bother with and an easy filter to help you avoid getting scammed on Alibaba.
8. AliExpress Store
These days, more and more Alibaba companies are opening AliExpress stores where you can shop safely for small MOQs and pay securely via escrow using your credit card. If a supplier has an AliExpress store, check it out. Specifically, check out their feedback as it can tell you a lot about the product quality, how quickly the supplier dispatches goods, etc.
How do you find out if a supplier has an AliExpress store?
Simply go to the supplier’s profile, then click on “Contacts”. Usually, suppliers will put a link to their AliExpress store under the website links option—if they have one, that is.
And you can take this even further. Quite often, just to save myself some time and avoid unnecessary communication, I use a supplier’s AliExpress store to order samples. This way, you can easily check the quality of the product and, if you’re completely happy with everything, place your real wholesale order by contacting the supplier directly through Alibaba or even through AliExpress!
Yes, you can even get significant discounts when buying in true bulk on AliExpress, so if you want to stick with AliExpress and its escrow system, you can simply negotiate a deal with your supplier there. Just keep in mind that it will always be more expensive than dealing with the supplier directly, as AliExpress takes a cut in fees for each transaction.
Again, not all suppliers will have an AliExpress presence, so don’t eliminate any supplier just because they don’t have a store. True manufacturers usually don’t deal with retail customers, so they typically won’t have an AliExpress store. Often, though, they will have a sister trading company that deals with retail customers, so you can always ask the supplier whether their products can also be purchased on AliExpress or not.
In terms of filtering out any scammers, think about it from their point of view – why waste time with small orders on AliExpress? If you can only scam a few people before Alibaba shut you down then of course you’ll go for as high an order value as possible. That’s why an AliExpress store is another easy sign that you’re dealing with a reliable Alibaba supplier.
9. Live Factory Video
If a supplier has a video on their Alibaba profile, check it out! If it’s produced by Alibaba themselves, it’s a sure sign that the company is real and genuine. If not, use it to look for signs that this truly is the same company they claim to be (logo/company name on office walls, factory footage showing production of the goods they’re advertising, trade show footage, etc.).
And this also applies to the images a supplier uses in their profile and product listings. I’m always wary of suppliers who use stock images in their profile or listings. Only one thing crosses my mind: they have nothing to show!
Trading companies are usually the ones who do this. They only have a few office images, stock product images and some mysterious, blurry factory images, so you can’t really understand what is going on there.
My ideal supplier has tons of pictures showing their factory, the entrance to the factory, the reception desk with a logo on it, etc. The more images there are with the factory name or company name showing, the better! These are all great signs that you’ve found a reliable Alibaba supplier that you can trust.
10. Website
If a company owns a proper, standalone website in English, that’s another good sign that you’re dealing with a reputable company. You should also do a “Who Is” database check to find out when the domain name was registered. In this case, the older the better.
But don’t expect world-class website design here! Most Chinese supplier websites are very basic, even old-fashioned, and they load very slowly. This must be something to do with the internet connection speeds in China or their hosting, but it’s okay. In fact, it’s completely normal.
On a side note: even if a company has a decent website, I usually stick to dealing with them through Alibaba. Sometimes, there can be exceptions. For example, sometimes the sales agents on the website’s live chat are much faster to respond than those on Alibaba. This is most likely because they view a website lead as being much higher in value than an Alibaba lead, where they get lots of time wasters.
So, yes, if you need to make contact and the website has live chat, do try to use that option. But mainly this is just another indicator of a genuine long running supplier.
11. Trade Shows
Whether it’s on a company’s Alibaba profile or their website, look for trade show information.
Scammers, in general, DO NOT attend trade shows, so if you see trade shows listed for the up-coming months or past trade show information with pictures, it’s another good sign that you’re dealing with a legitimate business.
However, always try to verify this information on the official trade show website (for example, China’s biggest trade show is called Canton Fair). As you are now aware, some Alibaba fraudsters like to make things up, so you can’t blindly trust everything they say and show. Make an effort to verify all information on your own before you believe it.
12. Google Search &
Global Sources Profile
Do a quick Google search of the company’s name. Quite often, you’ll find links to their profile on other Chinese B2B websites, such as Made-in-China.com or GlobalSources.com.
If the company has a verified profile on Global Sources, the chances of them being a scam are reduced to an absolute minimum because Global Sources takes its verification process very seriously and has extremely stringent requirements for authentication.
So, depending on the number of stars that a supplier has on Global Sources, you can be sure that you’re dealing with a real company.
While you’re doing your due diligence on Google, do another search for “company name + scam”. Usually, this will pull up any forum posts or scam reports associated with that company.
13. Invoice/Bank Details
When you’re already in the negotiation process and receive your first pro-forma invoice, always check the company name, address and bank details. It should be exactly the same as on their Alibaba profile.
NEVER send money to a personal bank account! This is the most common scam played out on Alibaba: the supplier will tell you that they’re having a problem with their business account and will ask you to please send the money to their boss’s account. NEVER do that! Money that goes to a personal bank account is usually money down the drain.
Scammers will also often try to use different companies for receiving money. If the company name on the invoice is different to what you’re dealing with on Alibaba, be very careful. It could be that they have a legitimate sister trading company set up for dealing with international clients, but you definitely need to ask questions and get answers that 100% confirm what they’re saying.
14. Payment Options
If the only payment methods a supplier accepts are Western Union and MoneyGram, run away! I would never even consider dealing with such a supplier. While not all suppliers in China will accept PayPal or use the platform’s Trade Assurance, a bank transfer to a company’s account should be a default payment method that is always available to use.
If they also accept Trade Assurance, a letter of credit or PayPal, even better! But never use a supplier if the only payment options are Western Union or MoneyGram!
The only time that I’m happy to use Western Union is when paying for samples, and that’s only because it’s quicker and cheaper to send small amounts via WU than to do a bank transfer. But even then, I’m also prepared to lose that money if everything goes wrong (I’m talking about small amounts here, always less than $100, usually less than $50).
Nowadays, however, there are very cheap ways to pay for samples and get mid-market exchange rates without going near Western Union or MoneyGram.
With companies like Wise, your money is always converted at the mid-market exchange rate, making them up to eight times cheaper than banks when paying international invoices.
Setting up the payment is simple, too. You sign up for a free account, set up your transfer by entering your supplier’s bank account information, state what currency you’d like to pay them in, and then fund your transfer. The funding options include bank transfer and debit/credit card. Your supplier won’t need to do anything. For them, it’s just like receiving cash into their bank account.
With over five million customers and co-founded by the first employee of Skype, you can be assured that your money is sent securely. However, just like with a normal wire transfer, your money is not protected if your supplier turns out to be fraudulent, so it’s best used when you’re paying a supplier you trust.
You can find out more about TransferWise in my post here.
15. Product Selection
The last filter on my list is product selection. By that, I mean the types of products the supplier has listed on their Alibaba profile.
