[Cameron]

Hey guys has anyone here had much experience when dealing on alibaba.com?

I've found a few Chinese suppliers for my future business and am in the process of getting some samples shipped here.

What I want to know is;
- What was the quality like of the product you ordered? What type of product was it?
- Did you use trade assurance? Were there any issues with shipping? Airfreight or LCL shipment?
- Did you use a supplier that only supplied in mass quantities?

Thanks guys.

[vad0x]

I bought a couple pairs of fake yeezys just to see the quality and they wernt that bad. But the boxes that it came in were real fucked up from delivery and the suppliers i used were dealing in low and mass quantities.

And GL with whatev you are looking to sell!

[Cameron]

I bought a couple pairs of fake yeezys just to see the quality and they wernt that bad. But the boxes that it came in were real fucked up from delivery and the suppliers i used were dealing in low and mass quantities.

And GL with whatev you are looking to sell!

Thanks for the reply bud.

I would have to get my goods shipped in a container due to the weight so it would all be packaged in crates so damage would hopefully be minimal if any. The supplier I'm looking at has been on Alibaba for 9+ years and has trade assurance so I hope it would all be a smooth process.

[boost]

Had a dad hat store couple years ago. Quality was not that great tbh. I was very picky with the way I wanted the hat to look and even sent out the perfect hat I wanted to copy as a template, but they still weren't able to replicate it. I went through multiple samples which cost 35-50 each. Maybe it was just the supplier though. I never used trade assurance, I just bought directly from supplier via Skype and didn't go through Alibaba. Shipping was done via freight (2-3 days shipping). I did have issues with development a lot as supplier pushed off dates multiple times, so there were delays that went on for weeks :/

[Cameron]

Had a dad hat store couple years ago. Quality was not that great tbh. I was very picky with the way I wanted the hat to look and even sent out the perfect hat I wanted to copy as a template, but they still weren't able to replicate it. I went through multiple samples which cost 35-50 each. Maybe it was just the supplier though. I never used trade assurance, I just bought directly from supplier via Skype and didn't go through Alibaba. Shipping was done via freight (2-3 days shipping). I did have issues with development a lot as supplier pushed off dates multiple times, so there were delays that went on for weeks :/

Thanks for the feedback.
Hopefully this supplier can provide me with good quality samples so I'm comfortable with placing a large order. The only kicker is they only supply a minimum of 50 rolls which range from $200 - $1k depending on specs. The crazy thing is I'll be able to make over 400% profit on the majority of the specs that I'll potentially order. My biggest concern is poor quality.

[boost]

Thanks for the feedback.
Hopefully this supplier can provide me with good quality samples so I'm comfortable with placing a large order. The only kicker is they only supply a minimum of 50 rolls which range from $200 - $1k depending on specs. The crazy thing is I'll be able to make over 400% profit on the majority of the specs that I'll potentially order. My biggest concern is poor quality.

Are you able to order a sample piece as a test? I'm sure they're able to do samples which would be smart to get before placing a big order.

[Cameron]

Are you able to order a sample piece as a test? I'm sure they're able to do samples which would be smart to get before placing a big order.

Yeah I've got some small samples on the way (I'm talking 100mm x 100mm samples) whereas the rolls I'd be ordering are 1.55m wide x 30m long.

They do have a pretty good reputation so I think if the samples are good I'll bite the bullet and place a reasonable sized order.

[boost]

Yeah I've got some small samples on the way (I'm talking 100mm x 100mm samples) whereas the rolls I'd be ordering are 1.55m wide x 30m long.

They do have a pretty good reputation so I think if the samples are good I'll bite the bullet and place a reasonable sized order.

Gotcha! Good luck though man, interested in seeing how your business goes. My first time doing hats from Alibaba, I spent around $2-3k total, then just wasn't feeling the quality. Now I have a bunch of brand new caps in a couple boxes in the garage.

Edit: Also, if your business takes off I'm sure you can find cheaper prices for the same quality or even better if you took a trip down there yourself. Heard these Alibaba guys are middlemen and mark up the prices.

