Victoria M.

Alibaba is the perfect place to find a supplier for anything. They got separate factories for almost every single item you can think of; you name it. So you're sure to get a supplier that specializes in that exact thing you need.

But be cautious, cause it can quickly turn ugly if you're not smart about it. Luckily Alibaba's guidelines and system minimize the risk of getting tricked. Do as recommended by Alibaba, and it'll go pretty smoothly, since Alibaba wants you to find trustworthy suppliers, and got ways to weed out the bad oats.

So first off; pick a supplier that has Trade Assurance: this means you'll get a refund if you're not happy about the product, or if the supplier doesn't deliver on time, or at all. And remember that Trade Assurance only applies when you order through Alibaba's payment process, which is very safe.

Second off; avoid suppliers who refuse to get paid via Trade Assurance, and insist on the bank wire transfer. If you want to order via Trade Assurance, and the supplier is legit; they should have no problem complying with your request. A bad supplier will push you into choosing a specific payment process or threaten to back out if you don't.

Third off: be a bit wary of the age of the company and their Alibaba account. Try and pick a supplier with an Alibaba account that's older than 3 years old. Since some few suppliers are tricksters, they often get their account removed after too many bad experiences with customers, so they'll create a new one right away, and then the age of that account will show to be only 1 year old. Their new account will soon be removed again since a bad company can't survive on Alibaba for too long, before getting removed. The good suppliers might have olders accounts, and an excellent score. Alibaba's score system is actually really good, and they're great at weeding out the bad suppliers.

My forth tips are: if you're looking for a manufacturer, and not just a trader, their official company name might include the words "Manufacturer". Trader companies are not allowed to call themselves a "manufacturer", without actually being one.

And generally manufacturers are cheaper than traders if you can buy in bulk, and traders might be a bit more expensive (because they are a middle man), but they can offer you lower MOQ than most manufacturers.

I've used ThumbsupUK for supplies to my webstore; Lillemie, for about 1,5 year now, and I'm 100% confident with doing further business with them. They deliver everything very quickly, they answer requests and questions the same day, they're willing to work around any request/problem that may occurre, and they are generally pleasent to deal with.

Only down side (which isn't really a problem, but more of a usual request distributors tend to make) is that they require a £250 minimum order with each order. This has been workable for me, but seeing that I'm an owner of a generally small business, and that I only order 1 brand of products from them, the £250 requirement is a bit steep.

Other than that, I'm very happy, their products are in excellent condition, their order procedure is simple, and I will definitely continue to work with them :)