For scammers, the strategy is simple: they have a limited time to use the account before it gets banned, so they will try to list all kinds of unrelated but very popular products to lure people in quickly. They know that they can’t use brand names in their listing texts and titles (because Alibaba filters them out), but they can still do it by uploading images of branded goods, which are much harder to spot.
It’s not uncommon to see a scammer profile on Alibaba that sells iPhones, Nike’s and PlayStations all under one roof. Again, you already know by now that branded goods on Alibaba mean it’s a 100% SCAM! But you still have to be cautious and do your due diligence, even when you’re searching for unbranded goods.
True manufacturers will usually offer one type of product, cover one product group, or deal with groups of similar products. They won’t offer socks along with electronics. Yes, there are trading companies who do this, and they can be totally legit, but our goal (in most situations) is to find product manufacturers, not trading companies. So, I would recommend staying away from profiles that have all kinds of unrelated products listed.
Another reason to be cautious is that a genuine Alibaba supplier profile could have been hacked. For example, consider a profile that sells gardening hose products. A scammer hacks it and lists a few highly popular products that are in the household goods category (say, TVs and other related products). For them, it’s an easy way to lure people in. They’re using a legit profile, so they can ask for payment via Western Union, MoneyGram or a personal bank account and scam the buyer while hiding behind a legitimate business.
So as a final filter always take a look at what other products the supplier is offering on Alibaba and use that to spot any potential scams.
These situations are very rare, though. If you avoid branded goods and follow my 15-step filter process, the chances of you getting scammed are down to almost zero.
Conclusion
So, how do you feel now about getting scammed on Alibaba? Is Alibaba safe?
After reading through all of the steps in this blog post, I’m sure you’ve come to realise that it’s the people who don’t investigate suppliers or who don’t know much about the platform who get scammed on Alibaba. I mean, we have so many tools and so much information at our disposal.
You have to be very greedy and avoid every red flag and common-sense warning to fall for those scams.
Just stick with this guide and you will avoid 99.99% of scams. There are, of course, many smaller filters you could also use, like watermarked pictures. If a supplier has their own watermarked pictures on their Alibaba product showcase, it’s another good sign that they are a legit supplier because scammers usually don’t have the time or resources to get unique product pictures.
You also have to consider the communication style and how aggressively the supplier is offering incredible deals (offers like: Buy 2, get 3, FREE shipping, etc., which are all clear signs of a scam!). In short, use common sense! If it looks too good to be true, it definitely is!
Sure, you can get unlucky. No one is protected 100% and risk is part of any business, but in general, you’ll stay safe and avoid scams on Alibaba if you follow the advice in this blog post.
Let me quickly remind you once again that there is a difference between getting scammed on Alibaba AND simply getting a bad supplier with low-quality stock or a supplier who is lazy, unresponsive and doesn’t want to hear about your problems after the sale is made. There are good and bad suppliers everywhere, be it China, the UK, Argentina or anywhere else!
That’s why you should always start with a sample order, just to test the product quality and the supplier’s reliability. If you’re happy with the sample order, then you can place your first real order. I recommend you keep your first order to a relatively small amount and increase it gradually. Why? Suppliers often send out a perfect sample. If you place a massive first order and they send you a lower quality product, you’re stuck with a lot of it.
Ideally, you would do a factory inspection before you place your real order if an inspection report is not already available on the supplier’s profile page. This way, you can verify that the supplier is actually what they appear to be and reduce the chances of you getting scammed.
Verification is also important if you want to deal with manufacturers ONLY, as many trading companies advertise themselves as manufacturers when they’re actually just a middleman and don’t have any manufacturing facilities. An inspection report will reveal the truth!
Well, that’s it for today. I really hope you enjoyed my “review of Alibaba” and that this helps you to stay out of trouble and avoid scams on Alibaba! As I said, there are not that many scammers left on the platform at all, but if you avoid branded goods and follow my 15-step process for how to avoid scams on Alibaba, your chances of getting scammed are reduced to an absolute minimum.
To educate yourself more on this topic, please check out my TOP 10 Scams on Alibaba article to familiarise yourself with the telltale behaviours of a typical scammer, which will teach you how to spot scams on Alibaba from a mile off!
If you have any questions, I’m here to help! Please leave your comments below the post and I will personally answer them within 24 hours, Mon-Fri. I’m happy to share my knowledge and 15+ years of experience with anyone who is new to this process and needs help.
Lastly, if you would like to learn more about importing products and building an Amazon FBA business using your own branded goods, check out my Amazon Sharks program:
It’s got 20+ hours of video lessons on how to start a successful Amazon FBA business that take you from A to Z. Branding, importing from China and everything else you need to know is covered in great detail in the course. You will also get my personal support, various bonuses and free updates for life. So definitely check it out here.
Good luck with your importing and stay 100% SCAM-free! 🙂
Hi Andrew,
I am new to Alibaba and after reading all your comments thought of asking you a quick question about purchase I am planning to make. I am in USA and planning to buy Whey Protein. There is a company from UK which is selling MOQ of 100 for $15 each. Retail price of that product is $57 in market. My questions here are
1) It’s almost 300% profit margin just on cost price. Do you think that’s legit company?
2) Whey Protein brand which I am looking to buy is USA based company and rather then getting it from USA I get for much cheaper price from UK?
3) As MOQ is large it requires large amount of investment for first time, Is there any specific check I can do in order to find out it I can rely on this company or not?
Appreciate your Time & Help.
Thanks
Hi Pavan,
No, you can’t. It’s most likely a Chinese company (scammers) pretending to be based in UK. You can’t expect such good margins on branded whey products, NEVER! If you’re looking to buy BRANDED goods, forget about Ali Express, Alibaba and China altogether! You can’t buy branded products there! China is only good for un-branded goods and nothing else.
For branded products you want to look for UK, USA based wholesalers.
If it’s a USA based brand, you wan to get in touch with them to find out your closest distributor or whatever they deal with wholesale themselves.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew.
I am planning to buy branded perfume and cosmetics(chanel, dior, hugo boss etc) on wholesale aprox 50.000 euros cost. And I tried to sourse manufacturers or wholesalers in alibaba. I hava found several suppliers, who state that they have warehouses in UK, Czech republic, Holland. 3 suppliers from UK sent pricelist and procedure of deal to my personal email account. Later I added them on my skype in order to discuss thoroughly and we discussed everything. Hovever my gut feelings saud that they are scammers and I asked their company details, phone number and if I can physically visit their warehouses during shipping as it is first deal with them. They kept saying that it is not possible as they dont invite first time buyers to their office or warehouses. After his answer I made a concludion that they are scams. If you are a real manufacturer why would you afraid of showing your office and factory! Moreover they keep bombarding me by emails asking when i will order products!!! So tell me should i run away from manufacturer or traider if he does not want me to be present during shipping or at least see if there is real warehouses.
