With so many scams happening every day in the eCommerce world, you probably are wondering, is Alibaba safe to buy from? Not only is Alibaba safe but is also one of the most comprehensive supplier directories in the world. Unfortunately, not all the suppliers on this platform are legit.
Though few, unscrupulous sellers still exist on this platform and are out to swindle buyers of their money. This is why you need to assess Alibaba suppliers carefully before ordering. Throughout this guide, you will learn how to ascertain whether an Alibaba supplier is legit.
目录
Is Alibaba Legitimate? How Safe is the Platform for Buyers?
Yes, Alibaba is a legitimate and reputable eCommerce marketplace. To guarantee a safer environment for both buyers and sellers, Alibaba enforces strict rules and regulations. Most of these regulations are specifically meant to keep transactions on this platform safe and secure.
So, how safe is Alibaba for buyers? Well, most of the suppliers on this platform have been verified to be legitimate and trustworthy. Additionally, they provide several trade guarantees and policies that help protect the buyer against loss throughout the purchase process.
The platform also supports a myriad of secure payment options to help protect your transactions. Alibaba protocols require all suppliers on the platform to be legally registered. They also allow buyers to review their suppliers and report fraudulent behavior by a supplier(s) on the platform.
Common Risks You May Encounter as a Buyer on Alibaba
Despite its long-standing reputation, fraud cases are still common on Alibaba. Here are some of the common techniques used by scammers on this marketplace:
a) Shipping Fee Rip-Offs
As you may be aware, Alibaba suppliers support a myriad of shipping methods to suit different needs. Some of the supported companies offer economically-priced but slower shipping options. Some Alibaba suppliers take advantage of this and charge their buyers more money for shipping than the shipping company is actually charging.
When this happens, the supplier will not even tell you that the shipping method takes a bit longer to deliver. As such, unknowingly pay a premium for a slower shipping method.
- Raising Prices After Quoting.
Pricing on Alibaba varies from one supplier to another—even for the same product. Even so, you need to be wary of suppliers whose prices are significantly lower than the market average. Some Alibaba merchants have been known to advertise their products at a considerably lower per-item price just to attract buyers.
Such sellers will quote you below-average prices for high-quality products. Once you have reviewed the sample(s) and are ready to order, the supplier will start giving excuses. For instance, they may tell you that they ran out of supply for similarly-priced items and suggest higher-priced alternatives.
c) Bait-and-Switch
This is arguably one of the most common scams on Alibaba. In this case, the supplier will promise to sell you high-quality merchandise only to switch them for inferior products at the last minute. The supplier will make the items appear as though they are of acceptable quality.
They will even send you high-quality product samples to win you over. Once you place an order and make the payment, the supplier will then send you counterfeit or products of inferior quality instead.
Just to be safe, you may need to hire a trustworthy agent in China to verify product quality on your behalf before your Alibaba order ships out.
- Agrees to a Trade Assurance Contract, but Ask You to Pay Outside Alibaba.
Trade Assurance is the renowned buyer protection policy on Alibaba. It allows you to claim a refund in the event that the order delivery date or product quality is different than what your supplier promised. However, this cover is only applicable to orders that have been placed and paid for through the Alibaba website.
For them to sound legit, some unscrupulous suppliers have the Trade assurance symbol on their Alibaba profile. If you happen to place an order with such a supplier, they will come up with all sorts of excuses to convince you to pay for the order outside Alibaba.
If you fall prey to this disguise, your purchase is not covered. This makes it impossible for you to dispute and get a refund if the purchase does not go as expected.
How Can You Avoid Getting Scammed on Alibaba?
Having established that eCommerce scams are still prevalent, due diligence is encouraged when sourcing from Alibaba suppliers. To curb the risk of being scammed, always ensure that you are working with a legit Alibaba supplier.
So, how can you tell whether a supplier is legit on Alibaba?
1. Check Whether the Supplier is Verified
In an effort to enhance buyer protection and streamline online transactions, Alibaba requires its merchants to meet certain requirements. First, they are required to provide a valid business license as a way to prove their legitimacy.
Unfortunately, this is not enough to gauge whether a supplier is trustworthy. As such, Alibaba suppliers are required to meet several other requirements and standards to attain the Verified Supplier status and certifications.
To attain this status, Alibaba suppliers are inspected, assed and verified to meet minimum industry standards—with regards to production capabilities, product quality and consistency, and process controls. To ascertain a supplier’s legitimacy, look for the following verification symbols:
a) Verified Supplier
To check whether a supplier is verified, navigate to their “Company Profile” page on Alibaba. Look for the “Verified Supplier” mark on this page, as illustrated below:
Over the years, Verified Suppliers on Alibaba have proven to be more reliable and trustworthy.
b) Trade Assurance
Think of this as the buyer protection policy on Alibaba. It ensures that you get products of the right quality at the right time. However, this policy will only cover you if your order was executed within its bounds. To ensure that your Alibaba purchase is covered by Trade Assurance, you should:
- Only order from a supplier that is covered by the Trade Assurance policy. To do this, check for the Trade Assurance icon on the supplier’s profile page, as illustrated below:
Image
Source: (https://activity.alibaba.com/helpcenter/Trade_Assurance_Guide.html)
- Be sure to pay the supplier through Alibaba using any of the supported secure payments, including online bank payment, T/T, credit card, and online transfer.
- Try to always communicate with the supplier on Alibaba as opposed to using third-party communication apps. If anything goes wrong, you could use the chat history as evidence to back your claim.
- Ensure that the Trade Assurance contract specifies product quality, shipping information, and product specs.
- Check whether the correct incoterm is used on the contract, depending on who is responsible for cargo insurance and shipment.
