Every second email I receive from my blog readers is about Alibaba scams! It is that serious, yes. I already debunked the myth that Alibaba itself is a scam in my Alibaba Scams EXPOSED article BUT today I want to talk specifically about the most common scammer tricks and schemes you can run into when searching for a supplier on Alibaba.com.
Remember, these don’t apply solely to Alibaba but to all popular B2B platforms that involve a large number of wholesale suppliers from China. But as Alibaba is the most popular platform, I will use examples from there.
So let’s get started!
Alibaba SCAM Nr.1 – Sending FAKE branded goods!
This is without a doubt the most popular scam taking place on Alibaba! The saddest thing is that most people who get fake goods from a Chinese supplier don’t even realise it until eBay takes down their listing a while later.
How does this scam work?
Basically the supplier will sell you branded goods which are just copies of real products. This usually involves products like:
- Clothing (designer clothing)
- Footwear (especially Nike products, Timberland)
- Electronics (mobile phone replicas, specialised electronics like Shure microphones)
- Disney character items (bedding sets, mugs, kid’s clothing, toys)
- Mobile phone cases with Apple, Samsung logos
- Sports jerseys with team logos (Manchester United, Arsenal, NBA/NHL teams etc.)
- DVDs, Software, Blu-rays, Fitness training programs (P90X etc.)
- Cosmetics, fragrances (Max factor, MAC, Dior etc.)
- And many others!
This can basically be ANY product with a well known Western brand name/logo/registered trademark on it.
How to avoid this scam?
SIMPLE – DO NOT BUY ANY BRANDED GOODS from Alibaba suppliers! ANY Chinese supplier for that matter!
What is a branded product? It’s a product with a well known name on it, like:
- Apple
- Nike
- Sony
- Pioneer
- Gucci
- Etc.
This also includes ANY kind of band, movie character or kids’ character like:
- Batman
- Spiderman
- Frozen
- Hulk
- One Direction
- U2
- Etc.
All these are also classed as branded goods as to manufacture such goods, you have to buy a LICENCE from the Intellectual Property (IP) holder and pay royalty fees. Chinese manufacturers selling such products on Alibaba HAVEN’T paid licensing fees and simply use any popular images they can find and put them on these products. These are not genuine, licensed items and you can get into serious trouble selling them online.
While it’s true that most products these days are manufactured in China, it DOESN’T mean that Chinese factories sell them directly to everyone via Alibaba and similar platforms. Far from it! Brand owners monitor the entire manufacturing process very strictly and they do not allow any of their products to be sold outside their own distribution channels.
Genuine branded goods in China are actually more expensive than they are here in the Western world due to the high taxes the Chinese government has put in place (to support local business). So contrary to popular believe, an iPhone actually costs a lot more in China than in the UK or US.
Just to clarify, by China I mean Mainland China and I am not referring to Hong Kong based suppliers here. Yes, in HK you can get genuine branded goods BUT you still have to be extremely careful as there are also many types of scams associated with HK based suppliers, which we’ll cover later on in this post.
So if you’re looking for ANY KIND of branded goods, Alibaba is NOT the place to go! You want to look for US, UK or EU based official distributors/wholesalers for such goods, NOT China.
The only exception to this rule is IF the brand itself is a Chinese brand. There are some groups of products where Chinese brands actually lead the market, for example electronic cigarettes. In niches like these, yes, you can get genuine CHINESE BRAND products from Alibaba.
But even then be very careful as guess what? YES! Chinese scammers do also copy even the Chinese brands!! So you always want to get in touch with the brand owner first and ask whether the company you’re dealing with is an authorised re-seller of their goods.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.2 – Selling BRANDED goods but delivering nothing!
How does this scam work?
This is a very similar scam operation to the first one we covered but with one major difference; in this case once you send your money to the supplier and you never hear from them again. Yep, that’s right – you receive NOTHING in return for your money.
How to avoid this scam?
By following the same, simple rule – DO NOT buy branded goods from suppliers listed on Alibaba.com or from any supplier based in Mainland China!
Scammers are very smart and are always on the lookout for the newest hot product coming out, so they can build an entire website ‘selling’ that product. Even when the iPhone 6 was not yet released, there were already dozens of Chinese wholesale iPhone 6 websites up and running selling it for $300-$400. Or even better – buy 5 and get one free, plus free shipping! What an amazing deal to miss out on!
On Alibaba itself it is very easy – just stick with the rule of NOT buying branded goods and you have protected yourself from these 2 most common scams. But what if you have found a website selling branded stock? Here are few simple rules to follow:
1. If it looks too good to be true, it is. iPhones for $300, MacBooks for $600 – these are typical scammer prices. They’re UNREAL! They want people to believe that they have found a superb deal while in reality it’s a very cheap scam.
2. Check the domain name in the WHO IS database. If registration shows China, you know for sure it’s a scammer’s operation.
