Hi all, long time no speak :) Alibaba question.
 

Strange times we live in at the moment, I hope you are all safe and well.

Question about Alibaba and purchasing bulk items from there.
Has anyone from the UK brought high qty low value items from there? Aside from purchasing in U$D and a hefty amount of carriage charges, what else would I expect as an overhead (import duties etc)

As I'm furloughed and returning to work is looking bleaker by the week (company has been conspicuous by their silence) I need to diversify and make some form of income, so whilst I have a little cash spare I can try to turn into a small profit, so I thought I would give e-selling a go, via eBay etc.

So if anyone has any good info they could give me, or point me in a direction I can information I require I will be forever indebted to you :)

Many thanks for taking the time to read and/or reply.

Stay Safe.

Al

Re: Hi all, long time no speak :) Alibaba question.
 

Hi Al,

Just had a poke around the net and found a couple of sites that may help you make up your mind about Alibaba if no one on here has any experiences to share with you.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.alibaba.com
Though there is no verification of buyers credentials and they do appear to get some dodgy posts.

https://andrewminalto.com/alibaba-scam-exposed/
Seems to have some good advise to consider when dealing with Alibaba ... and probably other suppliers.

Jo.

Add// just reading further on the second site I listed and I would check out the comments section as well.

Re: Hi all, long time no speak :) Alibaba question.
 

Half the stuff on there will take about 2 months to arrive.

Re: Hi all, long time no speak :) Alibaba question.
 

I had a parcel arrive within a month. Opened by Customs, but no charge imposed. They probably had no idea what it was (a slab of teflon sheets aka oven liners). The only problem would have been what to do if the item was faulty or "not as described". Return postage would have been much higher than the purchase price. The vendors must have some sort of special arrangement to keep their postage costs close to zero.