Buying off of Alibaba?

[rabble]

There are trailers for sale on alibaba for a fraction of what the US made things cost. Looks like they were originally made for the Australian market.

Alibaba offroad trailers



The specs seem good. It's probably lower quality than the US made stuff, but the Australian market is no joke. Thoughts? What to look for when buying?

 

[XPLRMOR]

Looks like a decent rig at a good price. I wonder what shipping would run along with what recourse one would have if the item wasn't as advertise? I am also interested if anyone has any info to report.

 

[As Scooter]

I've tried to buy stuff from Alibaba. I paid for a lesson, because certainly did not receive merchandise,

 

[rabble]

Flights are cheap to china

I have buddies who are getting their products manufactured in china. They're doing custom stuff and it requires a lot of back and forth, he's in china every other month. But for this it's basically ordering what they had created for a client but now are creating white label. Flights are only $500 to china these days from the west coast. Part of me wants to hop on a plane and go check it out. Knowing that there's high risk that quality is not great.

 

[KK6POV]

Or you could buy American and support American workers!

 

[DaveInDenver]

I've tried to buy stuff from Alibaba. I paid for a lesson, because certainly did not receive merchandise,

Alibaba is all over the place. Being in electronics and most recently at an integrator it's basically mandatory that you deal with it. All you can do is vet the supplier and do your best. It's a little like Craigslist or eBay, you ask questions, do your due diligence and assume some risk and hope for some luck.

I've had some exceptional transactions on Alibaba, some not. Have always had the product delivered, though sometimes it was literally via a slow boat from China.

It's also not unusual that the product you get is counterfeit or if it's genuine it'll be outside the correct supply chain so won't meet specs. It actually seems that the later is the most common, products that are real but were QC rejects or production overrun that didn't get destroyed. This is where supplier vetting is necessary. But at a previous company, which was aerospace, we got counterfeit parts that made it through the manufacturer chain, the distribution chain and to us. This was not a small deal, either. A VERY large semiconductor company, the largest electronics supply chain with probably dozens of astute people and mountains of paperwork.

 

[Outside somewhere]

Or you could buy American and support American workers!

Or the op could make his heard earned money go farther. Free enterprise markets are a good thing.

 

[Biscuit1980]

It's intriguing but I am highly skeptical as these appear to be knock offs of other companies products and I don't see any info online beyond their alibaba ads. The company calls it's self "Conquer Falcon" but most google hits are for the company "Conquer" out of Australia and South Africa. I wouldn't want to be the first but I'd like to know more!

 

[XPLRMOR]

KK6POV- I would love to buy an American made trailer but unfortunately can not afford it.

 

[KK6POV]

KK6POV- I would love to buy an American made trailer but unfortunately can not afford it.

There are SEVERAL used ones for sale on here. Check 'em out. Don't mean to be tell you your business, but.... Buy AMERICAN! I try to as often as possible, although I know its not always possible.

 

[Chandlerdoom]

There are SEVERAL used ones for sale on here. Check 'em out. Don't mean to be tell you your business, but.... Buy AMERICAN! I try to as often as possible, although I know its not always possible.

Buying a used one isn't exactly "buying american" sure you'll have a american made product but your purchase did not support the american business only the guy you bought it from. Its just like used video game sales, all the profit to the reseller of the games and none to the actual studio (or whatever you want to call it)



On topic, Ive purchased many things from alibaba and like others have said its hit or miss. Best bet is to ask questions and do your part to ensure you are receiving what you want.

 

[k3vlar]

Buying American aside, I've looked into this myself. More specifically about a bumper for my 100. Found one that looked *exactly* like an ARB model, most likely reproduced with no regard to copyright infringement. However this is most often the case, they copy products looks from other companies that did the R&D, investment, manufacturing etc. But after researching the bumper it seemed like it was crap, welds, hardware, assembly, even the quality of the metals were terrible. Not to mention assembled in a country that has little to no regard for the rights and safety of its laborers. I know its terribly cliche, but you get what you pay for, and usually you continue paying for it long after the initial transaction. Needless to say, I'm saving for my bumper.

 

[Rourke7982]

There are trailers for sale on alibaba for a fraction of what the US made things cost. Looks like they were originally made for the Australian market.

Alibaba offroad trailers

View attachment 377610

The specs seem good. It's probably lower quality than the US made stuff, but the Australian market is no joke. Thoughts? What to look for when buying?

Did you ever look into this further?

 

[JRJKU]

I'd be interested if one could order one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[RogueWon]

... the tarrifs pretty much kill the deal at this point -