Is Alibaba legit & reliable?
Here’s what I think one should know. Based on my orders and what I know from other individuals and businesses who use them.
Alibaba Group itself is a legitimate company in China co-founded by Jack Ma. They’ve been in the e-commerce business since 1999.
How to determine if an Alibaba supplier is trustworthy?
Alibaba is great once a trusted relationship is established or you are referred to a supplier by a trusted party.
But to get there you need your first successful order.
I’m surprised not everyone knows about this, but I never order from Alibaba without protection for my orders.
You can go to “this link”, then choose “trade assurance” from the list of services for information on how to get it for free.
Also I suggest the following for a safer experience.
- For bigger orders ask for a sample first
- Do research on the company through Google
- Test the supplier with questions
Still none of these methods are perfect.
Communication is key and to not force a deal out of desperation, so don’t hesitate to cancel your plans if something doesn’t feel right.
I’ve seen too many businesses just ending up in a bigger mess by continuing with suppliers they knew were not trustworthy. Just because they were already too committed and dependent on the deal.
While I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen…! I have personally never seen or heard of an Alibaba supplier take the opportunity to grow and better their business from a bad experienced with a buyer.
My review on Alibaba and its legitimacy
Obviously Alibaba.com has a lot of mixed reviews just because the site is so massive and there are all kinds of sellers on the platform.
However Alibaba is just providing a platform to connect with Chinese suppliers and those who find their way through are reaping the benefits.[2]
Although I will say that while we’ve seen much improvement in the oversight of sellers there’s still a lot that could improve.
In my case, the relationship with Alibaba started as a love-hate relationship but once I gained benefits that I would have not gotten from anywhere else, I can say that it was definitely worth the learning curve.
Nowadays I mainly deal with only the sellers I already trust on. And I can assure you that there are some of the most fantastic people I’ve done business with on Alibaba. As well as having made a lot of friends in China along the way, I won’t fall short on high quality referrals either.
The tricky bit is getting started in my opinion, and Alibaba can be an exciting and even overwhelming place where it’s easy to get carried away. But proceeding carefully, applying plenty of common sense will get you far.
With all that in mind, don’t forget that there are some sellers that you should never do business with. Ranging from poor business practices to scam. Don’t worry though as you might be lucky enough to never run into them.
Just stay alert and cautious to be on the safe side.
Thank you for asking!
Footnotes