Costs associated with Alibaba purchases

Hi Guys,

I hope this is the best forum - here goes.

I'm looking at buying some goods on Alibaba and wondering about extra costs and how this works.

So I understand that there is a MOQ etc but what other costs should I consider e.g. Shipping, customs, port handling etc?

Thanks guys..

Yes, shipping and customs. The easiest way to get started is to pay via PayPal, but with a credit card and not with existing funds. That way you have two safety measures if you get scammed...appeal to PP first, then to the CC company to have the charges removed.

You might want to do FedEx for your first go, and they will pay the customs fees for you and then send you a bill.

Make sure to negotiate the MOQ and the price with your supplier once you have a good sample. However, don't push them to the absolute bottom or you'll have to compromise on quality. Also, don't be afraid to have them revise it once or twice if it isn't exactly what you want.

Expect to pay 20-100GBP for a sample, depending on your product...just the cost of doing business.

Some manufacturers can even do the packaging for you...send them your design, and make sure it conforms to Amazon's guidelines if you're using a bag bigger than a few inches (suffocation warnings). You'll need to get an asin, but first, you need to get UPC codes, which you can buy on ebay for a few bucks for 100 codes.

A good way to get this sorted is to order your competition's product, look at their packaging, and copy their style of labeling, but with your own codes.

Cool, some good advice there, thanks.

In your opinion is it possible to order something in a variety of specs. For example, is it possible to order a bunch of phone cases of mixed color/patterns and for various phone models.

Does it work like that or do I need to find each case I want.

Thanks.