- If you will be arranging the transportation (FCA, EXW, FOB, or FAS), ensure that the “Shipping fee” section remains blank as freight charges will be billed separately.
- Upload attachments of your product specifications for reference if anything goes wrong.
If something goes wrong with your order, you are more likely to get a refund from the supplier. You simply have to file a dispute on Alibaba.
How to Find a Trade Assurance Supplier(s)
Run a keyword or image search on the Alibaba search bar. Now refine your search results by selecting “Trade Assurance” under supplier type, as shown below:
c) Gold Rating
Gold Supplier on Alibaba is essentially a premium membership that offers suppliers more comprehensive ways to market their products. In terms of quality assurance and supplier’s ethical behavior, this rating does not mean anything.
While this rating does not guarantee safety, it proves that the supplier has passed the Authentication & Verification (A & V) process by Alibaba. The A & V process seeks to establish the validity of the supplier’s status and its authorized contact person.
At the very least, Gold Suppliers have demonstrated their legitimacy to Alibaba.
d) Assessed Supplier
These are Alibaba suppliers that have passed on-site assessment(s) and verification(s) by reputable third-party inspection agencies. Supplier assessments seek to verify an assortment of things, including:
- Company Overview – the supplier’s legal status, human resources, and physical address.
- Trade Capacity – supplier’s export revenue, market distribution, and main clients.
- Production Capacity – the production process and machinery at the supplier’s production site.
- Research & Development Capacity – supplier’s design processes, equipment as well as the &D workforce.
- Quality Assurance – relevant quality certification(s), supplier management, and after sale service offered by the supplier.
As such, an Assessed Supplier on his been verified to be legitimate and meet industry standards by an authoritative body. Alibaba also allows you to download and view assessment reports and videos on any assessed supplier.
How to Find an Added Supplier(s) on Alibaba
Navigate to the Alibaba homepage and run a search for the item you desire using the search bar. Now apply the “Assessed Supplier” filter, under “Supplier Type”, to your search results as illustrated below:
To view assessment reports, click on the “Assessed Supplier” link and select the type of assessment you wish to view.
e) Specialty Tags
Alibaba supplier specialty tags is a system that assigns tags to certain suppliers based on their previous performance on the marketplace. It is a great way to distinguish the best performing sellers on different categories.
some of the common specialty tags on Alibaba include, environmentally friendly, fast delivery, quality control experts, minor customization, high R&D capacity, and global export expertise. Such tags give you an opportunity to choose a legit supplier on Alibaba based on how well they have faired in the past.
2. Evaluate Buyer Feedback and Reviews
At the end of the ordering process on Alibaba, buyers are allowed to leave feedback and reviews for their suppliers. This is a great way to tell whether a supplier is legit on Alibaba. The reviews and feedback left by previous buyers can also help you gauge the level of service offered by the supplier.
How Can You View Feedback Left on Suppliers by Other Buyers?
To view the feedback and ratings left by previous buyers, you need to navigate to the supplier’s minisite on Alibaba. From the supplier minisite, navigate to Company profile> Business performance> Ratings & reviews.
While viewing the reviews and ratings, pay keen attention to the following “red flags”:
- Low quality product complains, often in conjunction with very low product prices
- Too many complains touching on Brocken products or defective parts
- Poor factory working conditions
- Claims that the first shipment of great, but subsequent ones had inferior-quality products
3. Pay Through the Secure Payment Service
Powered by Alipay, the Secure Payment service on Alibaba holds your money until you have received and are satisfied with your order. It covers you from possible loses while sourcing products from this marketplace. Only after you have confirmed receipt of goods will the money be released to the supplier.
Alibaba suppliers that commit to this arrangement are not only legit, but are also ready to meet your order requirements to your satisfaction. To use the service, you first need to find and contact your preferred Secure Payment supplier on the platform.
Next, place a secure payment order, make a payment using the supported methods and wait for your order as explained in this Alibaba guide.
4. Review the Supplier’s Business License
Another way to tell whether an Alibaba Supplier is legit and safe is to check their business license. This document includes important information on the supplier that can help you ascertain its legitimacy.
The business license you will find on Alibaba has such information as the registration number, company name, address, scope of operation, registered capital, legal representation, and expiry date.
How to Find a Supplier’s Business License on Alibaba
From your search results, click on the product picture for any of the displayed options you may be interested in. Next, click on the company name to navigate to the Supplier’s homepage. Click on the blue triangle icon towards the upper-left corner of the supplier’s homepage.
This will take you to a page that displays basic information on the supplier. The information on this page should include a text version of the Supplier’s business license as well as a picture of the document. You may borrow relevant tools to translate the information on this image.
How to Verify the Legitimacy of the Business License
Now that you have the supplier’s business license, how do you use it to ascertain its legitimacy? You may use third-party websites like Qichacha to ascertain the validity of the license and consequently the legitimacy of the Alibaba supplier.
Simply enter the business name or registration number from the license onto the Qichacha website and run a search. If you fail to hit a match, try searching for the supplier’s English name. If you cannot find the company using either of the searches, there is a good chance that it is not legitimate.
Conclusion
Most Alibaba suppliers are legitimate and honest businesses that strive to meet buyer needs. Even so, some of them are simply unethical and out to rip buyers off their money. To avoid the losses and inconvenience that come with online scams, always work with a legitimate Alibaba supplier.
With this guide, you can easily unmask scammers on the site and narrow your search to suppliers that are more likely to deliver the desired results. To curb the risk even further, you should consider hiring a qualified sourcing agent in China.
Such a professional can help you find a legitimate supplier and verify the quality and condition of your Alibaba order before shipping.
