What is a Gold Supplier on Alibaba & Other FAQs for Alibaba.com Buyers

Most of us immediately associate Alibaba.com with Jack Ma, one of the top few richest people in the world. However, there is plenty more that we can actually associate with this platform. Previously, we have discussed why Alibaba.com is a marketplace that businesses around the world should not miss out on.

We have also disclosed our status as an Official Alibaba Channel Partner (we're approaching our 10-year-partnership together !) and how we can help you with that status.

When you're selling on Alibaba.com , you might find yourself looking at unfamiliar terms on the website, which we will be addressing in this blog post.

Alibaba.com is the biggest selling and buying platform in the world, originating in China. This platform does not only sell to end users - it is also a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace.

While consumers can directly shop for clothes. electronic gadgets, perishable goods and many other types of products on the website, businesses can also source for the materials they need to build their own products here.

Alibaba.com has hundreds of millions of products listed over 40 major categories, including consumer electronics, machinery and apparels. The buyers for these products are located in more than 190 regions around the world, exchanging over 100K messages each day!

Since Alibaba is a B2B marketplace, it is uncommon to purchase a single item from a supplier. This is because most products have a Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ). However, you might be able to do so if you negotiate on Alibaba, since you have the option to contact the manufacturer directly!

One of the best benefits of Alibaba is that you can work directly with the manufacturers of your choice. When you purchase and sell on Alibaba.com, you can purchase in high volumes and lower prices, thus getting yourself a high volume discount. You can then start to create your own products with all of these materials!

Alibaba.com itself is a marketplace for B2B sales. However, Alibaba Group provides different platforms to serve different types of users and marketers. As such, they have platforms just for B2B, B2C, or even C2C as well! Taobao is for smaller B2C and C2C sales. Tmall is for B2C sales.

A Gold Supplier on Alibaba has a premium membership for suppliers on this B2B platform. These members have a comprehensive range of methods to promote their products, such as a bigger product showcase, higher e-wallet currency exchange rates and several other perks. While the process to be qualified as a Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com is strict, the return of investment is high because buyers prefer to buy from a Gold Supplier or an Assessed Supplier.

Alibaba.com introduced Trade Assurance to help enforce more trust among traders and buyers when using this platform. When you place trade assurance on the products that you purchase, your order is protected until you get them. As such, if the shipment is lost during the air freight or ship freight journey, or perhaps your parcel is lost when going through local delivery, Alibaba.com will take full responsibilities and liabilities for your purchases.

You may have over 1000 products that you display on Alibaba.com, but it is impossible for all of these products to be shown on the main page of your website. Alibaba.com product showcase is like the product displays you see in stores, so you can put the products that you are promoting on these slots.

You need to check your order status to determine if it is eligible for an order cancellation.

Alibaba has secure payment options that allows you to pay via credit cards or debit cards as long as they are issued by Mastercard, Maestro or Visa. However, you can only transact up to USDD50,000 via credit cards.

When you purchase on Alibaba, you can place your order with a Secure Payment, for which customers are advised to pay the lumpsum at one go. However, if you cover your purchases with Trade Assurance, it is possible that you can pay an initial amount first before you pay the remainder amount. It would benefit both parties if the buyer and seller can communicate regarding the payments first before purchasing.

L/C on Alibaba refers to a Letter of Credit. This is a document issued by banks, financial institutions or financial suppliers that protects the sellers. The letter of credit assures a seller that the buyer has provided documents to prove that payments have been made. In any case where the documents were not verified properly and the buyer fail to pay, the financial institution verifying these payments will be responsible for the amount.

D/A Payment refers to the Documents against Acceptance. In simpler terms, this refers to deferred payments or a credit arrangement. D/A transactions utilize term or time drafts. When a buyer accepts a time draft, the documents required for them to receive the goods will be released by the clearing bank.

TT Payment refers to telegraphic transfer, which is a type of bank transfer. You can consider telegraphic transfers or TT Transfers as one of the simplest means of international banking transfers.

Western Union Payments allow users to send money to other vendors around the world by phone, through the Western Union website or in person at any of their branches. The fees vary, based on factors such as whether the payment is sent in cash or wired to a bank, where the money is from and where it will be, and of course, the exchange rates.

MoneyGram is similar to Western Union, although its domestic transfer fees are a little higher as compared to Western Union. The fees may vary greatly depending on where you are sending your payments.

FOB is short for 'Free On Board' or 'Freight On Board'. This means that the price you see for the goods you are purchasing includes the fees and any or all responsibilities for shipping and loading. Once delivered, the payment for the transportation and insurance of the goods are entirely up to the buyers.