How To Know If Your Alibaba Supplier Is Legit 2024
It’s easy to find a supplier from Alibaba, but not all of them are worthy of your trust. This article includes a list of 6 basic and 3 advanced methods on how to know if an Alibaba supplier is legitimate.
How To Know If Your Alibaba Supplier Is Legit 2024
How To Know If An Alibaba Gold Supplier Is Legitimate
As you may know, there are two types of suppliers on Alibaba: Gold Supplier and Verified Supplier.
The supplier verification method we used in the first round is applicable to both supplier types, but since we have more solid indicators for Verified Supplier, we usually apply the first-round method to Gold Supplier on Alibaba.
Method 1: Check The Alibaba’s Supplier Online Performance Index (Supplier Index)
Alibaba’s Supplier Online Performance Index (SOPI) is probably one of the most useful pieces of information you can get at alibaba.com to find out if a supplier is reliable.
SOPI represents four dimensions of each supplier’s performance: presentation quality, product popularity, transaction volume and service quality.
However, among these four dimensions, transaction volume is the most difficult to improve, and because SOPI is calculated by taking the lowest of the four scores to show, therefore SOPI basically represents supplier’s transaction volume.
Pros of Method 1:
- The Supplier Index (Orange Diamond) gives you an immediate indication of the legitimacy of an Alibaba supplier.
Cons of Method 1:
- There are many suppliers who manipulate orders and reviews to increase their orange diamond numbers.
Method 2: Verify The Supplier’s Trustpass Profile On Alibaba
What is Alibaba’s TrustPass? Simply put, TrustPass is Alibaba’s initial business license verification for suppliers who want to sell on alibaba.com.
With the TrustPass profiles of Alibaba suppliers, you can get a glance at the following details about them:
- Business license number
- Company establishment time
- Registered capital
- Business representative
- Registered address
Pros of Method 2:
- The business license number on the TrustPass profile allows you to investigate the supplier further.
Cons of Method 2:
- Unlike other paid business license verification services, you cannot know from Alibaba’s TrustPass program whether a seller is a factory or not.
Method 3: Does The Supplier Accept Alibaba Trade Assurance?
Nowadays, trade assurance can be considered the default payment method for Alibaba suppliers. If your candidate supplier is not willing to use trade assurance, you should not hesitate to stop working with them.
Why?
Actually as a former supplier, I am sure that trade assurance does not negatively affect the transaction. If a supplier says no to trade assurance, there are only two reasons:
- They are thinking of doing something bad
- They are very uncertain about their product quality and delivery time
It is worth mentioning that despite the existence of alibaba trade assurance, there are still countless buyers who suffer losses in the process of dealing with suppliers.
Pros of Method 3:
- By identifying Alibaba suppliers that do not accept trade assurance, you first take the most obvious risks out of the process.
Cons of Method 3:
- Trade Assurance cannot prevent you from receiving defective goods
Method 4: How Many Years Has This Supplier Been On Alibaba?
One advantage of finding a supplier on Alibaba is that you can tell how many years the supplier has been an Alibaba member.
I always recommend looking for a minimum of 5 years membership or more.
With Alibaba membership fees starting at $4k a year, there is no way for scammers to stick around the platform, and suppliers with 5 years also have a relatively mature operating model, as there is fewer chances of a financial break.
Pros of Method 4:
- This method works for all Alibaba suppliers.
Cons of Method 4:
- Some experienced suppliers are likely to look down on inexperienced, novice buyers.
How To Make Sure If An Alibaba Verified Supplier Is Legit
Review The Certificate And Patent Section Of Alibaba Verified Supplier
Alibaba’s verified supplier program will check the supplier’s existing certificates and patents, avoiding the problem of fake certificates.
Via the certificates and patents held by the supplier, you can know two details：
- Whether the supplier’s quality system is reliable
- Whether the supplier’s product strengths are consistent with your project
Alibaba’s Verified Supplier program allows buyers to see real products and quality system certificates. If buyers need help from the certificate verification service, they are usually charged on a per-certificate basis.
