Anyone use alibaba? aliexpress? looking for feedback...
 

first time using is and just want to be sure its legit and if anyone has tips to not get scammed or junk products?

most of it is junk products in general. things will also take at least 30 days to get to you so plan on that. i'd say you get what you pay for but I think a lot of the stuff is still a good deal. I wouldn't buy anything that your life depends on it working or not though ie protective gear and such.

That's not true about mostly junk.. It all depends what you buy and checking out the manufacturer.Just do a little research and read the reviews..

I bought some 120 watt flexible solar panels from there, got them in 2 weeks and they work great. They are also high quality in the build.

I've also bought some quality outdoor gear from there.

Every order I've done comes on time and in good condition.

I've purchased a lot via Alibaba (including manufacturing equipment... large homogenizers & mixing tanks, lab equipment, custom packaging, etc)... never been scammed BUT a couple of times I did end up with lower end things only because I didn't specify what I wanted clearly.

Chinese suppliers have a tendency to always work up the lowest possible price since they think that's all everyone ever wants. They usually achieve this by picking the bare minimum or lowest standard of material. If you're doing anything custom, ALWAYS specify EXACTLY what you want... i.e., "350gsm card stock" or "316 SS".

Be sure to go with gold / verified businesses, use the trade assurance program if you're buying a lot, and I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH: spend a little extra money to have them ship you a sample of whatever you're considering buying in bulk so you can analyze it and see if it meets your standards.

Don't listen to people who think they know, but don't.

For starters, most of the crap isn't junk and I have gotten stuff within 4 days of ordering.

And that's just from the first ill informed response that was posted here.

does great on affiliate traffic

Aliexpress ok, but depends from wher eyou buy, select seller with many good reviews, like you would do in ebay, it is the same. I bought replacement lcd touch display for a cell phone it was received quick and costed 1/3 of same bought locally. Had no custom import charges (this may have been luck).

I'v just rcntly startd using Alixprss, bought a kyboad, it arrivd aftr 3 wks or so... It works almost prfctly. Alixprss rocks!

show us - post some stats.

i was referring to aliexpress dinglenuts. slow and mostly crap for a deal. anything coming from that site in 4 days is from the US and expensive, but it defeats the whole purpose of going to a site like that now doesn't it?

I started buying cell phones and selling them in the States, after trying a couple different vendors I found one that sent me phones that worked here..
Basically find a good vendor and stick with him..

I used Alibaba to buy ingredients for a diet supplement I released a couple years ago. It was pretty good quality for a really good price. I think like anything, it depends on what you purchase and who you're dealing with. I had a handful of companies I dealt with and had my own rep that always dealt with me. If I ever had any problems, they were quick to fix it. But I also purchased raw ingredients in bulk, it's kind of hard to fuck that up.

I wouldn't order specialty products from them. Easier to find a distributor and know you're getting quality. It cuts into your margins, but better safe than sorry.

:thumbsup:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

for cheap knickknacks alibaba & tinydeal are great, if you can handle waiting ~25 days for delivery. avoid electronics.

Used alibaba for wholesaling goods for a few years now...

It's legit, mainly factories from China (SZ). Not sure what you're looking for but a ton of stuff is knockoff but they don't care either, just ask them if it's genuine.

Buy in bulk cuz shipping sucks

:2 cents:

select the dealer carefully, some are serious, some are less.

Alibaba and Aliexpress are very different kinds of services. Alibaba is wholesale and it consists of shitload of different suppliers/ factories. There is no way saying in generally that is some a scam or not. It depends.

The mentioned delivery date (to port) is usually about a month or so, but can be several months too + shipping from China to where ever you want the stuff to be.

Aliexpress is like local Amazon.

I don't know what you are ordering, but if you are ordering like 1000 pieces of something it won't hurt to ask several samples. Those samples are also usually better quality products than the actual products, so keep that in mind. The quality varies very much. If the factory owner's idiot cousin was in shift to make your products.. tough luck, if not, then kudos for you.

If you really want quality products, etc. you have to get local representative. There are shit loads of those too, just don't hire the factory owner's idiot cousin.

:2 cents::2 cents::thumbsup

How can you find a local rep?

Purchased a bunch of Bondage gear from them for Folsom St. Fair. All the vendors were easy to work with, and the items arrived within a few weeks.

Alibaba - is business to business trade platform. mainly china manufacturer, china companies, resellers and scammers. fraud control is bad - but for real businessman it is normal practice, entrepreneurial risk.

aliexpress - retail trade platform, many companies are presented at alibaba too. this platform have good anti fraud and escrow service. i buy many product at aliexpress. in this time listen music from handphones which buy there. there is still a tablet, telephone, jacket and other. quality product is different, even at the checked seller, but you have time to check product and if have defect or does not correspond to the description - the platform will make a refund all sum or compensation part money. once they sent me phone, and charger is not work, i open dispute in them echrow servises, and i received compensation on which buy new charger

Here are some:

SmartChinaSourcing.com - Buying Services / Sourcing Consultants


It is also noteworthy that besides local representatives there are all sorts of middlemen too. Some are substitutes for representative, some are not. Representative is best for dealing with the actual factory and establishing some relationship with it, etc.

Just googled these.

Shenzhen Sourcing Agent

China Product Sourcing Agent | Global Trade Specialists, Inc.


Nice articles.

Finding buying agents in China: 6 things you should know

How to find a good Procurement and Purchasing Agent in China

Depends on product and how rare it is. Often good to look on Alibaba first to find product then ask if they also use Aliexpress. If they sell 1000's on Alibaba they wont be sending you their dodgy one off on Aliexpress.

I went looking for a large LED temp display for a bar who wanted to show off that they are the lowest beer in town. We are talking several feet wide and over a foot tall so you could easily see it from across the bar.

In the USA I was quoted $700 as a minimum. We haven't even gotten to adding a temperature probe and the computer to make it display the temp.

Went on Alibaba and within minutes I found the one I wanted and it was set up like a bank, time & temp. I asked if I could have it only do temp and they said sure. They sent me a sample display for $200 and since it was a sample there was no duty to pay. It arrived in about 9 days or so.

Works perfectly. Now if I could just get somebody else to want one I could go back and get some at full cost. I believe they wanted $250 a unit and shipping of $70 since it is very heavy + duty fee of something like $120. Even then it is still half what it would cost in the US.