Hi Victoria,
Thanks for your comment.
Alibaba is NOT THE PLACE to go after branded, high-end fragrances or cosmetics!!! You’ll either get scammed or receive fake products. Just don’t do it! Any genuine UK based wholesaler will be happy to meet you in person, especially if your order is worth 50k EUR.
You want to use Google and search for genuine UK or USA based wholesalers for genuine fragrances.
Here are few legit suppliers:
http://www.fragrancex.com
http://www.5starcosmetics.co.uk
http://eu.strawberrynet.com
Hope this helps Victoria!
Thanks,
Andrew
Should I make a transaction with a 2 year gold verified trust pass member in Pakistan? They say paypal is not allowed in Pakistan so they only accept Western Union. The amount is not big just $100.
Thank you
For what kind of products?
For a skydiving suit but they provide all kinds of leather products such as jackets etc. Their website is http://www.akginds.com/
well, they look ok to me at first look.
If it’s just $100 for sample order it’s probably worth taking the risk.
Thanks,
Andrew
Thank you Andrew
Great Blog
No worries, you’re welcome Kostas! 🙂
Andrew
Andrew,
I have seen some non branded items for sale on Alibaba and I was wondering what your opinion is on getting my UKs company logo and packaging added and selling through my own ecommerce shop you heard of many people doing this before?
Great Blog!
Hi James,
Yes, absolutely – that’s the way to go!
You can check out my guides on this process here:
http://andrewminalto.com/product-branding-guide/
http://andrewminalto.com/how-to-create-new-products/
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi there, im just starting up an Ebay business and have found a website that claims to be selling wholesale electronics from liquidation stock.
they are a gold member on Alibaba and only forms of payment taken are Escrow and TT
trying to figure out if they are genuine or not. there website http://www.onlynew-wholesale.co.uk/ seems to sell different products than their Alibaba page which seems to specialise in laptops only.
http://uk1020394408.trustpass.alibaba.com/company_profile.html
They claim to be a London based company
What do you think? im currently trying to set up a line of communication with them. They are based locally to me and i wonder if they are in fact genuine they would consent to me collecting the items i purchase in exchange for a instant transfer of funds?
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for your comment.
It’s a 100% SCAM, stay away from them! Just take a look at their prices – iPhone 6 for £330??? C’mon! You’ll never see any goods if you send them money, it’s a scam, their prices are simply unreal.
Thanks,
Andrew
if you search thewholesaleforums.co.uk complains, you get this from google.
http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk/threads/anyone-have-any-feedback-experience-of-onlynew-wholesale-co-uk.218394/
Dear Andrew,
I have just red this article. It helped me a lot in dealing with china supplyers.
In aliexpress section it says :’Just keep in mind that it will always be more expensive than to deal with the supplier directly as AliExpress takes their cut in fees for each transaction.’
Do these fees apply for buyers? If yes, how much?
Also, why is it cheaper to deal thrue alibaba? Does actual price differs or it is cheaper because of fees apply?
Hopefully you understand 🙂
Thank you.
Eimantas
Hi Eimantas,
No, as a buyer you do not pay any extra fees on Ali Express – sellers pay those fees, just like on eBay.
Ali Express really is a retail, light volume wholesale platform where Alibaba.com is pure wholesale marketplace where you have to place much bigger orders.
Thanks,
Andrew
With all the people blaming Alibaba for not paying attention and using money wire transfers (first no no in any online dealings) or dealing with companies who do not have a proven track record I have to say would you blame craigslist for being scammed on there? I know there are going to be a couple bad companies that look very legit but it honestly is much harder than you think to get scammed if you watch what you are doing.
No name brand items and no money transfers via western union, etc.
Yes, I agree John.
If more people would use plain common sense on Alibaba, scams would be very rare.
Like I have dealt with 100+ more suppliers from Alibaba over the last 5 years or so, haven’t been scammed even once. I’m sure that day will come sooner or later BUT %, risk of getting scammed is very small, if you’re simply using common sense and following well known business practices.
Thanks,
Andrew
Great article, Andrew!
Will definitely bookmark this page & tell my business associates about this page! Very helpful reading the comment section below here too!
I’ve been communicating for 1,5 month with a supplier in China about some BBQ products (non branded). After deciding on what to order in what quantities I had to discuss back and forth to get them to accept Escrow as a payment form.
1,5 week after the payment was done the supplier contacted me about the order and told me that they are having issues with their account and does no longer wish to accept Escrow.
The only payments they accept now are T/T, Money Gram and Western Union. They want a 30% deposit before the production starts & there is absolutely no way they accept PayPal or Escrow. They say that PayPal and Escrow is too high of a risk to them.
The company has a 2nd Gold Supplier status and has a ‘Onsite Check’ badge on their site.
Here’s their profile on Alibaba:
http://ydhongyang.en.alibaba.com/
And here it is on Global Sources:
http://www.globalsources.com/si/AS/Yangdong-Hongyang/6008845261786/CompanyProfile.htm
Do you have any inputs or tips on how to proceed in this case?
Sincerely,
Mads
Hi Mads,
Overall they look ok to me.
Using T/T with Chinese suppliers is common practice and not all companies do take PayPal or Escrow. For added piece of mind I would recommend you do a 3rd party inspection on the company before you move on. This will cost you $100-$150 but greatly reduces risks of getting scammed.
I assume that you have already ordered samples from them.
Lastly, when you make deposit payment, make sure the company/bank /address details match to ones on Alibaba. Never ever send money to personal bank accounts.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I am new in business and really appreciate your views and guidance for newbies. I am planning to buy bedding set from a Chinese supplier, do you think it will be safe . Out of your 10 points it doenot meet 1 criterion I.e it is not listed in globalsource.
Link — http://www.txhuaqi.com.cn
Will be grt if you can advise
Thanks
Ja
Hi Ja,
Thanks for your comment.
They look totally legit to me + it’s really not a high risk product.
Order some samples first and see how it goes.
Thanks,
Andrew
Great article!
Aliexpress is a fine site to buy from. I have bought several orders with no problems, nice custom declarations and fast shipment.
I bought a small product and somehow the UK post office delivered it to totally the wrong address, even accepting a wrong signature for it. I showed that this happened to the seller and they refunded me 100% (they would have then have claimed off China post office).
Thanks Daniel!
I agree, I have had nothing but good experience with Ali Express myself. Those few times something went wrong, sellers did refund me without even sending goods back.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello I was reading some of you information about buying on alibaba. I have been wanting to buy iphones and galaxies to resell here in Central America were I live. I have been contacting with somebody called Hans Kuno Fuhs from Edshop. could you please help me out? I would like to see more of his information but I don’t know how to look him up on Alibaba. Alibaba recommended him to me and he is a Gold Suplier but I don’t know how many years wich I would like to know. Thanks for your help and if you know of a trustworthy seller of Iphones and Galaxies for reasonable prices I would appreciate. Thanks,jonathan
Hi Jonathan,
Alibaba is NOT the place to go for branded mobile phones! You’ll either get scammed or receive fake phones.
