Alibaba is based out of China and while there are suppliers out of the United States, Australia, Europe and Canada for the most part most of the suppliers are from China, as well as a few other countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh amongst others. Needless to say doing business with international suppliers can sometimes be confusing, stressful and a bit of a culture shock if you are not used to it, so I have created what I call the golden rules of Alibaba, these are the things that you always need to keep in mind when ordering products from a supplier in China or anywhere else in the world.
Alibaba is a wholesale retailer
the first rule of Alibaba is one that we have already discussed Alibaba is for wholesale purchases – you cannot buy a single or small quantities of products, you’re buying product in bulk and as a rule of thumb the product per order the cheaper the price per unit. Since you have already discussed in a great amount of detail the concept of wholesale buying let’s move on to rule
Do not confuse Alibaba and Amazon
What I mean by this is when you purchase a product from Amazon you can be sure that the item you order will arrive on time and in perfect condition and exactly as described, if not you simply contact Amazon and they will refund or replace the item for you. Even if you buy a product from your local store wherever you are in the world it comes with some sort of guarantee or protection from the buyer. That’s not always the case with Alibaba, if your product arrives and it’s not to your liking then you are pretty much out of luck, because you are not getting your money back. Even if the product is defective or damaged is unlikely that you will get a refund. Alibaba offers what they call seller protection and I’ll explain what that means – later on but as a rule of thumb it’s up to you to do your due diligence and make sure your supplier understands exactly what you need.
Everything is negotiable
Everything on Alibaba is negotiated irrespective of was written on the page or despite what the supplier might tell you – the price is never final. The minimum part of the quantity is always negotiated and the same applies to the shipping costs. Any number that you see on Alibaba is pretty much meaningless. I have had supplies tell me that the price of a product is hundred bucks with a minimum purchase quantity of five hundred and I can tell you that I have successfully negotiated with that same suppliers a price for $50 with an order of just 300 units. So don’t gets scared off and you see high prices and high minimum order of quantities, because everything is negotiated.
Do your due diligence
Never take the word of your supplier that the product you’re ordering will arrive exactly as described, it’s important to carefully go through the process of negotiating samples with your suppliers but know ahead of the time that never order products without seeing what you’re ordering especially if you’re ordering large quantities. This business model is heavily reliant on suppliers’ professionalism, which means that if you don’t do your due diligence you might lose a lot of money. For this reason, it’s important that you use third party dropshipping tools, such as SaleSource.
Focus at the bigger picture
Think long term suppliers on Alibaba are looking for customers who will become lifetime clients. The reason McDonald’s give you toys to kids at an early age is because they want their kids to come back McDonald’s and supplies in Alibaba have this in common, in the sense that in they are looking at the big picture and always adopting long term strategies. A supplier is more likely to offer your favourable price as well as other incentives and better service at the field that you will come back and order more products from them in future. So knowing that be respectful with your suppliers, be patient and them with them and you are communicating with them and sound professional. Even if you don’t have a business let your supply know that you are looking for a long-term partnership they are more likely to offer you better prices.
Appearance can be deceiving
Finally don’t trust the appearances, if there is someone with an American sounding name, usually it’s something like Betty or Steve, know that you’re probably speaking to a teenager whose only job is to translate what you’re saying for their factory manager. You have to realize that the person you’re talking to understand or doesn’t have any influence over the price or the quality of your product. His or her job is to take your messages and translate for their factory managers, who could be somewhere else in China. It goes without saying that if your product arrives defective or not to your satisfaction, it’s pointless complaining to Steve, because the only thing you are going to do is translate your message and give it to their bosses.
