What are the safest sites to import products?

[Scott Bradley]

Which of these sites do you recommend in order to stay away from all the scams?


Alibaba, Aliexpress, Dhgate, Global Sources

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mars]

If personally used Alibaba and Aliexpress. Be sure to use the filters on Alibaba when looking for suppliers. Always select gold suppliers, onsite check and if you want to go deeper Accessed Supplier. This will weed out the bullshit and always contact each supplier. You will get a better idea of the supplier once you talk to them.

 

[Scott Bradley]

If personally used Alibaba and Aliexpress. Be sure to use the filters on Alibaba when looking for suppliers. Always select gold suppliers, onsite check and if you want to go deeper Accessed Supplier. This will weed out the bullshit and always contact each supplier. You will get a better idea of the supplier once you talk to them.

I notice a lot of them use Western Union and Bank Transfer and Paypal.

I thought it was unsafe to use bank transfers and Western Union?

 

[Phones]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ort-import-product-sourcing-specialist.55062/

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Elizabeth Shi]

Hi,

IMO, there's no such thing as "safe site" even Gold Suppliers found on Alibaba are sometimes not genuine and fly-by-night companies, but of course not all Chinese companies are scam.

Nothing beats good old due diligence and research as information provided by suppliers via media channels and websites are often times misleading. e.g if they are the real manufacturer or they are a trading company etc. You need to verify whether they in fact exists and is what they claim to be.

 

[mars]

@Scott Bradley I wouldn't suggest using bank transfers initially, unless your doing $10k + orders and never do Western Union, no protection.

Either pay with PayPal or Alibaba Escrow. That's another layer to weed out shady suppliers.

 

[contract]

Aliexpress, Alibaba, and DHGate.

Plenty of protection on Aliexpress.

If working on Alibaba, request PayPal.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

My recommendation is to find the most off the beaten path suppliers out there. They are the diamonds in the rough.

I am currently dealing with a new supplier in in Latin America... Not only have these new products never been introduced to the US market... But there probably hasn't been any english ever spoken about them.

BETTER than ANY of those beat off sites is their local consulate. Tell them what you are looking to import from their country, they usually have a business development department that will kiss your a$$ to get you to do business with them and introduce you to tons of potential suppliers.

 

[Vigilante]

My recommendation is to find the most off the beaten path suppliers out there. They are the diamonds in the rough.

I am currently dealing with a new supplier in in Latin America... Not only have these new products never been introduced to the US market... But there probably hasn't been any english ever spoken about them.

BETTER than ANY of those beat off sites is their local consulate. Tell them what you are looking to import from their country, they usually have a business development department that will kiss your a$$ to get you to do business with them and introduce you to tons of potential suppliers.

Watched him do this and develop a business concept from nothing to market dominant in less than 12 months.

 

[Walter Hay]

I really like the suggestion by Kak. In a post on my AMA thread I wrote: "Those who do begin sourcing in other countries may well be one step ahead of the competition in a few years’ time." There is no doubt that by thinking outside the square the way Kak suggests, it is possible to find unique products that can give a distinct marketing advantage because there will not be masses of competition.

Yesterday in response to a question on my AMA thread I stated that I think China is not the place to source clothing to custom specifications, and I was referring to commercial quantities. The fact is that there are manufacturers all over the world who can do some things more efficiently than, better quality than, and even cheaper than, China.

Kak's sourcing route via consulates can be most effective if you know what product you are looking for, but if you are trawling for product ideas, there are a number of sites other than those risky ones mentioned by the OP where you can find amazing stuff that you probably never thought of.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

Watched him do this and develop a business concept from nothing to market dominant in less than 12 months.

That was a while ago. This is new stuff

I am making a $100k investment in passive income businesses this year to supplement my hands on end game project.

 

[Kak]

I really like the suggestion by Kak. In a post on my AMA thread I wrote: "Those who do begin sourcing in other countries may well be one step ahead of the competition in a few years’ time." There is no doubt that by thinking outside the square the way Kak suggests, it is possible to find unique products that can give a distinct marketing advantage because there will not be masses of competition.

