How To Know If An Alibaba Seller Is Legit

Alibaba.com is China-based e-commerce platform, similar to what Amazon offers. Unlike Amazon, Alibaba largely focuses on allowing manufacturers and suppliers to connect with an international market. This makes Alibaba a popular platform for dropshippers, as well as established companies looking to more affordably scale their businesses.

The short answer is yes, it is definitely safe to order goods from China on Alibaba. It is a reputable online platform that connects buyers with suppliers and they have strict rules and regulations to keep most of the transactions secure on the platform.

Regardless of the online platform you are using to purchase from China, it’s still very important to do your due diligence on all of the suppliers you are communicating with. Kanary can help with any supplier vetting necessary.

Alibaba is one of the largest online platforms for manufacturers and their customers to connect and do business. That growth reflects a large quantity of real suppliers connected with hundreds and thousands of real customers and businesses. 

Alibaba has also increased their security for buyers, including cracking down on brushed reviews, and “verified supplier" and "Gold supplier" badges for sellers that help buyers to know that these sellers are legit. Alibaba needs buyers to trust the platform, which means they continue to work to make the platform more and more trustworthy. 

Having said that, Alibaba isn't perfect. Scammers rely on inexperienced buyers who unwittingly skip the protections that Alibaba offers (like making payment outside of Alibaba's payment platform), so you need to be alert to someone trying to scam you. Partnering with Kanary eliminates this risk, since we know how to avoid scams and have excellent relationships with a variety of established suppliers.

Yes, it is generally safe to buy from suppliers on Alibaba, but you should take the following things into consideration before committing to a supplier: level of professionalism, the supplier’s familiarity with the product you are buying, level of communication, level of transparency, and ability to provide samples and details on the manufacturing process.

Alibaba also offers Trade Assurance, which is a verification program for select suppliers to protect your payments through the Alibaba.com payment platform. A majority of suppliers on Alibaba are reputable and trustworthy, but it is best to do your own thorough research or have a sourcing company, like Kanary, help you.

A gold supplier is basically Alibaba’s premium membership that provides them with a large number of promotional opportunities to maximize their exposure and increase their sales potential. Once a company is approved to be a gold supplier they are authorized to show the gold icon, which demonstrates their authenticity.

Most gold suppliers are 100 percent legitimate and ok to buy from, but you can still get scammed by a gold supplier! For example, you can have a disloyal employee who is scamming the company and you by having you wire money to their personal bank account or the gold account could be hacked by someone else entirely.

This is why it’s important to do your own research on the supplier or have a China sourcing agent like Kanary help you.

Yes, but in most scenarios it is better for you to handle the shipping rather than your supplier. If it is a small shipment and you are shipping via Air Express, you can use your supplier. However, keep in mind that most of the time, they are charging a higher rate than if you used your own freight forwarding company.

If you are shipping a heavy item, or large volume by sea, then you should definitely do the shipping yourself. Your supplier will most likely be using a third party freight forwarding company anyway, as they may be familiar with getting your product from their factory to port, but not the entire import process.

Additionally, if you are shipping from China to US, then you are communicating with the freight forwarder you choose. On the other hand if the supplier is shipping your products via a freight forwarder you are not directly in contact with, this can lead to further mistakes and delays just because you are speaking to them through your supplier instead of directly.

Kanary can assist you with any shipping or import needs and will provide 100 percent transparency and updates along the way.

It is safe to buy from Alibaba if you need shipping included in your price. However, you should always be getting multiple shipping quotes from other freight forwarding companies to make sure that the supplier isn’t overcharging you. Kanary has feight partners that we have been working with for years who are trustworthy and can offer the most competitive shipping prices.

Yes, it is safe to use your credit card on Alibaba through their secure payment gateway, but you will be paying significantly more money in transaction fees than if you sent a wire. It only makes sense to use a credit card if you are buying samples (low cost usually) or spending less than $1,000 on your total order.

Think of it this way. If you wire money, you spend anywhere from $30-$45. If you spend over $1,000, you will be paying almost more than what it would cost to just wire the money. So when it is time to pay for your order, it is best to figure out what would cost more, credit card transactions fees or wiring fees. Most of the time for large orders, it will be the credit card transaction fee that is the highest.

