Buy From Alibaba

Do you want to buy from Alibaba? It is really an excellent eCommerce platform with a fantastic shopping experience. Especially for foreign brands, Alibaba website is a superb B2B platform.

Our experts have more than 10 years of experience and know how to buy low cost products from Alibaba vendors.

At Alibaba platform, you need to be careful as you might interact with scammers. So, always prefer safe buying from good suppliers on its own online store.

Today, I will elaborate on the step-by-step buying entire process from Alibaba suppliers.

What is Alibaba?

Alibaba is an online store with thousands of buyers and suppliers, most are Chinese suppliers and some are from other countries. Alibaba Group owns the largest ecommerce company and its sister sites like Taobao, AliExpress, and 1688. Unlike Amazon or eBay, Alibaba facilitates B2B trading. 

Many buyers search for a specific product on the search bar, gets a product category from multiple suppliers, and can get their own products below market price. Then, the buyer contacts a trustworthy supplier. Though Alibaba is mainly for B2B, not all sellers are regulated to only sell wholesale.

During the chat, different questions are asked from the buyers. Some potential suppliers keep access to customized products and let buyers get their own designs logo printed on the product packaging.

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Is Alibaba Safe and Legit?

Yes. Alibaba is a legit and safe site. It is one of the largest China-based eCommerce platforms we’ve been using for years. Allowing hundreds of businesses to connect and discuss their requirements to start selling online.

Remember, there are possible scams, so you need to avoid them by choosing a gold supplier, and can pull scams into the supplier blacklist. Trade guarantee orders are the safest way to go when trying Alibaba products, it protects both the buyer and supplier.

Why are products on Alibaba so cheap?

Our company sources from nearly every platform. And the products from Alibaba are always relatively low compared to other sites. Here are the reasons why:

• Lower import tax
• Higher availability of labor
• Direct sell products to the buyers. No involvement of any third-party members.
• Lower production pricing due to wholesale marketplace prices of raw materials.

Suggested reading: Import Tax From China To US

How to buy from Alibaba?

Alibaba is my go-to platform for buying affordable products. The process is actually very easy. But if you’re a beginner and no nothing about this platform. I’ll share my experience with you to help you get started. Read on!

1. Create an Alibaba account

before buying on Alibaba you need to create an account. For this purpose, go to sign up on Alibaba and add the required information like:

• Company name
• Purpose of the account
• The full name for the account
• Email Address
• Telephone number

You can select the buyer account or may go with both accounts— seller and buyer. Then go to the Alibaba homepage and sign in.

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2. Find your niche

Niche is an essential aspect of your eCommerce business. You need to define the niche. You can search your desired product name and find the relevant inventory to accomplish this.

Best selling products on Alibaba

Always prefer the best selling products because of the wide range of product categories. Conduct meticulous research and land on seasonal products to earn maximum revenue and ROI. You can use the product hunting tools like Helium 10, Keepa, or manually do product research. There are a few product categories you want to avoid, such as branded products, specifically as a new importer.

Read more: Best selling products on Alibaba

3. Choose a reliable supplier

A trustworthy supplier ensures an excellent trading experience on Alibaba. You can filter the search results and select the following supplier types on Alibaba.

Alibaba Trade Assurance

Trade assurance Alibaba suppliers offer a money-back guarantee on specific terms and conditions. Even if the defect ratio of products is higher, they might refund you.

Read more: Alibaba Trade Assurance

Alibaba gold supplier

Alibaba gold supplier is a premium supplier that has undergone a verification process by the Alibaba team. Primary verification of gold suppliers occurs. However, take note that just because a supplier is a gold supplier on Alibaba does not mean that this supplier has good quality products.

Read more: Alibaba gold supplier

Verified suppliers

Alibaba verified suppliers are businesses that have gone through in-depth verification conducted by a third-party inspection company. It includes a review of multiple aspects of the trading company.

Read more: Verified suppliers

Alibaba reviews

Before making any purchase, you can check the reviews of the trading company to ensure its authenticity. It is a crucial step in trading on Alibaba.         

Read more: Alibaba reviews

4. Request for quotation and samples from the supplier

Contact the supplier to request the samples or get a quote about the products before agreeing to purchase a large quantity of a specific product.

Alibaba samples

Alibaba samples allow you to get over the quality control process. Contact an assessed supplier and request product sample. Later on, you can assess the quality of the product and decide whether to buy it or not. It is important to order samples if the supplier is doing any customizations or private labeling on your products.

