Is Alibaba safe?​ 4 In-depth Ways to Avoid Scams

The most asked questions I get are “how to avoid being scammed by a supplier” or “how do I make sure this supplier is legit”? Especially on platforms like Alibaba – the biggest of its kind. This begs the question, is Alibaba safe

The short answer would be, YES, Alibaba is safe. Alibaba has been around for more than 20 years now and has a strong vetted process for suppliers. While there is a large selection of suppliers on Alibaba, you can follow a stringent vetting process (outlined below) to filter for the best ones and be assured of strong product quality.

It is easy to get overwhelmed with the selection of suppliers on Alibaba though. And I can certainly understand how you could have reservations figuring out if it is safe to transfer your money to a supplier you’ve never met.

Many people will tell you just to go for a “Gold-supplier”. But that means NOTHING. Anyone can buy that “badge” from Alibaba. The real question should be: is the supplier you found on Alibaba safe / legitimate? So I’ve come up with a different approach over the years. 
Here are my four proven ways of researching a supplier on Alibaba.

1) Alibaba research
2) Certificates & reports
3) Skype call
4) Factory audits

Screenshot 2021 04 29 at 09.35.18

Disclaimer: Some of the products may contain an affiliate link and we may make a commission if you click on it at no additional costs to you.


1) Alibaba Research

Looking through search results, you’ll see a selection of products from different factories that look like this. Pay attention to the details on the right side of the listing. Those are essential for giving you a quick idea of whether to not to trust a factory or not.

image 10

The red rectangle shown above gives you enough information to quickly determine if a factory is legitimate or not.

  1. Factory Location (China), Length of Time on Alibaba (4 years), and Whether or not the factory is verified or not.
  2. This is the rating of the Supplier Online Performance Index. While the exact calculation is shown here, 5 is the highest level.
  3. This is the total amount of transaction volume the factory has done in the last 6 months

Ideal Supplier requirements

  • long length of time on Alibaba (>2 years)
  • Verified factory
  • 4-5 star rating on the Supplier Performance index
  • Transaction volume > $500,000

Once you click through to the listing, scroll to the bottom and you’ll see an information panel that looks like this.

image 8

What aspects are important though? See below for the facts I look for.

How long have they been in business?

Have they been around for 2 years or 20 years? Length of time can be a good indicator of quality. You should be far more likely to trust a manufacturer with 5+ years of experience over a recently launched manufacturer.

What are their main markets?

Under the section company profile, you can look up what their main markets are. Are they mainly delivering to Egypt, Vietnam? Or is their main market the US or the Western European area?

image 20

Make sure to choose someone who has experience with your market. You don’t want to have a supplier who you’ll have to explain all the quality requirements for your country. 

Do they sell all similar products or an assortment of completely different products?

Do they have many different categories that are suspicious or don’t make sense? Do they sell bathroom furniture, lawn mowers and kitchen appliances? Or are they specialised in 1 product assortment?

Chose someone who makes 1 or maximum 2 product groups. You want a factory that is specialized in your product type. The last thing you want is something like The Cheesecake Factory which offers anything and everything you could ask for. 

Is the address a small office address or an actual road address?

If a factory prides themselves with a turnover of 10MilUSD and their address is for example: Room B, XYZ Office building, something is off. Also see if you can find a website outside of Alibaba – just Google the company name. Is the address you find on there different? Make sure they match. 

Third party assessment reports 

You can get copies of the reports that Alibaba saves on its database and you can look into the reports. These could be a ISO or a BSCI audit report. That means the factory has been audited at some point for manufacturing compliance. If the factory doesn’t have any, its not a good sign. 

Product certifications

Does the factory have product certifications such as FDA approvals, FCC, or for Europe things like GS, LFGB certification? Are they visible on the Alibaba profile? Does the product number or name match up with the product you are interested in?

If a factory has no product certifications its a sign that they aren’t into safety and quality regulations. Hands off!

Gold suppliers/Pre-assessed suppliers/Onsite Check/ Trade assurance filters

While I initially said anyone can buy a Gold-supplier badge, these do help to make a decision. After all, a scamming factory wouldn’t spend money on getting a Gold supplier badge (it still happens however). Be weary of non or 1-year Gold suppliers.

See if the supplier has been checked by Alibaba or if they offer Trade Assurance. Trade Assurance is especially important for finding a vetted supplier.

If for example a factory does not have any of the above checks I would be very suspicious. Because why wouldn’t they want Alibaba or a Third-Party to inspect their facilities? Simple, they know they would be uncovered as either an expensive agent or a scammer.

Finally at the end of this blog post I’ve made a video for Alibaba hacks, tips and tricks, so keep on reading to make sure you find the best suppliers.

[thrive_leads id=’51377′]


2) Certificates and Reports

Another free option is to look at certificates & reports from factories. If the factory is on Alibaba, navigate to their company profile and check to see if they have all of the certifications necessary to produce their type of products.

image 19

If your factory is not on Alibaba, Globalsources or any other supplier directory you can still check their reports.