[Cameron]

Gotcha! Good luck though man, interested in seeing how your business goes. My first time doing hats from Alibaba, I spent around $2-3k total, then just wasn't feeling the quality. Now I have a bunch of brand new caps in a couple boxes in the garage.

Edit: Also, if your business takes off I'm sure you can find cheaper prices for the same quality or even better if you took a trip down there yourself. Heard these Alibaba guys are middlemen and mark up the prices.

Thanks bud :)
Any plans to try flip the hats in the future? Surely someone would be interested in them.

I'm quite confident it will take off. I've already got a customer lined up who will spend at least $50k/year. But yeah I agree, say 6 months after launch if everything is going well I'll plan a trip to China to see the whole operation in person and build a better relationship with the supplier. If I'm ordering $100k+/year through them I'll be asking them for a price reduction on all specs.

[boost]

Thanks bud :)
Any plans to try flip the hats in the future? Surely someone would be interested in them.

I'm quite confident it will take off. I've already got a customer lined up who will spend at least $50k/year. But yeah I agree, say 6 months after launch if everything is going well I'll plan a trip to China to see the whole operation in person and build a better relationship with the supplier. If I'm ordering $100k+/year through them I'll be asking them for a price reduction on all specs.

Nah design and quality sucks. I wouldn't be happy selling them tbh. How much are you planning to invest initially to launch everything?

I watched a case study on an ig story and the guy went to China to meet up with suppliers. He mentioned you can find suppliers for 50% cheaper than Alibaba. I guess this depends on what the product is as well though.

[Cameron]

Nah design and quality sucks. I wouldn't be happy selling them tbh. How much are you planning to invest initially to launch everything?

I watched a case study on an ig story and the guy went to China to meet up with suppliers. He mentioned you can find suppliers for 50% cheaper than Alibaba. I guess this depends on what the product is as well though.

Probably around $25k - $50k AUD (working on a business plan currently before applying for a business loan) worth of stock on the floor. I'll need to have quite a few different specs to be appealing to the industry it will be focused around.

The profit margin will already be massive. Even if I was only able to get a further 10% off that would be huge for me.

[Pray]

Never dealt with Alibaba but my employer, on the manufacturer side, purchases raw materials from China and I sometimes have to deal with them when someone fucks up the book keeping and I have to reconcile.

Quality is fine. Depends on what you’re buying.

Shipping is slow, of course, and we typically order at least 2 weeks in advance of needing it. Even then it’s sometimes too slow.

They cover insurance from what I remember.

Our supplier does any quantity, but naturally gives a discount the larger the quantity.

[Cameron]

Never dealt with Alibaba but my employer, on the manufacturer side, purchases raw materials from China and I sometimes have to deal with them when someone fucks up the book keeping and I have to reconcile.

Quality is fine. Depends on what you’re buying.

Shipping is slow, of course, and we typically order at least 2 weeks in advance of needing it. Even then it’s sometimes too slow.

They cover insurance from what I remember.

Our supplier does any quantity, but naturally gives a discount the larger the quantity.

I'd probably be looking at sea freight for my goods due to the weight of the shipments. Air-freight would be far too costly. Shipping would probably take 6-8 weeks and I'd need to also allow a few weeks in advance for the goods to be manufactured.

Lead time isn't a problem it's just the quality which is my biggest concern.

[Kenjataimu]

I occasionally order from Alibaba and like eBay or Amazon it depends on the supplier you are doing business with.

Make sure you click, Trade Assurance & Verified Supplier.
Then go with companies that are 2-3+ years on the site.

If you don't like prices you can always get suppliers to bid on the kind of product you want.

[Umoran]

It definitely depends on the supplier and what you're looking for. I am in the process of getting sweaters manifactured for one of my brands and i got samples from multiple different suppliers in order to compare quality i would suggest you do the same before making a bulk order, be careful though as this is where you will see if the person you are talking to is really working directly for the manifacturer or is just a middle man.