Yesterday in response to a question on my AMA thread I stated that I think China is not the place to source clothing to custom specifications, and I was referring to commercial quantities. The fact is that there are manufacturers all over the world who can do some things more efficiently than, better quality than, and even cheaper than, China.

Kak's sourcing route via consulates can be most effective if you know what product you are looking for, but if you are trawling for product ideas, there are a number of sites other than those risky ones mentioned by the OP where you can find amazing stuff that you probably never thought of.

Actually. My brother wanted to start a business so we walked into the consulate together and talked to the business dev department not knowing what we were looking for. They gave us a supplier directory that took up 7 binders. The profit potential is absolutely insane for some of the stuff.

I'm friendly with them now though. Results may vary.

Someone should seriously hit the European ones. There is a lot of demand for high quality European stuff.

I know how to source pretty much anything I want. Now I'm building my distribution network.

 

[Walter Hay]

Actually. My brother wanted to start a business so we walked into the consulate together and talked to the business dev department not knowing what we were looking for. They gave us a supplier directory that took up 7 binders.

I'm friendly with them now though. Results may vary.

Someone should seriously hit the European ones. There is a lot of demand for high quality European stuff.

If a country has a keen export orientation they will go to great lengths to help you. I agree that you can do well through consulate inquiries even if you don't have a specific product in mind.

Yes, I have listed in my book quite a few sourcing sites for European suppliers. Some of their sites are difficult to use, but well worth the effort. Quality usually far outshines Chinese manufacture, and prices can be amazingly low and I wholeheartedly agree that European products are worth looking for.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Walter Hay]

If personally used Alibaba and Aliexpress. Be sure to use the filters on Alibaba when looking for suppliers. Always select gold suppliers, onsite check and if you want to go deeper Accessed Supplier. This will weed out the bullshit and always contact each supplier. You will get a better idea of the supplier once you talk to them.

Selecting Alibaba's Gold Suppliers gains nothing as far as security is concerned. After all, they bought that gold badge - they didn't earn it. The onsite check does nothing other than tell you that the business exists, so it is near useless also.

The Assessed Supplier symbol, which is a red tick in a blue circle, can help, but you must read the entire audit report, because unless the audit company confirms the supplier's status as a manufacturer, and certifies that any certificates claimed by the supplier are genuine, you could be dealing with a shady trader.

Aliexpress and Alibaba both have a lot of unhappy customers complaining on Ripoffreport.com and other places, so it might be worth looking at such reports before deciding to use them for sourcing.

 

[MoneyDoc]

Selecting Alibaba's Gold Suppliers gains nothing as far as security is concerned. After all, they bough that gold badge - they didn't earn it. The onsite check does nothing other than tell you that the business exists, so it is near useless also.

The Assessed Supplier symbol, which is a red tick in a blue circle, can help, but you must read the entire audit report, because unless the audit company confirms the supplier's status as a manufacturer, and certifies that any certificates claimed by the supplier are genuine, you could be dealing with a shady trader.

Aliexpress and Alibaba both have a lot of unhappy customers complaining on Ripoffreport.com and other places, so it might be worth looking at such reports before deciding to use them for sourcing.

There are scammer's on alibaba and aliexpress as with anywhere. You just have to be "smart" about it. Besides the scammer's, Alibaba has excellent suppliers and opportunities. I doubt there is a better China based sourcing website.

 

[BlakeIC]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ort-import-product-sourcing-specialist.55062/

just about to post this, nothing for me to say now

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[BlakeIC]

from what i gathered a consulate has a list of all the suppliers in the city? googling around

eedit: figured it out

 

[BlakeIC]

Actually. My brother wanted to start a business so we walked into the consulate together and talked to the business dev department not knowing what we were looking for. They gave us a supplier directory that took up 7 binders. The profit potential is absolutely insane for some of the stuff.

I'm friendly with them now though. Results may vary.

Someone should seriously hit the European ones. There is a lot of demand for high quality European stuff.

I know how to source pretty much anything I want. Now I'm building my distribution network.

since i cant pm you il say it here
i take it each consulate in whatever country they are in will have a supplier directory available?

