In the past few days, I have been looking for supplier at Alibaba website and found quite a few suppliers whom I am quite interested in, because they offer such a good deal and allow small minimum order quantity.

Well, I went into their website (quite convincing), and tried to contact them through phone, but so strange that all of the suppliers on my list couldnt be contacted, i.e. the phone is either incomplete, havent been connected yet, busy line or wrong number. ???? so, What happened????

Some of the suppliers are in the country, where i found it hard to check their existence, but some are just from my country. So I asked my family to check their address, but none of them exist. Again???????

After this experience, I really dunno how to trust the seller. And last night I chat with one supplier from UK through trade manager, and while chatting I checked the company name, but the company has been dissolved and the address is private address.

I am so afraid that after transferring the money, the goods will never turn up. What should I do??

Can anyone advise how to know whether the supplier can be trusted and what should I know/ask before I place order with the supplier? I know some people advise that the safetest method is visiting the supplier directly, but since I am only a small buyer, this option is really not visible for me.

Thanks

Replying to [Choklat]:
Hey,
As a friend said, a minefield, that what it is, and because of that,
we have to keep our eyes wide opened to this. Try to be careful
with anybody, and any offer. And, as I saiy, nothing better than
a trip to your country supplier, like trade shows and fairs, and a
good handshake and eye-2-eye can help.

Replying to [Choklat]:I'm sorry for your crag-fast situation.But here i'd like to say this situation is not only for buyer,also for seller..we are very hard to found a seriour buyer.many buyer will only kidding us of very very big quantity.at last,they buy only one or two .....I have fed up with those buyers...
I think sincerity is very important for buyer and seller.shortsighted business man will never benefit a lot....

Replying to [whin]: Then why don't you offer a secure form of payment, it's so simple. I have been scammed twice in a row in the past. I have checked hundreds of companies advertising on here and tradekey and they are all fake. I would order tens of thousands of dollars a month in your products if you offered something so simple as a secure form of payment. You might as well put a sign on your websites that reads ," I am going to rip you off ". Western Union is not for business transactions. lol

Replying to [Aussie]: a * of minefield?? China?? are you kidding? i agree with your words there are no friend in business. but there are frauds in every countries in this world? should i say the world is a * of minefield?? you can do business with the people you trust. maybe you will ask;i am a newbie, there is no one i could trust? well, if this, just be patient, you dont have to do business right away you know someone or you get the quotation...

Replying to [Choklat]:
Very easy question, on the one hand, you may ask sb in China to verify your business partners for you. On the other hand, you may go and attend some fairs outside of your country.

Everything could be fraud online. Few people trust the online business partners unless verified by a reliable third party.

Replying to [Choklat]:
As said by others ,nothing safe. here waht u can do.1. price :It have to be in the resoned place. Not tooheap or expansive. 2.order small first ,pay only fob or C Card .wite the card u can get your mony back ,and with fob [forward on board ]you can verifay marchndise.and still ,you can B chiseled. So best of best is to see the product's ,open some boxes ,then pay. But,Most important is-if you do not try you cant go wrong [or go at all] And to Alibaba I say ,give me a tool to cheack my spelling.

Replying to [Choklat]:One good method is COD or CAD. COD means "cash on delivery" which actually means that the products comes to you with the bank beneficiary checked and then the bank release the funds for payment.CAD means "cash against documents" again the products reach the desired port and all the papers are at the bank which acts again as the beneficiary, but in this stage the funds are released before you can actually see them therefore there is a chance that when the courier delivers to your door you can find rocks.I hope that this will help

I am locking this thread as it's a duplication of this other one (in the "stickies" at the top of this forum) http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/122/How_to_verify_if_a_seller_is_serious_any_tips_/29.htm

Aussie