3. Check payment methods – if credit card or PayPal is not an option AND only Western Union or Money Gram is accepted, it’s a scam.
4. Check shipping methods – if they say shipping is via EMS, it’s a scam! (As EMS is a Chinese courier company).
5. Product variety – very often scammers sell a huge number of unrelated items, all on one website. With experience you can easily spot such scammers by taking a quick look at the product categories offered. If you see products like these selling on one website with too good to be true prices, it’s a 100% definite SCAM:
- iPhones
- Pioneer DJ Decks
- Designer Handbags
- Nike Air shoes
- MacBooks
Usually genuine wholesalers selling designer handbags won’t also deal with iPhones, so this is a clear sign that you have found a scam.
To sum it up – branded goods and China just don’t go together. Just stay away from Alibaba and Chinese suppliers altogether if you’re looking for branded goods as you have an extremely high chance of getting scammed and receiving fake goods (or none at all).
Alibaba SCAM Nr.3 – Unverified Alibaba profile for a UK or US company!
How does this scam work?
Chinese scammers open a FREE Alibaba profile using the details of a legitimate UK/US/EU based company. They pretend to be that legit company to sell branded goods (any goods for that matter, even unbranded) and basically just take your money and never send you anything. These free accounts are NOT verified so there’s no guarantee that you’re dealing with the company whose name is on that particular profile.
How to avoid this scam?
NEVER deal with FREE/unverified suppliers on Alibaba! Simple!
I have said this many times before, you only want to deal with Gold Suppliers on Alibaba and the more established they are, the better. I personally try to stick with 3rd year + Gold suppliers and if you manage to find a 7th or 8th year supplier then the chances of you being scammed are incredibly small, provided you follow the other rules of course.
This isn’t as common but another trick scammers try is to clone the website of a genuine company, but change the contact details and try to scam people this way. The easiest way to spot these scammers is by doing a Google search for that company’s name as usually the genuine website will show up first.
Secondly, they will usually use Gmail or another free email service. Thirdly, when it comes to paying for goods, they will only accept payment via bank transfer to some weird bank account or the same old Western Union or Money Gram only.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.4 – Sending money to the boss’ bank account
How does this scam work?
When it’s time to make payment for your order, your supplier informs you that there’s a problem with their bank account and asks you to send money to the boss’ account, which is of course a personal account. You may get lucky and receive your order but in most cases they will simply scam you and send nothing.
How to avoid this scam?
This scam can happen even with legit suppliers sometimes when they try to avoid taxes by funnelling money to personal bank accounts. Either way, you DON’T WANT TO DO THIS so simply never send money to a personal account!
And even if there was a slight chance they are still legitimate, if any supplier offered this to me I would instantly stop communicating with them as the likelihood of getting scammed is just too high.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.5 – Asking for additional payment for customs clearance
How does this scam work?
A few days after you have paid for your order, your supplier will contact you and ask for additional payment to cover customs fees. If you don’t agree to pay, they say that they can’t get the goods out of China. Quite often they may also provide you with fake courier tracking numbers that have fake information about your goods being held in customs.
How to avoid this scam?
There are no such customs fees to pay when exporting goods from China so if you receive an email like this from your supplier, you have already been scammed and can say goodbye to the money you have already paid. Just accept the loss and move on. DO NOT pay anything extra as it won’t make any difference.
Very often these scammers go even further – once you pay that first additional payment, a few days later they will come up with another excuse that requires yet more money from you. They know that you’ve been played twice by them and they’ll try to milk you for everything they can!
As I said, as sad as it is, if you get emails like these, you have already been scammed and there’s nothing you can do about it apart from accept the loss and move on, and just try to learn from what happened.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.6 – Selling fake DVDs, software, video games, Blu-rays
How does this scam work?
Suppliers list DVDs, software, video games and similar media products. When you receive them, you find out that they’re cheap, pirated bootleg copies, which are illegal to re-sell.
How to avoid this scam?
DO NOT buy such items from Alibaba suppliers or any Chinese supplier for that matter. You can’t get genuine DVDs, software, video games or Blu-rays from China – they will all be pirated copies, nothing else.
This also includes specialised DVDs like Baby Einstein sets, P90X training programs and similar.
Alibaba has done a good job on filtering out such items over the last few years but chances are you can still find some listed there.
And the same rule applies to any China-based websites, of which there are tons online! Just use your common sense and do the same checks we covered in Alibaba scam 2.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.7 – Refusing to send samples.
How does this scam work?
When you contact a supplier to ask for sample availability and they say that they don’t do samples and only deal with bulk orders.
How to avoid this scam?
While this may not be a 100% sure sign it’s a scam, I would personally stay away from any such company that doesn’t offer samples.
Getting a sample is the first thing you want to do when you have found a new supplier – just to test the quality of the product and in general verify that this supplier is the real deal and can provide you with products you’re interested in. If they don’t provide samples, something dodgy is going on and it’s really not worth taking any extra risk in situations like these!
