8 Things to Look for When Searching for Manufacturers on Alibaba.com

Find Your Best Manufacturers on Alibaba.com

Alibaba is, probably, the largest e-commerce site in the world for finding both factories and suppliers. When you are going to start a business whereas there is very little opportunity for personally going abroad, Alibaba.com can be a great source of help for you. You will find the contact details of thousands of manufacturers on Alibaba, which certainly ease initial hurdles greatly and let you grow your business. Apart from this, Alibaba.com’s reasonable prices for almost all products help boost your profit margins. Whether big or small your business is, you will undergo business growth.

All suppliers are basically classified into three major categories.

• Gold Supplier

According to Alibaba, “Gold Supplier is a premium membership for suppliers on Alibaba.com. Members are provided with comprehensive ways to promote their products, maximizing product exposure and increasing return-on-investment.” Gold Suppliers are surely the primary source of income for Alibaba. Gold suppliers pay a great amount of annual membership fee and undergo several verification processes. As a result, selecting a gold supplier will likely end up being scammed.

• Trade Assurance Supplier:

Trade Assurance is typically a free service offered by Alibaba with a view to creating trust between buyers and sellers. To earn this badge, the supplier usually checks the product before shipping and refund against any valid claims raised by the buyer. So if you choose any supplier of this category, you can expect on-time arrival of quality products.

• Assessed/Verified Supplier:

The supplier is already been assessed by a third-party inspection agency. An assessment report is also uploaded to alibaba.com. If you find any supplier offering the least price, you may check the assessment report for knowing details about this supplier.

8 Things to be Considered While Selecting the Manufacturers on Alibaba

However, since most of the suppliers are China-based and you may contact fake suppliers, it is undoubtedly an arduous task to select someone without any physical visit. Nevertheless,  there are some factors which can be considered while selecting the supplier. (Find more related information on )

1. Search Authentic Supplier:

There are different sorts of Alibaba suppliers as well as manufacturers on Alibaba. Some are renowned manufacturer, certified by different authorized body across the world. You can rely on these suppliers and initiate the business without worrying much. Need to mention, some supplier is showing a fake certificate to earn customer trust. Therefore, it is recommended to check the authenticity of suppliers’ documentation before making any kind of business deals. Although Alibaba verifies all basic information such as supplier’s business type, manufacturing location and year of established and symbolize “verified” on suppliers’ homepage if everything goes true. The more information is verified the more you can be sure of that supplier.

2. Check Company Overview

Alibaba is such an online platform where you will find a greater collection of supplier of numerous products in a broader range of niches. There are hundreds of supplier of the same product. You cannot connect to everybody and collect a quotation from each of those suppliers. In such a case, you can firstly read the overview of the supplier to get a general idea of them. Below is the point you should highlight while ready company profile

• Type of Product
• Origin
• Type of Business
• Manufacturers
• Wholesalers
• Importing agents
• Dropshippers
• Year of Establishment
• Year of Enlistment in Alibaba
• List of License
• List of Certification
• Alibaba manufacturer reviews

3. Check Response Rate

It refers to the percentage of response of sellers against buyer’s call. The response rate is undoubtedly an important factor and best suppliers have always a good rating. Suppliers with less responsive rate imply supplier is not too much dedicated to his business. And it is not guaranteed that you will get a quality product on time.

4. Get Multiple Samples

Testing the samples provided by the sample should be happened first before purchasing anything in a large amount. Supplier is also much conscious to deliver best quality products as a sample to catch the buyer.  Quality of products may decline after a couple of shipment. Therefore, the best way is to bring multiple samples of the same category at a different time. If you do not find any mismatch in the lab test report, you can be assured of good quality. If the value fluctuates, there is a possibility of getting the worst quality products. In addition, Suppliers might have multiple packaging for the same product, you can ask the supplier to send a few sample products in different packaging.

5. Avoid Brand Name Products

When you are looking at suppliers and hoping to find the best one to work with, look out for those suppliers that purport to offer brand names.

In general, renowned suppliers are very often found on Alibaba. If any manufacturers on Alibaba offers branded products at the lowest price, there is a high possibility of being cheated. You should think twice before buying anything.

6. Inspecting Goods Before Shipment

You will have almost nothing to do when goods are shipped and payment is done. As a result, to be on the safe side, you must assign a third party agency like AQI Service who will check the quality of goods. Upon getting an inspection report (See report example), you can ask your supplier to ship and make the payment.

7. Original Location of Factory

China is one of the largest countries in the world that consists of different industrialized regions. Each area specializes for particular product categories. Therefore, you can confirm the factory location of your vendors.

8. Take Time to Evaluate Shortlisted Suppliers

Do not put your business at risk by taking a quick decision considering a few factors. Rather, take time, research, and compare each supplier’s offers thoroughly. You can prepare an excel sheet to make a comparative statement. It will apparently help you to decide wisely.

Alibaba.com has brought millions of suppliers of different major categories, including raw material, packing material, machinery, consumer electronics, and apparel. In order to connect and select a reliable supplier, you have to initiate communication through language is a major barrier to overcome. Furthermore, you may experience poor customer service of some suppliers providing quality products at a reasonable price. Getting in touch of a third party like AQI might be a possible solution to streamline the process of finding suppliers or manufacturers on Alibaba.

Related:
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A Comprehensive Guide to Quality Inspection Costs
How Do You Read the Defects from the AQL Result? 

Author: AQI Service as a professional quality control service company in China specialized in providing a complete range of quality inspection and testing certification services in China & Asia for global importers, buyers, retailers, and sellers.