Almost 20% of the world’s population shops online. Online sales are projected to reach about 5 trillion, by the end of 2021. This growth has been made possible by the increasing availability of internet services across all countries of the world.
When choosing suppliers there are a lot of factors you may need to consider as they act as a vital part of your business operation. Aliexpress is one of the most used wholesale suppliers of products worldwide and as much as there are advantages to working with them there are also some disadvantages you can watch out for.
About AliExpress
To be able to find a trustworthy supplier, ensure that you have done thorough research on the supplier you would like to work with. This is after identifying your product niche.
There is a large pool of suppliers online and hence it is not hard to find one you can work with. Vetting of the supplier and going through online reviews will help you in deciding on the type of supplier to choose.
Below are something of AliExpress we shall focus on:
Aliexpress is an online service based in china and under the parent company of Alibaba group. Aliexpress was launched in 2010 and offers an opportunity for small businesses in China to sell to customers from all over the world.
The Aliexpress website is available in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, Polish, and Italian to allow customers who cannot be serviced by the English language to get services.
Aliexpress comprises of sellers who are either companies or individuals and directly connects the businesses to buyers. Aliexpress is often used by people who prefer dropshipping as a business model.
Aliexpress supplies variety of products. These include; jewelry, clothing, electronics, sports gear, and many more. The wide selection of sellers makes it possible for a customer to have a variety of products to choose from.
The products sold are cheap and high quality but since the platform consists of different sellers, the quality of the products will differ according to the seller and the price points.
With a rating of 3.8 Aliexpress is a famous site for a lot of people around the world. Recently the company has been under scrutiny with some customers expressing concerns about late delivery and defective items. There have also been cases of poor customer service and inefficient refund policy.
I sorted out some of the problems that Aliexpress often appears.
- Late delivery for products -most of the customers have complained that the products they have ordered for have been shipped later than they expected.
- Poor customer service -sometimes you may wait for a while before getting a response on the questions you may have concerning your product shipping.
- Cases of fake suppliers-some customers have complained that some of the products they ordered for can not be found as the tracking numbers are not available even after 15 days of searching.
- Failure if the epacket service-this is one of the services that AliExpress offers ,most of the customers have raised concerns over the working of this service especially in some countries.
- Most sellers do not accept PayPal as a means of payment.
- Most of the English is poorly translated hence it is hard for you to understand what is being communicated.
- Some sellers may take longer to ship your product leaving you frustrated if you have a deadline.
So that’s why not recommend AliExpress as your supplier. But we have a better Choice — Nihaojewelry.
About Nihaojewelry
Nihaojewelry is one of the world’s top wholesale jewelry suppliers. With a rating of 4.75, you can be assured that the products and services provided are efficient. Nihaojewelry has a website that has a wide variety of products to choose from and offers a one-stop wholesale shopping platform.
The prices of products are affordable and the customer care services are made to cater to all of your needs. Nihaojewelry also offers dropshipping services that are fast reliable and efficient.
I would recommend this site for anyone new to the wholesale business as the site is easy to use and the services are catered to meet your needs.
As compared to AliExpress some of the advantages of Nihaojewelry include:
- Greater brand recognition as the site offers a wide selection of unique and quality jewelry products among others.
- The brand offers frequent and customer friendly discounts.
- Offers unique and fast shipping experience.
- The products are of high quality.
- Good customer care services.
- Offers good refund and payment policies.
- The company ships all over the world hence you can get into business from anywhere you are in the world.
- The company offers both ODM(Original Design Manufacturer) and OEM(Original Equipment Manufacturer) services.
If you want a variety of products and quality services Nihaojewelry is the way to go as the quality services they offer will ensure that you are not dissapointed.
Below are side to side comparisons between AliExpress and Nihaojewelry:
| Nihaojewelry | AliExpress |
| Offers a wide variety of jewelry products. | Offers a selection of products from different suppliers. |
| Has a variety of discounts. | Offers product discounts. |
| Uses DHL for shipping which is reliable. | Uses the epacket which is not reliable. |
| Offers quality assurance since they involve verified suppliers. | There is little quality assurance due to the large number of suppliers who may not be verified. |
Some other suppliers you may find include:
DHgate
DHgate is a Chinese B2B eCommerce website that enables the supply of products from suppliers to small and medium retailers.
Formed in 2004, DHgate offers a selection of products and the services are available across different countries around the world. DHgate is a good site for low priced goods from China and offers millions of products that are of different niches.
The main disadvantage of shopping from this site may be the poor customer service and long periods of delivery.
Made-in China.com
This site offers a platform where you can connect with suppliers from all over the world. It is one of the B2B websites that are available in China offering a wide selection of products at friendly prices.
With a rating of 1.52 Made-in, china has some shortfalls in terms of product guarantee as there are some of the people who pose as suppliers but turn out to be scammers. You, therefore, need to be extra careful when engaging with a supplier.
Conclusion
With the wholesale scene growing rapidly the players in the industry are also increasing to catch up with the demand for products. The best way to get a good supplier is to find one that works well for you and can be trusted to deliver.
AliExpress is one of the most commonly used websites in the world and as any other type of business it is possible that you will get advantages and disadvantages of using the site for your business.
It is important to do thorough research on the supplier that you will choose to use so as to be clear on what you want and the type of services you are willing to receive.
This research will help you weigh the pros and cons of using a website hence give you clarity when starting a business. This will help you avoid disappointment and you will be able to work around the problems you may face.
