Download the Ali Baba application. How to buy on Alibaba: step-by-step instructions

Alibaba.com– a unique business application for the Android operating system. Allows you to interact with the Alibaba.com trading platform. Alibaba allows you to wholesale millions of products worldwide. Many manufacturers from China and other countries offer their products and services. It is for mobile access to this resource that an application is needed.

Alibaba.com is an excellent and balanced program with a pleasant and intuitive interface. Its purpose is full access to the Alibaba platform, communication with other users and transactions. The application will be very useful for representatives of both small and large businesses, wholesalers and resellers, intermediaries and importers. Its rich functionality allows you to make communication and orders with suppliers more pleasant and efficient.

Peculiarities:

Lots of products available for order;
Convenient sorting by product categories, delivery type and many other parameters;
Ability to create “Bookmarks” - important products and sellers;
Communication with partners in real time;
Product requests are processed almost instantly using text, graphics, video or audio requests.
Mobility allows you to resolve all issues as quickly as possible;
Accounting for logistics in orders;
Intellectual protection from the trading platform - will protect you from fraudsters and unscrupulous entrepreneurs.

The application is installed as standard and does not require additional steps. Network access is required for correct operation. An excellent solution for all users who actively use or are planning to use Alibaba. Very convenient and high quality product.

Download Alibaba business application for Android you can follow the link below.

Developer: Alibaba Mobile
Platform: Android (Varies by device)
Interface language: English
Status: Free
Root: Not Needed

The Internet is a lot of opportunities. With its help you can not only communicate and relax, but also make purchases. For example, mass. This operation does not require special knowledge. But there are exceptions. Ordering online is more difficult when it comes to international marketplaces. Today we will find out how to buy on Alibaba. What kind of service is this anyway? What tips and tricks will help you purchase products from this site? With the right approach, the process will not cause much trouble for users.

About the site

What is Alibaba? This is one of the leading wholesale purchasing services in the world. This page is a kind of trading platform. Here suppliers can offer their products to users.

Alibaba is not an online store, although some people call it that. On the service, users ask suppliers questions, place orders, and study the products offered. And manufacturers create descriptions of products, post their photographs and answer questions asked.

You can order both wholesale and retail on Alibaba. The main thing is to know how to make purchases. After all, we will not have to deal with an online store, in which everything is extremely simple and clear.

Briefly about orders

How to buy on Alibaba? First, it’s worth understanding what actions the whole procedure boils down to. It does not matter what kind of purchase we are talking about - piece or wholesale. The algorithm of actions will be the same in both cases.

How to buy wholesale and retail on Alibaba? The following steps must be followed:

Register for the service.
Log in to your account using your user-created login credentials.
Find the products you need.
Send a request with clarifications about the product.
Negotiate the terms of the transaction and confirm the purchase.

In other words, the user does not add the item to the cart. He sends a corresponding request to the manufacturer.

In addition to the proposed algorithm, you can buy on Alibaba in another way. Namely, place your request on the site in the form of an advertisement and wait. Then the producers themselves will send proposals for the deal.

Registration

The first thing you should pay attention to is registration. Without it, it will not be possible to bring the idea to life. Every user who wants to understand how to buy on Alibaba must go through this process.

Registration on Alibaba comes down to the following steps:

Go to Alibaba.com.
In the upper left corner click on the "Registration" button.
Fill in the fields of the future profile. Here you need to indicate: full name of the customer, company name, telephone number in international format, email and login password. You also need to enter the verification code from the picture.
Select profile status. You can become a supplier, a customer, or both at the same time.
Click on the "Submit" button.

Ready! All that remains now is to follow the profile activation link. It will come by email.

How to buy retail or wholesale on Alibaba? Now you can take a closer look at each stage of order formation.

About search

How to buy on Alibaba? As already mentioned, you need to find the product on the trading platform. You can either search through a special service line or create a personal request. In the first case, the user will view ready-made offers, in the second, suppliers themselves offer products.