Multiple safe payment options are supported through Alibaba Trade Assurance. These include, credit/debit card, PayPal, wire transfer, Apple Pay and more. PayPal is probably the most secure payment method because it includes all of the security features that the other payment options offer and has the customer service support to open a dispute in case of any problem.

Be mindful that if you use Paypal, your transaction fees will be significantly higher.

Alibaba is probably the most reliable and reputable online platform to purchase goods from China. It has good customer relationships among their international clients, ways to help verify if a supplier is legitimate, secure methods of payment and quality products.

Having said that, there are also advantages when using platforms that are less known. For example, 1688.com is a Chinese domestic platform where you will generally be able to find products of high quality at cheaper prices than Alibaba.com, but none of the suppliers speak English.

First, Alibaba.com and Aliexpress.com are owned by the same company, The Alibaba Group. Alibaba.com is a B2B (business to business) platform that facilitates wholesale purchases between businesses and manufacturers or suppliers across Asia, especially in China. Aliexpress.com is a B2C (business to consumer) platform that is best for consumers looking for a variety of similar products at affordable prices.

Alibaba is great if you want to purchase custom or private label products because you are dealing with a manufacturer or trading company who can help you create products according to your specifications. Aliexpress is better if you want to order pre-made products that typically can not be customized. So it really depends on what product you are interested in buying to decide what option is best for you. They are both safe.

1688 is a subsidiary of Alibaba. It's a wholesale platform, similar to Alibaba's overall platform, with the main difference being that 1688 caters specifically to the domestic Chinese market. While both platforms are reputable, Alibaba is slightly safer, since it has more payment safeguards, like their Trade Assurance program.

Alibaba is not reliable if you want to purchase branded items. 9/10 times the branded item will be counterfeit, or will not be approved by the company. This can turn in a number of headaches for you, the buyer.

For example, your items may not pass through customs because they are counterfeit and even on the off chance that they do, you may run into legal issues with the company for selling their items without approval. You should only use Alibaba to purchase generic brands or if you are creating your own brand.

Alibaba has partnered with third-party credit providers to offer businesses a "pay later" option for their orders. This option is extremely reliable, since you are using a verified credit partner and you'll get Alibaba's payment protection because payment is still made through their online platform. 

The biggest downside to the pay later option is the associated interest. Just like most lines of credit, you'll end up paying interest on the amount that you "pay later." Credit fees can up upwards of 3%, which adds up quickly on large, consistent orders.

Alibaba is a trusted and reputable ecommerce platform that connects suppliers with buyers. They are legit because they provide certain trade guarantees and secure payment methods to protect your transactions. There are also some protocols in place to make sure that most suppliers are legally registered and allows you to report any suppliers that you suspect of scamming.

At the end of the day, there is still fraud on Alibaba.com. To have complete confidence that you are not getting scammed, it is best to use a sourcing agent, like Kanary, to help manage your supply chain.

Suppliers who do not show the gold icon on Alibaba can still be legit. Contrarily, gold suppliers can also be illegitimate or scams. A gold supplier is basically Alibaba’s premium membership that provides them with a large number of promotional opportunities to maximize their exposure and increase their sales potential. Once a company is approved to be a gold supplier, they are allowed to display the gold icon as proof of their authenticity.

Most gold suppliers are legitimate, but you can still get scams are still possible! For example, you can have a disgruntled employee who is scamming the company and you by having you wire money to their personal bank account, or the gold account could have been compromised by hackers.

This is why it’s important to do your own research on the supplier or have a sourcing agent like Kanary help you.

You should always check for references outside of China as a way to verify an Alibaba seller is legit. You can search on the web and try to find their website to see regular customers they work with internationally or look for previous customer reviews. Then, contact these previous customers to see if their orders went smoothly.

Kanary specializes in supplier research and if you want a 100 percent confirmation that the seller is legit, then just reach out!

