Regarding the Alibaba site. Absolutely there are scams going on. 99% of these though are so obvious that they only manage to stay up there for a few days before being kicked out. As with all online trading there are risks! It is the old "Caveat Emptor". Your reponsibilty to check into the people you are dealing with. It's called research.
I have done trading on Alibaba and have had no trouble at all. I looked into the companies I waqs dealing with (ALL in China btw) and also got myself an agent in China to handle my business on that side of the world. Requested samples, received samples, agreed on pricing, made a TT to each supplier and had my product delivered to my agent.... No problems at all with the 5 suppliers I have dealt with.
However I WILL say that 3 other suppliers I dealt with gave me a "bad feeling" by not giving me accurate addresses or not replying to requests for information that I wanted about various matters. These suppliers I stopped talking to because it just felt "wrong". Simple as that.
The Gold Members on Alibaba (for Chinese suppliers) is a fairly good system as far as I have encountered. I am batting 1000 so I think, personally, that Alibaba is an ok site as long as you are careful (but that applies to EVERY deal you do, online or in person!!!!)
Regarding the payment methods. Telegraphic Transfers (Wire transfers in the US) should ONLY be conducted thru a BANK!!!!!! Any supplier who mentions using any other method of TT is a problem. 99.9% of Chinese suppliers will give you an account number woth BoC (Bank of China). This is a good bank and it is owned by the government. Agricultural Bank of China is the only other big one over there. Either of these 2 banks are acceptable to deal qwith. If you are TTing money to a sullier in China they need to be able to give you a SWIFT CODE. IF they don't give you this then there is a problem somewhere. Always TT money to a COMPANY ACCOUNT, never a personal account. With my dealings I always made a deposit of less than US$25.00 as a first payment to test the account to make sure it was legit. (It helps if your bank does free Transfers like mine!)
Any supplier in China asking for more than 30% of invoice value to do the production run is someone to be wary of. 30% is considered the normal "part payment" to have a production run made. Once you find a good supplier they will usually make this amount less (around 20%) for future orders.
If you are looking to buy COPYRIGHTED items like Ipods and Nike. what makes you think you are NOT going to be ripped off??????? Nike is Nike.... PERIOD! NOBODY has access to true Nike products except Nike. Of COURSE you can get knock-offs... anyone can.. but yes they are illegal and you deserve to be hit if you think they are legit......... Not to mention what customs will do if they find your shipment!
So I would say Alibaba is no better and no worse than any other online site. I have had zero trouble on there, but then I am probably over-cautious who I deal with.
|