The Wholesale Forums

[Caratworks]

I think my 2 year anniversary with Alibaba and The Wholesale Forums are right about now.

I typically do about a deal a month now. All of the deals have been air freight with the exception of one sea freight. I look forward to more sea freight imports.

I make my payments either through wire transfer, Paypal, or Western Union.

I have importerd from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Pakistan, and India. I regulary import from Pakistan and China.

I am writing this because I almost did a deal with a known fraudulent supplier without researching them. I have yet to be scammed and I owe it to the contributors here at "The wholesale forums" as well as the Alibaba forums.

Some of my imports are apparel and my biggest issue is not quality but deviating from what the supplier is good at. I did not realize that orange translates into brown in Chinese, go figure. Initially quality was an issue, but doing sample deals, allowed me to reduce my risk. In addition to the fraudulent sellers, are those that are just not that good at what they do. You just have to wade through all the crap. I am now moving beyond Alibaba and the other general sourcing directories, and successfully searching out better quality suppliers.

If I have one word of wisdom for folks just starting out, is stay away from categories where the fraud is high, such as consumer electronics. Instead find a niche and become an expert in that niche. There is a lot out there, I can easily name ten products that I have researched and would be money makers if someone focused on them.

Laterz

[SGFB]

Congrates on your 2nd Anniversary! Great advice for those that have just started out... Anyway, I feel that Western Union should only be used with tested suppliers that you have already dealt with.

btw, just in case you have problem with colours again (on the phone)...

Colour = "sir"
Orange = "chen"
Brown = "her"

So, orange colour is "Chen-Sir"...loosely...

[branded]

Yeah, never pay via western union on first purchases

[PT]

I too have been using Alibaba for a year or two now, amongst other similar directories. Never have I been scammed. Like you said, its just a case of filtering through the crooks advertising there.

You made another good point about the popular categories being flooded with scammers. So looking for a niche is recommended, but still, your never safe. The correct verification needs to be carried out with any supplier, consumer electronics or not.

Hopefully this will help others to realise Alibaba can be a good source of suppliers.