Simply email the supplier to send you the following (or one of them) reports for your evaluation:

  • Their latest factory audit report from any other customer.

If they haven’t had an audit yet ask why. If they can provide you a report scan through it and look for anything unusual or critical.

  • Certificates of the product itself. For example :

FDA approvals (kitchenware, supplements, etc.)

REACH certification is necessary for most European countries & the Americas. It prohibits certain hazardous material within the product.

CE is a certification for Europe to meet general standards. Its good if a supplier has this.

FCC is a required certification on electrical products & also a standard for the US.

If they do not have any certification, approvals or even audit reports is its a VERY bad sign and you should stay away from this supplier.

Why?

1) Because they are not interested in developing any business with overseas clients and are only after quick and easy orders (most likely South East Asian customers who don’t care about certification).

2) Because paying for an audit or having your products certified costs time and money. Reliable & customer oriented factories do not shy away from making these investments. Scammers, un-reliable factories don’t even want to bother.

They realised I know my business, because I requested a couple of things in my first email to them. I am not saying overwhelm your supplier with questions and requests in your first email but find a fine line of what you want to have from your supplier in the beginning.


3) Skype/Zoom Call

Still not convinced of your supplier? Something off in your conversations?

This research option is free if your supplier has Skype/Zoom and most suppliers usually do. Request a video call with your supplier and prepare yourself with a few questions.

  • Ask anything that would make you feel more comfortable in working with the supplier.
  • Ask about the factory, how many workers, etc.

Basically anything that gets the supplier answering your questions so that you can develop “a gut feeling”.

  • Ask them to show you the sample (of your interested product) in the video call.

If he doesn’t have a sample in hand, arrange another time for a Skype call. If he refuses or finds some excuses you will quickly see that something is off.


4) Factory Audits

Finally, you could conduct a factory audit. A factory audit is where you hire a Third-Party Inspection Company to conduct an audit at the factory’s facilities. I wouldn’t recommend this in the early stages of your communication.

A few quick notes about arranging an audit:

  • Arrange a factory audit after you know you want to potentially work with this factory for a long time
  • Use a 3rd party inspection service like QIMA
  • You can ask a factory to share in the cost of an audit (be warned this is unlikely unless you are a large purchaser)

Check all off the above first when you’re thinking about going through a factory audit.

If they are willing to undergo an audit straight away it is a good sign already. You don’t necessarily need to perform an audit but announcing to a supplier before you order that you will conduct an audit already gives you some idea on what your supplier is up to.

There are many Third-Party Inspection companies out there and I mention them in a few posts (TUV, SGS, Bureau Veritas etc.) but I always use QIMA because they are efficient, cost effective and reliable.

There are companies out there who charge half the price but you don’t have a convenient interface/dashboard online that lets you do the booking through their system. Most of the cheaper Inspection Companies have only email/phone conversation bookings available. 

You can create a free account anytime and book online at your convenience. What’s more, QIMA has many other services that come in handy. Such as product inspections, product testing etc. I’ve written on product inspections previously here. I never ship from China without an inspection! This is how their interface looks like:

Screenshot 2021 04 29 at 10.00.07

I admit the price ($629) is pretty steep and it only makes sense to perform an audit if you have larger orders and continuous business with a factory.

Another reason could be that the factory you are planning to order from is the ONLY factory producing the item you are looking for but for some reason you have a feeling you would rather have the factory audited or inspected before placing an order.

Based on the audit report a factory actually also can benefit. The audit points out things to be improved from the factory’s side and it will help the factory to get more customers if they are audited by a Third-Party.

You could even ask your factory to share half of the costs and pointing out to them that they will benefit from this audit in any way.


Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Alibaba so cheap?

Alibaba is so cheap because the cost of labor and materials in China is cheaper than in other industrialized nations. On Alibaba, there are also minimum order quantities – that is you are expected to place a bulk purchase (1000 units is common) which results in savings on economies of scale.

Is Alibaba legit?

Alibaba is a legitimate marketplace to find suppliers that has been around for more than 20 years. Every year, they add more features to prevent scams or fraud from occuring on the platform. It is safe to buy on Alibaba.

Can anybody buy from Alibaba?

Anybody can buy from Alibaba and you don’t need any specific licenses or certifications to make a purchase. Every day, thousands of individuals buy from Alibaba.

Conclusion

Even with many years on my back in this industry I can’t always know for sure that a factory is legit or not trying to scam me. Unless of course I send an inspection or go to see the factory myself.

Now, I do hope the above gives you some idea and help to safely select a supplier in China on Alibaba (or other platforms). 

Last but not least, as promised – here’s the video I made a while ago on how to safely navigate Alibaba:



Analyzed by Jon Elder

Jon has sold over $10 million in sales on Amazon since 2014 and exited 5 Amazon brands for millions. He now helps Amazon sellers experience the same level of success through 1:1 coaching. He is happily married with two kids in Texas!