I find it is very difficult to verify a seller is serious or not. I have encountered several sellers before, but they proved to be bogus companies.
Can someone tell me how to find a serious seller and how to verify them according to your own experience?
Quoting form [hurricane]:I find it is very difficult to verify a seller is serious or not. I have encountered several sellers before, but they proved to be bogus companies.
Can someone tell me how to find a serious seller and how to verify them according to your own experience?
Hallo hurricane (I hope not Katrina)
The same question can be asked but in other direction - how to find serious buyer??
It is always question of trust and feelings. I can share my method of how do I recognize serious buyer.
Everyone wants free samples of our products - it is not the cheapest one lingerie and to give free samples to anyone who ask our company would produce only free samples. We decided to sell samples to everyone interested and belive me 99% of person (companies) after hearing our information did never ask again. 1% did ask and send us small amount of money - 100-150 USD for complete set of samples and now they are our main distributors.
If someone do not want to invest 100USD how can buy a products worth of milions. Thats our opinion.
We are not first company who decided to send payed samples as most of the people from Internet just want to get samples and nothing else.
Just think in the way producer think and you will find answer how to recognize serious seller. If there is beautifull web page and nothing else do not start to purchase from someone like this.
If you want to discuss more deeply describe a litlle bit more your situation.
I have been trying very hard to find the Product i am searching for with a competitive Price,the only ones in Indonesia, Malaysia.But there Phonenumbers not work,they all want the Money infront.I have been already cheated.Can somebody give me some advises.Alibaba was not responsing at that Issue.
Quoting form [Skony]:Quoting form [hurricane]:I find it is very difficult to verify a seller is serious or not. I have encountered several sellers before, but they proved to be bogus companies.
Can someone tell me how to find a serious seller and how to verify them according to your own experience?
Hallo hurricane (I hope not Katrina)
The same question can be asked but in other direction - how to find serious buyer??
It is always question of trust and feelings. I can share my method of how do I recognize serious buyer.
Everyone wants free samples of our products - it is not the cheapest one lingerie and to give free samples to anyone who ask our company would produce only free samples. We decided to sell samples to everyone interested and belive me 99% of person (companies) after hearing our information did never ask again. 1% did ask and send us small amount of money - 100-150 USD for complete set of samples and now they are our main distributors.
If someone do not want to invest 100USD how can buy a products worth of milions. Thats our opinion.
We are not first company who decided to send payed samples as most of the people from Internet just want to get samples and nothing else.Just think in the way producer think and you will find answer how to recognize serious seller. If there is beautifull web page and nothing else do not start to purchase from someone like this.
If you want to discuss more deeply describe a litlle bit more your situation.
Hello. Skong, (Of course, I am not Katrina)
Thanks for sharing your mind with me! Actually, I am looking for high quality Ipods to sell in
our country. I have contacted several companies before, their offer is very competitive compared to other suppliers, extremely low. Most of them are from Indonesia, I have asked
my friend in Indonesia to check the backgroup of those companies I have contacted, but unfortunately, they can't find any registration record and the telephone number is unreachable. I think it is not a good way to trouble my friends in local to do backgroud search
for me every time. So I would like to know what is the best and convenient way for me to find
a seller is serious or not? Maybe I need to call them one by one to confirm?
As to the tips for judging a buyer, I agree with you that to request buyers to pay for the sample fee or sample freight is a smart way to distinguish a serious buyer from sample
collector. I think you are very experienced in exporting field, hope I can learn more from you!
Thanks!
Hi Hurricane,
If you are a good buyer, most of the sellers will be serious...
It sounds a bit sensational, but I think everybody needs to be sincere so that others will treat him/her sincerely...just like in love...
Best
Yue
Hello ,
I think after talking to a seller and seeing how he works it is easy to see if you have a serious person in front of you or not ? I do not know if it is about a big work or whatever but guess then it can be usefull to ask the seller if he can give you some references . you could contact some clients to whom he delivered before and ask them their experience .
Good luck
tasha
Hurricane wants to know how to screen "sellers", and not "buyers". Most of the responses here are from sellers who share their methods of screening "buyers".
Well, as a buyer, this is the method I use to screen sellers:
1. I always ask for contact person's name, full address and phone number, and I tell the seller to expect a phone call from me;
2. I ask the seller to provide me with three customer references (preferably in my country - USA) who purchased from him within the last 12 months so that I call them to verify his business dealings with them;
3. I also ask them to provide me their business registeration number so that I can call their country's Chamber of Commerce to verify if they are a bonafide business; and
4. For the sample or initial order, I ask them to open an escrow accout at www.escrow.com so that I can send them the money through escrow while they ship their product to me. If there are any problems, I just notify www.escrow.com and they stop payment.
This process filters out a lot of scammers. I know what you are thinking: why to waste so much time in verifying the seller and spending money on phone calls? Well, if your hard-earned money holds any value, then you will do anything to protect it. Furthermore, you are doing your due diligence to establish long-term business relations with your supplier. Good suppliers are worth their weight in gold. Take your time to find them, and once you find a good one, stick with them.
Hope this helps.
Ismail Zehri
TradeOne, Inc.
Las Vegas, Nevada
USA
I appreciate your advice "tradeoneusa". I am just getting started with my due diligence with International Trade. Do you have any advice, regarding how to pick the right goods and/or any resources for understanding the trade process? Do you have a website? What does your company do?
I hope I didn't ask too many questions. Thanks,
Aaron Zeitner
Aaron,
There are plenty of books on the subject of International Business that you can either purchase on Amazon.com or borrow from your local library. However, to get you started, the Resource section of Alibaba has some excellent information that you can use in your business.
Try to get the help of professionals. And, the best part is that these professionals don't charge any consultation fee; they get paid if you use their services. Contact the following in your local area:
1. Custom brokers are experts in import regulations;
2. Frieght forwarders are experts is export, shipping, and marine insurance;
3. Bankers are expert in money matters, like Letter of Credit, etc.; and
4. Both custome brokers and freight forwards can help you with inland freight.
The "trade process" is very simple.
1. You select the product you want to purchase for resale;
2. Contact sellers of the product;
3. Negotiate price, payment terms and conditions of purchase;
4. Ask seller to send you Pro-forma Invoice;
5. Take the Pro-forma Invoice to the professionals mentioned above and get their advice and price quote for their service;
6. Compute your total cost and compare it with what others are selling the same item in the marketplace. If you think you can make a reasonable profit after all costs are covered, then proceed...otherwise abort;
6. Send Purchase Order to seller along with necessary documents regarding payment;
7. Follow-up with the professionals, and once the goods are in your possession, then start selling those goods as if they are hot coal in your hand. The longer they stay in your inventory, the more costly they become (opportunity cost) and will burn your hand.
As far as picking up the right merchandise is concerned, it is a million dollar question. It is a very risky business; if you guess wrong, then you will be conducting "Distress Sales". However, do your homework first before venturing into the trading arena. Most international suppliers don't sell in very small quantity. So, be doubly sure if you can sell the merchandise and make a profit before importing it.
In compliance with Alibaba's policy, I'm not going to spam this forum with my business information. But, if you really need to know about my business, please email me and I'll be glad to provide you with details.
Wish you success in your venture.
Ismail Zehri
TradeOne, Inc.
Las Vegas, Nevada
USA