Sampling is one of, if not the most, important step in the manufacturing process. If a supplier does not want to provide a sample before they begin mass production, it is a big red flag. You should order as many samples as necessary until you are 100 percent confident in the product before you go to mass production.

At Kanary, we have a team to assist in obtaining samples and an office in China where you can have them shipped. Upon arrival at our office, our team will inspect the samples and ship everything out together, saving you money on shipping costs and simplifying the sourcing process.

In order to qualify as a verified supplier, the supplier’s profile, manufacturing capabilities, process and quality controls have to be inspected by a third party institution to assure reputable and consistent validation on Alibaba.com.

This is a good place to start, but it is still important to do addition supplier vetting. In order to qualify as a verified supplier, the supplier’s profile, manufacturing capabilities, process and quality controls have to be inspected by a third party institution to assure reputable and consistent validation on Alibaba.com.

Despite all of the above, it is still smart to do your due diligence in supplier research because the verified supplier could still be either trade company or manufacturer. If the supplier is a trade company, their price will be higher than the manufacturer price and communication will take longe.

This means  longer lead times as well as increases in the time it will take to fix problems as they occur.

Alibaba verified suppliers can be both a trading company or a manufacturer. This is why, even if they are verified, it is recommended to do your own additional research on your suppliers or have a company, like Kanary, help you.

There are certain obvious ways to tell the difference between a trade company and a manufacturer. First, look at the product variety the verified supplier is offering. A manufacturer will typically be dealing with one type of product and be an expert on the product that they are manufacturing, whereas a trade company may offer several lines of products that require different manufacturing processes and will be much less knowledgeable.

You should also pay attention to the company name. A trade company will have a much more marketable name than a manufacturer. This is because trade companies are solely focused on selling you products and manufacturers are solely focused on making the product.

If they have an address, you can look up the location of the business. If the business is located in the middle of Hong Kong, Shanghai, or Shenzhen (densely populated areas), then chances are this is not a manufacturing location, and the company is likely a trading company.

Finally, take a look at the company website. If it is in English and is easy to navigate, chances are it is a trade company. Similarly to having a marketable name, an easy-to-navigate, English website makes it easier to sell to as many clients as possible.

If you are buying from a verified supplier, then they likely will have passed on-site inspections from a third party, have verified videos on hand showing their facility or products, have downloadable reports detailing products, R&D, QC processes, industry experience, an available labor force, and have supplier specialty tags indicating their performance on Alibaba.com.

Unfortunately, purchasing from a verified supplier on Alibaba only gives you access to the suppliers on Alibaba. In reality, there are many other suppliers out there that may be a better fit for you. Kanary has an extensive network of trustworthy suppliers that aren’t accessible through Alibaba and is more than ready to help you with the sourcing process!

An Alibaba supplier does not necessarily have high MOQs. The MOQ depends on the product you are ordering and also the time of year you are ordering it. Certain cheaper products usually have higher MOQs than more expensive products.

Also, if the supplier is very busy with other orders or closing soon for a holiday, they may raise their MOQ to make fulfilling your order worthwhile. If you are looking to get started with a new supplier and you prefer a lower MOQ, then you can contact Kanary, as we have helped multiple clients negotiate MOQs successfully.

If you do not feel like using a sourcing company to help, it is recommended to speak with a large number of suppliers to see which supplier is most flexible in terms of MOQ.

While using a verified supplier greatly reduces the likelihood of getting scammed, it is still possible to experience fraudulent activity. For example, there is a known scam where verified suppliers have their Alibaba accounts hacked, and scammers use the profile to obtain fraudulent payments. 

This is why you can't just blindly trust a verified account. Make sure to keep an eye on other red flags (like being asked to make a payment to a personal account) to avoid getting scammed. If you partner with Kanary, we use our extensive network of known, trustworthy suppliers to guarantee that you won't get scammed on your order.

For the same reason that you'll find scammers on any e-commerce platform, including Amazon. Even though Alibaba has made it a priority to weed out scammers and provide tools to help highlight trustworthy sellers, it's impossible to completely eliminate all fraudulent sellers. 

