Transferring money before goods shipped is always risky. But life is full of risk. As I ever wrote in my article, there is no generic approach to knowing a seller is good or bad.
To avoid the risk, you can always use LC payment way. But this is usually favored by buyer and seller when big amount of money involved.
Still, in business, you have to make decitions. You must make decition to transfer the money based on accurate information and only after doing due dilligence.
please note that the labels TrustPass and Gold Supplier in Alibaba only indicate that the member has paid a certain fee for a membership. Actually they are not verified (while most of them really exist and are legitimate). However this will not provide you any extra security.
Therefore please do not rely solely on these labels, do your own research to secure your interests.