If you need genuine iPhones, Samsung phones, look for official, established phone distributors in the USA, not China.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I’m trying to follow your easy 10 step process above, however whenever I am looking on AliExpress, I cannot seem to see if a seller is a gold or free member. Can you point me in the right direction?
Thank You
Hi Mark,
This is not about Ali Express but Alibaba suppliers:
http://www.alibaba.com
Thanks,
Andrew
Good work Andrew. Keep it up. A lot of my doubts of mine regarding purchase on Alibaba have been clarified by your detailed explanation. Really useful for a first time buyer like me.
Thanks & you’re welcome Chetan!
The China suppliers site MANGOB2B is far better..try the B2B site mangob2b.com which is based on a reputation system and the ethos “TRUST CAN NOT BE BOUGHT AND MUST BE EARNED”.
A verification and rating system mitigates risk
If there are 3 unresolved complaints the supplier company is suspended.
This takes most of the risk out.
Hi Zee,
Thanks for your recommendation.
It looks like it’s a very new site though as I did search for 5 various products and 0 results were displayed….
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi guys, I just created my account on Alibaba.com and I’m hoping someone could help me check this seller? http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/cartoon-design-kid-bed-sheet-set_60015332139 Zhejiang Domax Embroidery Bedding Co., Ltd..html I’m really looking forward to place an order for this seller but not sure if this is legit. 2nd year Gold Supplier, and seems to be reputable with Alibaba video. Please let me know what you think? I really want to start a small business and gradually order big. Please help? Or any additional advices?
Hi Irene,
Are you referring to this company?
http://duomei.en.alibaba.com
Andrew
Anybody see anything suspicious about this Aliexpress seller? They seemed legit to me with the large amount of feedback, although some appears to be faked.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/106742
Found them on Global Sources too;
http://www.globalsources.com/si/AS/Shenzhen-Nonstop/6008831563237/Homepage.htm
And apparently a gold supplier on Alibaba
http://nonstop.en.alibaba.com/
http://www.nonstopgroup.cn/contactinfo.html
Now I’ve ordered a few refurbished mobile phones from them about a month ago… they keep blaming customs or DHL for the phones not arriving yet, however I believe they’ve provided me with a fake tracking number.
I thought I did all my research and that they seemed legit, however I failed to notice that the Alibaba store does not sell mobile phones, only the Aliexpress page does.
Anyway, after waiting almost one month for a valid tracking number and a legitimate excuse, I think I will do a credit card charge back.
Hi Jason,
I wouldn’t order from them anything in first place… they have many negative feedbacks talking about bad phone quality and general poor service.
Next time be more careful and do your research before placing that order.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
Thanks for your reply. In hindsight it wasn’t a great supplier to order from. I read a few bad comments and saw some risks, and I was only willing to put as much in as I was willing to lose.
The DHL waybill numbers provided could never be tracked (‘not found’ on the tracking site, rather than showing it having been picked up and stuck somewhere) so I knew their stories regarding customs were not truthful.
I’ll post back on the outcome.
Cheers,
Jason
Keep us updated Jason!
Does your cc info get seen by each supplier or does the money go through alibaba itself when ordering off aliexpress?,I have made several orders off this site and I just want to make sure I don’t have identity theft on the future
Hi Jes,
Payments are processed by Alibaba and not by suppliers so they don’t see your card details.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello Andrew! Very helpful post! I am a struggle college student from the U.S and I need a cheap MacBook fast! As I am payin 40,000 a year to go to college, I do not have enough money to buy a Macbook for 1,500! I see that you say to only buy unbranded items? Would buying Apple be a bad idea? I have never made a purchase on Allibaba and I have just downloaded the app today so I need some guidance!
Thank you very much!
– Clarissa
Hi Clarissa,
STAY AWAY FROM ALIBABA if you’re after Apple products!!!
Be it iMac, iPod or iPhone – you CAN’T get these products from China. You’ll either get scammed or receive fake products.
Cheapest place to buy Apple products in the USA is via Apple online shop, that’s it.
Thanks,
Andrew
thanks andrew!
need some help, why on pics we see “exclusive mobiles” ( brand name?) and the supplier name is Shenzhen Yongxing Communications Firm
http://yxtxit.en.alibaba.com/product/1903015256-221174841/Details_about_New_Slim_Flip_S_View_Screen_Case_Battery_Cover_For_SAMSUNG_Galaxy_S5.html
regards
Hi Sofiane,
Thanks for your comment.
They are selling mobile phone cases on that listing, not phones themselves. But even then, they’re in fact FAKE products as they have Galaxy S5 logos on cases. You can’t import and sell such cases as they’re not genuinely licensed by Samsung.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi,
I would like to ask for your opinion on this company. http://ykhuayang.en.alibaba.com
Was planning to purchase tumblers from this company until I saw this post. There are certain discrepancies such as the spelling of the Canton Fair as Guangzhou carton fair?
Also, when I asked why the beneficiary stated in the invoice was a certain person’s name, this was the reply I got:
As your order delivery by air door to door express, the express will help you do custom clearance needn’t our company help you. If you pay money to our company account will cause our company account income and expenses imbalance,So I gave you the bank information of our boss. Beg your understanding.
If you feel not available , maybe you can pay by Werston Union according to under specifications:
Beneficiary: Qinghua Wang
Card ID:420322198202090964
Phone No.:+86-13566758612
I have not supply this tumbler to other people in Singapore but we supply it to Korea “Angela” company . My colleague do business with others in Singapore ,yet I am sorry I can’t know the name of company my colleague do . Is it important for you?
Would really appreciate your opinion on this as we were purchasing the tumblers to do a fundraiser. Would hate to be a victim to a fraud when we’re trying to help others.
Hi Rebecca,
I’m glad you posted this…
NEVER EVER send money to “bosses” bank accounts, not talking about Western Union.
That company looks ok to me but it could be that employee is trying to scam you or something along those lines.
In a word – stay away!
Andrew
Hi Andrew
This company’s profile seems legit, they are 8-year old golden supplier and they have assessed valid supplier reports as well which expire this month by the way. But what is strange is that they don’t indicate building number and I don’t see registered capital in On-site Report.
Sent you friend request on Facebook
Thanks
Boris C.
Hi Boris,
What kind of products they sell?
And have you ordered samples from them?
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi!
Thank you so much for the reply! Really appreciate it!
You’re welcome Rebecca! 🙂
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the reply!
I cancelled the order after I got that reply from her. And I’m glad I didn’t proceed with payment as she became really pushy after that.
Thanks for all the advice and help given!
