Alibaba.com

[begsaresponse]

I have noticed on another thread a poster mentioned alibaba.com.

If you see something you want to buy on alibab.com do a google on it and the names of the companies it hosts and you will discover a lot of then are internet fraud working out of Nigeria or Hong Kong.

I would be like to know if anyone had used alibaba and what was the experience?

Begsaresponse

[voodoo]

don't laught, been there, done that, got t-shirt.

got scammed once from chinese dudes in Fujian city.

Beware buyers!!

[Tony Clifton]

We used alibaba to sell products. A flop.

[voodoo]

Tips to identify scammers

do your due diligence.

identify the company name (remember: google is your best friend. you may want to click on link "advanced search", choose 100 results in the drop down menu on the right and click search).

bare in mind that just because the company has a website doesn't mean they are ligit.

do the search on the company address and contact information. However, if the contact information is not available, go to www.whois.org.

Also inquire about the email address. Most scammers use email address comes from free email server such as [email protected]. Beware, this is scam.

These sites maybe useful:

www.badsuppliers.com

www.419eaters.com

www.fraudwatchers.org

www.ukdata.com

www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Cheers,

[chinthee]

I know the founder and majority shareholder of Alibaba, Jack Ma. This is perhaps the most famous of all Chinese dotcoms and very legitimate. Not sure what's going on.

[voodoo]

p.s. never transfer a dime through western union. Ligitimate companies will not ask you to pay money by western union. I had an experience once dealing with one company in china which i thoguth a ligit company. I checked everything on internet and it was an electronic company in China. This person used a hotmail account (which rang the bell to me a bit) and this person mentioned that i had to transfer the money using Western Union. Still, i stepped on it. Lost loads of money tho. Beware, even the trustpass or goldmember are scammers. Mine got scammed by a goldmember!

[dressedingreen]

There are many, many scammers on this site. Have done business through them often. Try this ... which has deterred all scammers from me so far. Ask them for an address where your 'local agent' can view the product prior to collection for cash. All the scammers that have targetted my request for info have stopped e-mailing at that point. Most of them offer silly prices to attract those who are hoping for something for nothing. Cliche, I know ... but if it sounds too good to be true ... de dah de dah de dar.

dig

[mikethevigoman]

Agreed, there is a company on there in indonesia,. i had arranged to buy a container of motorcycles off them, FOB,all went well till i said as we havent met or done business yet id like to come see him and view some more stock he had, he made all sorts of excuses,.i got that gut feeling that you get when you know there is something wrong,i had spent days getting this stock underwritten and in the end he was not even replying,so i sent him a very speacial email telling what a conning b @stard he is and i hope he is caught very soon, .i wasnt surprised when i didnt get a reply, so no more ali baba and his band of thieves for me,..

[cdnvic]

Haven't had any bad experiences from Alibaba yet, although we've filtered out a lot of bad apples on the way. Still an excellent resource, but like always you need to beware. ALWAYS get trade references, and make sure their references a reputable.

[voodoo]

it's funny to see most of the suppliers on there who sell nike shoes also sell game consoles, ipod, mobilephones. It's weird, don't you think? doesn't it ring the bell???

[Basil B]

Just wondered why this thread is posted in the Pattaya Section?

though when using ebay I have learned the hard way that the biggest scamers are defiantly in China.

BB

[Totster]

Moved to Internet forum

totster

[voodoo]

Please be noted that most professional scammers are in Putian city and now these scammers are moving to other new cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and etc. I am not saying that all of the suppliers on alibaba are scammers. Some of them are honest and reliable too. However, before buying any products online please also look at their product information. most scammers are selling too many fast selling products online, of course consumer electronics products. This is somewhat impossible as there are many limitations in the registration trade company in China especially brand namem products.

[voodoo]

Just wondered why this thread is posted in the Pattaya Section?

though when using ebay I have learned the hard way that the biggest scamers are defiantly in China.

BB

Got scam on eBay?

ever heard of the "Shill bidding"? This is a fictious bidding method with the aim to inflate the price. For example. let say you want to sell a mobilephone at the price of USD 500.00 with the starting bid at USD 0.99. Idiot scammer no.1 place a bid at USD 1,000.00 (you probably says "sweet!!!". Please hold that thought for a while). Idiot scammer no.2 place another bid right after idiot scammer no.1, let say USD 1,100.00. Of course, this is a suspicious bidding!!! As planned, the sellers are obligated to sell the item because sellers are likely to receive a negative feedback if they don't. You can protect yourself by using the "buy it now" option as the price is fixed and the auction ends when buyers agree the selling price. Also check your bidders and read their feedbacks. The funny thing i've seen on ebay is sellers sell an item but never send it, buyers received the item but claim they never got it. Again, never send any money through western union.

[oraclemaker]

I had deal with alibaba before and yes there are scammer everywhere.

There are a few things to our for.

1) Company that has not contact and mailing address (mostly fraud)

2) No or unprofessional website

3) No company description

4) Company offer a deal that is too good to be true but want down payment fast.

To be fair to alibaba, China companies are not the only scammer. Nigeria and Italy top the list as well. If you deal with them, you will know what I mean; whenever you send an item to Italy, they always claim they never receive it. Ebayer do beware. Nigeria scammers are famous worldwide, period.

For wholesales/ dropshipper ebay business can try world business - i found them at wholesalesmarket.com , they have some good free and premium resources there.