How cautious are you when trading on Alibaba.com? Take the simple quiz below to find out!

The Prize
50 MVPs for all correct answers
200 MVPs for the best explanations
Awards will be given out in December

What You Need To Do
Reply to this topic with your answers ('True' or 'False')
Explain all you answers

Participation Period
5 November – 19 November 2009

Alibaba.com Due Diligence Quiz

1) I don't need to do a background check before trusting a potential trade partner that I meet online.

2) It is important to ask suppliers/buyers as much as possible about their company information in order to build trust between both parties.

3) I can trust suppliers/buyers who register in one country but corresponds with me from another.

4) When I use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer, I need to be cautious if I find that they have a lot of negative comments made against them online.

5) I can only use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer.

6) Employing a third-party inspection company or conducting a factory visit yourself will definitely help verify your supplier/buyer’s factory, production capacity, products, etc.

7) It is very easy to get a big order from buyers without discussing product details, payment and other relevant info.

8) I found suppliers selling brand new Nokia phones at US$20/set. With such a good deal, I should buy from him/her.

9) Sending money via direct payment methods such as Western Union and T/T is risky on a first order.

10) I do not like to keep all emails/letters sent between me and my supplier/buyer because I think they are no use anymore. I delete them as soon as I read them.

Safe Trading Admin wrote:

Alibaba.com Due Diligence Quiz

1) I don't need to do a background check before trusting a potential trade partner that I meet online. FALSE

2) It is important to ask suppliers/buyers as much as possible about their company information in order to build trust between both parties. TRUE

3) I can trust suppliers/buyers who register in one country but corresponds with me from another. FALSE

4) When I use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer, I need to be cautious if I find that they have a lot of negative comments made against them online. TRUE

5) I can only use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer. FALSE

6) Employing a third-party inspection company or conducting a factory visit yourself will definitely help verify your supplier/buyer’s factory, production capacity, products, etc. TRUE

7) It is very easy to get a big order from buyers without discussing product details, payment and other relevant info. FALSE

8) I found suppliers selling brand new Nokia phones at US$20/set. With such a good deal, I should buy from him/her. FALSE

9) Sending money via direct payment methods such as Western Union and T/T is risky on a first order. TRUE

10) I do not like to keep all emails/letters sent between me and my supplier/buyer because I think they are no use anymore. I delete them as soon as I read them. FALSE

I have made several attempts to post a reply with explanation however the page is not accepting it.

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Safe Trading Admin wrote:

Alibaba.com Due Diligence Quiz

1) I don't need to do a background check before trusting a potential trade partner that I meet online.

2) It is important to ask suppliers/buyers as much as possible about their company information in order to build trust between both parties.

3) I can trust suppliers/buyers who register in one country but corresponds with me from another.

4) When I use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer, I need to be cautious if I find that they have a lot of negative comments made against them online.

5) I can only use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer.

6) Employing a third-party inspection company or conducting a factory visit yourself will definitely help verify your supplier/buyer’s factory, production capacity, products, etc.

7) It is very easy to get a big order from buyers without discussing product details, payment and other relevant info.

8) I found suppliers selling brand new Nokia phones at US$20/set. With such a good deal, I should buy from him/her.

9) Sending money via direct payment methods such as Western Union and T/T is risky on a first order.

10) I do not like to keep all emails/letters sent between me and my supplier/buyer because I think they are no use anymore. I delete them as soon as I read them.

The page keeps showing the message that the characters should not exceed 4000 characters. I have checked the number of characters of my explanation in MS Word which shows 2690 characters including spaces. I believe that the website is counting the HTML characters and tags as part of the total allowable characters and hence it is not accepting my response...

Alibaba.com Due Diligence Quiz
1)    FALSE - Background checks and due diligence is extremely important before choosing and trusting a potential trade partner. The more checks and due diligence one is able to undertake the higher the level of comfort one would have in dealing with their potential partner.
2)    TRUE- Asking supplier/buyers for information about their business is one way to understand their business and activities and to gauge their trustworthiness and business integrity.
3)    FALSE - This is not necessarily true, though there may be able valid reason for this...for example the trader is on a business trip to another country, or has recently relocated but hasn't updated contact details, or has operations/businesses in both countries, or perhaps has business in one country but warehousing in another. However it is imperative that one exercises extreme caution in such case and determines the reason for this inconsistency. Only if one is comfortable with the response should one deal with such suppliers/buyers.
4)    TRUE - Negative feedback or comments are an indication of other peoples experience in dealing with the supplier/buyer. It is better to learn from other people's mistakes then from one's own.
5)    FALSE - Search engines are only one of the means of checking suppliers/buyers and may not be able to provide any information in some cases. Other means should be used such as reputable trade journals and trade websites, independent verifiers/checkers/inspectors, telephone calls, direct business/site visits, meetings with the supplier/buyer in person etc. Another useful way could be to ask the trader for their counterparts' recent feedback and reviews. If a supplier/buyer is honest and trustworthy he/she would not hesitate in providing counterparty feedback.
6)    TRUE - This is definitely helpful however when using a third party independent inspection one should ensure that it is a reputed and widely recognised (international) inspection company.
7)    FALSE - Genuine buyers would not make a big order unless they have all these pieces of information and are comfortable with it.
8)    FALSE - One should exercise extreme caution in such cases as the trader/seller may be fraudulent.
9)     TRUE - Direct Payment methods should only be used once a relationship of trust has been established. First time direct payments are risky in that the other counterparty may take the payment and not deliver according to specifications or even not deliver at all in which case the buyer may not have any recourse and would stand to lose.
10)    FALSE - Although I am relatively new to Alibaba I intend to keep my communication with other suppliers and buyers incase something goes wrong.

