Using Alibaba

[Lily House]

I know a few of you are importers, plus there are some smart people on this forum

I'm looking into starting up a home-based business - but due to finances I need to start small. I want to import a particular item for resale - have it made up with my own logo/business name.

Anyone here used Alibaba?

I see most products have a minimum order of 1000 or more. I would like to start with 50 items. Will manufacturers just laugh at me if I request this?

Any other "newbie" tips for using Alibaba would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Caroline

 

[NPB]

I know a few of you are importers, plus there are some smart people on this forum

I'm looking into starting up a home-based business - but due to finances I need to start small. I want to import a particular item for resale - have it made up with my own logo/business name.

Anyone here used Alibaba?

I see most products have a minimum order of 1000 or more. I would like to start with 50 items. Will manufacturers just laugh at me if I request this?

Any other "newbie" tips for using Alibaba would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Caroline

I use it all the time, you can negotiate smaller amounts especially when dealing with distributors and wholesalers, pay more of course but that is fair enough, get your samples first and then negotiate numbers, if they have set up printing and machine etc to do sample often that is major expense for them already incurred so anything you order is a bonus and they lose money if you don't order something

It is a whole different world on there, more sharks than the great australian bite but it's a lot of fun

Once numbers are up you can deal with the manufacturer ( if you can work out who the real one actually is as they all claim to be it!)

Good luck!!

 

[Lily House]

Thanks NPB,

I've already learnt something - I assumed they were all manufacturers
I guess what you are saying is that some of them are "middle-men"??

When you say "sharks" - can you give me some tips of what to look out for?

Thanks for you help so far - muchly appreciated.

Caroline

 

[TMNT]

I investigated alibaba years ago, I negotiated a few deals that I didnt proceed with (lucky) because the quantities they were asking were far too big, and I was more enthusiastic then realistic. I think their reputation was good]
however fast fwd a few years I heard of a few scam stories where they would do good on smaller volumers, and the moment you send a large amount eg $100k, theyd disappear

I guess in todays world, you cant trust a stranger half way across the world let alone your best friend or family, judging by all the 'I got ripped off stories' i hear that involve family or friends you ve known for your whole life

so id be a bit careful

 

[perthguy]

Not alibaba, but I have ordered quite a lot off aliexpress. Aliexpress basically guarantees the product and one of my orders was cancelled and the funds refunded because aliexpress was not happy with the seller. All of my products were exactly as ordered, which is great because they are really cheap.

Maybe see if aliexpress has the stock you want because they deal in smaller quantities.

 

[Brian84]

I was thinking about using them as well so I am also interested in hearing some tips that other importers have. I am also going to start with small amounts.

A tip I have is to use PayPal so if it is a scam you will get all your money back. The first time used ali baba it was from a scammer and I got all my money back.

 

[Lily House]

TMNT and Brian84. Thanks for the warning about scammers. Using Paypal is a great idea. I wonder if there's also a way of receiving goods before paying for them.

Perthguy - thanks heaps, I'm going to look up aliexpress now

 

[Brian84]

I don't think there is a way you can receive goods without paying for them first, unless you have a good business relationship with the supplier, though as you are just starting out and don't have the relationship yet I doubt it could happen.

Are you wanting the goods first before paying due to limited funds or because you don't trust them yet due to it being your first time.

 

[Lily House]

I'm just feeling worried about the scam warnings - thinking it would be good to
(1) make sure I actually receive the product and
(2) see the quality of the product (make sure it matches the order)
before paying for it.

 

[Brian84]

Well that's the good thing about PayPal. If the order is not as described or it is from a scammer you will receive your money back

 

[Lily House]

True.

Thanks Brian84.

 

[perthguy]

I'm just feeling worried about the scam warnings - thinking it would be good to
(1) make sure I actually receive the product and
(2) see the quality of the product (make sure it matches the order)
before paying for it.

I had to pay for the aliexpress items up front, but there is a raise dispute button on the site for goods not received or goods not as decribed.

If you are worried about quality (as you should be), you could order a smaller amount as a test and then order more if you are happy. Your risk is poor quality control where the first batch is great and subsequent batches are not so great or consistent quality. That said, most of our products are sourced from china anyway, so...

 

[TMNT]

Well that's the good thing about PayPal. If the order is not as described or it is from a scammer you will receive your money back

that used to be for ebay only, does it apply to non ebay transactions as well???

My friendhad an imports business, his first order was $3k, then got larger and larger, in the end he was transferinng $100k per month,

he then split up from his wife, and had to sell/close the business.
he heard from a friend that his supplier took off with a payment of $100k odd from another customer just after!

just shows how lucky he was and how you can never completely trust someone!

 

[Brian84]

Tmnt I went to purchase a makita 15pce tool kit from ali baba last year for less than a quarter of the price. I was going to resell it for a nice profit on ebay. I payed for the item and the seller kept stuffing me around so I rang PayPal and told them the story and they refunded the whole amount.

Lily did you have a particular item you were looking at importing. Understand if you don't want to disclose that info. If you do want to there might be some one here that can get it through a better source and safer place

 

[coastal]

Start with using ali express

your funds are held in escrow until your receive the product and you release pmt. Should they not post the product by a certain date, the money is refunded to you.

 

[NPB]

another tip I would give is that as your quantities grow go an attend a trade show in Hk or Mainland China, it is so competitive at those, 100's stands selling similar things, tend to get 20% again off the price, makes it a lot easier to see the quality of so many items instead of the long slow process of samples from multiple suppliers. u do the deals on the spot.

 

[lizzie]

Not alibaba, but I have ordered quite a lot off aliexpress.

Had a look last night at aliexpress and found the products I buy online were no cheaper than direct from my Australian suppliers ...

 

[Lily House]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and tips.

Lizzie - can you tell me more about Australian suppliers please? Are you able to get the same sort of deals as you would dealing directly with, say, a manufacturer in China? And how do you find an Australian supplier?

For those who suggested it, I did check out Aliexpress, but they didn't have exactly what I wanted unfortunately. Also, I noticed similar goods that I could buy for the same price (or less) if I purchased them off ebay. Worth a look though. Back to alibaba I think

 

[skater]

Had a look last night at aliexpress and found the products I buy online were no cheaper than direct from my Australian suppliers ...

In my case, more expensive than Australian suppliers, BUT I have used Aliexpress for some random stuff non-business related.

 

[skater]

Lizzie - can you tell me more about Australian suppliers please? Are you able to get the same sort of deals as you would dealing directly with, say, a manufacturer in China? And how do you find an Australian supplier?

I think you will find the answer is different depending on the product(s) that you are dealing with. With my local suppliers I pay more, but can order small quantities and they arrive within days, so don't need to have as much money tied up, nor the amount of storage.

With the stuff I import, they are a lot cheaper, I can have things made to my specifications (but I've got to order a whole lot more again for this), but the downside is the time it takes to arrive, the amount of storage I need to provide, and the amount of money that is tied up with each shipment.

For those who suggested it, I did check out Aliexpress, but they didn't have exactly what I wanted unfortunately. Also, I noticed similar goods that I could buy for the same price (or less) if I purchased them off ebay. Worth a look though. Back to alibaba I think

Depending on what your product is, and how you market it, you might be able to purchase small amounts off ebay & resell them. If that seems viable, contact the sellers & do the deals off ebay. You should get a decent discount by doing that.

There are a lot of importers selling on ebay, and some of them sell their goods at (their) retail price, which is sometimes cheaper than the wholesale price of similar stock when bought through an Australian supplier.