I'm really struggling with the samples/minimum order thing on Alibaba. I've found a couple of products that looks like what I'm after, but getting samples are really expensive ($50-70 for shipping as they refuse to use anything else than DHL) and so far, none of the products have been the same as they looked in the pictures. Not sure if you're answering questions, but I wonder: Do you know how to find the manufacturer behind AliExpress products? I've found great products there and would like to find the supplier to be able to ask for bigger sizes etc. but not sure if it's even possible.
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1. Sample pricing: Samples in general are more expensive than a bulk orders. $50-$70 is a bit on the high side but not at all out of the ordinary. There is a chance that you're dealing with a trading company rather than a supplier. Here are your options for lower pricing. #1 - find multiple suppliers, there are plenty and if one doesn't work out then another will. #2. Make sure you're dealing with a "Manufacturer" rather than a "Trading Company". When you're looking for products on Alibaba and click on a listing you can check the company info. There's a section called "Business Type" and it will say Manufacturer, Trading Company or both. You want to stick with Manufacturers for the best price. #3. You can filter your search on Alibaba beyond verified supplier and trade assurance. You can also filter by "Free Sample" or "Paid Sample" and by Minimum Order for any order. About the products looking different than they do in the pictures, you need to talk to the suppliers. Product photography culture is just not the same in China, especially when it comes to B2B marketplaces like Alibaba. The pictures you see are often NOT their products. They are often showing you what they COULD do, more than representing what you'll actually get. If you want something to look a certain way you have to tell them and confirm. They can send you a picture of the product before it leaves their factories (or you can send an inspector to do this for you). If you're dealing with a trading company then it would be more difficult but if you're dealing with a manufacturer then it will be more feasible. Manufacturers should not have any issue simply snapping photos for you whenever you ask. Keep in mind, your goal should not be to get the lowest cost samples possible. It should be to find a great high-quality product you can build a business & brand with. This often means spending more on nicer samples from legitimately good suppliers. Bottom of the barrel pricing will mostly get you bottom of the barrel quality. 2. Manufacturers behind AliExpress products: Sometimes they're easy to find, sometimes they're not. There are a lot of trading companies who simply flip products from Alibaba to AliExpress, but there are also a lot of manufacturers who sell on both sites. Your best bet is to simply ask "what if we want to buy these in bulk?". Just be sure to price check deeply (on Alibaba too), as AliExpress has a lot more middle-men and a lot less 'from the source' suppliers.
I’m from Canada and am wondering about shipping, taxes and import fees. How do I know a supplier will give me that info and it will be accurate? When do I pay these additional costs? I’m guessing that’s never part of the quote unless you ask for it, like in the second email you referred to. Is it possible a supplier quotes incorrectly and I’m left holding the bag on huge fees I wasn’t made aware of?
Thanks for this article, very useful. I wanted to ask if you can help provide some advice, or point me to a useful article, about buying product supplements from Alibaba/Aliexpress, e.g. custom branded packaging, store bags, wrapping etc. So not the main product as such, but rather what it comes in. For this kind of request, would you recommend to use Aliexpress to test out the packaging/wrapping or would a sample followed by a larger Alibaba order suffice? Furthermore, I am relatively new to Alibaba/express, but I am worried that I will not be able to find the same producer on Alibaba from the smaller order in Express? Looking forward to your help on this! Thank you
Hey emily, if you don't mind me asking, where are you located? If you're in the United States or Europe then I would recommend that you skip Alibaba all together and Aliexpress and find a local packaging company. You'll have more control over the quality and it would probably be cheaper to do it locally. Alibaba and Aliexpress has packaging but they are not specialists. For example, you can check out a company like Packlane: https://packlane.com/ They do some really cool packaging and there are hundreds of similar companies you can use and at a great price. Hope this helps. Please ask any other question you want!
Thank you this article is great.Does anyone know about shipping costs from.China I am being quoted £27 to be some A4 fabric samples ..I dont expect a box full.?