 

[Kak]

since i cant pm you il say it here
i take it each consulate in whatever country they are in will have a supplier directory available?

I would think most countries have a business development department. I live in a large city with some real international influence. There are a lot of consulates here

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[caezlar]

it is very difficult, gold suppliers and business data is a good reference, but don't 100% trust them.

 

[RoadTrip]

I really like the suggestion by Kak. In a post on my AMA thread I wrote: "Those who do begin sourcing in other countries may well be one step ahead of the competition in a few years’ time." There is no doubt that by thinking outside the square the way Kak suggests, it is possible to find unique products that can give a distinct marketing advantage because there will not be masses of competition.

So if for example we take Italy as a country of import, would you suggest to import established Italian brands to the US or import private label Quality Products from Italy and build my own brand around it?

 

[Walter Hay]

So if for example we take Italy as a country of import, would you suggest to import established Italian brands to the US or import private label Quality Products from Italy and build my own brand around it?

Selling established Italian brands in the US could get you in trouble.

Your second idea is far better. As a matter of interest I recently bought retail an item that was at the same price level as a similar Chinese product, but it was Italian made, and was of far superior quality.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Walter Hay]

it is very difficult, gold suppliers and business data is a good reference, but don't 100% trust them.

There is no good reason why a Gold Supplier on any B2B site would be better to deal with than a supplier that does not have the Gold badge.

 

[Kak]

So if for example we take Italy as a country of import, would you suggest to import established Italian brands to the US or import private label Quality Products from Italy and build my own brand around it?

Some brands won't have US distribution... I disagree with the other poster about getting you in trouble... If this is your intention make it clear that you will obtain trademarks and own distribution rights of that brand in the states. You can do it however you want and this cuts down on a lot of work.

I prefer companies that are larger but do not have US distribution. Some of these so called suppliers are really only 3 people in a small office or factory... Watch out for that kind of stuff.

Also, if yall had read my gold thread it goes into detail about how to pay for the goods. To this day I only use a credit card or PayPal to send funds to a supplier. This protects you. I will not send them a pile of cash and hope.

 

[Walter Hay]

Some brands won't have US distribution... I disagree with the other poster about getting you in trouble... If this is your intention make it clear that you will obtain trademarks and own distribution rights of that brand in the states. You can do it however you want and this cuts down on a lot of work.

I prefer companies that are larger but do not have US distribution. Some of these so called suppliers are really only 3 people in a small office or factory... Watch out for that kind of stuff.

Also, if yall had read my gold thread it goes into detail about how to pay for the goods. To this day I only use a credit card or PayPal to send funds to a supplier. This protects you. I will not send them a pile of cash and hope.

Many new importers think they can buy and resell big brands without obtaining rights from the brand owner, and that can get them into big trouble.

I am glad you made the suggestion to do it the right way, although in my experience very few will go to that trouble...... Barrier!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Brentnal]

Deffinitly alibaba and aliexpress, no discussion about that. But make sure you never use western union and only use paypal or some other escrow service!

 

[Walter Hay]

Deffinitly alibaba and aliexpress, no discussion about that. But make sure you never use western union and only use paypal or some other escrow service!

Sorry, but I think a discussion on that is of extreme importance to many people who don't have experience in safe sourcing.

Like many people you may well have had success in sourcing through Alibaba and Aliexpress, but many thousands of people have had financially disastrous experiences on those sites as well as the others mentioned by the OP; Dhgate and Global Sources.

Verification procedures are a joke, and gold or other premium membership is bought not earned but these sites promote those useless verifications as making it safer for buyers. As a result countless thousands blunder in thinking they can trust them just like they can trust WalMart or Macys and they lose their money.

Safe sourcing has several aspects to it:

• Using safe sourcing practice.
  
• Using safe sourcing sites.
  
• Using due diligence.
  
• Knowing more about importing than finding a supplier and placing an order with fingers crossed. Believe me, I know of many who have approached it that way. Proof: They get scammed or they lose their shirts when they discover all the costs they did not know they had committed themselves to.