Alibaba.com Due Diligence Quiz

1) I don't need to do a background check before trusting a potential trade partner that I meet online.

Robin] False. background check is very important to ensure your business safty when deal with a new parnter.

2) It is important to ask suppliers/buyers as much as possible about their company information in order to build trust between both parties.

Robin]Ture. knowing more about your buyer/seller is helping you deciding if you need to deal with them.

3) I can trust suppliers/buyers who register in one country but corresponds with me from another.

Robin] False. this is clearly unacceptable.

4) When I use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer, I need to be cautious if I find that they have a lot of negative comments made against them online.

Robin] True, this can help you making decion and know more about your parnters.

5) I can only use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer.

Robin]False. Beside google, you also can use yahoo and other search engin.

6) Employing a third-party inspection company or conducting a factory visit yourself will definitely help verify your supplier/buyer’s factory, production capacity, products, etc.

Robin] True. 3thd party inspection company or people can better help you ensuring deal with a trust company and quality products you will receive.

7) It is very easy to get a big order from buyers without discussing product details, payment and other relevant info.

Robin]False. Not easy, big order is starting from order, clients development needs more effort and time to invest.

8) I found suppliers selling brand new Nokia phones at US$20/set. With such a good deal, I should buy from him/her.

Robin] False. NO popele can get a orginal products under a reasonable market price.

9) Sending money via direct payment methods such as Western Union and T/T is risky on a first order.

Robin] True.exactly, WU and T/T are only payment method. the main probelm is not about payment method , it is depending on WHO you are dealing with .

10) I do not like to keep all emails/letters sent between me and my supplier/buyer because I think they are no use anymore. I delete them as soon as I read them.

Robin]False. Communication emails should be kept for future use.

1) I don't need to do a background check before trusting a potential trade partner that I meet online. (FALSE) {(It is very important to check the company background of a potential trade partner before the trust, because some fraud cases is happen so we should be aware of them and it is also the rule of business I means to says safe trading with out any lost.}

 2) It is important to ask suppliers/buyers as much as possible about their company information in order to build trust between both parties. (TRUE){(This is the way to know about each other in this way both parties will be certified and will be ready to do business among themselves I mean trust is very important in business so it will help to increase trust among themselves.}   

 3) I can trust suppliers/buyers who register in one country but corresponds with me from another. (FALSE) {(Everyone knows the business have their own rules so in my opinion the rules of business do not allow to do this type of trust I mean it may be harmful for us.}   

 4) When I use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer, I need to be cautious if I find that they have a lot of negative comments made against them online. (TRUE) {(Some people become negative so they use their skills in negative way and they may be harmful for us so we should keep relation with them in the limits I mean we should keep far in serious matter.)}

 5) I can only use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer. (FALSE) {(Why only Google I mean if the other search engine is available so we should also try to use them as yahoo, Amazon etc. because it’ll also give us information.}

 

 

 

 

 

 

6) Employing a third-party inspection company or conducting a factory visit yourself will definitely help verify your supplier/buyer’s factory, production capacity, products, etc. (TRUE) {(it’ll will be good for the both of us to make trust among themselves.)}

7) It is very easy to get a big order from buyers without discussing product details, payment and other relevant info. (FALSE) {(It’s not possible because the serious buyers do not give the big order with out the any confirmation of product I mean to say that serious buyers mostly prefer to give small order at the time of first deal.}

8) I found suppliers selling brand new Nokia phones at US$20/set. With such a good deal, I should buy from him/her. (FALSE) {(Attention please some fraud cases happened like this so we should be aware from the original market value of that product and think about that why his/her is sailing in this price while the market value is high keep this point in a mind don’t become greedy because every one know “greedy is a curse” and send inquiry about his/her.}








9) Sending money via direct payment methods such as Western Union and T/T is risky on a first order. (TRUE) {(The right way of payment is LC so try to use irrevocable latter of credit payment method because it is safe.}

10) I do not like to keep all emails/letters sent between me and my supplier/buyer because I think they are no use anymore. I delete them as soon as I read them. (FALSE) {It is very important to keep record of supplier/buyers email because it’ll help you in future I mean to say that we have human mind so we can forget his/her requirement which they required in his/her email so it’ll be very difficult for u when u need that thing at the time of work which u will have been deleted from your record so please do not do this.}

zrsbmp wrote:

1) I don't need to do a background check before trusting a potential trade partner that I meet online. (FALSE) {(It is very important to check the company background of a potential trade partner before the trust, because some fraud cases is happen so we should be aware of them and it is also the rule of business I means to says safe trading with out any lost.}

 2) It is important to ask suppliers/buyers as much as possible about their company information in order to build trust between both parties. (TRUE){(This is the way to know about each other in this way both parties will be certified and will be ready to do business among themselves I mean trust is very important in business so it will help to increase trust among themselves.}   

 3) I can trust suppliers/buyers who register in one country but corresponds with me from another. (FALSE) {(Everyone knows the business have their own rules so in my opinion the rules of business do not allow to do this type of trust I mean it may be harmful for us.}   

 4) When I use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer, I need to be cautious if I find that they have a lot of negative comments made against them online. (TRUE) {(Some people become negative so they use their skills in negative way and they may be harmful for us so we should keep relation with them in the limits I mean we should keep far in serious matter.)}

 5) I can only use a search engine like Google to check my supplier/buyer. (FALSE) {(Why only Google I mean if the other search engine is available so we should also try to use them as yahoo, Amazon etc. because it’ll also give us information.}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

k_avais wrote: