Recently, we found that many importers said they were cheated by Alibaba suppliers. They said they were scammed by suppliers on Alibaba. The scams can happen anytime. Like, when you pay for the orders, choose the suppliers, and even reorder the products. So, in this video, I will show you very common types of scams on Alibaba and how you can spot and avoid them. Let’s get it started.
Scam 1: Selling Brand Products at a Very Attractive Price
Some suppliers on Alibaba claim that they are the OEM manufacturers, so they can get a much cheaper price. However, that’s not true. Because many brand companies, usually, they will sign lots of non-disclosure agreements with manufacturers. And it’s illegal for those manufacturers to share the design and materials with other customers. So, it’s impossible to get authentic products from Alibaba suppliers.
Scam 2: Rising Price After Placing Order
If you search for products on Alibaba, you will find the prices are very low. But they are not real. You can only get the real price after sending the inquiry. Normally, the supplier will offer you a good price to get the business done.
But after you spend weeks confirming your product details and sending over your deposit, they will suddenly ask for a higher price, because they know, most people will not willing to change to a new supplier. That would be a big waste of time and money. So, if this kind of situation happens to you, you’d better ask for more than two suppliers at the beginning.
Scam 3: High-quality Sample, Poor-quality Bulk Order
Some suppliers don’t have much advantage on price. So, this is a common trick they will play. A high-quality sample can attract you to place an order. But they will give you poor-quality bulk orders after you paid the bills. This usually happens in daily necessities, like clothes and socks.
But if you don’t want this to happen to you, work with Trade Assurance suppliers on Alibaba. It can ensure the order’s quality is the same as the sample’s. But remember, write all the details in the agreement, like color, fabric, and size… Otherwise, you cannot get your refund without writing all those details even using the Trade Assurance.
Scam 4: Use Fake Certificates
We all know that certificates, such as CE, and FDA are important. They are compulsory requirements for you to sell products legally in your country. Some suppliers don’t have those certifications. But in order to sell their products, they might promise to provide you with certifications after you place the order.
Well, don’t buy it. It’s just a trick they are playing. If the supplier provides you with certificates then check them carefully.Because the certificates can be forged by Photoshop.
Either of the two happens, your goods will be blocked at the time when doing the customs clearance, and it will cost thousands of dollars to apply your certificates. So you can go to the testing lab’s official website to verify if the certificates are real.
Scam 5: Change Products Without Notification at the Time of Dispatch
Some suppliers will send you products that are slightly different from what you expected. For example, your order is a 100% cotton shirt, but they might send you an 80% cotton shirt. To prevent this happen, don’t forget to use Alibaba Trade Assurance.
Scam 6: Alibaba Gold Suppliers Selling Poor Quality Products
A lot of new buyers are willing to choose gold suppliers because they seem more reliable. But the fact is, any Chinese supplier can be a gold supplier by paying a $4,500 membership fee per year.
Some even pay a lot more for a 3-5-year-old Alibaba gold supplier account, and then they will use this account to sell cheap quality products. How to find gold suppliers? You can hire professional sourcing agents to verify the factories, meet with suppliers, check their certificates, and so on. This will reduce your risk to a large extent.
Union Source can help you avoid the risks of sourcing.
We provide one-stop service, including supplier selection, quality control, order follow-up, warehouse, testing, factory verification, and after-sales service. If you are interested, link to our website. Thank you for reading, and I hope you can benefit from this!
