Finding a good supplier is very important to start an e-commerce business. But, when we talk about suppliers, Alibaba automatically comes to our mind. If you are thinking of sourcing your next product from Alibaba for selling marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, or eBay then you are doing wrong.
Because Alibaba has become very common around the world it is very difficult to find anything unique here. If a seller wants to offer something unique to the customer he should follow another e-commerce platform like Alibaba. Because if a seller chooses a product on Alibaba, this product might be already sold by thousands of sellers.
Now, if your competitors source the same products and offer a lower price, then you will lose before starting the game. And like this, there are many more reasons.
In this blog, we will introduce 7 Alternatives of Alibaba, from where you can source products with great quality and prices, and also we will explain how you can find suppliers from the JungleScout Supplier Database.
Table of Contents:
Why You Should Leave Alibaba?
Alternatives of Alibaba
How to find suppliers from the JungleScout Supplier Database
Why You Should Leave Alibaba?
So right now, We are in Aliababa and we are going to search for a random product. Let’s say — glass candle holders.
Here, we can see there are a lot of suppliers on Alibaba and prices are really good.
Also, most of them are verified suppliers, so all looks good.
Now, if we’re planning on selling the same stuff, like votive candle holders, we have to compete with established sellers who are already selling on Amazon. And, somehow, we’re buying from the same suppliers as our competition, but at a higher cost, we’re gonna fail from the start.
But, If we take a look at other alternatives besides Alibaba, we might stumble upon some unique products from suppliers who are offering good quality, lower minimums, or cheaper prices.
Let’s take DHgate.com for example, which is a different wholesale marketplace.
So, now we are on DHgate.com which is a good wholesale marketplace where sellers can source products with good prices and quality. Here, we will search for the same keywords glass candle holders.
If we can source the product with great quality and price there is a huge opportunity to generate more sales.
Though selling items is not only about sourcing great products, there are still a lot of things that need to be done like SEO, PPC, GRAPHICS, MARKETING, AND MORE.
We have more resources on, SEO strategies, PPC advertisements, and graphics on our Blog section and our YouTube channel. If you need to know the best practices or strategies to generate more sales, go to the video section of our YouTube channel and check them out.
However, Sourcing a product that has a bit of uniqueness is so important. Otherwise, you’re just selling the same thing as everyone else, and competing on price alone is stressful and risky.
Another important thing is that on Alibaba, it’s really hard to find out the real manufacturer. Because Alibaba represents a mix of manufacturers and traders, for this, you need to differentiate who is the manufacturer and who is the trader.
This is because when dealing directly with a manufacturer, you are sourcing products from the real manufacturer not from the ‘middleman’ or trader. But if you source products from traders they might not be given the full focus on you, and attention to detail about the product, and service that you are looking for.
The product price might be more expensive than the manufacturer’s because traders will also make some money from you, even from the manufacturer. So it’s really important to find out the real supplier.
By looking at alternatives to Alibaba, you can choose a supplier-based marketplace that only represents manufacturers and not traders. You might get unique products to your niche, find products of great quality, and source products with lower prices and lower shipping costs.
Okay, now, I’m going to tell you 7 alternative wholesale marketplaces to Alibaba, where you will find your best products to sell online.
Alternatives of Alibaba:
There are several alternative options available for Alibaba. We will mention here the best 7 alternatives of Alibaba.
Global Source: Global Source is one of the prominent e-commerce platforms. It is considered one of Alibaba’s main competitors, which specializes in electronics and accessories. It’s a Hong Kong-based online marketplace with over 1.5 million suppliers. They claim to have over 1.5 million suppliers and cater to 95 of the world’s top 100 retailers.
One of the perks of using Global Sources is the vast pool of suppliers. There are over 500 companies that use it to hunt for products and link up with manufacturers. They also offer extra services like product sourcing, market research, and logistics to make your sourcing experience easier.
But there is a drawback, which is the minimum order quantity is kind of high, so it’s not the best option for beginners. The suppliers on Global Sources are more established and offer higher quality products than Alibaba, which is the reason of minimum order quantities tend to be higher.