Hey Chrissie we can help you with shipping. I don't know if you've noticed but Alibaba has a filter feature now where you can look up suppliers that are willing to do free samples. That's one way to go. The other way to go is to get some more quotes and negotiate with the supplier. 27 is not very high for samples and the truth is that there's a chance that samples might cost you money in the short term and save you more money long term when you make larger orders.
what if you want to purchase via western union? can you give me some tips that could help me through this kind of transaction?
Quick question I am starting a business but am confused about one thing with alibaba..... If I find a supplier and like their product and decide to buy....will that product no longer be available for anyone else to buy and sell? How does that work? Are products removed from alibaba as they are purchased??
Oty, I wouldn't recommend using Western Union at all. Is there a specific reason why you don't want to use any other payment method? My experience with Western Union is not very good.
Alex congrats on taking the first step and starting your business. Alibaba is a whole sale directory website. Meaning there are multiple manufacturers for every product sold on there. If you buy a product from a particular manufacture you are one customer of that factory. Those factories are looking for multiple buyers. What makes your product unique is when you put your own branding on the product or when you make a change to the product. But the product never gets taken off Alibaba after you purchase. Please feel free to keep asking questions :)
Alex, nice to know that you are starting your business. We are selling on Alibaba. If you develop a new product that is not being manufactured by anyone else then you can have contract with your manufacturer that they wouldn't sell your product to any other buyer. We offer this service.
Hi there, do you need to be a company (as opposed to being an individual) when you request for a product sample? Is it relevant or make a difference? Thanks so much.
Thanks for the tip Masood. They're right Alex, you can sign something called a "NNN" a Non-disclosure, Non-compete and Non-use.
Hey Claire, you don't need to be a company to ask for samples. You can buy as an individual. When creating an account on Alibaba they ask for company name but it's not a required field and it's not something they would check anyway.
Thank you!! Ok sounds good What is the best way to go about making changes to a product? Do the manufacturers provide templates? Or can you just draw up your own rough designs? What do you think is the best way? Sorry I’m new to this so I have a lot of dumb questions lol
There are no dumb questions! There are a few ways that you can approach this. The manufacturers have engineers in their facilities with designs. You can ask them for the designs. You can also work with the manufacturer to make the changes for you. Most of the time they are more than willing to do that but you have to explain to them in extreme detail the changes you want them to make. Believe it or not, they're used to having people ask them to make changes to their products. The third option you have is to contact a company called "Morpho Manufacturing" you can google them or go to startupbros(dot)com/morpho . They are a manufacturing partner of ours and they specialize in working with factories to make changes to products. They have relationships with tons of factories and have their own engineers to make sure everything goes smoothly. There's a chat feature on their site and you can use it to get the ball moving and get a quote. Those are your 3 best options :) Please don't be shy to keep asking questions!
Thank you for the great advices! I’m trying to start my business selling Japanese style baby clothes. It would be great if I could order the products from Japan, but seems like Chinese manufacturers from Alibaba sell same products much cheaper. I would like to make changes to the products also and I talked to the sales ladies from manufacturers on Alibaba about custom designs, but seems like not many manufacturers accept custom changes. The only one manufacturer that I found where lets me order custom designs seems very pushy and rushes the process which I didn’t feel comfortable.. I’m thinking to reach to the people from “Morpho manufacturing”, but how much are they gonna charge for the process and assistance fee? Is it something that people like me who is just starting business can ask and afford?
Hey Sakura, check out Morpho and tell them your issues. You don't have to commit to anything just to ask questions. They might even point you in the right direction. In general though, sometimes it takes talking to 8 - 10 suppliers to find one you're comfortable to work with. I would recommend trying to sell something that doesn't need to be customized first since you're just starting out. Once you make some money, you can update products and get fancy. Start slow and keep your costs as low as possible.
What are the payment system? Is it safe to pay before receiving the product ? What method should i follow?
It's safe to pay before receiving the products as long as you pay with credit cards or paypal. With those options you can open disputes with both the credit card company and Alibaba if something goes wrong. But also make sure the company is a Trade Assurance manufacturer. If you focus on those two things you will be safe on Alibaba.
I want to start a business and where do I confirm a manufacturers trade assurance?? Also can I customize products with them or are there cheap places within the United states I can customize my products?