If you want a guarantee that you don't get scammed on your order, then partner with Kanary. We have a physical presence in China, inspect factories before and during manufacturing, and have long-term relationships with many established, trustworthy suppliers in a variety of industries.

People are coming out with new scams everyday, but the following are some of the signs you can look for in order to help avoid falling victim to a scammer. It may be a scam if:
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You can find a scammer in any category, though certain products are more likely to be scams than others. Specifically, name-brand products with pricing far below standard retail will almost always be scams.

Especially if it's a brand you're familiar with (like Apple), and the supplier is claiming prices are so low because they are the OEM (original equipment manufacturer.) Name-brand, high-demand consumer products are regularly the target of scams, especially if prices appear too good to be true.

You can avoid an alibaba scam by having detailed discussions about the product you want to purchase, which ensures that the supplier has an in-depth knowledge of what they are selling you. It doesn’t matter if it is a manufacturer or a trading company, they will both have a lot more knowledge about the product than a scammer.

Additionally, you can order samples to verify that the quality is to your standard, personally visit the factory, or have a third party like Kanary visit the supplier’s factory to make sure that their manufacturing process meets your expectations.

You can also check online for U.K. or U.S. based (or anyone outside of China) references that can confirm their past orders went well with this supplier.

It depends on the scenario, but sometimes it can be difficult to get a refund. You would have to prove to Aliaba that a real scam or quality issue occurred. If the supplier never shipped your order out and you can prove you never received it via tracking, then you will most likely be able to get a refund.

Most of the time, you will not run into flat-out scams like this since Alibaba is pretty good at protecting against outright fraud. More than likely, you will run into quality issues once you receive your order, which is why it is so important that you order samples and have quality control checks before it is shipped.

Kanary provides QC checks, on-site inspections, and sample rounds for its clients.

Looking up all of these contact points can definitely help to conclude that the seller is not an Alibaba scammer. Looking up the company name, email address and website will also help you to distinguish if you are dealing with a manufacturer or trade company.

Remember, manufacturers are there to make products and trade companies are there to sell products. This means the name and email of a trade company will always be more marketable and the website will probably be in English and easy to understand because their goal is to sell to you!

However, a manufacturer may have a website in Chinese and not care so much about the marketability of their name because their goal is to manufacture products.

You can try to search around the internet to see if there are any message boards, blogs, or websites that have written about the supplier you will be potentially working with. For example, you can go to www.fraudblacklist.com, which provides a list of Alibaba companies who have scammed people or provided them with less than satisfactory past order experiences.

If you do not find any initial negative information, then you are off to a good start and can continue your research on the supplier in question. Alibaba has many rules and regulations in place to avoid scams, which makes being scammed less of an issue than finding a supplier that can consistently make good quality products and follow your requirements.

A sourcing company like Kanary can help set up and manage any part of your supply chain in China.

If you do not know how to assess suppliers, then you may run into problems. Making sure proper supplier research has been done can definitely help to avoid an Alibaba scam. If you hire Kanary to handle your sourcing, we will be doing supplier selection, research, assessment and verification, to alleviate any concerns or doubt that you may initially have.

The site fraudblacklist.com is a free resource that allows clients to air grievances about poor experiences with suppliers. If a supplier appears on this site, it's not a guarantee that the supplier is a scammer, but it should definitely raise red flags. Fraudblacklist.com requires some kind of proof of a complaint, though they state that a complaint isn't 100% a fraud problem. 

For example, some of the complaints are outright fraud (like payment fraud or not delivering the right number of products). Some other complaints are about getting the wrong kind of product or the right product with the wrong specifications. This may not be outright fraud, but it is indicative of a communication problem that a high-quality supplier would have avoided in the first place. 

If you're considering a supplier and they appear on fraudblacklist.com, it doesn't mean they are a scammer, but your experience with them will likely be subpar. It's best to consider other suppliers that fit your business needs that don't appear on this website.

