Buying Advice Buying from Alibaba

[bridge4]

In the case of that stump grinder, the company in Canada that sells them has a decent supply of parts on hand, you don't have to wait months for the part to come from china... But I do understand where you are coming from...

SR

and besides supporting local jobs, thats a big reason I try to get what I can from local countries as well.

 

[Balazar]

OK, I bought a pallet of lithium ion batteries from an Alibaba seller recommended on the solar forum that I frequent. We negotiated a price for the quantity that I wanted and she wrote up a contract for the deal. A video of each cell being tested with my name on each of the cells was sent to me for verification before shipping. The seller has Alibaba trade assurance. It's basically buyer protection. I pay with a credit card. That money goes into escrow. When I get the product and verify the quality, I then clear the funds to be transferred to the seller. I used sea freight. It's slow but much cheaper. Especially for batteries. My seller took care of all of the import customs paperwork and fees. I get 30 days from the time of receiving the product to do a return/refund or exchange. I ended up paying about 25% of what it would have cost me to buy the cells from a solar supplier in the states. Basically I cut out the middle man in the transaction. There is no other source for lithium batteries. Why pay 4x as much for the same product from a local dealer that won't have a warranty anyway? Would I buy a China skid steer? No. No parts availability or support here. Would I buy a China tooth bar? Sure. Mostly because I know most of the retailers like palletforks.com are selling China implements. They are actually not that much higher than buying direct once you factor in shipping and customs fees.

 

[bridge4]

OK, I bought a pallet of lithium ion batteries from an Alibaba seller recommended on the solar forum that I frequent. We negotiated a price for the quantity that I wanted and she wrote up a contract for the deal. A video of each cell being tested with my name on each of the cells was sent to me for verification before shipping. The seller has Alibaba trade assurance. It's basically buyer protection. I pay with a credit card. That money goes into escrow. When I get the product and verify the quality, I then clear the funds to be transferred to the seller. I used sea freight. It's slow but much cheaper. Especially for batteries. My seller took care of all of the import customs paperwork and fees. I get 30 days from the time of receiving the product to do a return/refund or exchange. I ended up paying about 25% of what it would have cost me to buy the cells from a solar supplier in the states. Basically I cut out the middle man in the transaction. There is no other source for lithium batteries. Why pay 4x as much for the same product from a local dealer that won't have a warranty anyway? Would I buy a China skid steer? No. No parts availability or support here. Would I buy a China tooth bar? Sure. Mostly because I know most of the retailers like palletforks.com are selling China implements. They are actually not that much higher than buying direct once you factor in shipping and customs fees.

If there isn't other options, and there sure aren't for some things, then sure go buy china and cut out the scummy American middle man, cause they are trash anyways.

But if theres an option to buy American it should be looked at HARD. Like F the pallettforks guys and go to everythingattachments.

 

[Balazar]

I didn't know about everythingattachments. I'm glad you posted that. It says right on their home page that they don't carry anything from china. I wonder if there is a site similar to alibaba for South Korea? I know you can filter alibaba search results by region, but the South Koreans seem to not be interested in using the platform. Probably with good reason too. China has not been good to them.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

Donald and XI were doing a dance together for you... China isn't happy that ***** is gone... i wonder why that may be?

Lol.

U have it wrong. U must be from that stripe.

 

[5030]

swore off ridged tool because they are made in china,

Ridge Tool used to be in Elyria, Ohio way back when and produced quality tools there.

 

[Williy]

Me I try to stay away from any thing made in china.

willy

 

[Jchonline]

Messicks had an interesting video a few days ago on Chinese import implements. They ended up not doing them because of liability issues. Insurance to cover them would end up costing more over 10 years that the extra they pay for the non imported stuff.

 

[SBCO1]

And when you ask a question the answer is always 'yes, yes very good, you buy, yes?'
LOL, worst conversation was in the car (cellphone) when a Chinese caller tried to close a transaction.
Barely understood 10% of the conversation!

IMO Ali Baba is a decent site, Best is to use Paypal via a CC as you then have double avenues of protection.
If Paypal time limit expires the CC is always a backup as they can reverse payments, mind U the vender can protest but I suspect they rarely do if they are in a questionable situation.

One recent 'quasi scam' in my opinion was a nice photo of an item with some apparent options.
The item in itself was pricy but the listed price was for the minor spare part.
OK, I did get that 'spare part' but really have no use for it as I wanted the main item.
Basically a 'bait and switch' technique.

Why would anyone buy from china!

 

[alexebdra453]

OK, I bought a pallet of lithium ion batteries from an Alibaba seller recommended on the solar forum that I frequent. We negotiated a price for the quantity that I wanted and she wrote up a contract for the deal. A video of each cell being tested with my name on each of the cells was sent to me for verification before shipping. The seller has Alibaba trade assurance. It's basically buyer protection. I pay with a credit card. That money goes into escrow. When I get the product and verify the quality, I then clear the funds to be transferred to the seller. I used sea freight. It's slow but much cheaper. Especially for batteries. My seller took care of all of the import customs paperwork and fees. business plan I get 30 days from the time of receiving the product to do a return/refund or exchange. I ended up paying about 25% of what it would have cost me to buy the cells from a solar supplier in the states. Basically I cut out the middle man in the transaction. There is no other source for lithium batteries. Why pay 4x as much for the same product from a local dealer that won't have a warranty anyway? Would I buy a China skid steer? No. No parts availability or support here. Would I buy a China tooth bar? Sure. Mostly because I know most of the retailers like palletforks.com are selling China implements. They are actually not that much higher than buying direct once you factor in shipping and customs fees. best spin bikes under $500

buying from Alibaba I think not a good idea. check this