Ordering from Alibaba for the first time can be quite scary. You are pretty much handing over a large sum of money to someone who you have never met. So naturally the question arises:

Is Alibaba Safe To Purchase From?

First of all, Alibaba is a platform, not 1 seller. Just like with any other platform, you will find good & bad sellers on there. So here are 4 tips for helping you stay safe on Alibaba:

4 Tips for Staying Safe on Alibaba

1). Verified Supplier & Trade Assurance

The first step is very easy and something you should always do when looking for new suppliers on Alibaba. Make sure to check the Trade Assurance & Verified Supplier filter.

Trade Assurance

With Alibaba Trade Assurance, Alibaba will cover your order in case something wrong with the order.

Verified Supplier

Alibaba will make sure that everybody that is a verified supplier, is actually a legally registered company.

2). Trade shows

A great way to check if an Alibaba supplier is legit is by asking if he will attend any trade shows this year. You won’t actually have to attend these trade shows yourself. But if you know that your supplier has paid for a stand at the Canton Fair, will let you know that he is a legit supplier.

3). Stay away from licensed products!

I can 100% guarantee you that any licensed product you will find on Alibaba is a counterfeit! You want to stay away from these as far as possible. Intellectual property law is not very well enforced in China, but it is in the US. Which means they can sell it in China without a problem. But once YOU import it into the US, YOU will be the one in trouble!

Branded products are products such as:

Disney characters.

Logo’s of sport team.

Video game characters

4). Inspection

ALWAYS inspect your goods while they are still in the factory. I have said this before and believe this is crucial, no matter how many times you have ordered for the supplier. There is always the chance that a supplier will try to scam you. So I always inspect the goods while they are still in factory and before I pay 70% of the balance.

I have made a longer guide on why I always inspect my goods here.