With most legit suppliers, they will happily send you a sample of their product if you cover the shipping fee. If the product is very cheap, they often won’t even charge for the product. If the product is more expensive, they may charge a premium price on the sample + shipping, which is understandable as they don’t want retail customers to simply purchase ONE item from them at the wholesale price.
Either way, a genuine supplier will have no problem sending samples over to you and if they don’t want to, for whatever reason, look for another supplier!
Alibaba SCAM Nr.8 – Only accepting payment via Western Union!
How does this scam work?
When you receive the Proforma Invoice, it says Western Union under payment terms, with information on who to send money to. This is a CLEAR sign that something dodgy is going on!
How to avoid this scam?
Do not send money via Western Union to a Chinese supplier!!! Period.
When you send money via Western Union, you send money to an individual, NOT a company, so you don’t really know where your money is going to end up. It could even be that a sales person working in a legit company is trying to scam you or simply that the supplier is a scam altogether.
Either way, the only payment methods you should be using when dealing with Alibaba suppliers are:
- PayPal (ideal)
- Alibaba Escrow
- Bank transfer (wire transfer) to a company bank account (not a personal one).
The only exception to this rule is when you pay for samples. For samples, if the company looks totally legit to you and you’re not dealing with high risk items, you can use WU, yes, as it’s cheaper and quicker than bank transfer.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.9 – Selling FAKE memory products!
How does this scam work?
A supplier sells storage products (memory cards, USB sticks and similar) for great prices but when you receive them, you find the capacity is actually much smaller than advertised. For example, you buy 64GB USB drives and receive 8GB ones instead.
How to avoid this scam?
You have to be extremely careful when buying memory products from China as this scam is very, very popular. Everyone knows that the more GBs you get in the product, the higher the price is. But not everyone checks the REAL size of these products! Often, with this scam, the first people realise what has happened is when they get negative feedback from their customers on eBay!
To minimise the risk of getting scammed in this way, here are a few rules to follow:
1) Deal only with established, 5 year + Gold Suppliers.
2) Order samples and check the memory size for each product.
3) Make your first order as small as possible, check the size for all products and only if everything is fine, increase your orders gradually.
As for testing the actual capacity/memory size – it’s not enough that you put the card/USB in your computer and see that it shows 64GB. Scammers are smarter than that – they modify the electronic chips within the product so that it shows the inflated/fake memory size when it’s plugged into your computer!
What you need to do is use specialised software to check the actual memory size OR simply attempt to transfer the maximum capacity to see if it fits or not. So for example if you have 64GB USB sticks, transfer a 63GB file to it – and yes, this would take a LOT of time so if you’re serious about buying and reselling such products, I strongly suggest you invest in some decent diagnostics software.
Lastly – the same NO BRANDED GOODS rule still applies here! Don’t buy SanDisk, Sony and similar branded memory products from China, they will all be fakes! You can only buy unbranded memory products or your own brand memory products from China.
Alibaba SCAM Nr.10 – Invoice made to a personal bank account.
How does this scam work?
Very similar to the boss’ bank account scam – on the proforma invoice you’ll find that the bank account you need to send money to is a personal one and not the company’s account.
How to avoid this scam?
NEVER send money to a personal bank account!
If wire transfer is the only payment method available, make sure that it’s the company’s bank account ONLY and ensure that the company’s details matches what you see on their Alibaba profile.
Sometimes it can be different though – when a manufacturer uses a sister company, registered as a Trading Company, to deal with all export orders. In such cases, you should still be able to verify this information on their Alibaba profile or company website.
Conclusions
Well there you go – The 10 Most Popular Alibaba Scams! There are of course many more, smaller scams going on, but if you learn these 10 and stick with the rules published in this guide, you’ll reduce your chances of getting scammed to an absolute minimum.
Here are some final, general guidelines to follow when dealing with suppliers on Alibaba:
1) Do your homework. Follow my Alibaba SCAMS Exposed guide to filter out only the BEST suppliers. Cross check your supplier with all 10 scams listed in this post. Communicate with them, ask as many questions as you need to, order samples first and only when you’re 100% sure that this is the real deal and a genuine company; place your first real order.
2) If it looks too good to be true, it IS! I wish more people would follow this simple rule. Too often people get distracted by these impossibly low prices and the thought of the amazing profit they’ll make clouds their judgement… and the result is they’re easy pickings for the scammers out there.
As a general rule of thumb – you WON’T see miracle low prices on Alibaba unless you’re working with massive buying power (like ordering 10,000 units of the same product). In most cases you’re looking at an ROI of 20%-50% when re-selling these imported items. Sure, there are always exceptions but IF the price offered to you is ten times lower than what that item is selling for on eBay, then that’s a clear sign that something dodgy is going on.
