Buying Advice Has anyone bought a tractor thru alibaba?

[N2DFire]

Wow you just turned me offfff from Alibabaaaaa, is this just on tractor implements like brush cutters, post hole drill.....or everything from a toaster to flashlight?

Small stuff isn't that big of a deal it's the larger stuff that starts to go thru all of this. The basic "rule of Thumb" I came up with to decide "Small" or "Large" is - Is it small / light enough to be carried by air, if not you're going to have to ship it somehow.

There is an "extension" of Alibaba at aliexpress.com - think of this as more the E-bay of Alibaba (I stole that from another TBN member - Fawken). Most any/everything there will come some sort of Air freight (typically China Post to USPS)

Don't let my other post scare you, it's really not *that* bad a process, but you WILL have to put in the "leg work" to make a lot of arrangements yourself (It's not as Simple as One-click on Amazon. Lol) and you might find a freight forwarder will be willing / able to handle a lot of the details for you including the customs & domestic shipping to your door - it just depends on the specific company.

And there is cost savings to be had in doing it this way but you're trading that money saved for your time. If you have a lot of free time then it's probably not so bad.

It HAS been done though. TBN member LarJea bought a flail mower and talks about his experience some in an older thread here:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/342976-how-many-here-have-used.html?highlight=alibaba

My biggest worry for the OP is (as others have stated) the emissions issue for a tractor.


As others have done before me, I have pondered the possibility of some sort of "group buy" but the 2 main hurdles are:
1) Items would have to be from the same "company" so it's a specific commodity so could we generate enough interest to make it worthwhile (and to fill a 40 ft container)
2) The logistics of domestic shipping are enormous and shipping cross country would put some folks off (Ex if we shipped to a port on the west coast & I have to pay shipping to VA)

Some of the random things I ponder when I should be working or sleeping. :laughing:

 

[Inventive]

Don't let my other post scare you, it's really not *that* bad a process, but you WILL have to put in the "leg work" to make a lot of arrangements yourself (It's not as Simple as One-click on Amazon. Lol) and you might find a freight forwarder will be willing / able to handle a lot of the details for you including the customs & domestic shipping to your door - it just depends on the specific company.

I work in the shipping industry at a smaller import/export brokerage and forwarding company. It's definitely not a one click Amazon solution, but if you find a good Customs Broker it's a pretty simple process to import things.

Someone noted it, but if YOU are the importer then you're on the hook if anything goes wrong. Say CBP wants to take a look at your container full of tractors?(since it has engines, and you've never imported before, the odds are fairly good they will) That'll cost you some money as they'll charge you an exam fee. Obviously the Customs broker and forwarder will charge you to handle the freight etc. etc. Obviously it's worth it for people, otherwise I wouldn't have a job. But you would definitely have to do the math and see if the savings is worth the risk.

 

[Dadnatron]

I purchased a hydraulic arm flail mower (similar to Maschio Giraffona) this spring/summer.

Make sure you use Alibaba Trade Assurance, so you have time to see whether it meets the agreed upon contract requirements.

The pictures and initial 'ads' in Alibaba are just preliminary things. To purchase, you should ONLY use their messaging system, don't use your own email. Alibaba will guarantee the product is accurate, but only if you use the system and have the 'paper trail' for them to look at to compare. You have 15 days after the product hits the port to check it out. Make sure you've expressly stated that you want to insure you have 14 days after pick up to determine whether the product meets your agreed upon contract. This will give you time to actually uncrate it and see if it is accurate.

Make sure you are as absolutely detailed as possible in all instances you can think about. I would walk around a similar type tractor here in the states, and take a video and talk to yourself about every little issue you can see, then almost transcribe your requirements in the message prior to quote. Tires, rims, engine requirements, etc etc etc. Does the seat move, hydraulics, Category for 3pt, etc. EVERYTHING. Just put it in the contract.

Alibaba puts your money in escrow and it sits there until you've had your chance to check it out. IF YOU USE TRADE ASSURANCE. Don't buy without TRADE ASSURANCE guarantee and make sure you choose the quality evaluation portion. There is a lot to read about, but in my opinion, you can do it pretty successfully.

I would ABSOLUTELY recommend getting a broker to do the ENTIRE shipping. I don't know how these guys work, but I would read up on everything on this website as they have some pretty good information. But, before you get a final quote, I would approach a Broker and find out the approximate cost for shipping. that will help make your decision. And remember, you don't have to live by an OCEAN to import close to home. There are MANY landbound Ports of Entry. I picked mine up in Cincinnati but later found out I could have picked it up in Louisville, KY. The mower was trucked in from NJ so it had nothing to do with the River.

If you decide to move forward, let me know and I will give you more information about how to avoid things I had to deal with.

 

[ThirdMan]

There is an "extension" of Alibaba at aliexpress.com - think of this as more the E-bay of Alibaba (I stole that from another TBN member - Fawken). Most any/everything there will come some sort of Air freight (typically China Post to USPS)

This needs to be highlighted. Alibaba and Aliexpress are targeting very different customers. Alibaba is more of a business to business website and Aliexpress is pretty much Ebay for stuff from China. I have purchased from Aliexpress a number of things with about the same effort as from Ebay, but there is a lot of junk for sale out there. Not everything is air freight. To get a real deal lots of the stuff will come by boat and take 3 weeks to hit your door.

 

[k0ua]

I have bought from Alibaba, and AliExpress. But nothing over $50. I sure as heck wouldn't buy a tractor that way. I have bought IC chips thru Alibaba and the prices CAN be insanely cheaper than other methods. But not always. They apparently have crooks in China too. I bought a qty of 10 chips at $4 each and some of the vendors that responded to the RFP wanted $100 each for them. You deal with these "girls" on the email all with Western names. Yeah right. "Gloria" got my business. The chips were the correct ones and delivered for a great price.

 

[California]

You deal with these "girls" on the email all with Western names. Yeah right. "Gloria" got my business.

Some of them are real if they are in Hong Kong. It is a surprisingly British culture, populated of course by ethnic Chinese.

I worked with a man whose whole family emigrated to the four corners of the world when Hong Kong was relinquished back to China in 1997. He had received a classic British private prep-school education there the same in content to any top quality English-based prep school anywhere. I'm sure he knew more about the western world than he did about China, China hadn't been emphasized in his education.

Then in 2004 we spent a couple of days in HK on the way to visit Younger Daughter who had her semester abroad in India. I was astonished to see HK Immigration checkpoint requested passports for entry from visiting Chinese. I quietly asked the clerk if HK still dealt with visitors from China a foreigners, she very quietly replied that yes, they did. I just looked online and see this is still the case.

So yes, 'Gloria' may be the real name of your contact. Likely for HK, possible for Singapore, mainland China not so likely.