Alibaba, being an incredible e-commerce platform, always amaze its customers by providing a variety of items in an affordable price range. Yes, it is a fantastic platform where you can buy things in bulk and resell them on other platforms like Amazon where millions of people make one-off purchases.
Alibaba is a global network of suppliers, which is why many businesses find it affordable yet convenient to buy things online. Many people ask the question, How to sell on Amazon from Alibaba? So yes, today I will be telling you a few ways through which you can sell on Amazon from Alibaba.
What Is Alibaba?
Alibaba is a Chinese online commerce company that has become an essential player in the global economy. With over 2 billion active users, Alibaba offers various retail and e-commerce products and services.
The company was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, who is currently serving as its Chief Executive Officer. It has been reported that Alibaba may be worth as much as $25 billion by 2020.
Alibaba is structured as a joint venture between two principal shareholders: the search engine Baidu and the financial services firm Credit Suisse AG. Alipay, the company’s primary payment platform, is also operated by Alipay Holdings Inc., which was created in March 2013.
Why Choose Alibaba?
Many people opt for selling items on Amazon through Alibaba due to Alibaba’s user-friendly environment and highly affordable cost. Many people on Amazon use it to source different products. Yes, china is home to many manufacturers you will find on this platform. That is why the yields on Alibaba are cheaper and can be used for businesses.
Today, thousands of suppliers are there to sell items via Alibaba’s website. People find it an easy-to-go platform for selling Alibaba on Amazon.
Is It Legal To Sell From Alibaba On Amazon?
Reselling your items from Alibaba to Amazon is entirely legal. This is a legal method through which you will not need an LLC to sell on Alibaba to Amazon FBA. Different suppliers from Alibaba sell their products to merchants.
Reselling items from Alibaba to Amazon is consistently profitable as it helps you generate extra money. So to get the reward for your selling, you need to follow some tactics.
How To Sell On Amazon From Alibaba?
Buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon requires you to look for suppliers. So before looking for suppliers on Alibaba, you need to know what type of products you will sell on Amazon. For this purpose, you need to do product research. Product research can be done either manually or automatically with the use of Amazon seller tools.
Moreover, you are looking to sell on Amazon from Alibaba. In that case, you need to ensure that a product must be reasonable and fulfill sufficient demand, makes a good profit margin, has a best-seller rank, and has less competition in its niche.
Product Research On Alibaba
Sourcing A Product From Alibaba To Amazon, A Comprehensive Guide
If you want to know how to buy on Alibaba and sell on Amazon, then you need to follow these steps.
- Create an Alibaba account:
In the same way as Amazon, talking to your potential suppliers and identifying them requires you to have an account on Alibaba. You need to register for an Alibaba account which is free of cost.
- Look for the product and its manufacturer:
After creating an account on Alibaba, you need to use a search bar to find the product you want to sell. Alibaba will be showing you some search results with similar categories. You can also check for additional product data, manufacturing process images, certificates, and the supplier’s terms on Alibaba.
- Shortcut the list of suppliers:
Buying on Alibaba and then selling on Amazon requires you to do many things. You need to shortlist some suppliers and analyze their pros and cons. Shortlist the best possible candidates.
- Talk to your supplier on Alibaba:
Before placing your order, make sure you have clarified all your doubts regarding each product. On Alibaba, you can easily ask questions from the manufacturer. To contact the manufacturer, you can use a “Contact Seller” option or “Chat now” link.
- Ask for a sample and request a quotation:
Ensure you get a sample before purchasing when you buy products in bulk. This is because sometimes the product may look different from the original picture or be of better quality.
- Negotiate the price:
Negotiating the prices of your orders and the MOQ is essential as the cost of goods always influences a good profit. So, in you will buy from the Alibaba warehouse, try to negotiate the prices down while keeping the quality high.
- Check for the supplier’s details:
While selecting the supplier on Alibaba, ensure the necessary shipping authorizations, permits, trade insurance, and others. You need to check for the return policies and warranties. Always verify that the details of Amazon may comply with Alibaba FBA.
- Source the product from Alibaba:
After getting all details and complying with them with Amazon, now make your order and wait for it until it gets delivered. List your product on Amazon and start selling.
Is It Profitable To Buy From Alibaba And Sell On Amazon
Buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon can be profitable, but it comes with risks and challenges. You need to ensure the quality of the products you purchase, handle shipping and customs, and compete with other sellers on Amazon. Conduct thorough market research and calculate all expenses before making a decision.
Alibaba To Amazon FBA Step By Step
Here are the step-by-step instructions for using Alibaba to ship products to Amazon FBA:
- Find a reputable supplier on Alibaba and negotiate prices and terms of sale.
- Please order a product sample to ensure its quality and suitability for your customers.