3) If you don’t know what you’re doing, just don’t do it, seriously. I know that we all want to be successful and we all want to make good profits BUT some people forget that it takes some time and education to make the right decisions in business. If you’re totally new to this, don’t rush things by placing orders in your first few days. Take your time and gain some experience, even if it’s just via communication with your suppliers.
4) Any business comes with some sort of risk and importing is not an exception. You can follow all the guides in the world and still get scammed. That’s the sad reality and it’s something you have to accept when doing business of any kind. So please don’t use money that you can’t afford to lose (I’m talking about loans, credit cards etc. here).
5) Make informed decisions. Do not let your emotions rule any decision! I know how tempting it may be sometimes to just go ahead with the order, even if some things don’t quite add up. Don’t do it! Stick with my guides and do not make exceptions on your own! It’s better to let a potentially good deal go, than to be sorry later on when you get scammed.
Alright, that’s it for today! I really hope this post will be valuable for many people starting an importing business. If you have any questions or want to share your personal experience when dealing with Alibaba suppliers, please leave your thoughts in the comment box below this post.
Good luck with your importing deals!
Stay alert.
Best Regards,
Andrew
Hello Andrew,
Thanks a lot for all your help, your blog is very useful.
I have a question for you: we’are about to make an order in alibaba with a firm that match all you points. Now they’ve told us something wrong: the CIF price is cheaper than the FOB price. We asked how could be it possible and they reply this:
“That’s very common.
FOB cost is higher is customer’s forwarder usually ask us for very high forwarder cost.
But if by ship by our forwarder, we only have sea freight, no forwarder cost.
Hope you can kindly understand.”
What do you think? We have to worry about it?
Looking forward t hearing from you.
Thanks again.
Best regards.
That doesn’t really make sense to me – CIF price should be higher than FOB.
thanks for this! Was looking at a pioneer ddj-sz and they have it listed $400 a piece, and if you buy (2) units, the 3rd is free! hahah cheapest pioneer ddj-sz on ebay is going for $1695 a piece. like what they say, if its too good to be true, then it usually isnt.
It’s a 100% scam Calvin, of course.
Branded goods + such buy one, get one free deals are very popular amongst scammers.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the post. I’ve been tampering with the idea of buying goods on Alibaba and reselling them for profit on eBay and Amazon. However, my scam-o-meter is running REALLY high.
First, I started communicating with a few suppliers (all unverified) and got the creeps, so I walked. Deals were so sweet that I kept looking back, but stuck with the rule: If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.
Second, I started to get smart and narrow my search to verified gold suppliers with trade assurance and onsite checks. That’s when I ran into a company with 7-year Gold Supplier status, A&V check, and solid communication. HOWEVER, once the communication started rolling I noticed some scam potential. For example, I’m looking at a Nvidia Quadro K6000 graphics card (aka – branded item) that sells for ~$2500 on ebay, but only $500/unit on Alibaba with this supplier. Scam-o-meter started dinging! Then, all communication was forced over to Gmail where the company name shifted from what was on Alibaba. DING, DING, DING! Running hot now… then, the kicker, Western Union, T/T or MoneyGram payment.
I figured I’d better run from this one, but wanted to touch base with you. How is it that a verified 7-year supplier on Alibaba have this good of a deal?? I’m assuming their account was hacked because they primarily sell seeds (corn, cumin, vegetable, etc.), but now list electronics, baby strollers, iPhones, etc. What the hell??
Hi Ron,
Yes, it usually happens when:
a) an Alibaba account gets hacked;
b) someone buys/over-takes Alibaba account/company;
c) employee plays out their own “game”.
Anyway, you should know that you can’t get BRANDED goods from Mainland China, so you shouldn’t even think about getting PC graphics cards from there.
Thanks,
Andrew
I got scammed with fake customs paperwork. The company literally forged government documents. First the product allegedly got stuck in the Dominican Republic and we paid after the paperwork looked legitimate and a few days later we received another email saying the package was stuck in Mexico, even the Mexican consulate said the paperwork looked like govt paperwork. I refused to pay the fake mexican customs but was still out over 3k. The worst part was it was out of Moldova and no one to report it to. Both my business partner are pretty online savvy and it proves the scams are just getting more elaborate. I would have had better luck buying that puppy on Craigslist from Nigeria
So bad that you didn’t saw my post before this happened..
As this is one of the most popular scams and covered in this guide.
Andrew
Hi. Sorry I did not read this before I was scammed for $250.00 for 7KG of live Helix Pomiata snails. I am usually very careful, but this time I was so excited about finding a suppler who would sell me a small amount , that I let caution go out the window. I thought dealing with Alibaba was safe seeing has they referred.the supplier.. There is nothing that I could do about it now. Thank God I did not send additional Insurance Money of $1,666.00. Sometimes it pays to have a shoe string business. I tired getting in touch with Alibaba’s complaint department. That became an impossible task. I placed a call to Western Union, notified the police department and FCC, even though I knew they could do nothing see as the supplier was from British Columbia. and the Western Union went to Camroon Africa.. However there cell phone numbers are registered in the United States and I did give that information to Western Union. Hopefully some day this will all stop. I guess it is just wishful thinking on my part. In my last e-mail to the supplier, I let him know that I was aware of what had happened. I told him I forgave him, and now he was in Gods hands.. Thank you
Hi Roseann,
Thanks for sharing this with us.
