Products sold on Alibaba are usually cheaper for 4 main reasons.

1. Cost of labour.
   The fact that the products are made in China has a lot to do with the apparent “cheap” price. Chinese manufacturers take advantage of what some would call “cheap labour”, and that reduces the cost of production.
2. Cost of electricity.
   Compared with other places in the world where manufacturing is done, the cost of electricity in China is VERY cheap. It could be as much as 400% cheaper than the cost in the US. Of course, this means that the cost of production and hence the cost of the goods, will be lower.
3. Selling in bulk.
   When you sell products in bulk, you are guaranteed sale at high quantity and in larger dollar-value transactions rather than when you sell single products. All around the world, wholesale prices are cheaper for this benefit to both the buyer and the seller.
4. Less consumer targeting.
   The companies that sell the goods to consumers have more to worry about than the manufacturers. Apple, for example, have to budget for marketing, public relations, advertisements, customer service, etc. All of those costs affect the final price of the product that you pay. Whereas, the manufacturers on Alibaba, though they must do some marketing, they don’t fight for consumers as much, so their overhead will be less in that regard.

So much for reasons Alibaba products are “cheap”.

The question about what is genuine generally has a lot to do with cost of the item, though it can be very tricky. If you are buying a single item and the cost is way less than the cost per item in bulk, then you should see an imaginary red flag. You are most likely to be sold a piece of trash. Some manufacturers enter the market at prices below average market price, but it cannot be ridiculously lower.

If the cost of the item is more or equal to average market cost, it is not automatically implicit that this item is genuine. Due diligence should ensue to ensure that you have found a reputable merchant who will sell you what you buy and not scam you. (Yes, scammers sometimes sell for higher than the price and so they win double if you buy.)

On another note, if you understand Alibaba very well, it is a marketplace where original manufacturers and directly related suppliers plight their goods. There is absolutely no merchant on Alibaba that should be selling an Apple product. Let’s say it is a genuine MacBook, as the manufacturers may have links to Apple factories - this would be as illegal as they come. It’s called black market. On the other side of the coin, where they don’t have a link to Apple factories, you would DEFINITELY not get a MacBook, but rather a knock-off. I’m 100% certain of this.

Buying from Alibaba

1. If you’re NOT into merchandising, it would not work out for you. Buying a single item for personal use on Alibaba can work out to be more expensive, even when they offer a “free sample”, as they still charge you an exorbitant fee for freight.
   Your better bet would be to use AliExpress. It is not free of scammers and disreputable sellers, but you can look up the sellers there, check out their activity, communicate with them and get a feel of how they handle customers. Most times after having conversations and researching them, you will have a better idea of whether they are any good.
2. If you’re into merchandising, then buying from Alibaba is great. You would need to build relationships with manufacturers, and for the first few orders, stick to using PayPal to send payments, as PayPal tends to be pro-buyer for the majority of times, hence reducing incidence of risk.

Delivery

You generally don’t have to worry about delivery from Alibaba merchants, once they are aboveboard. That’s because they don’t deliver themselves, but they use reputable shippers, such as DHL and FedEx. There are others, but these are more likely to come to your destination.