HELP! Ali Baba virgin (!), placed 1st order-advice on procedure & shipping cost/method?

DEBTMONKEY1A · 28 October 2018 at 4:47PM

Hi all,

Firstly to stress I have not got a business but depending on quality of shipment may well be! Put company as TBA.

Opened an a/c .....NO card details/Paypal etc set up. Ali Baba has all delivery addresses/contact etc & a/c succesfully opened.

Ordered the minimum quantity (MOQ abbreviation I THINK), 1KG X 5 units. Showing 15 USD in order. Clicked on ' post' for shipment as figured would be free/cheap. Also put '28 days until shipment after payment'.....panicked a bit here but assumed would take this period of time (please can the more experienced on here advise of correct figure to put in???)..

What happens next? How do I pay safely? Can I pay upfront if a delivery cost & add to the 15USD order?

Sorry to be thick......tried on Ali Express but item not stocked. Done a lot of googling....my head hurts lol!

Please help if you can! Thanks in advance.:beer::).

forgotmyname · 28 October 2018 at 4:53PM

Are you sure you purchased the item and not put in an order where sellers who can complete the order offer their service to you?

DEBTMONKEY1A · 28 October 2018 at 5:06PM

Hi! It's the latter....payment etc TBA. nothing bought as no payment information entered or given.

forgotmyname · 28 October 2018 at 6:37PM

So you may need to wait for sellers to contact you and arrange payment and full costs. Just watch the combined costs. One maybe cheap but take longer to deliver and charge a lot more for shipping.

DEBTMONKEY1A · 28 October 2018 at 6:42PM

Urghhhhh! Why can't it be simple like Ali Express????!!!

soolin · 28 October 2018 at 7:03PM

Also don't forget to factor in all your import and duty costs as well.

DEBTMONKEY1A · 28 October 2018 at 7:07PM

Hi.....should be under £15 so will avoid these.

DEBTMONKEY1A · 30 October 2018 at 8:03AM

Sent 2 'order' requests Sunday late pm....no replies. How long does it usually take....any ideas?

soolin · 30 October 2018 at 8:39AM

DEBTMONKEY1A wrote: »

Sent 2 'order' requests Sunday late pm....no replies. How long does it usually take....any ideas?

I've only tried alibaba a few times and haven't actually ever bought anything. I either had no sensible offers- I tended to find the postage a little expensive on smaller quantities, or just found that the prices were higher than I could buy singly on eBay. I think they actually want larger orders as they are designed for bulk orders, not the cheaper end of the market which is covered by sites like aliexpress or similar.

This is also a bad time to buy as Aliexpress have a singles day sale on 11/11 which means all prices have suddenly rocketed so they can be reduced back to normal for the sale.

Also, re the duty and tax, that also includes the postage so if your item cost is £15 any postage charged on top will push you over the threshold.

DEBTMONKEY1A · 8 November 2018 at 2:57PM

As mentioned by others shipping costs for the quantities I want, as well as hassle of arranging onwards transport from UK dock/airport means in terms of Sole Trader setting up with small inital stock or a consumer, good old EBay/Amazon is best. I'm sure for wholesalers/market traders etc buying in bulk it's very competitive.