I really wish I could show this guide and my blog to EVERYONE who starts importing from China but unfortunately it’s out of my reach….
Andrew
Hi Andrew.
Thanks for the post, very helpful. And very strange for me because I’ve never bought from alibaba, I’m trying to do it now, but the conversation that I’m having with suppliers are like the one you listed above. I’m looking for Dj gears, pionner, I could find very good deals, but very very good, for ex, pioneer CDJ 2000 nexus is $1000, and Djm 2000 nexus is $760!!! Really!!! The CDJ is more expensive than Djm mixer??? And you buy 5 get 2 free shipping and so on… But before I created an account I read couple of articles on the web about how to deal with alibaba, like supplier profile, I’m just talking with verified gold suppliers, and based in the USA, UK, and Egypt. But the prices are very very differents from eBay or Amazon, or in the pioneer website. Another thing Is the payment method, only money gran and WU, even for supplier based in the U.S., I don’t know if it’s me, but I didn’t find supplier that accept other payment way. Do you think there’s no way to be true, because I’m not getting that much difference from the supplier, only one of the asked me to talk via gmail, let me tell you that I’m really aprehensive, I’m divided although it seems to be scam, there are really very good deal. Now I’m wondering, how could jack ma getting rich with such fake deals in his platform???!!!
They are ALL 100% SCAMS!!!
Don’t even think about it!
For Pioneer products you need to find official distributors in your country and nothing else.
Andrew
hi Andrew
thanks for sharing this
today I made a deal to buy some a product from one of the company in alibaba which has 4 year gold suplier and itrade assurance. i did ask her to show me her photograph in the office with the product and she did send me that.
and then when i decided to order, she told me that i can order directly from her not via alibaba, because it’s more complicated. but i insist to order from alibaba and i ask her for the form. but then later i change my mind and agree with her sugestion. she made a n ivoice and she still send it to my email in alibaba.
but then i’ve got suspicious when she gave me the paypal acount number, because it;s not under thename of the company.. ex. her company is heihei.com but her paypal account is under 21323@lala.com
so i told her i postpone the order. and then icheck the account number in paypal. and it said that this account number has been amember since 2013
now i’m confuse, should i continued or not
btw my order only for 134 dollar because before i contact them I already read your article here, and i only order small just for sample first
could you give advice
thanks in advance
best regards
Do they have an Ali Express shop?
If they do, for such small orders it would be best to place them via Ali Express as then you get secure payment/escrow service.
Andrew
Hi Andrew! I’m planning to purchase a big quantity and I’m wondering what is the best payment option? Should I stick with Trade Assurance? If I won’t use that, alibaba escrow or paypal?
Is being verified the same as on-site check?
One more thing. I’ve talked to tons of suppliers and 2 of them stopped responding as soon as I asked for a paypal invoice for my sample order. They seemed willing to let me purchase a sample (we’ve been talking about the styles of the samples of the order for quite some time so I don’t think they don’t want to send me samples) so I’m wondering if you’ve encountered something similar to this and if it is a scam.
Many thanks in advance!
I’m sorry I meant I think they’re alright with me purchasing a sample but they haven’t replied ever since
Hi Jam,
Yes, you should stick with Trade Assurance if it’s a big order.
If that’s not available, then PayPal is your 2nd best choice.
Andrew
Is trade assurance fool-proof?
And why is paypal better than escrow? Isn’t escrow better because they hold the money until you acknowledge that you’ve received it.
My only problem with trade assurance is that you have to declare the exact prixe which leads to a big tax..
Hi Jam,
Nothing is fool-proof when you’re dealing with Chinese suppliers… I haven’t had any experience with it IF things go really bad, so can’t comment on how effective it is when problems occur. But in general it is safe and suppliers KNOW that when Trade Assurance is involved, they simply MUST follow the rules.
PayPal is good as IF you fund the transaction with your credit card, IF things go wrong, you can always do a charge back with your credit card company and get your money back.
Thanks,
Andrew
buh,,,will I say,m just lucky,,av been dealing with aliexpress now for the past 2 years,and av not had any course to complain or get scammed.i get all my orders in very good conditions…
What a poorly written article…pretty pathetic. I have received some unbelievable deals from China…to say if something seems “too good to be true” then it is a scam is ridiculous. China is legit with quality that can meet or exceed that in the US. Yes, there are a lot of scammers that give them a bad reputation but if you just use some common sense (which is outlined in this poor article) then you will be okay most of the time.