Searching for products on Alibaba comes down to an algorithm:

Open the service website. It is advisable to log in using your username and password.
Enter the name of the product you are interested in in the search bar (located at the top of the page).
Click on the "Find" button.

No further action is required. A list of ready-made offers will appear on the screen. You can select a product from a specific supplier.

Sometimes it happens that the search result is null. But this does not mean that there are no suitable products on Alibaba. There are some tips you can use to increase your chances of successfully searching for products.

Namely:

Reduce the number of words in the search query. The more concise and precise it is, the higher the chances of a successful search.
It is advisable not to create too precise and specialized queries.
One request - one product. It is not possible to search for multiple products on Alibaba at once. The results of the operation will be inaccurate.
It is not recommended to write the country of origin in requests. For this purpose, you must use a search filter.
Words like “supplier”, “seller” and so on do not need to be written in the search bar.
If you cannot find the desired product, you must exclude all quotes from the request. Sometimes they prevent you from finding the right product.
You can exclude all queries with a specific word from the results. To do this, you need to put “-” in front of the corresponding inscription. For example, “cosplay costume - Yuna”. In this case, all requests containing “Yuna” will be deleted.

You can increase your chances of successfully searching for products by creating a purchase request. This is a kind of advertisement in which a person indicates the product he needs, as well as the conditions under which the product will be purchased.

Selecting a product

How to buy retail or wholesale on Alibaba? After the user completes the search, he will be taken to a page with the results of the operation being processed. The selection page is a list of offers from suppliers. All companies working with Alibaba are registered on the service.

To simplify the search for specific products, you can use a special filter. It's on the left side of the page. With its help, clarification is entered for a specific product. For example, you can select the country of origin, color and size.

Below the search bar there is a supplier field. Here you can leave only offers from sellers with one or another status. The following options are possible:

Free Member - a supplier with a free account. Many people recommend not buying from such sellers. Fraudsters are often found among them.
Gold Supplier - online sellers with verified data. Such suppliers can already be considered for further cooperation.
Assessed Supplier - verified sellers who have been verified by Alibaba. These are 100% working organizations.

On the left side of the search page, the user can view information about the company. Here you can see the seller’s legal address, responses to applications, and the number of transactions.

Product data

Once all the previously listed steps have been completed, you can select a specific offer and study it. To open information about a product, you must click on the corresponding block in the search results. You can click on the photo.

Information about the product will appear on the screen in expanded form. You can also see photos of the offer here.

Contact supplier

How to buy on Alibaba without intermediaries? The next step is contacting the supplier. This step allows you to clarify the specifics of the order. For example, find out the exact price of a product or find out the terms of delivery of products. Some suppliers do not work with certain countries. In this case, the order will not be available to the user.

There are several ways to contact the seller:

Use the "Submit Request" function. Here you need to write your questions about the product.
Start creating an order. To do this, you need to click on the corresponding line.
Use a third-party program to communicate with sellers. You need to download and install the Trade Manager application. Next, the user finds the desired supplier and asks him about the product.

As a rule, it is the first option that is used most often in practice. How to buy on Alibaba?

Formation of a request

To do this, the seller needs to believe in the buyer’s reliability and answer all his questions. After all, Alibaba is a trading platform with which many serious companies cooperate. I don’t want to waste time on those who aren’t really going to buy anything. Therefore, you have to adhere to some rules for writing queries.

To contact a seller on Alibaba, you need to:

Log in to the site using your username and password.
Search for products and select a specific product.
Click on the "Send request" button.
In the window that appears, write a letter to the seller.
Click on the "Submit" button.
Wait for an answer.

This algorithm of actions helps to contact suppliers of certain products. But what rules promote a quick response?

A user submitting an inquiry to sellers on Alibaba must:

Write the text only in English. It is advisable to use short and clear sentences.
Write complete information about yourself - personal data, position, what company the user represents, region of residence, field of activity.
Describe the specific product (what is needed) - color, size, features, estimated purchase volume.
Ask questions about the minimum quantity of products to place an order, as well as the cost of the goods in a particular case.

