Alibaba is rightfully considered the most famous online wholesale trading platform. Representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in many countries have already appreciated the benefits of working with this platform. Here you can find goods of any category at an attractive price and arrange wholesale supplies from Chinese and other global manufacturers. Where to start buying through Alibaba? What do you need to know to start your own business selling Chinese goods? The best tips for beginners are here.
Alibaba's capabilities
I am now a representative of a trading platform among Russian-speaking entrepreneurs. I help businessmen enter this trading platform and introduce them to all the advantages.
Once, during one of my business trips, I met all the top managers of Alibaba. I told them that there are many developing enterprises in Ukraine, but few are familiar with the possibilities of the trading platform. It turned out that the whole point is that all the representatives are young girls who are trying to explain the essence of the work in broken English. But this is not enough. As a result, I was entrusted with organizing a representative office where they provide comprehensive support to Russian-speaking clients.
Everyone who has already completed training at my school was able to receive their first contracts in amounts ranging from several thousand dollars to a million within two months of working on the Alibaba website.
Found a violation? Report content
Pros 1688
Unlike Alibaba, the deal for 1688 is not formally protected, and ratings are not sold. If there is an icon with a bull’s head on the seller’s page, this is the highest rating, at 1688, this means that he has an office, store, warehouse or his own production, the status of a legal entity is documented, he has been on the site for a long time, and there have been no arrivals for a long time complaints.
When buying on 1688, money does not go directly to the seller, but is frozen by the platform. He will be able to receive them only when the cargo reaches the buyer, and he does not open a dispute in due time.
All products presented on Alibaba, as a rule, are also available on 1688 - and usually on more favorable terms. We had a case where a client first found bags and children's toys on Alibaba. But the supplier shipped from 100 units of goods, and she did not need that many. And at 1688 we found exactly the same product, but with a lower minimum purchase and cheaper. There is a minimum purchase for 1688, because it is a wholesale resource. But its size is determined by each seller. You can also find options starting from 1 unit of product.
If on Alibaba the chances of reaching the manufacturer directly are scanty, then 1688 is the very place where you should look for them first. And if the supplier is a reseller, it is usually not the same intermediary as on Alibaba, but one who has been working with manufacturers for a long time and on especially loyal terms.
Prices are 1688 lower than on Alibaba, because the site is designed for the Chinese market.
1688 is a platform focused on the domestic Chinese market. Therefore, you can find “delicious” prices there.
This is not to say that there are absolutely no scammers on 1688. They also meet. Therefore, when the seller asks you to pay not through the platform, but to transfer money to him directly, you should think twice. This isn't always a sign of a scammer, but that's just how scammers work. But since the deal, unlike Alibaba, is actually protected, ratings are not for sale, and the main buyer is Chinese by default, who can even go to the police, the likelihood of running into scammers on this site is much less than on Alibaba.
What to sell?
A logical question often arises: “What to sell so as not to go broke and make a profit?” Of course, it is important to find a product that is in demand. But at the same time, I do not recommend delving too deeply into this topic and looking for some unusual trends. In fact, you can get rich by selling everything: from women's handbags and umbrellas to sunflower oil and wooden figurines. The main thing is to find the right supplier.
In India, old buses are being converted into food trucks
Funny incidents from the history of world brands: why Ikea is called that
Why working hours? Rules I recommend breaking when working remotely
Why is Alibaba bad?
One of the features that distinguishes a trading platform from an online bulletin board is a transaction protection mechanism. It seems to be present on Alibaba. But as soon as a controversial situation arises, the buyer quickly becomes convinced that this protection exists only formally. In reality, achieving your goal there is almost impossible.
Alibaba is a resource aimed at foreigners. That's why the prices there are inflated.
Alibaba's management does not have the time or desire to sort out disputes between suppliers and their customers. Therefore, after you contact the support service, you will be persistently asked to resolve the situation with the supplier without their intervention. And if the client insists, he will have to pay for the platform’s real intervention in the dispute. However, there is no guarantee that the dispute will be resolved in favor of the client. Usually the result is a template solution, with which the client is a priori obliged to agree.