LOL, isn’t “too good to be true” – a common sense scenario?
I use this phrase, “too good to be true” to explain how branded item scams work – e.g. Apple iPhone 6 for $200.
That is a 100% SCAM and falls into “too good to be true” category.
Andrew
we know is a fake,thats why its so cheap,anyone who buys on ali and expects a original brand for a couple of bucks is an idiot.they dont even claim that ist a original.
Many, MANY people are not aware of the fact that all branded goods from China are fakes.
Trust me – I get emails rom such people all the time
Andrew
I have just lost £123 on aliexpress, seller said item shipped straight away but tracking not working after a week, he said item in production, after another week I raised a dispute, he said he would ship in four days and asked me to end dispute, I did this not knowing it would finish item and he would be paid, even though I have not confirmed goods.
Aliexpress already stated they not going to refund me as I accepted no refund but item shipped in four days, because closing dispute closed sale seller has not shipped he been paid.
Aliexpress know this and blame me but I stated he still not shipped but it’s finished as far as they are concerned, there goes my £123.
On top of this the seller is still trading.
I hope they go out of buisiness, full of fakes and scammers with no scruples,
I repeat Aliexpress know I had no goods and seller paid, they stated some sellers take advantage of dispute system, but still not refunding or helping me.
I will never shop there again.
Hi Derek,
I’m sorry to hear you made this mistake….
But you should have really read at least basic info on how Escrow works, before ending your dispute.
Also – if seller still trades and has good feedback, maybe there’s still a chance that they will ship your goods? Say that you will leave bad feedback if they don’t dispatch goods within x days.
Andrew
I advise people to stop reading this blog entry after the 1st tip which is probably the only thing useful in the whole article, some of the statements are completely untrue.
The thing is, you can’t be scammed out of your money easily because, just like eBay or Amazon, Alibaba/Aliexpress has a tight consumer protection, so tight that you can easily scam sellers if you wanted to, but that would hinder your reputation as a buyer, obviously.
Anyway, when you pay for something on Alibaba/Aliexpress the seller doesn’t get his hands on your money until you either confirm the reception of the goods or the buyer protection coverage reaches a deadline. Either way, you can always open a dispute whether it’s because you didn’t receive the actual goods or the goods aren’t what you expected or what was described. Furthermore, if the seller decides to change the description of an article after doing a deal, Alibaba will keep a snapshot of the page as it was at the time of purchase.
I have purchased there over 30 items in the past year and never once was I scammed.
Only once did I ask for a full refund and once also for an extension of the Buyer Protection – both as expected. The full refund was because I didn’t receive the goods and the seller was not answering my messages. Eventually he did answer the refund dispute in my favor and politely asked for me to pay him back directly through Paypal in case I ever got the product in the mail. I still haven’t got it, but if I do I’ll show the same honesty I have been shown. The Buyer Protection extension was requested because when it was reaching the deadline the product was still in customs. I was granted an additional 30 days extension and am still waiting for customs to release the product.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t the occasional scammer (which I never encountered) but I imagine it is very possible to have someone try to trick you into buying clones or pay to an external account. That’s all very possible and people should watch out for that, but don’t be fooled by this guy (oh, look, an eBay advert in this blog) who tries to imply that only western markets are capable of offering you the secure channel you need. That’s all BS and we actually need more serious competition in this area. Don’t be afraid to use it, start with something small and you’ll see it works pretty well. Free-shipping for almost everything. The 2 main nagging problemas with Alibaba/Aliexpress, products can take 30+ days to reach you and customs may apply taxes and fees for items that are more expensive, when shipped from mainland China. But a lot of the biggest “mainland China” sellers already have systems and partnerships with US/European couriers which will redirect the goods so that it doesn’t get caught up and delayed by customs.
Finally, I’m not affiliated with Aliexpress nor do I earn any money from this rant, the opposite from the owner of this website. I just think it’s wrong to tell people something without including valuable information, like the fact that there are buyer protection mechanisms.
Cheers.
Are you serious? Did you actually read my article? Do you even know the difference between Alibaba and Ali Express? And what this article is about?
I’m NOT against using Alibaba/Ali Express – it’s the OPPOSITE!!!
You should really read the article and other Alibaba posts on my blog before leaving such comment.
Andrew
@ point #1: you’ve got it backward; the real scam is buying the branded good from the brand; the Chinese will sell you the same thing with a very modest markup above cost
Very, very rarely it is true Richard.
In most cases you receive low quality copy that is made of cheaper materials, lower overall quality and short life span.
Andrew
Beware of this company , SGS Trade, http://sgs-trade.com/, contact information follows:
Contact information ?+++++++++++++
Skype: internationalsales01
Telephone: +0086-0755-33574231
Mobile Phone: +0086-15627494231
Email 1: flyfenginforcenter@gmail.com
Email 2 : goodbusiness1999@gmail.com
This is Scam Company,, many complaints of un delivered ordered items, including me i lost hundreds of dollars…
I just wonder why Alibaba.com can not identify which of the suppliers in their database which are legitimate or not, why Alibaba became famous what are their bases when it is flooded with scammers?