If the user does not know English, Google Translate or other online translators will help him.

Message Center

Further communication with the supplier will take place through the message center. You can access it by selecting the appropriate line in the “My Profile” menu.

The message center works like an email or instant messenger. This service is the area of trade formation. Here you can conclude a contract online or download a ready-made contract. If we are not talking about direct delivery, you need to click on “Place an order online”.

Formation of an order

How to buy on Alibaba? After a person contacts the supplier, an order can be placed. To do this, in the product window you need to click on the “Order” button. Or, as already mentioned, click on “Place an order”.

The user will have a form to negotiate with the seller. This field indicates the quantity of the product, its cost and delivery conditions. All that remains for the user is to click on the “Confirm order” button. If the seller agrees to the deal, he will quickly respond to the request.

Delivery

Now it’s more or less clear how to buy on Alibaba. Free shipping is available here. The fact is that when placing an order, this feature needs to be given special attention.

The buyer is required to fill out the delivery form. It indicates the date of receipt of the goods and the time allotted to the seller to place the order. Alibaba usually uses FOB. In this case, the delivery cost includes all costs for transporting the products.

But free shipping also applies. For bulk purchases, some suppliers do not require the buyer to pay additional fees for transporting products.

You can use mail delivery or express delivery. Such services are more expensive.

There is no customs charge for delivery if the total order value does not exceed 1,000 euros. It is important to remember that customs services themselves can evaluate products. Therefore, all features of free delivery must be agreed with the seller.

Selecting a payment method

How to buy on Alibaba? The step-by-step instructions presented earlier imply completing the transaction by paying for the goods. In Russia today you can use only 2 methods of depositing funds. The product payment window will open after the user enters delivery information.

Residents of the Russian Federation can pay for orders on Alibaba:

by bank transfer - recommended when using the order for commercial purposes;
by credit card - if the goods are paid individually or are not subject to duties.

Once the customer selects a payment method, he will be required to provide either bank account or credit card details. All that remains now is to click on the “Confirm order” button.

For private individuals

That's all. Now it is clear how Alibaba works. How to buy as a private person here? It is enough to adhere to the previously proposed algorithms. Difficulties may arise when registering a new user, but nothing more.

Many users prefer to use the services of intermediaries. These are companies that order massively from Alibaba and other Chinese services. In this case you will need:

Contact an intermediary.
Specify the product you want to buy on Alibaba.
Discuss the terms of cooperation.
Pay for the services of an intermediary and deposit money for the order.
Wait for the goods and receive them within the agreed time frame.

How to buy on Alibaba without intermediaries and unnecessary problems? Many people say that individuals cannot make purchases on this service on their own. A similar website called “AliExpress” has been created for them.

Results

Now we understand how Alibaba.com works. How to buy as a private person here? You can register as an individual entrepreneur and place orders regularly. Or simply register on the service and coordinate purchases with suppliers.

However, if you want to purchase goods on Alibaba, it is better to use the services of intermediaries. Sellers on the trading platform studied rarely work with individuals. With intermediaries, ordinary people have a greater chance of buying this or that product.

Hello. In the last article I briefly talked about . And one of the options was the Alibaba website. In this article, we, together with Alibaba employees, have prepared instructions on how to search, buy and order products on Alibaba. The instructions were detailed and understandable. But soon additions to this instruction will be released, which will examine some points in more detail.

About Alibaba

Alibaba is a leading global wholesale purchasing platform serving millions of customers and suppliers around the world. With the help of Alibaba, entrepreneurs can supply their products to companies in other countries.

Suppliers (exporters) publish information about themselves and their products (including photographs, detailed descriptions, specifications, delivery conditions, etc.) on the Alibaba website.

Buyers (importers) search for products and suppliers on the site, send requests for prices and negotiate deliveries.

Alibaba is not a store! This is a platform where suppliers publish their products!

