It is an exciting prospect to be able to purchase attractive and useful goods from all over the world at a competitive price.  Alibaba is the favorite option for a lot of people these days, since it is an online marketplace that is designed just for trading goods and services.  Although it is geared towards small businesses, there are still over 50 million users from about 240 different countries who are currently registered on this comprehensive platform.  To get the most out of your experience you will need to know how to buy goods on Alibaba like a pro.

Visit the Official Website

Before you can do anything on Alibaba you first have to visit the web page to see what is up for grabs.  You will most likely be prompted to log in to your personal or business account using a customized password and email.  However, you probably won’t be able to do much on the site if you skip this step.  Make sure you follow all of the onscreen directions that you see and use them to create your own user profile so that you can navigate the site in the way it was intended.

Find and Contact

Next you will have to start searching for the products or services that you need.  Alibaba offers users an easy-to-use search tool that gingerly sifts through the large inventory that is at your disposal on the site.  Once you find what you are looking for you will then need to contact the seller directly.  Alibaba allows you to do this, and even offers a communication platform for that very purpose.  You can even opt to receive a notification in case the seller does not contact you back within a specified amount of time (usually 24 hours).

Negotiate and Reciprocate

Now you will just have to play the waiting game for a while.  In order to purchase goods on Alibaba you have to flex some of your communication skills.  Once you hit send on the message board you will need to be just as reachable as the merchant until the deal is done.  The terms of the agreement between you and the seller will then be specified within those messages and the deal with be finalized once the items have be shipped and received.  Just make sure you know about all import, export, and excise fees that are associated with purchasing goods from overseas.