Hey Geraldine, on the listing of a manufacturer there should be an icon that says "trade assurance". That's how you know. Yes, you can customize a product. I would first recommend that you can sell the product as is just to prove that there's demand for the product. Depends on how you want to customize the product, if it's just a logo or color scheme then the supplier can do it for a small markup per item. If you want to customize the product mechanically then you are going to need a 3rd part company like Morpho Manufacturing to take the product and customize it. That will cost you more, so I would recommend validating the product first.
Hi, that was very helpful. But I have a question about the delivery. Say, If I buy small numbers to try the product first before selling them online, will they be sent to my address just like a common mail package? Or it will be retained in somewhere else where I need to pick them up?
Hey Taylor, you can send your packages anywhere you want. Your house, a business or anywhere else that accepts mail. When you place the order on Alibaba you can give them your home address and it will go there. In the United States you can order up to $800 USD worth of products and it's not subject to an import tax so there's no worry about it being held up in the ports. If you were to order something that did get stuck in the ports your supplier would have someone from DHL, Fedex or whatever they use to pick it up and take it to your house. They plan everything very well.
If I order from Alibaba do I need to have a custom broker for the shipment. Or does Alibaba assist with that.
Hey Lena, thank you so much for reading the article! To answer your question, no you don't need a customs broker to order on Alibaba. The factory should already have someone they trust to handle freight forwarding and customs. Most people don't order enough to justify the need to have someone broker a trade agreement. If you have anymore questions at all please feel free to email me and I would love to answer more questions! Will@startupbros(dot)com
I’m not exactly sure how a normal conversation should go when you’re first contacting a supplier. I just don't know the important questions to ask and obviously i want to seem professional and decently friendly so when/or if I negotiate on a price obviously I can't expect they to budge if they think I'm just some greedy drop shipper just trying to make a buck. Or maybe most suppliers dont really care? Lol I'm overthinking it i just use some advice on the subject. Thanks.
Thanks for reaching out and reading the article! I would love to help you out. In general, you want to have a simple conversation that explains what you're looking for from the supplier. Just like you would if you were haggling in person with someone. Introduce yourself, tell them that you're a small company just starting out and you're looking to test out a new product line. And before making a big purchase you need to test the quality of a smaller order. There will be a back and fourth and it might take a couple of days but just starting from there and having a normal respectful conversation with them will get you very far. They don't know who you are or how big you are, they see you as potential business and they are not going to turn away potential business. You might be over thinking this a little bit but it's okay because you're new. If you run into any more problems at all or want more clarification please send me an email or comment back!
Can you use different suppliers to fill a shipping crate/container? When would this make sense (vs being too costly)?
You're looking for a consolidation service, which many logistics companies throughout China offer. These companies will typically have warehouses around various areas of China, and can help you consolidate multiple orders into one large import shipment. They typically offer free storage for 7-days, so you want to make sure all products arrive in a tight timeframe to avoid storage fees. If you're already doing business in China, you'll often find that your largest suppliers or logistics brokers are happy to do this for you. But when you're first starting out, it is probably not worth it (i.e. 10-15 samples are not worth it, while 2 individual pallets from 10 suppliers filling a full container would offer substantial savings).
I am very new to trying to start a business. I am in the research phase. I have currently been looking at and researching products that I may be interested in selling and I have several questions. 1. The first step once I find products I am interested in selling is getting samples of these products correct? When getting samples am I am going to obviously personally test them but am I also using these samples to sell to see the public's response? Is high shipping for these normal? 2. I am currently looking a products on Alibaba and Aliexpress. If I get samples and like them I am not sure which site I should buy from. I need and want to make a profit but I dont want to have too much inventory but not enough. Also not sure if I want to pay more for less on Aliexpress 3. What exactly is drop shipping and how does it work? I am not sure I want to personally handle the inventory. Is it more cost effective to have the site ship it to customers for me or to pay to ship it to customers myself? 4. If I decide to add my own company name and logo to the merchandise do I need to be trademarked or have an llc? I have just created a website on go daddy for way later in the future if I need it. But am wondering about logos and if LLCs are needed for this kind of business. I plan on selling oddities and different unique things. Thank you. Keisha
This is a nice article! Being a manufacturer of martial arts gear, I would say, just because of Alibaba group spending tons of dollars for the advertisement of their one site, and earning hundreds of millions of dollars in return from thousands of the manufacturing companies for their promotions, are not consumers focused. Not only that but there is no way to find a reputable company if you only focus to buy from B2B marketing sites only. This is not very difficult for long time wholesalers/distributors but the entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey, have to be suggested to take some extra time for making their important decision which can make or break their emerging brands. thanks
Awesome and informative article! My question is how do you get a product customized on Alibaba? They have very similar products to what I’m looking to sell but there are a few things I would like to change about the product to make it more functional and appealing for my customers. I’ve contacted some manufacturers already and they have told me they can’t make any adjustments to their product. What should I do to get the product tailored to my specifications?
