Making Alibaba as a supplier
Hi, I'm considering using Alibaba as a supplier to restock some beauty products that are currently selling on Amazon. I’m not creating private labels or selling products under my own brand, and I'm not the brand owner either. Is it okay to source from Alibaba in this case?
8 replies
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
They are not a legit supplier, especially if you are looking at branded items (their invoices are not valid for Amazon).
Seller_Sram36TnVt73c
You have to be very careful with branded products purchased on Alibaba...generally speaking, established known brands do not sell through Alibaba.
It is a good platform to find suppliers to work with, but I do so only dealing in generic products that are NOT branded, or I private label imports from Alibaba suppliers.
Alibaba itself is not a supplier....they connect you with suppliers.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
Based on your replies, it sounds as if you've already decided that you are going to do this, regardless of what warnings you get.
But I'll try anyway.
Even if you ARE authorized by the brand to sell their products, there is a good chance that the Alibaba sourced products are outright fakes. So if questioned, you would lose your Amazon account, your authorization from the brand to sell probably anywhere, and possibly (very remotely possible, but possible) face criminal charges for trafficking in counterfeit goods.
But even if the goods are not fakes, meaning that they come from the same factory, then they are still likely not authorized to distribute them for sale in the US. So once again, if there is ANY question concerning your sourcing, you would lose your Amazon account, and again, likely any authorization from the brand to sell anywhere. At least there is no chance of criminal charges.
And of course, if you are NOT authorized by the brand, then selling it from any source is risky; but at least if you are buying from an authorized US distributor, you might come away with your account if there is questions about your product. But if you bring in unauthorized product, then that chance (already small) approaches zero.
Lastly, you cannot bring in a branded product from an unauthorized source and attempt to sell it as Generic. Once again, you will be facing losing your Amazon account; the biggest difference being that for this offense, it won't take a complaint from the brand; the bots will catch you automatically.