Past customer reviews are an excellent tool to help know if a seller on Alibaba is legit. Keep in mind that simply the presence of reviews isn't strong enough evidence to have certainty that the supplier isn't a scammer. Some key review characteristics to look for include: 
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You should consider reviews when shopping for a supplier, but reviews are not the end-all-be-all of knowing for sure that a supplier is legit. If you partner with Kanary, you won't need to take the time to study and research reviews. We'll use our extensive network of trusted suppliers to get your order completed without the hassle and headache of supplier shopping.

Alibaba is far more reliable with reviews than it was in years past. Alibaba has begun to crack down and sue companies that "brush" reviews, which is a deceptive tactic that allows "verified buyers" (or accounts that have confirmed they have bought and received a product) to leave fake reviews for a particular supplier.  

Brushing is a problem with e-commerce retailers in general, including Amazon. While these platforms do their best to review fake reviews, it currently isn't possible to completely eliminate all fake reviews. This is why customer reviews should only be one factor of many that you consider when choosing a supplier on Alibaba.

Seeing the reviews of a specific verified supplier on Alibaba is easy. First, make sure you're on the supplier's Alibaba profile. Then, click Company Profile, and you'll see a drop-down menu. Click Business Performance, which will reveal another drop-down menu. From there, click Rating and Reviews. 

This will allow you to see all past ratings and specific reviews from clients for the supplier in question. As a general rule, you should look for suppliers that have a large volume of positive reviews. If there's only one or two reviews, the supplier might be new or inexperienced, and the reviews could even be fake.

It is extremely important to rate and review suppliers you work with on Alibaba. If it's a good supplier, it helps other businesses know that they're a high-quality seller. If you had a poor experience (even if you weren't scammed), it will help other businesses steer clear. 

To leave a review, make sure you're logged into your Alibaba account. Then, click Orders. On the expanded window, click All Orders. This will take you to your order history, and you'll see several filter options at the top of your screen. Select the filter Completed, which will show completed orders. 

Then, scroll through your completed orders and choose the one where you want to leave a review. Click Write a Review, and you'll see the review window open. 

Under Product Quality, select a star rating, and then leave a detailed comment in the Comment box. You must complete both of these to leave a review. 

If you want to leave photos or videos to accompany your review, you'll see two "plus" boxes underneath Add a photo or review. While not necessary, it may be helpful if your review is negative due to the quality of the products received. 

Finally, click Submit to post your review. You can also see a history of all reviews you've left, which you can see by clicking Orders and selecting My Reviews.

As a rule of thumb, you should always look for suppliers with as many reviews as possible. The more reviews a supplier has, the better the chance of their legitimacy. Sometimes it is hard to know if the reviews are legit or not because a supplier can easily pay somebody or incentivise them with free products to get a positive review.

Brushed reviews refers to a fraudulent review practice that allows suppliers to get reviews from "verified buyers," even if the buyers are fake. Brushed reviews are a problem on all e-commerce platforms, though they have been a particular problem for Alibaba in the past. Here's how the scam works. 

The supplier hires reviewers to be in on the scam. The buyers initiate the sale through the platform. The suppliers either don't send a product at all, they send a low-cost product that ships inexpensively, or they may even ship an empty box. Then, the buyer marks the product as delivered and leaves a review on the supplier's Alibaba page. 

To Alibaba, it's very difficult to know that these reviews are fraudulent. After all, a sale was conducted through their online platform, and the buyer marked the product as delivered. There isn't any sales fraud. Instead, the fraud is the planning that happens outside of the platform. 

Alibaba has cracked down on brushed reviews, going after companies that explicitly offered this service to suppliers. While that makes reviews on Alibaba more trustworthy, you still need to consider many factors with review to determine if a supplier is legit. 

Kanary has the experts that makes vetting suppliers easy. We have a physical presence in China, and we physically inspect new suppliers we're working with for the first time. We also have established relationships with high-quality, experienced manufacturers in China, which means we usually aren't working with a brand-new supplier.

No, an Alibaba verified supplier can not delete bad reviews from their customers, but they are allowed to respond to the review in their defense. It is smart to always read these responses, especially if there aren’t many bad reviews, to make sure that it wasn’t a customer overreacting or making a false accusation against the supplier.