Any information you can share regarding taxes and duties when bringing inventory from Alibaba to USA for sale?
Thanks for the article. I found Alibaba to be attractive because of their lower cost of goods but Aliexpress costly but my problem with Alibaba is that the shipping cost very very costly. it is ridiculous to goods worth of $20 only to spend far more for shipping; meanwhile sellers on Aliexpress offer free shipping while others very little shipping cost. I'm looking into buying in large quantities but not so large anyway (say their MOQ) from Alibaba, my question is how do I someone to ship to me affordably. Sometimes a product need a freight forwarder. I don't really understand the part of shipping. I'm looking for ways to get the goods down affordably and sell locally. my location is Nigeria.
how do i reach the alibaba wholesale site?
Hello Nicola. I have to say this article was one of the best articles I have read about alibaba and express. I have a few question for you and I hope you have the time to answer them. I am starting a few store in different categories to test the waters and see which one works best. Hopefully all 4 will take off but if just one does I will also be happy. One of my stores will be a unique home decor store with many different products. Here I will use oberlo however, my 3 other stores will sell one feature item and from that point I hope to grow the store and brand with time. My questions are. I know that some good suppliers on alibaba offer drop shipping also if you talk to them directly. This is the route I would like to choose for my feature 1 product shops. What is your advice on this? I would like to build a brand out of the feature one product stores I creat and I would love my logo to go on the product or device. I only want to stick to suppliers in alibaba who offer a product in MOC of 1 and as my customers place orders I’ll send the supplier a CVS daily with my orders which he then shipped to my customers. Have you heard of any positive stories of anyone getting their logo printed in an item without ordering a bulk quantities to start with. Obviously I would move into ordering bulk if the brand takes off but to start with I would like to creat a partnership with a supplier in alibaba and not express. Of course I would take all of your tips in regards to choosing the right supplier to ensure a smooth process and good quality. So my questions pretty much are 1 have you heard of any positive stories on someone getting their logo on a product via alibaba supplier but starting with MOC of 1 (all thou I assume 5-10 orders per day) 2 do you have any tips on approaching a supplier to make the above happen 3 I would be asking the supplier if they can do droppshipping directly to customers at first and move to bulk and shipped from me in the future. Do you have any advice in making those arrangements with a supplier on alibaba 3 if The supplier does not agree to put my logo on an item due to low quantity I will then ask them to do blind droppshipping without any invoices, logos etc. Do you have any advice on this 4 are the free shipping options of 20-40 days acually 20-40 days or so items tend to arrive sooner to customer if epocket is not an option 5 I can’t see the epocket option on any products I am oooking at. How do I find this option 6 if I choose to use AliExpress I would prefer to place my orders manually via a daily CVS file is this possible with aliexpress and its suppliers? 7 can orders from aliexpress also be shipped blind without any marketing material at all? 8 if I use Oberlo is there an option there to ensure products are always shipped blind? Process that is automated and auto tells the supplier that this order must be shipped blind? 9 any advice on getting your logo out in an item in both aliexpress and alibaba at the lowest MOC (best 1 or 5 or maybe 10) 10 do you think you have much more control if you place orders manually to ensure All the above or is there a way to do all this with Iberlo? 11 Weather ordering with oberlo or manually other then copy and paste photos from the supplier or google am I able to ask the suppliers on both sites to provide me with all the photos and also videos they have for the product and have them send this to my email? Thank you so much for all your insight. This article is amazing And really really helpful. I am bookmarking this for the future reference for sure
If I wanted to order a living room set ,just 1 to see how they look and well they are build,can you do that. Is shipping very expensive? When it says 1 set or 5 sets ,show does that work. So if i decided to set up a small furniture store, they would supply me with what i need. How about taxes ?
