Class project regarding small businesses' experiences with Alibaba

[HaiRuisen]

Hello everyone, I am a student at Northwestern University working on a project for a business course I am taking.

I would like it if people here could share stories of their experiences of having worked with foreign suppliers via Alibaba. Perhaps you were uncomfortable about payment processes, experienced a language barrier issue, were outright scammed, or had a seamless business transaction - I would like to hear all kinds of stories, and the more detail the better. If you have previously posted elsewhere on the forum about your experience, and just want to link to it in the responses, that would be great too. (I used the search function, but didn't quite find what I'd be looking for.)

I appreciate it - thank you!

[turboguy]

I don't think I can add a lot on the topic but I will share what little I can.

About 18 months ago I signed up on the Alibaba web site. At this point in time I have not dealt with any companies I was connected with through Alibaba. I am not sure if I ever will but haven't ruled it out.

One of the problems I have seen was too many suppliers with little differentiation. There are two products that I have looked for on the Alibaba site. One would be a gas engine powered water pump. When I searched I found probably 50 to 100 companies that made them with all of them looking about the same.

The other thing I looked for was a 6 to 1 double reduction gear box. The search returned thousands of gearboxes of all types and it was just hopeless to try to sort through all the offerings some with descriptions only in Chinese to find one that might work for me.

Some products made in China can be interesting. So many are one of 100 companies making identical products. I do see some that are a little more unique. One of my biggest trade shows of the year is in Louisville in October. The company whose booth was next to my booth was from China and primarily markets through Alibaba. They had some products that were different than I have usually seen. One of the products I have been wanting to add to my line is called a compost spreader. There are really only two on the market. The most popular had one model in the past, a model 100 that sold for $ 5500.00. Since then they have come with a model 200 and then a 250 that solves some of the problems but sells for a little more. The Chinese company had in their product line an exact copy of the model 100 that sells for $ 5500.00 and I could buy them for $ 930.00 and possibly less in quantity.

The companies on Alibaba that are serious about export marketing seem to have someone on staff who is proficient in English. I have been contacted by hundreds of Alibaba member companies since I signed up. Once in a while the communication will come through in Chinese but most are in understandable English. I don't recall the payment structure but Alibaba has programs that are designed to protect the buyer and seller as far as the cash transactions go.

[Bobjob]

I had a bad experience. Paid but I never received my merchandise. Alibaba was of no assistance in remedying the situation. I will not use Alibaba again. If I involve myself with China again I'll fly over there and do business in person.