Alibaba verified supplier’s certificate and patent section only shows very limited information, you can not go deeper into the certificate and patent details.
Check The 360 VR Showroom Of Alibaba Suppliers
A vr showroom is a virtual version of a supplier’s production line or showroom, similar to the Google Street View experience.
Although vr showroom is a unique feature for verified suppliers, not all verified suppliers have VR showrooms.
Usually, if a verified supplier does not have a virtual showroom, it could be because:
- They are a real manufacturer, but the production equipment and environment do not look good.
- They are not a real manufacturer, and the manufacturer is unwilling to let them film.
Either way, all lead to one conclusion: if a verified supplier has a virtual showroom, they probably have better supplier control even if they are not a factory.
How To Verify Alibaba Suppliers For FREE By Yourself
Alibaba.com itself provides you with a lot of useful information about the supplier, but if you wish to know the full picture of this supplier, you will have to leave the Alibaba website.
Verify The Business Scope Of Your Alibaba Supplier
Whether your Alibaba supplier is a factory or not is actually written on their business scope. The business scope on a Chinese company’s business license clearly lists whether a company is qualified to manufacture.
3 Steps To Check The Business Scope Of Alibaba Suppliers
Step #1: Visit the website of National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS).
Step #2: Enter the Chinese company name of the Alibaba supplier you want to check, and click “查询” to search.
Step #3: On the results page, press ctrl + F and search for “生产” or “制造”. If you find these two words, it means the Alibaba supplier is a factory.
The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS) is the only official source for the Chinese government to disclose information about Chinese companies.
- You need to contact Alibaba suppliers to get their Chinese names or business license numbers before you can make a search.
- You need to register on NECIPS with your real name and ID number to continue to check company information。
- The NECIPS system is very slow and when you click a few times, an access denied message will appear.
Verify How Many Employees Your Alibaba Supplier Has
Buyers usually want to verify how many employees Alibaba suppliers have, for two reasons:
- Suppliers with more employees tend to be more reliable
- Real factories typically have more employees
But the truth is that you have no way to know the exact staff number from Alibaba’s website.
For buyers, there is only one way you can know the number of employees of your Alibaba supplier without a site visit, and that is: verify how many employees are enrolled in social insurance under this company’s name.
4 Simple Steps To Verify How Many Employees Your Alibaba Supplier Has
Step #1: Visit the website of National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS).
Step #2: Enter the Chinese company name of the Alibaba supplier you want to check, and click “查询” to search.
Step #3: On the Company Information page, press ctrl + F to search for “年度报告”. Then find the most recent year’s annual report and click “查看” to view the details.
Step #4: On the Annual Report page, with a title like “2021年度报告”, press ctrl + F to search for “社保信息” and you will find employee numbers in a table like the one below
Check If Your Alibaba Supplier Is Involved In Litigation
If you want to check whether an Alibaba supplier is legitimate and reliable, the best way is to ask other buyers who have worked with them.
So let’s check the supplier’s online reviews?
Let’s face it, both alibaba.com and trustpilot are full of fake reviews.
Alternatively, you can check if the Chinese supplier has any record of being sued.
After all, if a buyer is willing to spend the time and money to sue a supplier, that should be considered as a solid bad review.
Pros :
- China Judgements Online has the most comprehensive database of judgement announcements in China
- China Judgements Online is free
Cons:
- Just like other government websites, the response time of China Judgements Online is sometimes slow because of the huge number of visitors.
- You must sign up with your mobile number before using China Judgements Online.
- Some judgments will not be available on China Judgements Online if the parties believe they violate personal privacy or business secrets
How Can RJ Freight Forwarder Help You Import From China?
Hopefully these 9 methods above will help you learn more about your candidate Alibaba suppliers.
If you are stuck in the process of verifying your suppliers, our China supplier verification service may be able to help you.
In addition to one-stop supply chain management from sourcing to shipping, we offer independent product inspection services for buyers to ensure that you get the goods you paid for.
