ive just heard of this site called alibaba.
its a site that allows you to buy direct from manafacturers and distributers in through Asia.
im not interested in bying a kite, but I cant believe the prices.
$0.059US per meter for 2mm dyneema??
can that be right?
anybody bought from them before??
or any advice before I whip out the plastic ??
anybody wanna go halvies in 2 kilometres worth of dyneema??
www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Dyneema-KiteSurfing-Line-various-color-_200282248.html?spm=a2700.7724838.30.177.JdXVJx
www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2015-new-high-quality-surfing-kite_60284152948.html?spm=a2700.7724838.30.259.JdXVJx
are you joking??
I found the company that makes F-one & LF...
2015 kites for $200US...wtf??
it cant be real right??
I've looked at buying small machines, sup boards and furniture but never followed through. If you google 'alibaba reviews' there's more bad reviews than good ones, due to the suppliers not delivering products, or delivering inferior products. Whilst the pricing is attractive, be careful who you do business with.
You would be better of handing your cash to Geoffrey Eddleson.
At least you will see where it has gone..
On ****ty suits and birds that's where!
Ever heard if it sounds to good to be true?..........
Their listed on the NYSE so they must have some legitimacy...
www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/baba
Alibaba is legit. It links people with the factories that make the stuff.
Half of eBay is stuff from alibaba...
Take Kogan, the electronics guy. Same stuff..
The more you buy from these guys, the cheaper you can get..
I think the guy behind it is China's richest man now or something
Are u lot serious?
It is designed for retailers wanting to find a manufacturr or samples, or prototyping etc.
$200 will not buy you one kite. You need to buy a fkload of kites to get the $200 price.
the only reason I got told about it is because my father had pallets of electronics bits & pieces delivered today, and I couldn't believe the prices he got it for.I know its real, but then again so is the silk road..... and we all know what happens if you buy through them!!
Nah the risks are that the factories that you buy from are crap.. Some are much better than others.
Generally they will make contact with you and you can organise samples, quality assurance, quantities etc.
End of the day, you are using the net to buy something sight unseen from a Chinese factory.
Just to add. Nothing illegal about alibaba. Legalities will come from import and export laws and taxes if you get into a business.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
Are u lot serious?
It is designed for retailers wanting to find a manufacturr or samples, or prototyping etc.
$200 will not buy you one kite. You need to buy a fkload of kites to get the $200 price.
I have noticed that some suppliers want minimum orders of 2-300, but there are some that are happy to sell only one or two items.
however the 2mm dyneema I can only find in 1000m minimum.
I tried to buy a heap of compound bow and arrows from there a couple years ago.
The devil is in the shipping.. 1000 metres of your lines could work out to 33 lengths of 30 metres lines. The quantity of scale is probably good.
If you bought two kites, then you will pay bucket loads for shipping. If you bought 50, then you get a container.
I purchased a titanium exhaust off there about 2 years ago. The cheapest I could find it here was $5200 and ended up getting it via Alibaba for $2200 shipped. But with that said it looks like a minefield of scammers so do your research.
Alibaba is mostly for big number of orders. Check Aliexpress, same crap but u don't have minimum zillion orders and most of things u can order 1 piece.
Check 3 things:
-do they accept PayPal or something with buyers protection (avoid unprotected transactions)
-check how long is their store online (new scammers or possibly less risky seller with reputation)
-feedback feedback feedback ! ! ! !
I got 2 times the case; they wouldn't ship it to me (after purchase) till i give them 5 star rating.
I ordered 3 ski sunglasses, about 20 regular sunglasses/frames, 5-6 boardshorts, around 70-80 batteries, couple of electronic parts.... Never had a problem. Most of them sell on eBay too under different name (copy pasted item description, same pictures).
Expect terrible english.
Alibaba is for Retailers and buyers for High Volume. You reduce costs by getting a container load.
Aliexpress is for Retailers Low Volume, You pay through the nose for delivery, usually takes a very long time to land in Australia.
I have worked for retailers who have worked with both and you get what you pay for. Most retailers that do High Volume employ someone to go to China and set up their own manufacturing arm there.
What has been happening is that some workers from those experinced factories start up their own businesses. The problem they have is they dont have quality or design experience. Mind you this is changing as we are seeing a lot of overseas students doing design and quality control courses in our Universities. As soon as they work out how to do it cheaply and well they will take over.
As mentioned before you take the risk if you dont get samples or travel to the place of manufacture. You can suss out very quickly if they are legit or not. The problem with Kiteboarding gear is the quality.
I have seen a lot of manufacturers who import carbon fibre from China. I am not saying the quality is not there BUT some are better than others.