Briefly about ordering on Alibaba

Now I’ll tell you briefly, and then we’ll go over it in more detail. Alibaba has a collection of products from suppliers that you can buy. The whole point of working with the site is as follows:

You register on the site;
Find the product you need;
Send a request to receive more detailed information on prices and conditions;
If you are satisfied with everything, then make a deal.

Those. here you don’t add goods to your cart, but send requests to suppliers!

But you can also place your order on the website in the form of an advertisement and receive offers from suppliers. Well, now let's talk in detail about all the processes.

Product search

There are two approaches to purchasing on Alibaba. You can use the search function to find the product you are interested in, or leave a buyer request yourself and wait for the suppliers to respond.

Searching for products is quite simple:

Open Alibaba home page
Enter the name of the product you are interested in in the search bar
Click the "Find" button

Tips for using search:

If the results are not suitable, try reducing the number of words in your query. For example, instead of “carbon fiber bicycle frame,” try searching for “bicycle frame.”
Avoid searches that are too specific or specialized, such as “4X4 Honda ATV.”
Search only one item at a time.
Do not include a country or region name in your search query, such as “shoes China.” For these purposes, use filters in the search options.
Do not include words such as “supplier,” “seller,” etc., such as “shoe seller,” in your query.
For a precise search, use quotation marks (" "), such as "power adapter".
If you don't find what you're looking for, try removing the quotes from the query (for example, power adapter)
To exclude results with a specific word, use a minus sign in front of that word. For example, the query power adapter -usb will exclude results that contain the word “usb” from the search.

You will increase your chances of finding the right product and supplier if you additionally place a Purchase Request. Buy Request is a free ad that is displayed to suppliers. In it you can indicate what exactly you are looking for and under what conditions.

In addition, the main page presents 12 categories, by viewing which you can familiarize yourself with the latest products in the industry and get new ideas for business.

Product selection

When you search through the search bar or by category, you somehow end up on the search results page. All products on the page are placed by suppliers registered on Alibaba. Please remember that Alibaba does not supply products itself.

On the left side of the screen there are filters that make it easier to find the product you need. With their help you can choose, for example, color, size or country of origin of the product.

Immediately after the search bar and navigation, there is a supplier filter, which allows you to select suppliers with the status you need.

Free Member- free account. Do not buy from such suppliers!!!
Gold Supplier- suppliers with verified data online. Does not provide a 100% guarantee, but can already be considered for cooperation.
Assessed Supplier— verified suppliers who were tested by a company representative who visited the production site, personally checked all the documents, and made video and photo reports. These are the most reliable suppliers and you can safely buy from them.

In addition, on the left side of the search page you can view basic information about the supplier of each product. You are presented with its legal name, statuses, the number of recent transactions and the response rate to applications.

For example, for the product in the screenshot, we see that the supplier name is “Shenzhen Kingkong Electronics Co. Ltd., he has had Gold Supplier status for 7 years, in the last month his product was purchased 2 times, and he answers 71.9% of incoming messages. To send a request to this supplier, just click the orange “Send message” button.

To the right of the photo there is a block of information about the product. Please remember that prices are provided for informational purposes only and you should write to the supplier for up-to-date information.

Product information

Want to know more about the product? Click on the photo to go to the product page, where pictures, characteristics and descriptions are presented.

On the right side of the product description page there is a block of information about the supplier.

We recommend placing orders from suppliers with support Trade Assurance(yellow fortress icon with a dollar sign in the middle). Then you can protect yourself to the maximum from force majeure circumstances.

Price clarification

To find out the price of a product, you need to write to the supplier. Since Alibaba is a business platform, the cost of goods may vary from contract to contract. It depends, first of all, on the planned batch of purchase of each item, further plans of partners and the market situation.

