Anybody dealt with Alibaba?

[Lost in the Supermarket]

reading through some posts and a common theme was finding big enough bulk purchase to have low prices and whip the competition. I looked at Alibaba and it looks like they are willing to make (injection mold) things for a great price and reasonable qty.

Anybody ever had an item mass produced in china? Through Alibaba?

[carlisle]

It is a great site to use, just be careful.
Only use suppliers with a good reputation.

[phaz0rz]

I've had custom products produced by a supplier I met on Ali. They didn't sell so great, but I got exactly what I wanted. Generally if the supplier is reputable and you are offering to pay them a bunch of Yuan ($) for a product, they do whatever they can to keep you happy.

Alibaba gets my vote..

[Burger Box Man]

Originally Posted by Lost in the Supermarket

reading through some posts and a common theme was finding big enough bulk purchase to have low prices and whip the competition. I looked at Alibaba and it looks like they are willing to make (injection mold) things for a great price and reasonable qty.

Anybody ever had an item mass produced in china? Through Alibaba?

No I have not

[JamesNorth101]

Bare in mind on top of all the costs of having the item made you need to look at the customs charges and the freight forwarding charges.

Docks can also add on a large charge sometimes when something is selected for inspection by customs (at least in the UK they do)

[newjerseymax]

It will soon happen US much more then people realize....

[LoopHole]

How do you check the sellers/company feedback on that site? I never bought from there because of this reason alone. As far as i can remember all i could check was what rank of a supplier they were and the company name and pics. But never saw any feedback page or anything like that. Maybe i was blind.

[zac2409]

Be very careful it is full of crooked Chinese suppliers, pretending to be authentic but they are ⊗⊗⊗⊗.

[zac2409]

A good thing to know is that Alibaba have a system where suppliers have a sort of insurance thing they can set up with Alibaba to prove their authenticity and if you do not receive the goods you can claim via that.

[dallis]

I never had any real luck on Alibaba. The prices they advertise are completely bogus, and most of the time they don't return email inquiries.

Apparently some people above have made it work, but although I do order many supplies from China, I carefully test my suppliers by making repeated small orders and gradually increasing over a long period of time, never letting them get ahead of me on the money, and never paying them in a manner where I can't charge them back if they screw me.

[epimetheus039]

Have never been disappointed once in the period of 2 years now using it however you need to always check "gold supplier" status and ask at least 10-15 suppliers with different longevities on the website

[ebayround2]

I absolutely love Aliexpress. I have been able to find killer prices without having to necessarily order a ton of stuff. When I get low on inventory I look around on there and find what I can make some money on. The best part is that the money is held in escrow until you receive the goods...so if the package is held by customs or the quality you get is garbage, you don't pay a penny. Far better then having to send money thru Western Union like I used to. Do your research on products you want to buy and jump in, the water is great.

[Entre23]

This website is truly very helpful if you are trying to make extra cash or have products produced. But as everyone here has said, be careful who you deal with. LOTS of scammers.

[xhan]

What i have done with alibaba is source products that can have completely different multiple use, then ask the supplier to send me the item without branding, i resell with the new description and use, that way no competitor can find the product, this requires creativity and knowledge....what are these items...that would be telling