Hi Robert,
What is their Alibaba profile link?
Thanks,
Andrew
Actually Aliexpress is a bit safer than alibaba..and I will recommend aliexpress for begineers..nice article by the way,if I hadn’t see this then I would have been scammed in a week time cos I already made an order which I promised them to pay next week..but they all just fall into everything you said above..
Thanks
Good for you!
Yes, Ali Express is safer for newbies, only downside is that for large quantities pricing there isn’t that competitive.
Andrew
I have just been scammed by a supplier on Alibaba for total cost of 199 pound. Does anyone no what I can do to get this back thanks
Hi Emma,
What payment method you used & what products you ordered?
Thanks,
Andrew
Western union and ordered perfume thanks for any help you may have
I’m afraid that money is gone for good Emma.
Please read my Alibaba scam posts very carefully to avoid such scams in future.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello, I really liked the article! I’m going to be sourcing some electronic equipment from Alibaba in the next couple of months. I would like to purchase directly from a manufacturer and not a supplier. How can I verify that a company is a manufacturer and not a distributor? Thanks.
Steve
Hi Steve,
You can easily verify this by doing a factory inspection:
http://andrewminalto.com/china-factory-inspection/
Hi Andrew,
I recently made a purchase over Alibaba, with our firm arranging the shipping right from the manufactures door to our door, so the Chinese supplier does not have to worry about anything else. Now, about 2 weeks later, the goods have just been collected 1 day ago, and now the supplier is asking me to cancel TRADE ASSURANCE as the order is small otherwise it will need to declare at customs?? It is not even dangerous.
What she is asking is – “Because the total value is small,DHL tell me that it doesn’t need to customs declaration.But in the beginning,the order is by TRADE ASSURANCE,which must declar at the customs.So would you like to cancel the TRADE ASSURANCE and “reexchange amount ” fill in zero?Please kindly noted that it doesn’t have any effect at all. The goods export by DHL,without customs,tax rebate. When you cancel the TRADE ASSURANCE,please fill zero in the reexchange amount,please. Because it doesn’t means canceling the order,but the form(TRADE ASSURANCE).I would like to know if you can understand my meaning.Sorry”
Can you made head or tail of that? I am not too sure what to do, I have the tracking number of the goods, they have been collected and on their way. Well I presume it is the right goods on their way!!
I have also been speaking to our freight agents, and they say as the order is relativity small it will fly through customs without any declarations anyhow!! I’m not sure if the supplier is trying this, and when the product comes if it is the wrong thing I won’t have a leg to stand on!
Regards
Hi Terrence,
To me it sounds like supplier is playing some games with you….
Do NOT cancel Trade assurance contract for whatever reason they’re pushing forward. Just wait for goods to arrive and see what happens – whatever they have sent you correct items or not.
Andrew
I’ve just started contacting a few suppliers on alibaba, seems very long winded to actually get an order! Go through all the steps then just says waiting for the trade assurance contract! How long does this bloody take! I always use gold suppliers and would never use western union! Scampers them self’s haha
Really depends on the supplier – some are very fast with replying etc. while others can’t be even reached.
That’s why I recommend using Live Chat on Alibaba to communicate with suppliers and get things done faster.
Andrew
I need your advice on this, looks like a scammer to me:
He wanted to pay him via WU, then he agreed to pay him via alibaba secure payment ( formerly escrow). He has one year gold supplier icon and trade insurance and 10 transactions in total.
Hi Jimmy,
The link you posted – it doesn’t work anymore, nothing comes up…
Andrew
He must have changed it or deleted it…anyway this is a new link from the same seller…
He changed orders from one piece to three now and and now laptop costs $350 (was $300). What do you think?
And I dont know if it would be of any help but I asked him (just for fun) if I can personally meet him and pay for laptop and he agreed. Odd dont you think?!
That links still doesn’t work – 404 error pages comes up.
Hi andrew,first of all i want to thank you for this helpuful article and second thing i need an advice about alibaba. I never tried alibaba but i want to start … so i`m planing to buy some playstations 4. i found a 8 yrs gold member and get in touch with him on skype. he said that for 2 pcs i have to pay 150$each but with moneygram or western union transfer, but for 20 pcs i can pay trough paypal 125$ each. also he assuerd me that is not a rip off by telling my this :
“You are 100% guaranteed of receiving your order after payment confirmation,if you don’t get it within 2 days of shipment,we will refund your money back to you.
to make verification about our company you visit the following websites and search with the company Registration number 05861227 or company name SALES ASSOCIATES (UK) LIMITED
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/info”
So what do you think ? Kind regards !
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your comment.