- Place a bulk order with the supplier and arrange to ship to an Amazon FBA warehouse.
- Create a shipping plan in your Amazon Seller Central account, specifying the quantity and type of shipped product.
- Label and pack the products according to Amazon’s guidelines and arrange to ship them to the designated FBA warehouse.
- Monitor the shipment and ensure it arrives at the warehouse on time.
- Once received by Amazon, the products will be inspected and prepared for sale.
- List your products on Amazon and start selling to customers.
How Do You Pay Alibaba Suppliers?
There are multiple methods of paying suppliers on the Alibaba platform, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. Let us look into them to figure out which works best for everyone.
Paypal
Being the most popular online payment platform in the world, Paypal is a no-brainer. With support for around 200 countries and 25 different currencies, Paypal is always the first choice regarding international transactions.
It is also a very mode of transaction because Paypal cancels an order if it does not fulfill certain criteria and issues a refund. Also, most of the Alibaba suppliers use Paypal, making it the ideal choice for transactions on this platform.
Wire Transfer
Wire Transfer (also known as Telegraphic Transfer or “TT”) is the transfer of funds from a bank account directly to the Supplier’s bank account without the involvement of any third party. This payment method is secure since it is processed through banks on either side. This kind of transaction also guarantees favorable exchange rates between different currencies.
However, a wire transfer usually takes 3-7 days to finish international processing payments, which can worsen during weekends and holidays. That time frame can cause many problems in the fast world of eCommerce.
Credit/Debit Card
You can also pay Alibaba suppliers through an international debit or credit card (such as Visa or Mastercard) because suppliers on Alibaba extensively use these payment methods. Remember that credit card companies charge hefty fees for their services, and international transactions can cost a fortune.
That is not the end of bad news, unfortunately. Internationally operating credit card companies value the best interests of their clients less than local banks might, which means that you should not expect favorable exchange rates when conducting a transaction involving multiple currencies.
However, credit/debit cards are one of the most popular methods of international transactions since they provide secure and fast payment transactions throughout the globe.
How To Find Suppliers On Alibaba?
Alibaba is one of the biggest B2B platforms in the world. Unlike most eCommerce platforms, Alibaba does not connect businesses with consumers but rather businesses with other businesses. The businesses on Alibaba are also sometimes known as suppliers or manufacturers. They are known for providing a quality products in bulk at lower prices, which are then resold in western markets at higher prices to earn profits.
Every search result in Alibaba refers you to a supplier. The most important thing is to find trusted suppliers who see a deal through to the end and will hold their end of the bargain. All you have to do for that purpose is head to Alibaba’s website and search for the product category in the search bar. In the search results screen, look at the Supplier Type option on the left side. There are two sub-options under it: namely, Trade Assurance, Verified Supplier, and <1h response time.
Verified Supplier refers to those manufacturers/suppliers who have been verified through having proper documents.
Alibaba provides Trade Assurance concerning some of its most trusted suppliers. If any of those suppliers do not hold their end of the bargain, buyers can lodge a Dispute Claim to Alibaba and have their money refunded if proven right.
<1h response time refers to suppliers who are constantly engaged with their clients and never take more than one hour to respond to client requests.
Once you check these two boxes, Alibaba will filter out any suppliers who do not meet the criteria mentioned above and will only present to you the top-quality suppliers with an excellent record of doing business on the platform. You can go even further to find the best suppliers by looking at their customer reviews and star (diamond ratings) left by people who have previously conducted business with those suppliers.
Next, Ship the Products to Amazon!
After finding the product, a perfect supplier, and striking a deal with the Supplier, the next phase of the eCommerce journey is to ship the product to Amazon FBA. The best way to do that is to ship directly from the Alibaba suppliers’ factory (or warehouse) in China to an Amazon FBA warehouse. To do that, follow these steps:
- From your Amazon Seller Central account, create a shipment, and provide all of the necessary details.
- Share those shipment details with your Alibaba supplier. Ensure every minute detail is shared, as the smallest confusion can have big consequences. Your Supplier needs to follow the requirements from their end, such as applying proper labels, for this to proceed forward.
- Hire a shipping agent to send your product to the desired Amazon Warehouse. There are three methods of shipping (land, sea, and air). However, since China and USA do not share a land border, you cannot ship your products to Amazon from China through a land route. Get a trusted supplier who is well-versed in the requirements of carrier appointments and can ship your product through sea or air freight to an Amazon warehouse.
How Are Products Shipped From Alibaba?
Once you have struck a successful deal with a supplier on Alibaba, the next phase is to have the items shipped from the Supplier to a source destination of your choosing. There are two methods of achieving this objective.