No worries, you’re welcome Rebecca! 🙂
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I would like your valuable advice once more,
I got this reply when I said I couldn’t transfer to a personal account:
if refuse the transfer of funds to personal accounts,you can pay to below account:
Inward Remittance For USD:
BENEFICIARY: ONETOUCH LTD
ADDRESS: SUITE 610 6/F TOWER 1 SLIVERCORD 30 CANTON RD,TST KLN HK
BENEFICIARY BANK: BANK OF CHINA(HONGKONG)LTD
BANK ADDRESS: 1 GARDEN ROAD, HONGKONG
SWIFT CODE: BKCHHKHH
BANK ACCOUNT: 01258692147412
it’s our export company, who helps us deal with export documents and payment.
If any question else welcome asking
Would it be safe to proceed? Or is it still a trap?
I don’t know Rebecca.
I personally wouldn’t deal with a company who tries to scam me on first go.
Hello Andrew,
Just came about your post today. Wish I had come across this earlier as I am scared now.
I made payment yesterday via Paypal for on Item on Alibaba, I did not of the investigation you mentioned. Now i am so scared hopping i haven’t been scammed
Hi Temi,
What did you buy/order?
[…] just read your post about buying from China, well more accurately, about NOT buying from […]
I would like to share my experience just today regarding a supposed “1st Year Gold Supplier” from Alibaba. I asked for a Sales Invoice and this certain lady (who I presume as the owner’s secretary) emailed the document to me. I must say, communicating with them was really smooth. They would certainly give you the cost of your desired item at a really low price. I got mine at almost $400 off. They answered all my inquiries promptly and they would make you feel that they were patient with you.
Then earlier today, September 4th (Philippine Time), I emailed them and said that I was ready to transfer the payment via PayPal (as initially agreed upon). I told them to give me until this afternoon to send my payment. It’s 2:52PM as I write this comment, I received two emails of the same content. 17 minutes apart. Here are the exact words:
“hello Andrew, there has been a change in payment account. my accountant just advice. i would give you an update as to what account to make payment to. Sorry for the inconveniences.”
I finally noticed that this lady has been toggling on two different emails – one is from a Gmail account and the second was a supposed company email. Had I not been involved with email marketing services, I would have not noticed this part. Also, just last night, I decided to read some reviews on purchasing Alibaba and on how to avoid getting ripped off. FORTUNATELY, I stumbled upon your website as one of my online resources to get necessary information. And my current situation fell under Step #9.
I guess “crooks” already realized that they needed to invest on “IMPRESSION” first. I personally am not familiar on how things work in Alibaba but it seems that purchasing the Gold Supplier status would still be a cost-efficient task for scammers – considering that they would profit largely in the long run.
I am sorry for being conclusive but I guess I would have to stay away from purchasing items abroad FOR NOW.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
Just another case that show that we should always use common sense when dealing with suppliers and if something dodgy is going on, get out before you make the payment.
Thanks again,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for publishing this article. It’s certainly very helpful for my startup business. I’m new to Alibaba and Aliexpress and also confused about their differences – you have certainly clarified that.
I will just like to say that, conducting business even on a face-to-face level can lead to being scammed, so why not online?
It’s certainly how scammers manage to survive in our society because of naive thinking and lack of due diligence or simply greed.
Scammers will always be able to make money out of lottery scams and they will always lurk in all corners to pounce on the vulnerable. We have to ALWAYS do our due diligence and I think even if you have a long standing relationship with a supplier, it doesn’t mean they won’t cheat you of your money forever. There may come a time where they face difficulties and things spiral downwards.
Thanks again, and good luck to all.
Many Thanks for your comment Janet & sharing your thoughts on this!
Andrew
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Not only AliBaba is riddled with hundreds of Chinese scammers, but AliBaba is just an appalling company. Their customer service is almost inexistant, you’ll be like to chat to some customer service agent in the Phillipines. When an issue is escalated to “another department” you get no reference or case number.
You’ll be swindled of your money and you’ll never get help. AVOID. This is just shocking for a publicly listed company.
Thanks for sharing your opinion with us Jay!
Hi Andrew, i have been researching AliExpress a lot lately since i sell a little bit here and there on ebay and at flea markets etc. here in Canada. I am looking at selling hockey jerseys ( big thing over here ) and have found some suppliers on AliExpress with good feedback all with customers being very satisfied with quality and shipping, but as you mention a lot these products are not originals nor are they licensed by the NHL. Both suppliers have communicated to me that the jerseys are not originals which to me is a good sign that they seem legit, so i was wondering if selling them as REPLICAS would be the right way to go and avoid any problems, i see that amazon lists almost all of their NHL jerseys as REPLICAS. Just wondering if im on the right track. Cheers! 🙂
Hi Mark,
If they have NHL club logos on them, they have to be licensed to be legally sold in the Canada, USA or any other Western country for that matter. And trust me – none selling on Ali express will be officially licensed.
If they don’t have logos on them (just team colours, numbers and player names) – it should be ok to buy them.
As long as no trademarks, copyright content is used.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Great blog you’ve got going here with some really good solid advice for anybody importing from China.
I’ve been involved in the imp/exp business for absolute 11 years now, and actually have been living in China for the past 6 of those years.
My husband and I have just started an Aliexpress shop as a side gig, as we have seen SO SO many bad reviews on Alibaba and Aliexpress, we thought to ourselves, hey, if we started a genuine, honest business, that put customer service and product quality first – we would OWN Aliexpress lol…
The problem that we are seeing though, is that we are being drowned out by the scammers….our products put to the bottom of the list, people overlooking them because we are more expensive than the rest…..only difference is, we offer genuine product.
I actually stumbled across this blog looking around and doing a bit of “Internet listening” regarding peoples sentiments, and just had to chime in after reading through some of the comments…
The one thing that I want to add to it all…..free shipping ain’t free…nothing in life is free. If I was to give an ” insider” tip, it would be – check the cost of “free” shipping…hint to the USA approximate about $12 /kg….now if you bought a handbag for $15 inclusive of shipping that is “genuine” leather…..what you think you’re gonna get?
So motto of the story and shameless cry to buyers…..think of what a REASONABLE price would be….NOT what is the CHEAPEST price…..
Hi Eileen,
Many Thanks for your comment.
I absolutely agree with you about the lowest price thing. I actually almost always try to stay away from lowest price for any kind of item on eBay, Amazon, Ali Express or my local grocery shop. As cheap in 99% cases is cheap.
Good luck with the business!
Andrew
I was scammed, also. I know all that stuff about not buying with Western Union on e-bay, but here I was in the middle of preparing for a wedding and everything LOOKED so legit..they had a website, and all teh info she sent me about printing my USB drives seemed so authentic..
Made my order, sending the money to China via WU…they acknowledged receipt, said they would send the dives….and lo and behold, they never sent the drives, and never responded to my e-mails…
I tried to file a complaint on Alibaba…but they say they never heard of the company!
stay away from exportsuppliers.com!
R
As you already said, you should NEVER use Western Union to pay suppliers in China, NEVER!