Great article, I just wanted to startup online sales.
In-depth and realistic. However, did I miss any discussion on customs and shipping costs?
I’m interested in purchasing a single small rice combine whose cost is roughly $5000. Mfr wants 40% up front and the rest upon shipment. Is this typical? Also, they say they can ship within 10 days but might I be waiting months due to supply chain snafus? ( shipping to east coast USA )
Are the manufacturers (suppliers) on Aliexpress the same ones you will find on Alibaba? I noticed in the article it said you can order and test small quantities from express before ordering large quantities from Alibaba.
I want to order as a private (not business) person. Can you confirm that’s definitely possible please? I need some big numbers of certain items that I already know the quality of.
You can register and place orders as an individual or a business (on both Alibaba & AliExpress). The platforms themselves now handle Sales Tax Permits, so you can eventually input that to save money on taxes when purchasing inventory. You'll be hard pressed to find a Chinese supplier who cares about your US legal entity. They just want to sell products.
AliExpress is a consumer platform, Alibaba is a business platform. Many times you will find the same exact suppliers on both platforms. If the same factory does not exist on both platforms, then almost certainly there are resellers selling the factory product on AliExpress. So can you find the product you want on AliExpress? Probably. Should you be buying samples there (rather than Alibaba)? Depends on your situation. I personally almost always just use Alibaba.
Suppliers are almost always going to 'talk' in FOB pricing, which essentially means 'the price of the product if you sent a truck to our factory to come pick it up'. This is what we want, since things like shipping/taxes/duties are all variable & location-dependent. It only makes sense suppliers would talk about the cost of manufacturing the product and getting it out of their warehouse. Now, that doesn't mean we can just ignore shipping/taxes/duties. It just means that we need to be aware of them and explore those economics (when the time comes). When you're an established seller, you'll likely be importing your inventory via pallets (and eventually full containers). The marginal shipping cost per products gets EXTREMELY low in many of these situations. But what about when you're first starting out? 1) Shipping will always cost what it costs. Even I often still use my supplier to ship my products out when starting with a new factory. You can calculate shipping costs via UPS/DHL website, just like any other shipping estimate. So it's easy to make sure you're not getting ripped off here. When do you pay it? For samples your supplier is usually just going to ship Air Express straight to you (the incoterm would be DAP/DDU). So they will usually just bundle it all into one fee at that point. 2) Duties: DAP/DDU means "we'll deliver the product directly to your address, but you still have to pay duties". You're not required to pay duties on samples, so you probably won't need to worry about this until you're up and selling. You can ask your supplier if they know the HS Code & tarriff/duty rate their customers are required to pay in the country you're importing to. The supplier will often know. If not, you can look up HS Codes online (I'd imagine ChatGPT & AI is great for this now). When you do have duties & additional import/customs fees, UPS/DHL/whoever will simply charge your account. You will probably get a letter from UPS/DHL within a few weeks of your shipment arriving requesting any additional funds required. 3) Taxes are handled by Alibaba on the platform itself now. So you will either need to pay sales taxes (based on where you shipping the product), or you will need to input your Sales Tax ID into your Alibaba profile to let them know you are not required to pay those sales taxes. So either way, the end user is required to pay sales taxes - either you paying Alibaba (and then Alibaba paying your State), or your customers paying you (and then you remitting sales taxes to whichever State). It is absolutely possible to be left holding the bag on fees like this. None of this is surprising or out of the ordinary. But all together it makes up the total cost structure of your product, and part of the research stage is estimating all these numbers (so you can find potentially winning products).
Some of info is actually not correct. You can buy American branded products on Alibaba. This started in 2019 when Alibaba opened up the platform for America Brands to sell.