I purchased a canvas, aliexpress, took a while to arrive but very happy with the product.
it cost $30 buying the same item framed over here was over $250.
i did have to frame it but I saved loads
You pay your monies and take a chance, ask yourself can I afford to write of the monies spent? If so go for it you may be very well pleasantly surprised.
there are good suppliers and bad, it is a leap of faith but if it comes good you are quids in, if not it's a lesson learned.
Ive purchased a lot of individual items from Aliexpress, all have arrived no problem. I read an article a few months ago in the Age on Aliexpress in which is stated that the freight is paid for by the Chinese Government, as an economic boost and make them globally competitive, hence why 99% of items have free freight although it does come the cheapest and slowest method possible so allow 3 =4 weeks for delivery.
Its also possible to get items that seem to be manufactured in the same premises as some big brand names for a fraction of the cost. a few example of copy items i've purchased are:
UE Boom Speakers, (identical specifications to the original items)
32 GB Ipods,
Bose Sound link speaker.
G Shock watches
FCS Fins
As with Ebay if your product doesn't arrived (i did have some USB drives that did'nt work on a MAC) you can lodge a claim and the money is quickly refunded in to your account
Ive found no matter where you buy online...if you pay by pay pal...you always get your item.
If for some reason there is a problem its easily rectified also.
Paypal protect you well....
On the other hand i hate selling with paypal cos the fees are soooo high.
I have been buying on Alibaba for about 4 years. Bought four SUP's including paddles, bags, lines and pads. Also purchased video door bell, 10 dining chairs and Dyneema flying lines, bridles, sleeves and depower line. And yes, they were very cheap and of excellent quality. Alibaba is a B to B platform which generally requires minimum quantity orders. However, if you research well you will find companies that sell single pieces or low quantities. Remember, it is advised not to pay through Western Union. I always transferred funds via Bank remittance. Never had a problem with any seller on Alibaba. Good luck with your lines.
alibaba is legit.
I haven't read the comments here or ever looked at kite stuff from there. There is usually a minimum purchase qty which can be quite high.
I work in Procurement, we had a job last year for Western Power for 5000 kids size plastic safety hats. We sourced and purchased from a factory we found on alibaba.
Just check there feedback or whatever.
Also check www.aliexpress.com/
Alibaba is Legit but there is a high percentage of the suppliers who aren't.
also the quality is hit or miss. they will try to get away with as low a quality as they can.
Hence why companies that deal in quantity send a rep over to oversee their orders being made and packed and put in container and shipped.
small stuff mass produced by machines that are the "own Brand" of a supplier to a brand name, are the safest bet.
Ali express is their answer to ebay but the prices are much higher and in many cases it's cheaper locally.
I know guys that have bought kite gear from taobao.
Boards is ok, but if you are looking at a kite or something safety related remember how things work in China.
A worker in a factory is doing Quality Assurance on kites / lines / bars and finds a defect. They toss it in the bin then the employee sneaks it home and puts it on alibaba or taobao. It might not have a warranty or meet the specifications, even if it looks as good as new when it arrives...
hi
been dealing off there for years but be warned the only way i survived was to have a real Chinese friend who checked out so many non real
factories which had pics of workers and factories that didn't exist.
i ended up buying a box of dyneema lines from USA.
About to list on ebay and get rid of the lines .
into other stuff now.
I have been using Alibaba since 2012. As others have stated a lot of the businesses that use Alibaba are legit you have access to manufacturer's, wholesalers, and retailers. However if it seems too good to be true, it probably is !!
Have also heard of random scams involving kites (of all things)
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/BEWARE-Scammer-galore-on-alibabacom/
It is a very good trade forum platform but be smart in your purchases, do not simply TT someone a whole pile of money. Paypal is always safe...you can always dispute any payment and Paypal will investigate.
Select to expand quotepdiibeo said..
I have been using Alibaba since 2012. As others have stated a lot of the businesses that use Alibaba are legit you have access to manufacturer's, wholesalers, and retailers. However if it seems too good to be true, it probably is !!
Have also heard of random scams involving kites (of all things)
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/BEWARE-Scammer-galore-on-alibabacom/
It is a very good trade forum platform but be smart in your purchases, do not simply TT someone a whole pile of money. Paypal is always safe...you can always dispute any payment and Paypal will investigate.
Just one warning on paypal, if you return anything, you MUST have proof that you sent it. I had correspondence on ebay where a dihonest seller asked me to ship their crapy product ' Reply Paid' so that 'I dont incur shipping charges'. Tracking or proof of shipment is not available for this option and paypal said that ebay messages are not a proof of anything. I shipped the product back as instructed by the seller (in Australia). He simply said he never got it. I paid over $200 for item that was 'not as discribed' , send it back, never saw the money or the product