It has no protection, no way to verify the company + it’s a clear sign that company is a scam (if WU is the only payment method they accept).
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Has anyone every bought a dress from Suzhou Hedy Clothing Co., Ltd.? There are no reviews. It is 2nd year gold supplier but they only accept Western Union. Is this a legit company/site? http://hedysz.en.alibaba.com/
Thanks,
Maha
Hi Maha,
If they only take Western Union as a payment method, STAY AWAY from them!
And look for a more established supplier who accepts bank transfer, PayPal or Escrow.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
I have received samples and have a good relationship with a supplier through Alibaba. i have placed an order via Paypal with them for a large order which is fine. They are however asking me to pay their Paypal fees which I feel is a bit much. Do you think I Should pay it or refuse I would like to keep the good relationship?
Hi Steven,
It’s really up to you – whatever you pay a little bit more for added peace of mind or not…
Asking to cover PayPal’s fee is a very common practice when dealing with Chinese suppliers. I personally also go with PayPal and pay the extra fee if there’s no way to wave that fee via negotiating/placing a bigger order etc.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
I love your articles
What do you think about dealing with a Trading Company, here is the link
Tianjin Campa Int’l Trading Co., Ltd.
Thanks in advance
Hi John,
There’s nothing wrong with dealing with trading companies but in this case, it’s 1st year Gold Member so I would be very cautious about dealing with them.
These are not high risk items but still – can’t you find any trading companies working in this industry that are at least 3rd year+ Gold Members?
Thanks,
Andrew
It too late found your blog. I got scammed I order 12xbox one and 130 cd games 2,463USD. I brought from Egypt. I heard a lot scam from china so I avoid this country but finally I found one. When I brought from them I got tracking no. and I can check status on grandcourierexpress.com. Show where’s my shipping are and they charged me for mexico tax America tax and Canada tax also do import license. All everything that cost me over 15,000 cad. Finally, I asked them for information the shipping and I need them to send attached file for all taxes but the didn’t give me anything and disappear. I send this information to alibaba also disappeared. Alibaba did not have any words to me. I send the information because I need alibaba to stop them or have more security.
Hi Kat,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us…
Now you’ll know that you can’t get genuine branded products from companies on Alibaba. Very costly mistake indeed.
Andrew
I am disgusted with this company. Received an order for 2 dresses that were ugly and not made well and wanted to return them. It is very difficult trying to contact them for an RMA number. I ended up contacting my credit card company and filing a fraud complaint and requesting a refund.
I should have checked the complaints against this company before I ordered anything.
Hi Valerie,
I guess you used Ali Express, right?
DO NOT USE ALIEXPRESS, IF U NEED TO PLS BE CAREFUL
Disputed Order NO: 62725134086325 (Dispute Case NO:4001320005)
Case :-
– Seller send defected goods
– Buyer complain to seller
– Seller agreed his / her fault on the defected goods
– Seller offered 2 solution to buyer 1- Return & exchange but seller only bear a fraction of shipping amount 2 – Refund a small fraction of the price & buyer keep the goods and repair him/her self.
(Both no good for buyer because 1- shipping back is very expensive 2 – the product cant be repair)
Aliexpress steps in to resolve :-
Refund 50% of the price & buyers keep the goods. The reasons given was seller did not state cover cost of shipping back if goods are defective.
Fraudulence (loop holes) :-
-Seller buy defected goods at A NO COST PRICE!(Seller did on purpose because the defective is clearly seen)
-Seller sell it to buyers of a country far far away (so that shipping back will be impossible)
-When buyer complain, seller offer solutions to buyer which will benefit the seller anyway.
-Seller know that if end up in dispute he / she still gain….
My conclusion :-
Aliexpress saw the evident buy chosen to benefit the seller unlike ebay any defect is fully refund. No one wants to buy a defected goods and go to repair.
NEVER NEVER AGAIN USE ALIEXPRESS, IF HAVE TO READ THE SELLER REFUND AGREEMENT FIRST. IF NO FULLY REFUND OR COVER SHIPPING RETURN FULLY… DOOOOO NOOOTTTTT BUYYYYY!
Hi There,
Thanks for sharing your experience with Ali Express.
Was the seller established, with good overall feedback score?
Hi – I am trying to buy some custom made medals from this site http://metallapelgifts.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html
I have felt comfortable but I wanted to pay by paypal and they gave me a personal email address.
What do you think about the site?
Do you recommend that I use escrow instead?
Thanks a bunch!
Hi Sue,
Thanks for your comment.
They’re 1st year supplier on Alibaba so that always carry some risks…
Those are not very difficult products – can’t you find a more established company to deal with? One that is at least 3rd year Gold supplier?
And of course always start with a small sample order.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi,
when you say branded products to watch out for, would that include sports equipment? i.e. golf equipment?
thanks
Hi Scott,
Yes, absolutely! All branded golf equipment on Alibaba – clubs, balls, clothing .etc, coming from China will be 100% FAKES!
They have copied EVERYTHING you can imagine, including top selling golf club models, gloves and other products.
Thanks,
Andrew
Thanks for that Andrew,
Any recommendations on where to buy such items? particularly balls?
thanks
scott
Only from official, authorized distributors/re-sellers.
You should be able to find that info on brand websites.
Hello Andrew,
Many thanks for your all your insightful business articles. You’ve mentioned in the website “http://andrewminalto.com/alibaba-scam-exposed/” that “…you cannot get any kind of branded items wholesale from mainland China.. I’m talking about electronics, DVDs, software, designer clothing, shoes and similar items. If you’re looking for anything branded, China is NOT the place to look as you’ll only receive fakes or get scammed.
I just want to know why is this the case since aren’t most things manufactured and produced in China in the first instance?
Kind Regards,
Jay
Hi Jay,
Yes, they’re manufactured in China. Even iPhone is manufactured in China!
BUT it doesn’t mean that factories can sell these products to general public. Only brand owners get access to these products and distribute them via their official channels.
Thanks,
Andrew
Cheers Many thanks!
Jay
Hi Andrew, I’m considering purchasing a large bulk a silk flowers on Alibaba from the website I provided. The company is call Yiwu Rocky Arts And Crafts Factory. They’ve sent me a sample and its what I need but I’m nervous about spending so much money. They will except escrow but I’ve read some articles that escrow isn’t that safe either. Please let me know what you think of the company and if in your opinion they are a legit company. Thank you!
Hi Angel,
Im looking to buy some items from this company. Can you please tell me how was your experience working with company?
Hi Angel,
They look ok to me, just like any such crafts manufacturer, it should be all good.
To be 100% sure it’s a legit company, you can always pay $100 to do inspection by a 3rd party inspector:
http://inspection.alibaba.com/
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello Andrew
I am Priya again. I agreed with supplier and paid the money for the bulk purchase in Aliexpress.He is saying now he can send some similar products not like samples but I don’t want them.What shall I do?
