Replying to [rchas]:
Do we have any feedback from trust pass members with success stories? How many trustpass/gold members does aliababa have versus free ones? What is the % success with deals that go through? Can we hear from them?

With the block they impose, I suppose they also block the genuine offers.

Replying to [buckbabe]:

I think the success percentage also depends on the field. For example, electronic items are very popular and, therefore, you would expect a lot of online trade in these items.

In contrast, say, heavy machinery would not generate much business.

Regards,

Replying to [ladyD]:imagine all become paid memebers,Jacky Ma will be another Bill Gates,right?
and also if it is true,that is equal to all beofore they are paidmembers.
there are several factors for them not to be paid members,
first they operate more single products and second the charge is little bit more.many of the bosses worry it is not effected when money is spent.

Replying to [ladyD]: I quite agree with your ideas.

Quoting from [ladyD]:


Why do a lot of the buyers here only want quotations from paid members."Paid" members are not the only honest suppliers.I'm sure that some of the "paid" suppliers have scammed a few people.All I'm saying is that there are honest non-paying members here.Give us a chance.

Surely there is committment to any business deal, that is the basic principle of capitalism.

A Gold Supplier pays thousands of US dollars a year for the membership, and Trust Pass member pays about US$350.00. The ideal thing is to have a free web portal where people buy and sell without any body having to pay anything for it, then who is going to pay for the maintenance of the portal, the staff salary, the hardware, the software, the running and maintenance and security protection of the servers, the data protection and backups, and all the necessary cost for networks.

So, if a Free Member has just as much exposure and equal number of products to display and the same privileges, then the motivation to the behaviour of paid members will be negative. This becomes ultimately a lose-lose situation, Alibaba cannot afford to have Network and Software Programming staff, they have no money for an upgrade system, like high redundancy server,  UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply), Anti-virus software, Intruder detection system, Firewalls, Back up system with mirroring and backup at remote storage, and Security Management System to protect the ERP and EDI. 

ladyD wrote earlier, which has similar meaning as : " If you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys." this saying applies to paid members.

 

Replying to [ladyD]:what are you looking for. I trust I can help you.

Replying to [ladyD]:I cant agree with you any more.I supply mainly fantasy swords,samurai swords at competitive prices,but no chance here.I got one Australian and one USA customer two years ago at made-in-china.com and still deal with them now. But here in alibaba,no chance at all although I am serious,but who knows?
Never give up

Replying to [rsbaptista]:Help each other! Not forget me,please