KEY POINTS
- You should NEVER buy products from Alibaba and sell them on Amazon.
- Many Alibaba products infringe upon trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property in the USA.
- You can get into legal trouble if you sell products without the proper approvals.
- By partnering with League Of Ecom, you can order products from brands in the USA.
People interested in dropshipping often wonder whether they can or should sell from Alibaba on Amazon. The answer is simple:
You should never order products from Alibaba with the intent to sell them on Amazon.
Alibaba is a great marketplace to purchase products in bulk, however, you must be aware of counterfeit products or products that infringe on intellectual property rights (IPR) in the United States. Alibaba and Aliexpress are known as the kings of counterfeits across the globe, so use extreme caution when purchasing from them, or avoid them altogether.
Why You Should Never Use Alibaba For Amazon Selling
If you are dropshipping or plan to dropship on Amazon, NEVER order from Alibaba or Aliexpress.
You may go on Alibaba or Aliexpress and see the exact product you’re looking for. The manufacturer on the platform may even say that they can ship it in the same packaging that you find in the USA. Everything seems great, but even if it is the same product, you can get in legal trouble for dropshipping Alibaba products if they’re not from a legal source.
This is one of the biggest problems for investors new to the e-commerce industry. It’s a common misconception you can just buy a product from any seller and resell it as long as the product looks like the real thing. Not true!
Unless you have a Letter of Authorization, you are not allowed to sell products from a given brand. New sellers are often not aware of this, so they place orders worth thousands of dollars with Alibaba manufacturers and get the products shipped overseas to the USA. They plan to make a business dropshipping Alibaba products.
As soon as the inventory enters an Amazon Fulfillment Center and gets shipped to customers, the majority of the orders get returned due to quality concerns or the product being noticeably counterfeit. Amazon will see the high return rates and negative customer reviews and flag your shop.
In no time, they will find out you ordered counterfeit products or are infringing on intellectual property and terminate your business. This leaves you with thousands of dollars in inventory with no place to liquidate.
Many of the horror stories associated with Amazon selling or FBA are because the individual did not operate a legal business model and got shut down. Save yourself from this nightmare and don’t order from Alibaba. But if you shouldn’t use Alibaba or Aliexpress, then where should you get products from?
Where To Buy Dropshipping Products From
Alibaba certainly isn’t your only option to purchase products. Finding another supplier is easier than you think. Try following these steps to start:
- First, identify a brand whose products you want to sell.
- Locate their business website and click through the various pages.
- Find the page with information about how to become a vendor for that brand. For example, if you want to sell L’Oreal Paris, then you need to buy your products directly from L’oreal Paris or an authorized dealer.
Of course, not every brand is going to have a “click here to sell our brand” button on their website. You don’t just start off selling massive brand names either.
If you’re building the business yourself, you need to start with small brands and leverage your contracts to build your network. No one who is genuinely successful in e-commerce says it’s easy. It takes many hours of work just to get started.
Lucky for you, partnering with League Of Ecom means we will handle this entire process for you.
We have spent years establishing our distributor network. Today, every brand we sell has products already in the USA, so you don’t need to order from China and wait 3 to 4 months for the product to deliver. When we purchase products, they’re available for sale within 10 to 15 days.
By using USA-based distributors or simply buying directly from brands, we avoid all issues with copyright, trademark, or intellectual property infringements. Using our network also means access to higher-tier brands you wouldn’t have access to if you tried to start yourself or worked with different agencies.
Summary
Using Alibaba to source products for Amazon dropshipping is extremely risky.
The majority of Alibaba’s manufacturers do not follow trademark, intellectual property, or copyright laws. If you are caught selling counterfeit goods, there are massive legal consequences that you may have to face including large fines.
It’s much safer, more sustainable, and easier to open a contract with a brand in the USA and source your products from authentic distributors. Partnering with League Of Ecom ensures you are selling top-quality products from established brands in the USA.
Contact Us today to get started on Amazon the right way
