Are you asking is Alibaba legit and safe?
Are you importing from China and looking to buy products on Alibaba?
Alibaba is a popular B2B and B2C eCommerce site used by many businesses and consumers worldwide. It has millions of products of all categories, with good quality, wide variety and low prices. Being one of the biggest eCommerce sites, it is reliable and safe.
But as a new buyer from Alibaba, you might have doubts about its safety and reliability. Maybe you have heard of scams occurring on Alibaba. Or you are concerned about loss of profit. No need to worry because EJET is here to help.
In this article, we will cover all important aspects of Alibaba: how it works, benefits of buying from Alibaba, its safety and reliability, and some useful tips about buying. After reading this guide, most of your concerns will vanish.
Table of Content
Chapter 1: Is it Safe when buying from Alibaba?
Chapter 2: 6 Steps Process to Buy Safely from Alibaba
Chapter 3: How to Verify a Good Supplier on Alibaba
Chapter 4: Potential Risks to avoid when Buying from Alibaba
Chapter 5: Tips to avoid potential risks when buying from Alibaba
Chapter 6: Frequently Asked Questions if is Alibaba Safe and Legit
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Is it Safe when buying from Alibaba?
Any potential buyer will ask the question ‘Is it safe to buy from Alibaba?’ The concern about safety is justified; after all, you don’t want to incur losses and get scammed. Here are a few reasons why Alibaba is a safe and reliable online marketplace that you can order from.
1. Alibaba Is One of the Biggest Ecommerce Sites in the World
Alibaba.com is one of the biggest eCommerce sites in the world. It is the largest B2B company, and the fifth largest online company by revenue. It is also in the top 50 public corporations in the world and is listed on the Forbes Global 2000 list.
With this much importance, it is no doubt that Alibaba is one of the safest and most legit sites in the business.
Furthermore, it has a wide variety of products, hundreds of categories, good quality goods, and millions of users in the world. It is widely used by many businesses worldwide as an essential part of their business. The sourcing business just would not be the same if it weren’t for Alibaba.
2. Alibaba’s Seller Verification
If you’re still worried about its safety, then Alibaba has a specific feature for you: verified sellers. These are some of the most trustworthy sellers on the site, from which you can buy safely.
Verified sellers are those whose aspects of their company’s profile, management system, production abilities, product management, quality control, and process control have been analyzed, certified and examined by an independent third party. In simple terms, all aspects of their business have been inspected in detail and approved as being reliable.
Many sellers on Alibaba have this feature, and it is very safe to buy from them. They have a separate verified tag on their profile. So you can identify them easily.
3. Secure Payment Methods on Alibaba
There are many payment methods on Alibaba. Some of these are safer than others. Safer methods are Bank Transfers, PayPal and Credit cards. But the most secure method is the escrow service, which is Alibaba Trade Assurance (read next section).
Basically, your money will be safe with Alibaba until you are satisfied with the quality. If there is quality issue or delay in shipment, you can get refund or open a dispute.
Either way, you will not get scammed. Hence, Alibaba pays a lot of attention to the safety and security of the buyer’s money by preventing frauds.
4. Alibaba Trade Assurance
Alibaba Trade Assurance is a buyer protection service offered by Alibaba. It enables secure payment from buyer to supplier, and has a refund mechanism in case of wrong order.
This is how it works: you send the payment after placing an order to the Alibaba bank account. Then Alibaba releases the payment if things are up to the mark, meet the quality requirements, and the deadlines that were set by you. If the shipment is delayed or the products don’t conform to the promised quality, you will get a refund.
So this is one of the safety features that Alibaba offers. It saves you from losses and scams. Therefore, if you’re worried about buying from Alibaba, use this service and the buying process will be very safe.
5. Seller Credentials
Apart from the verified sellers, there are gold sellers, who pay for their accounts. The verified sellers and companies go through third-party inspections, so you can see how much information about them is verified. These are known as checks.
There is the basic ‘A&V check’ – you can check the seller’s business license and contact information. Then there is ‘online check’. These include more factors like business type, factory location, ownership status, photos of operation, and certifications.
And last is ‘assessed supplier’ – information about the export license, process management, R&D, verified products and videos. So more of the seller credentials can be seen and verified according to these factors.
All of these aspects indicate that Alibaba invests a lot to make sure that sellers on the site are good and reliable; third-party tests are conducted for these various aspects of the seller.
Chapter 2: 6 Steps Process to Buy Safely from Alibaba
As you can see there are many safety mechanisms in place in Alibaba. But if you’re still worried and want to be extra careful, then here are 6 steps you should follow to buy safely from Alibaba, and to find a reliable supplier.
1. Check Seller Profile on Alibaba
The first step is to check the seller’s profile. On the profile, you’ll find many indicators and features that will tell you more about the seller, like the products they sell. It depends on the type of seller you’re dealing with.
For example, there are many ‘checks’ (third party checks) that each supplier can have. A&V checks means that you can check the seller’s business license and contact information.
You should look for seller with ‘online check’. These include more aspects like business type, factory location, ownership status, photos of operation, and certifications. All this information is verified for these types of sellers, which makes them more reliable.
The very best sellers are those with ‘assessed supplier’ tag, which have all these previous aspects, as well as information about other certificates, export license, process management, R&D, verified products and videos. Most of these will also be gold members; they pay for their accounts. These are most reliable sellers.