- Shipping by Supplier
It is as simple as it sounds: most Alibaba suppliers have excellent logistics and freight facilities and will agree to ship the products you bought from anywhere in the world; for a fee. The fee will depend on the type and volume of the items being shipped and the arrival destination of the shipment.
- Ship through a third-party freight service
If you need to trust the Supplier to ship your products for you, then find a third-party freight forwarder who does that for you. Countless shipping and freight forwarding companies in China can do that for you. Just find one who satisfies all your requirements, provide the product, product details, the arrival destination, and your desired mode of shipping (land, sea, or air), and they will take care of the rest for you.
What Is The Profit Of Reselling From Alibaba?
There is no pre-defined formula to determine how much profit you will make by sourcing a product from Alibaba and reselling it in another market somewhere else in the world. The profit margins depend upon several factors, including the type of product, the wholesale buying price on Alibaba, the shipping costs, and the listing price on Amazon. Then you have to contend with various Amazon fees charged on Amazon FBA, the Pay Per Click (PPC) costs to advertise the product, the special deals, discounts, and coupons you have to offer to garner interest from customers, the price reductions you will be forced to commit to retaining the Buy Box if Amazon finds out that your competitors are selling the same product at a lower price, and many other factors.
Because of such a huge number of variables involved, with most, if not all, of them being completely unpredictable, it is impossible to calculate the estimated profit of a product accurately resold from Alibaba.
Why Do AMZ Merchants Use Alibaba?
The cost of manufacturing products in western and developed countries is too high, forcing retailers to sell those products at higher costs to cover their investments and profit. That is different from China, where manufacturing is relatively cheaper.
Alibaba is the world’s biggest B2B (Business-to-Business) platform. Low manufacturing cost allows Chinese suppliers and manufacturers to sell their products on this platform at vastly lower prices than their western counterparts.
For this reason, AMZ merchants aim to buy wholesale products from Chinese suppliers at Alibaba in great quantities and then resell those products in their markets at a greater price, resulting in huge profits for them.
Are There Any Risks With Using Alibaba To Sell On Amazon?
While the lure of making huge profits by selling cheap Chinese products in western markets at a premium is powerful, all sellers using this strategy should be mindful of possible risks associated with this business strategy.
- The relations between the USA and Europe with China keep deteriorating, which might result in greater scrutiny against sellers who do extensive business with Chinese suppliers.
- If other sellers notice the success of your Alibaba-sourced product, they might replicate the product or your business strategy. Resulting in increased competition in an already highly-competitive field.
- If the USA or European governments find your product to violate their Intellectual Property (which they do all the time), or they decide that your product is a counterfeit of a product patented by another business, expect a lot of legal troubles and lawyers’ fees.
- Alibaba has a more relaxed criterion for its suppliers than some of the other eCommerce platforms, meaning you might do business with an untrustworthy supplier.
Best Items To Flip On Alibaba
Many product categories could be flipped from Alibaba to Amazon for large profits. These include:
- Pet care products
- Beauty-care products
- Portable blenders
- Laser Hair-Removal machines
- Coats and Jackets
- Clothing items
- Shoes
- Dog Collars
- Children’s toys and action figures
- Cellphone accessories
Important FAQs
How do I add products from Alibaba to Amazon FBA?
Firstly, you need to find a good product and its supplier. Now ask the supplier to customize it according to your requirement. Ask for the sample and create your Amazon seller central account to list it on Amazon. Ask the supplier to send your order to the Amazon warehouse.
What is the most affordable way to sell on Amazon?
The easiest yet affordable way to sell on Amazon is to create an Amazon seller account and list your products. You can also get your products from Alibaba and sell them on Amazon.
Can I ship from Alibaba straight to amazon?
You can do this by directly shipping your orders from Alibaba to Amazon. This can be very economical to import your rankings on Amazon now. However, this does not allow the new sellers to send the items in bulk.
Is it still profitable to buy from Alibaba and sell on Amazon?
Yes, buying from the Alibaba warehouse and then sending it to Amazon is profitable because it helps you generate a good profit. You can purchase the products in bulk and then sell them in a reasonable price range on Amazon.
What sells fast on Alibaba?
You can quickly sell all of your products on Amazon. However, the fast-selling products on Amazon are electronics, cameras, equipment, clothing, beauty, and other products.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, you can quickly sell your products from Alibaba to Amazon in many ways. Alibaba is a fantastic platform that eases you in generating a handsome profit. If you are a new seller and looking for how to link Alibaba to Amazon, then you are at the right place. This is a perfect write-up for you.
If you have problem regarding Amazon selling such as the fulfillment process, business strategies, choosing the most suitable management, PPC and analytics applications for your E-Commerce business, FBA vs FBM, or any other relevant topics, you can post your questions on Amazon Seller Forum. Our community of E-Commerce specialists are ready to assist you in finding the solutions you need.
