Alibaba.com

[SavannahLion]

In my constant quest for parts Alibaba comes up... a lot. It's only in the last month or so Google's algorithms quit putting them in the top 20 or so hits. Then I recently read an article where a bunch of Alibaba thieves were arrested for scamming overseas buyers . Contrary to the hundreds or thousands of forum discussions and blog posts about how people were ripped off. I always thought Alibaba was specifically for industrial buyers but I see posts from average Joes and Janes buying from them.

Compared to eBay, I imagine the risk is about the same and most of the junk is from China anyways.

Anyone buy through Alibaba before? I'm looking at mass quantities of low level type of stuff. 1000 LEDs. A spool of BUS or enameled wire. Spool of flat ribbon cable. That sort of thing. The prices seem to be cheaper than the equivalent stuff on eBay for that type of stuff and the minimum quantities are more reasonable. Such as having to buy a 55 gallon drum of conformal coating last time I looked at them. However, I can't tell if shipping is calculated separately or what.

[Vigo]

Well, I have done extensive shopping on Alibaba's sister site, Taobao. Taobao is China's eBay, and unless you have connections in China, you would need to go through a Taobao buyer to act as a middleman to get you your goods from China, they usually take 18-20% cut, if I remember right.

As my understanding goes, Alibaba is similiar to Taobao, but devoted to wholesale, and transactions are pretty loose because deals are worked out rather than set in stone. So, imagine a version of eBay where side deals are actually encouraged. The part that I am unsure about is payments, but if they are on the same payment system as Taobao (Alipay), then purchasing would be difficult. You would either need to pay through corporate means of payment, such as bank wiring, or you would need an account with the the Bank of China. Although, the sellers themselves may or may not have a different means of making the purchase available to US consumers.

[ChanceKJ]

I've used Alibaba a few times for components in my builds. All of my vandal switches for example. Decent experience. I even tried to have one of the vendors build me custom black PCB feet but the minimums were way too high.

[pbj]

I used to take orlistat recreationally and that's off the market now.  Tried sourcing it on Alibaba but that was getting a little too spooky for my tastes.

 

[rpgposer]

I bought a single Dreamcast VGA cable.  Received it quickly, and it works.  The package it came in was falling apart by the time it got to Maytown.

[EightBySix]

Waiting for an order arrive now (my first). Its a fingerprint scanner. Ill let you know how it goes.

[danny_galaga]

Alibaba is very legit. It was going to be (or has, I lost track) be floated on the NYSE I think. That of course doesn't give it total legitimacy (ENRON anyone?) but it gives you an idea of the scale and interest. I initially was looking via them for a factory but  I don't have first hand experience of Alibaba themselves. Scammers are everywhere. CAVEAT EMPTOR…

Here you go:

http://www.brw.com.au/p/entrepreneurs/alibaba_float_will_crown_jack_ma_VCCBnQU41gRJFonNYzCHzH

He looks like a Bond Villain!

[Scorpie]

I have some good experiences with alibaba (or, if you prefer, you could use aliexpress.com which aims on consumers rather than wholesale). Decent pricing, just keep it to the 'trusted' buyers which you can see by rating.  I even got some balloons and silk for my wedding party from one of the buyers

I`m scouring for arcade marquee holders and power strips on it but havent found anything that looks right. Got 5 meters of RGB LED coming in from one of the buyers so I`ll keep you updated.