Looking forward your reply and thanks for your advice.
Thanks
Priya
Hi Priya,
You should simply request cancellation in Ali Express.
If the order hasn’t been dispatched yet, this is very easy to do.
Thanks,
Andrew
Sir i have a problem the problem is i purchased a product from aliexpress but i had not open dispute so the purchase protection was end so there is a option that is re-addart so what can i do i want my full refund.
Hi Nitin,
If you paid with a credit card, you could try getting your money back via your bank/credit card company.
So contact them and explain the situation.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
hoping your well I really need your help I have found these suppliers on alibaba that are selling samsung iphones laptops as well as clothes and stuff they seem decent
Im a bit scared as they been Gold suppliers for a year only but they seem reputable theyre based in South Korea and have been established since 1990 Ive checked their website its in a diff language tho but seems legit . I know you cant buy real original things from china but theyre from south korea so they should be real.
I contacted them and they dont do sample orders only orders of atleast 5 units and have offered to use escow service alipay ive never used it before and its in chinese so again im nervous
THis is what they sent me
For payment I prefer Alibaba (Alipay) insured payments. We need a safe way to conduct this transaction.Alibaba (Alipay) offers purchase protection plans for these situations. They will decide how you pay me so you can be insured for the entire value of this purchase. In case you don’t get what you are paying for, you get a full refund from Alibaba (Alipay).
Alipay provides an escrow payment service that reduces transaction risk for online consumers. Shoppers have the ability to verify whether they are happy with goods they have purchased before releasing funds to the seller.
I will contact Alibaba and they will get back to us when the needed verifications are done and you got the purchase protection. You will be able to verify the validity of your purchase protection after you have qualified for it. They will give us a transaction number. Should a refund be needed (I doubt that), you email them the payment proof and the transaction number in order to get your money back.”
> Buyer and seller agree to use/transact payment through Alipay escrow.
> Buyer sends payment to Alipay escrow rather than directly to the seller.
> AliPay Escrow tracks the shipment of the items.
> As soon as buyer confirms receipt of the item’s, AliPay escrow will send payment to the seller in order to to complete the transaction.
If you are agree with this service, please contact me with the below info:
>> Full Name:
>> Address:
>> City:
>> State:
>> Zip Code:
>> Country:
— Phone No:
— Your Order:
I’m waiting for your email!
Best regards
What do you think i should do the price is $200 dollars per item and you have to purchase 5 n u gt 1 fee itl cost me $1000 in total which is a lot since im only 18 but i understand it is still remarkably cheap for a branded product what can i do
here is there link :
http://kr1024270870.trustpass.alibaba.com/company_profile.html?x_request_uri=/aboutus.html
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Sale-for-Apple-iPhone-5S-16GB_172435129.html
THis is there company website
http://www.taesungindustry.com/
Thanks
Alia
OMG, Alia….
I hope that you haven’t made a payment yet?
It’s a 100% SCAM!!!!! STAY AWAY!!!
You can’t get genuine iPhones for $200, forget about it! And buy 5 get one 1 free? LOL!!! I’m sorry, that’s simply UNREAL!!!!
I’m so glad that you contacted me before making a classic mistake here.
DON’T USE ALIBABA FOR BRANDED PRODUCTS!!!! I don’t know where should I put this so that people finally get it.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello Andrew
Nooo dont say that dude ha thats a disappointment lol
Thankfully no i havent made payments but im still gutted. They’re manufactures which is why thery’re so cheap probably but they had me convinced with their escrow service thing.
ive researched soo many suppliers andrew you wont believe it . Im getting better at detecting the idiots but its still tricky. Ive also found another supplier same thing but there selling iphone 5s 16gb for $260 and 64GB for $320 seems alright
They only use wetsern union T/T n moneygram which seems dodgy but theyre 4 year gold suppliers and are based in the usa however first time i contacted them they said contact us on this email n second time ive been given a new email which looks fishy why have 2 seperate emails . I’ll put a link see what u think but I’ll take your advice about the branded products thing. 🙂
http://us107383242.trustpass.alibaba.com/
Ive got literally only £124.75 in my bank and i wanted to start a ebay business but everywhere i turn theres misery. losing the will to try
Alia
I’ll repeat myself – iPhones at those prices CAN’T BE BOUGHT!
And you really shouldn’t use Alibaba to source branded electronics.
Andrew
I didn’t see this article and I bought 3 times from people on here phones and playstations and got scammed 3 times the hard reason gold member I contacted and sent a request for I phones and they emailed me back sent money wu and then sent more money wu because they sent me to much and then when I sent emails to them even if there email was on the gold members contact later after. they didn’t reply 5 days later said they only sell light led lights when I went to there web sight there also were phones so I think there behind it or there is identiy theft as the pohones are off ,they get you to send money to them and probally give someone some money to give them either there real identity or a fake one to get the money ,Alibaba should pre qualify all the people that want to put things on there its for seller that are good but to many scammers and then you never want to go back as if they made it that they had to use like paypay or something you would have a recorse as a buyer its for sellers good ones and a lot of scammers not the buyers like ebay or amazon . john
I have ordered six different items from Alibaba. Of these, three never arrived. Only one was as advertised, a leather guitar strap that actually came from Switzerland.
One order of guitar strings was clearly fake. They were supposed to be Fender strings but were nowhere near the advertised size or quality. The supplier promised to replace them but they never arrived, either.
All I have had from my complaints directly to Alibaba and the suppliers has been excuses and not very believable ones, either.
Instead of ordering from Alibaba, toss your money into the street. The chances of someone finding it that actually needs it is better than your chances of receiving anything satisfactory from Alibaba.
Hi James,
Thanks for your email.
Importing is not as straightforward as ordering a book from Amazon. You have to know the basics on how this works, before you even place your first order.
The rule #1 is – You can’t get BRANDED items in wholesale from Mainland China. If you would followed this one simple rule, I believe you would saved yourself from trouble. And before you ask – yes, those Fender strings were FAKES! As I said – you can’t get genuine, branded products from China.
Thanks,
Andrew
I’ve been using aliexpress.co.uk for around 3 months now.
The prices seem a little higher than alibaba but you do get some kind of protection. I’ve always been patient enough to order a small sample from sellers, before putting in a bigger order.
I’ve had only one issue with a supplier issuing me a false tracking number and telling me “Your order is on it’s way please be patient”. I raised a case with aliexpress after waiting 10 weeks and never receiving anything. I had my money back within about a week.
Other than that I’ve got nothing but positive things to say about aliexpress. Alibaba however, is sometimes very difficult to get a response out of suppliers.
Thanks Andy I’ve, seen your DVD a couple of yeas ago which got me interested in online trading in the first place.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us Steve!
Andrew
I just wanted to share my own experience dealing with Alibaba and what I have learned.
