Anyone order from Alibaba or similar Chinese wholesale site? Payment assurance question

I've had successful transactions in the past before Alibaba was even around, with people I found online just posting the items they had for sale. I sent lots of $ (thousands) western union and crossed my fingers and 10-12 days later, it showed up every time (probably 15-20 times).

Now that Alibaba is so big (one of the largest in China) I see so many people reporting scams and there are supposed to be "trade assurance" programs and anti-fraud programs within Alibaba as well as with some of the payment providers like Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, etc. I looked into my Mastercard "trade garuntee" and was amazed at how inclusive and thourough it was in what it covered and for how long. It covers things that break after you buy them (from poor workmanship I would assume, but it doesn't even say there's a limitation on what is covered - it is EXTREMELY broad covereage), it covers false representation of a product (money back), it extends the warranty by a year over any warranty offered, including extended warranties (so 1 yr factory + 3 yr extended = 4 years, my MC makes it 5 years!). I never read this stuff until I had a problem with fraud by the owner of a UPS store and found I was covered by my credit card.

The problem is that you can only use it so many times, like once per year or once per 6 months. This isn't a good deal if you buy 20-30 things a month! BUT these companies love to issue cards, so what you can do is open multiple cards and move the purchases around for better coverage, and you can have your credit limit's changed (up/down) for different purchases.

So i'm worried about getting what I order and it being the quality that is described. how do you contest the quality? If the company wants the item returned that is often the deal breaker b/c shipping from US to China is often like 5-100x more than from china to the US (this is how China uses the US as well - b/c of international agreements between countries to handle international mail - that is why they often won't ship FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc). They can pay $.10 for a 2lb packaged (just an example) to be sent 2-3 day mail from Beijing to NYC, once it gets to the US, they don't get the $$ but are bound to deliver on time - or as soon as possible - and the shipping in China is subsidized on top of this issue.

Sop anyone have any advice? The items I want are 20, 35, 50lbs each, so it will be freight and I've never dealt with international freight (and having to worry about damage, lost, etc during shipping!) I can see why this can be a nightmare..

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I have never done frieght from china, but i buy from alibaba a few times a month. I have heard all of the horror stories, so i know lots of people get gutted by sellers over there. What i have been told, is to get in touch with the actual manufacturer, if it’s possible. They will be the most secure and reliable sources and that will make it easy to return items.

Most of my contacts speak english well enough, and i recomend talking to them over skype or messenger video. (Which they have always been eager to oblige.)

Most of the parts i buy from them are small and i buy them in lots of 100 or so.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

If you open multiple cards and do that your credit score will tank and your available credit on each card will be significantly lowered or outright cancelled, and many credit companies require payment in full if they cancel your credit line.

In other words, it's a really bad idea.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Do you post, just to post?

a reply to: hombero

You just did...
Swactually

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Hi,

Expat living in China for 12 years. I have used Alibaba a few times but mostly rely on Taobao as it's more consumer focused.

Whichever you use I strongly recommend Alipay as your payment platform. It is an escrow service which gives you 3 days from receipt of goods to approve or decline payment. I an unsure if this is usable by you though. It's far superior to Paypal in basically every way. And it's owned by Alibaba directly.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I have bought from DHGate and never had a problem in receiving the product or quality. I only buy from sellers with seemingly legit feedback and more than just a couple sales. In all i think ive saved about 25 grand for about 3k i have spent.