

I'm creating a newbie guide/course on using Alibaba. Topics to Cover - edotthekid

I am releasing a crash course on using Alibaba. I submitted it earlier but didn&#x27;t ask, What would you like me to cover in it. http:&#x2F;&#x2F;alibabacrashcourse.com&#x2F;&lt;p&gt;My team and I are finishing the crash course up but still have time to address additional things.&lt;p&gt;Would love to hear them. Cheers
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systemtrigger
One thing I would like to know about Alibaba is how to best distinguish
between good and bad suppliers. One of the criticisms levied upon Alibaba is
that there is no way of knowing which of the suppliers can be trusted and
which are not even close to being set up to carry out the services they are
advertising. How does one best approach the problem of due diligence when
using Alibaba?

Most product pages I have seen on Alibaba are confusing. It's not clear what
the product is, what the price is including shipping, and what the end-to-end
process for me will be including how defects and returns are dealt with. What
strategy do you recommend for approaching this problem?

One product I searched for was custom playing cards. I was thinking of
ordering 100k decks or so, with a custom design printed on the front and back
of each card. A lot of suppliers on Alibaba are listed in this niche. So I
thought, great, I have a custom request -- I want to design the front as well
as the back -- so I should be able to do a request for quote and send it to
all of them, right? Wrong, there is no standard form I can send out to all of
them, I have to contact each of them individually. I also wanted to know how
much it would cost just to buy the cardboard boxes that playing cards come in,
but again it seemed I would have to contact each supplier separately which
struck me as a suboptimal process. Any thoughts on that, I would love to hear.

Also I would like to know how samples work. If I request a sample of something
relatively expensive, does the supplier eat the cost of the item or do I have
to pay for it? I assume I have to pay for the shipping. Are there any ways
within Alibaba that I can fill out one form and get a bunch of samples sent to
me, or is this something that I have to set up supplier by supplier?

Which product categories offer the best savings versus what would be available
in, let's say, the United States?

What tips can you share on shipping?

I have read that Alibaba is not the best website for outsourcing manufacturing
to China. However I have not come across strong viable alternatives. What are
your thoughts on the competition? Specifically it would be helpful to know if
there is anywhere online that you know of where suppliers are vetted for
legitimacy and integrity, as these are routinely cited in forums as problems
for Alibaba.

I signed up for your crash course. Thanks in advance. Good luck.

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edotthekid
Got you covered on all angles.

Good and Bad Suppliers Samples Shipping

all covered. Thanks for your thoughts

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dheavy
Case studies? Step by step tutorial on buying and selling things of diverse
quantities, types and origins?

Or maybe pitfalls and common scams and how to avoid them?

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edotthekid
I did interviews with 3 entrepreneurs who explain everything they did.

A exporter

and a factory owner

I got you covered buddy :-)