I have purchased several, what I would consider large, orders through Alibaba through two different suppliers. One was approx $5,000 and the other about $3,500. One was through a bank transfer and the other only accepted PayPal and it went directly to a particular users email which was little nerve wracking. I have also made several orders through other companies using Western Union. In every case, I had developed a pretty healthy relationship with the suppliers. I think this is worth noting. With the biggest one, I had swapped close to 100 emails working through a production challenge.
Developing a working relationship with the supplier can help ease some fears over the payment process. A scammer is not going to spend that much time with you. They have too many other fish on the line. I have since ordered additional products from almost every supplier I have dealt with. I have even frequently recommended them on an online forum I am a member of. My relationship with one supplier is such that I got a call from a young lady in Denver last week. She was given my phone number by my supplier to help her make a decision about what she was buying. I talked to that lady for well over an hour and probably even upsold her for the supplier with no benefit to me other than maintaining that healthy relationship.
I have several other products in the works that one of my key suppliers is helping me with and that long term relationship is making the process very easy for me.
I would also like to note that I have used Alliexpress on several occasions with no issues as well. My only negative experience on either site is that the cheapest listed supplier of what I need simply will not respond to me! Very frustrating when that $5,000 order could have been as low as $2,000 if I could get them to answer me but being a small startup it just wasn’t happening. I am in the process now of trying to circumvent the original ‘contact this supplier’ part and just placing an order direct through Alibaba. I know what I want, I know what I should pay and my order is 10 times their stated MOQ. That’s what led me here looking for info on the Alibaba escrow service.
The key for me is be smart and develop that relationship. It will pay off in the end. Andrew has some great advice in this post. The supplier I am trying to use now is a 4th year Gold supplier so I have a high level of confidence if they will just answer me!
Good luck to all. They are not all scams!
Wade
http://www.modelblocks.com/
Many Thanks for sharing your experience with us Wade!
And good luck with the business and future importing deals.
Andrew
Ali express ENABLES scams and it’s rules which favour the vendors actually encourage sellers to take advantage of buyers. The “tracking number” is one of the most popular ways sellers exploit buyers’ good faith. I’ve had items shipped to the wrong country, only to be told by the seller they will mail the item to the correct address that very day. Days go by before the item is actually delivered to China Post. I had to demand evidence of shipment as a means of getting the seller to do what was promised. They use the rules about how long they can take to walk a package to the post office to help the clock run out on your ability to dispute the transaction. I had a vendor threaten to “blacklist” me for complaining about his lie about posting the item. Other vendors blacklist buyers for telling the truth about poor service, and deceit. How exactly can you expect to run an honest marketplace when vendors have the power to extort false reviews and ratings from the customers? This is the fault of Ali express. This would never happen with a platform like eBay or Amazon. This is why people consider Ali express a scam. Because it allows this to happen.
Thanks for your comment.
If the false racking number is used, it can clearly be seen in the tracking platform online, right? And you will win the dispute as clearly package was NOT sent to you…
I did file a complaint. The company denied the facts and the robots at Ali Express sided with the company. The market place is corrupt. I will never use it again. While there may be some honourable and legitimate businesses using the site, there are so many exploiting its consumer protection flaws that it makes using Ali Express a crap shoot. I just wish people would stop being apologists for a broken system that is infested with thieves and liars.
yes, better stay away from these sites as it’s not an easy route to take.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Andrew
For the record, I tested the bogus claim of Ovehel (the company that threatened to blacklist me if I gave a bad review or complained to Ali Express about their treatment and dishonesty. So when the product actually arrived, though not as advertised, I asked for help to understand the ridiculously poor instructions. Here’s the response I got from this esteemed company:
“I don’t want to taach a liar how to use the camera.Unprovoked dispute….”
(Spelling and grammar errors his).
Even in the face of admitted and documented dishonesty, Ali express does nothing to censure or penalize the vendor. It is beyond outrageous and only serves to undermine the entire marketplace.
Hi Andrew what do you think of this seller
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Latest-waterproof-12MP-full-hd-1080p_1659380890.html?s=p
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Waterproof-Novatek-12MP-Mini-DV-Wifi_1680326768.html
Im from the Philippines and what do you think is the safest payment method should i make with them
Thanks
Hi Elmo,
Thanks for your comment.
Both companies look ok to me at first glance. Make a sample order first, pay via PayPal and see how it goes.
PayPal or Escrow would be considered to be safest payment methods when dealing with suppliers on Alibaba.
Thanks,
Andrew
The Alibaba group is a total scam company. You cannot compare them to eBay or Amazon. Because with eBay and Amazon, it is very easy to contact them If there is a problem with a seller. I never ever had any worries about buying anything online with these two reputable sites. Buying with the Alibaba group: however is a guarantee that you will lose your money every time. If there’s a problem, you will never be able to contact anyone within this company. Ever. If you purchase something from a scam artist on eBay or Amazon, they will always make sure that you get your money back. I will never ever purchased anything from anyone affiliated with Alibaba group again.
“Buying with the Alibaba group: however is a guarantee that you will lose your money every time”
That’s a pretty strong statement.
It’s interesting because I do order from Alibaba suppliers, many of my customers do and they DO NOT lose money to scam artists.
That makes me think that maybe you’re ordering from wrong companies?
hi, i order many times from aliexpress bags and clothes and all came just fine.. and this article is very helpfull! now i have a problem and i dont know what to do.. i made an order, the seller has not shipped my order and i receive an email from aliexpress that the seller is suspicious so i cancel the order (reason for cancelation: other reason caused by supplier) the seller told me in order to accept the cancellation and arrange an agreement i should change the reason of cancellation and pu that i order wrong items.. how do i change the reason of cancellation?
it shouldn’t matter really, if the order hasn’t been shipped yet, it will be cancelled by Ali Express anyway.
Thank you for your quick reply..and i will get my money back i guess right?
Yes, when transaction will be cancelled, you’ll get your money back.
Hi Andrew,
Do you know anything about Aliexpress guaranteed genuine policy? There are Nike products in some stores that give the guaranteed genuine and they will have to pay triple amount of the product if they are fake. There are some examples of that products:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Nike-women-athletic-shoes-AIR-MAX-REVOLUTION-dunk-high-top-genuine-leather-walking-shoe-nike-brand/1078943_1868631983.html
What do you think are they original?
hmmm, not sure….
I know about the Ali Express guaranteed genuine policy but how can you prove that those are fakes or genuine shoes? Not sure..
I have heard that there are such “branded” shops in China all over the place and that they still sell fakes. Obviously, there are genuine Nike (and other brand shops) too in China but prices for such branded goods in China are usually higher than in Western World. So by looking at those prices, they look like fakes to me. Plus there are some negative feedbacks for that seller stating that they received fakes.
Maybe the shop is genuine but they still send out fakes.
Hard to say really. I wouldn’t personally buy anything branded from China.
Andrew
Thanks, I can not say sure also, yes they do good fakes so it is hard to understand