Replying to [Cali Rugger]: You are too correct

I wasnt aware it was so. i didnt think any one could not do so.. establishing trust is first thing. prepayment is one way to do so.shipping is unavoidable cost.it is insulting to approach a chinese and then act suspicious of his veracity.jajajaja so it best to work diligently to establish harmonious relations in pursuit of mutually beneficial endeavors.

Replying to [Cali Rugger]:I am just getting my ears wet. In trying to develop a business, I some times find myself running in circles and just wanting to cry out for a little help. So at some point, I probably would have become guilty of asking some of these same questions. Actually, I would have, but I didn't know about this forum until now. So I understand both sides of the coin. No, I didn't get offended, and Yes, I appreciate your post. It has truly enlightened me. Biscuit

Replying to [kaye]:How right you are some of us have to start somewhere and i for one who runs a small business stumbled across this site and stupidly took it to be okay if members were gold members with a trust pass at my expense i have just found out a very different story . The reason i came on was im always looking to improve what i sell and get the best products for the best price and no i dont mean items that are not genuine . however i have a team of kids that play football and on occasions i sponsor the team during various activities so i thought it would be nice to order them new football kits and boots etc and yes you guessed i stumbled on a so called GOLD MEMBER and no nothing branded or fancy just what the kids needed so i made an enquiry after negotiation a price was agreed and i asked several questions with regards to the safety of my hard earned money i agreed to send it via western union and yes you guessed it ive been robbed !! Im angry that ive let the kids down and myself im not usually that stupid so LAZY is the wrong word it should say STUPID as thats how i feel right now and im in two minds to board that aircraft and seek out that greedy crook which i could do very easily as i just need to send another enquiry under a different name address etc and i will be there when he or she attempts the pick up .Sorry to bore you all but im new on here and if you have all seen this type of stupidity many times then you should be ashamed of yourselves for not changing the way the site operates as new people like me are not lazy just stupid for trusting the site and the so called checks that are done on these non existing companies . what makes it worse the website www.cnexportinc.com still is kicking about and nobody does anything about it so some poor (very stupid) soul does it all again

Replying to [Cali Rugger]:

Excellent advice.. but would it be worth Alibaba establishing some sort of feedback system, like ebay's?

Replying to [BenQ]: I think a feedback system can be a very possitive addition to a site like Alibaba, however we will always run into the same problems.

Who is going to police the feedback system?

Reputable businesses can be hurt by this because of simple communication breakdowns (very common in international trade) and the company they are dealing with leaves negative feedback when nothing wrong occured.

It is too easy to discredit a reputable business if the feedback system is not closely monitored. Everyone on Alibaba complains about the dishonest members and says that we should be able to label them somehow, but if you can label them, then they can label you, and it becomes a "he said, she said" situation. Which puts us right back to square one.

This is a good idea, but I don't believe it would work on Alibaba because of the resources it would require.

Replying to [Cali Rugger]:Yeah, your heart is in the right place but you didnt offer very effective ways of doing it. Dont google for a freight forwarder. The freight forwarder needs to be qualified to do the job, you must have a contract, you must check the company's registration, you must visit the company, and everything must be documented. This is a minimum. Also, large companies like UPS Worldwide have offices that perform freight forwarding in most countries ie. China, and there is some protection there because they are large and have actual business processes that yield good results most of the time. Basically, if one follows sound business principles abroad like they would in their home country then, there shouldnt be too many problems. Ok, I took a small part of what you said and gave a specific example sorry for that but, I dont have time to explain everything about due diligence based on my experience in China. There truly is only one way to do business in order to ensure you have legal protection and that each transaction is protected as much as possible while still allowing the smooth flow and progress of business.

Replying to [Cali Rugger]:I am new to this forum and just read some of the "fantastic" articles that you provide links to....wow, some are downright wrong. Its interesting to read these guys writing whatever comes to mind. Why? Because you can tell they know nothing about what they are talking about. Specifics aren't there. I am dissapointed. No sense in replying to my posting as I doubt I will return. At least you guys are trying.

Replying to [mikewhite]:
Mike, 2 parts to this response;

first, if you actually take the time to read my post all the way through, word for word, and don't give an imediate emotional response you will see the I talked about using google to find a list of freight forwarders and use that as a starting point for your due diligence. I don't know of any easier way to start compiling a list of potential freight forwarders. Of course you still have to perform due diligence on the businesses you find in the list.

second, if you are so intelligent in international trade, why don't you start writing articles to share your knowledge and help others. I highly doubt that the likes of Aussie, Ranger, BusinessInChina, TwoRivers, and Rizzob are "downright wrong" in the information they share. I'm very interested to know what you think is the "right" information. Please, share your wizdom with the rest of us.

Replying to [BenQ]:
hello, to put comments as on ebay for the purchases, that is well, but that wants nothing to also say, because the scammers will put evaluations by opening other accounts, it is so easy to open an account on alibaba….