There are three ways to contact the supplier:

Send a request - if you need to start communicating with a supplier, learn more about a product, or request a catalog. How to properly introduce your company to the supplier, and what information about the product you need to provide, can be found here.
Start ordering - if you are sure that this product is exactly what you need and you want to proceed directly to bidding.
The third option is to chat with the supplier through the Trade Manager program. Please allow time differences with the supplier.

In order for the seller to understand the seriousness of your intentions and respond to you as thoroughly and quickly as possible, you need to correctly compose and send the request. It must contain the necessary information, namely:

Information about you (what is your name, what position do you hold) and about the company (what company do you represent, what industry do you work in, region, etc.);
Description of the product you need (quality, color, size, specifications, your planned purchase quantity, etc.);
Questions about price and minimum possible purchase quantity (MOQ).

After sending a request, the supplier needs some time to respond. When the supplier responds, Alibaba will notify you via the email you provided during registration.

Placing an order

Now let's start placing an order and working with it.

Message Center

After receiving a response from the supplier, your next place for negotiations is the Message Center. To access the message center, you must click on the appropriate link in the “My Profile” drop-down menu on the main page.

The message center works according to the logic of an electronic mailbox. By opening a message from your supplier, you are taken to your trading center, where the deal will be concluded. Next, we will explore the message center from top to bottom, point by point:

In the message center, you negotiate the points of the contract with the supplier. You can do this online or download a ready-made contract. If you enter into a supply contract directly with a supplier, upload it to your trading center with the supplier. Otherwise, select the "Place Order Online" option.

Order

In this part, bargaining with the supplier takes place. Select the quantity and desired unit price and click "Confirm Order". If the supplier agrees to your terms, he will also confirm the order. Otherwise, he will introduce conditions that are favorable to him and will wait for your response.

The final version of the order is considered to be the one confirmed by both parties.

In addition, you can add other products and services to your order, both from the Alibaba catalog and from other sources.

Delivery

Pay close attention to this point. You need to fill in the agreed upon shipment date or the number of days you give the supplier to ship the shipment once it is ready.

ATTENTION: before confirming the order, make sure that you have agreed with the supplier on the cargo readiness date and that it corresponds to that indicated in the trade center.

As a rule, suppliers sell wholesale quantities of goods on FOB terms. In this case, the price includes all expenses before the cargo is placed on board the ship at the port of departure. Further organization of delivery is the responsibility of the buyer. If you do not have experience in logistics, it is recommended to contact a logistics company. Logisticians are provided with the contacts of the supplier or agent in China appointed by the supplier, and then they organize delivery. In addition, logistics companies can offer their own delivery and payment scheme, which will help reduce overall costs.

Therefore, the general algorithm for you will be as follows:

Search for a supplier and discuss conditions
Receiving a preliminary packing list with prices, sizes, weights and names of goods by item
Finding a logistics partner in Russia, calculating delivery and customs duties
Conclusion of a contract and payment via TT
Providing the necessary data to logisticians.
Delivery to the specified point

It is also possible to send by mail or express delivery services, but this will be much more expensive. The express delivery service will invoice you for customs duties. The possibility of sending cargo by express services must be discussed with the supplier.

If the value of the cargo does not exceed 1000 euros, then no customs fee is charged, but it is worth remembering that the value of the cargo is determined by the customs database.

We will have a separate logistics guide, but I can’t tell you when yet.

Payment

Currently, 2 types of payment are available for Russia:

Telegraphic transfer (TT, bank transfer) - recommended for any commercial (intended for profit) shipments.
Payment by credit card - when paying for orders of 1 piece, samples or batches not subject to customs duties.

Conditions

In the conditions field, describe all the characteristics of the product in as much detail as possible. You can also include any other information for the supplier here.

Conclusion

Well, that's the whole process of ordering goods on Alibaba. It seems difficult, but once you try it, it will be easier in the future. The most important thing is to immediately find a logistics (transport) company. There are a lot of them now. Call and clarify the conditions.

If you have questions, ask in the comments. I will try to answer them and involve Alibaba employees in communicating with you. Also stay tuned for a few more articles on working with Alibaba.