The reputation of a seller on Alibaba, unlike other platforms, does not guarantee anything to the buyer. “Gold” and other statuses there are bought for money, and are not awarded for real achievements. It can be compared to the hotel industry in Egypt, where the number of stars assigned determines the size of the bribe to the official in charge. Therefore, five stars may well flaunt on the façade of a kennel, which in terms of service, infrastructure and quality of services is at most a “kopeck piece”.
Another disadvantage of Alibaba is that this platform is aimed at foreigners. Therefore, its prices are inflated compared to analogues, where the main buyer is Chinese. Another reason why prices on Alibaba are higher is that the vast majority of sellers there are intermediaries. There are practically no manufacturers there. And most intermediaries work according to an algorithm that is described in an anecdote from the 90s:
Two businessmen met. “You can get a carload of jam for a million.” - I'll take it.
And they went looking: one - a million, the second - a carload of jam.
Having received an order, such an intermediary from Alibaba begins to look for goods for it. It has neither its own production nor any developments with manufacturers. And he derives his added value from the fact that he knows English, knows how to issue invoices (bills) in an international format and use the Internet.
It is impossible to find the minimum price for a product on Alibaba. Minimum price from the manufacturer. And he doesn’t invest in marketing. He doesn’t buy an account on Alibaba and statuses, doesn’t upgrade it, doesn’t hire managers to promote his products, and the like. Therefore, you need to look for a manufacturer on other sites.
The combination of factors such as inflated prices, a formal approach to verification, the opportunity to buy status and the abundance of foreigners who, if cheated, are unlikely to report to the Chinese police because they have no idea how to do this and usually do not speak the language, make this platform attractive to scammers. A Google search for "swindler alibaba" returned 163,000 results. And in the top 10 results for this search query was the story of a buyer being deceived by a gold status holder. From our practice: over the years of working with China on two other sites, we have encountered only five cases of outright fraud. And then through the fault of the operator, who transferred the money directly to the seller, tempted by the promised discount. Alibaba is crawling with scammers.
Another feature of Alibaba is the common practice of setting prices at 1 yuan for goods that by default cannot cost that much - a smartphone, TV, scooter, and the like. This is not always a sign of fraud. Often the seller is simply too lazy to bother with updating the price, and he puts numbers at random. And when the customer gets in touch, he announces the real cost. But it's still unpleasant. After all, you want to see the real price, and not waste time communicating with the seller, whose price may not be suitable.
Reasonable approach
I have always believed that a smart approach is important to developing and running a successful business. If I tried to sell, for example, phones, I would certainly go broke. But due to the demand for the same buckwheat husk, I began to carefully study this issue. As a result, it became clear that agricultural production in Ukraine is quite widely developed. A wide variety of agricultural crops are grown everywhere there, and China was in great need of cereals and vegetable oil.
As a result, after launching sales on the platform of these particular products, my client base grew many times over. Buyers took up to two thousand tons of raw materials at a time, which made it possible to earn good money.
Make shopping lists: how smart spending saves your wallet and nerves
How to buy an inexpensive car in Germany: traders in the northwest and Swabia are more reliable
Warm-up your fingers: exercises necessary for sedentary work
My markup was standard - 20%, but thanks to this, within a month and a half after submitting an advertisement for the sale of agricultural raw materials, I signed the first contract and earned $20,000. After that, another buyer was found who brought me a net profit of $40,000.
The first customers were companies from China. But later production facilities located in Turkey contacted me. Thus, I earned my first $100,000 by selling products on Alibaba.
Good idea
As it turned out, the businessman spontaneously gave me a great idea. In Ukraine, buckwheat husks are often stored in warehouses and are considered consumables that cost pennies. In China, they are willing to pay for this product, quite a lot of money at that. They have long understood that they can use the husks to produce goods that are in high demand. As a result, I found my niche for making my first fortune and further successful steps on the Chinese trading platform.
The largest transformation: the Sberbank empire has grown into the “Sber universe”
Competition is high in the fashion capital of London, but young designers have persevered
Swimming pool, wine cellar: a businessman turned an old monastery into a luxurious mansion