It’s a 100% SCAM!!!! Stay away!
$125 or even $150 or even $200 – that’s a clear sign of a scam going on. Those prices are simply UNREAL!
PLUS Alibaba is NOT the place to look for Play Station consoles! 99% of listings for such items on Alibaba will be scams.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I am thinking about ordering some pants. The agent is sending a free sample for me without shipment payment. Does this sound too good? All other suppliers wants me to pay shipment fee. The supplier is 5 years Gold. I can’t seem to find any reviews about them on any websites! In addition, Alibaba has an on site for there web page and Alibaba says that they did a third party check up to see if the place does exist and according to them it does.
The place is Nanchang Oh Young Fashion. Have you heard of them
What do you think?
Hi Dev,
That is not un-common. Some suppliers on Alibaba indeed send out free samples without even charging a shipping fee. They just realise how important acquiring new customers are and invest in this by covering all costs associated with samples.
I quickly checked their Alibaba profile and they look ok to me!
If samples are good, I would recommend you do factory inspection and then decide on whatever you want to place order with them or not:
http://andrewminalto.com/china-factory-inspection/
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi
I was on alibaba so I seen this company it’s called sonnetstone private limited company so I clicked on them they are 8 years gold suppliers so their page came up and I clicked on view all products so iseen a mac book pro for $500 but I don’t know if its a scam I called the supplier and said I will order 1 just to test and he said pay by western union and I said it’s risky then I ask him what if I buy goods worth of 20000 dollars he said then u can use PayPal is this a scam please answer asap. Thank u
of course it is a scam Dave, don’t even think twice about it!
Alibaba is NOT the place to buy branded goods, especially mac books.
And $500 is simply UNREAL price to be true anyway, from any supplier.
Andrew
Hi,
I’m thinking about buying custom damascus steel billets to make motorcycle parts from a 1 year gold certified supplier in pakistan, and after he first asked me to pay with westernu union or moneygram (the account he gave me is to his personal name and not to the company’s) I ran into your article, and told him I wouldn’t use any of these payment methods.
I asked him wether he could use a safer method such as T/T, Alibaba Escrow, Trade Assurance, wire transfer or credit card (I’d already asked to use Paypal but apparently that doesn’t work in Pakistan) and he said he was ok with T/T, but the bank info he gave me is still to his name and not to the company’s.
Now, I know it refers directly to at least two scams you exposed, but it has nothing to do with branded goods usually used as scams. This company as far as I can tell only deals in damascus knifes and knife supplies.
He is a bit cheaper than other suppliers I’ve had quotes from, so it’d be a shame for me not to do business with him, but of course I don’t wanna lose $200 and some time to some stupid scam.
What do you think ?
Hi Arthur,
Thanks for your comment.
Dealing with suppliers in Pakistan can be tricky as they don’t take PayPal by default (PayPal is not available in Pakistan) and it’s hard to verify these suppliers too.
Personal bank account info still seems suspicious to me – this means that he takes money on his own name and NOT the company. This increases chances of you getting scammed.
$200 is not a lot of money but still, I would personally pick a different supplier, maybe more expensive but one that takes solid payment methods and can be verified.
Thanks,
Andrew
Ok, thanks a lot, your advice is priceless for noobies such as myself !
You’re welcome Arthur!
Also, after a bit more research it appears that they have a facebook page that has been updated about every week with new damascus products since january 2012. Seems a bit elaborate for a scam right ?
I have bought cca 10 different items – flower seeds – for example peony, rose hyacinth, bamboo – and ALL 10 WERE FAKE!!! They sent me fake seeds of industrial crops how the flax-seed etc. But my hobby is my garden and I can discern seeds. So I wrote it them that the seeds were fake and ALL of them answered me: “Sorry, here is a new worker who make mistakes…” Simply disgusting lies. All 10 were a swindlers. It is immoral and very coarse.
Hi Anna,
If they acknowledge their mistake, did they offer to send a replacement or refund?
Andrew
Cant EMS deliver to the Uk? As company im dealing with said they will send via EMS or if over 25 pieces, DHL.
Thanks in advance.
EMS can deliver to the UK, sure.
EMS packages in the UK are handled by Parcel Force.
Andrew
Hi man
I really appreciate your valuable post
i contacted a manufacturer on alibaba, hey agreed on sending a sample. and they said tha they accept Escrow. They 7yrs Gold membership with trade inssurance. They’re putting their manufacture video.
Whats your opinion about them.
Hi Josef,
I can’t tell you whatever supplier is safe or not from just this info.
But they sound safe enough to order samples from, then you can do further investigation in them.
Andrew
Hi!i just try to order iphone 6 s plus 64 gb,5pcs.each pcs cost $350..they said 2 pcs free also..but its from germany,yet i didn’t send money through escrow,i fell like scam this,can you please sugest mr.
It’s 100% SCAM!!!
Stay away.
Andrew