Read more: Alibaba samples

RFQ

Alibaba RFQ refers to a request for a quotation. The buyer allows the sellers to bid for its project in this process. Alibaba RFQ is an excellent opportunity to get an idea of price and compare the quality of products from several suppliers.

Read more: Alibaba RFQ

5. Negotiate the details

Discussion and settling on the terms and conditions is an excellent step. It facilitates mutual trust between the buyer and sellers. There may be some overseas suppliers, don’t worry about the language barrier, Alibaba can set the language or you can use google translate. You can contact suppliers and negotiate the following services.

MOQ

MOQ refers to minimum order quantity. If the seller has a higher minimum order quantity, you can request low MOQ before making the big orders.

Read more: Alibaba MOQ

Exact questions

You can ask the exact questions regarding the company, products, order quantity, unit price, and, most importantly, shipping terms and facilities with your chosen supplier. It will prevent the upcoming confusion and enable smooth trading.

Read more: Questions to ask Alibaba suppliers

Alibaba inspection service

Alibaba inspection service authorizes the quality inspection of the many suppliers. You can request the assessment of the products to confirm the quality. Also, it’s important to note that there are times that the second or third shipment might be of lower quality than the first shipment. Usually, most suppliers on alibaba allow you to do that.

Read more: Alibaba inspection service

6. Decide your payment and shipping method

Product price and shipping from suppliers are other crucial steps to discuss. You can talk to the sellers regarding:

Alibaba payment

Determine the secure payment method available to pay the most suppliers for their inventory. Usually, Wire transfer, Western Union, Letter of Credit, Bank transfers, Credit card payments and escrow service are favorable payment methods; if the Alibaba supplier agrees to these payment options, great! Bank transfer is a popular method.

Suggested reading: How to pay suppliers on Alibaba via Pay Later?

Read more: Alibaba payment

Alibaba shipping cost

There are different shipping methods. You can discuss the logistics, get the tracking number, and track your shipment before arrival. Air shipping and ocean freight are good shipping options. You can confirm the shipping costs of shipping goods. Note that costs may vary depending on your chosen Alibaba shipping time. 

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Read more: Alibaba shipping fee

7. Check the product quality

Has your product been received? If yes, one last step has left. You need to assess the quality of the item. Suppose it qualifies your criterion; simply amazing.

Otherwise, you can go through the refund process through the Alibaba trade assurance program. A partial or complete refund process is available through trade guarantee orders.

Suggested reading: How To Buy Direct From China

How to open a dispute if you’re not satisfied with the products?

I once received a product from my supplier that had quality issues. The first thing I did was open a dispute for such items. Do this if you want assurance of a partial or full refund. 

You can find the option Apply for Refund and fill out the form to create the dispute on the order details page.

Read more: Alibaba dispute

How to avoid Alibaba scams successfully?

Unfortunately, scams are not new to Alibaba. My team and I have encountered tons of suppliers trying to sell products that are not legitimate. To avoid Alibaba scams, you need to do the following practices:

• Find suppliers with verification badges and prefer them.
• If the Chinese supplier status is Gold membership, that is also a safe option.
• You can explore the trade guarantee orders that assure the refund instantly for specific reasons.

Read more: Alibaba scammer list

How to dropship from Alibaba?

Drop shipping from Alibaba is quite a simple process with the right approach. Here’s a complete guide based on my 10 years of personal experience.

• Open your buyer account on Alibaba.
• Purchase the inventory from reputable suppliers.
• Ask your particular supplier to transport it directly to your customers’ final destination.

You can link the sales channel for the successful fulfillment of online orders. A supply chain works.

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How to find Alibaba private label suppliers?

If you have product ideas, you can create custom products to build your own brand. Private label suppliers allow you to get IP rights of the custom product and label inventory with the company’s logo and details for your private label business. From experience, some suppliers even provide custom packaging to resonate with your brand identity. 

To uncover the Alibaba private label sellers, you can insert the product name and try the filter of Supplier Type. Alternatively, you can message sellers directly to negotiate prices or customize your products. You will get all the vendors who allow private label products and sell them on your own website.

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Read more: Alibaba Private Label Suppliers

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FAQs How To Buy From Alibaba

What’s Next

The emergence of Alibaba has made importing from overseas countries as easy as online shopping. Alibaba can be a great place to source products to sell online for your eCommerce store. But not all suppliers on Alibaba are genuine, some may be sold low quality products. What you need is to trade safely to prevent fraudulent activities.

If you have experience regarding shopping on Alibaba, that is great. In other cases, you can learn how to deal with trading companies on Alibaba.

LeeLine sourcing has years of experience and facilitates a safe buying experience on Alibaba. Hit us a call right away!