Alibaba Group is going public this Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. That’s big news, as the Alibaba IPO is expected to become the biggest ever – raising around US$25 Billion. As we are not in finance, we’re not qualified to say anything but the IPO itself.
However, as leading experts on product compliance and supplier sourcing in China, we do have a few things to share on buying from suppliers listed on Alibaba.com. This week, we did get the opportunity to share our views with financial journalist Mia Saini, on Bloomberg TV. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to New York this time, but watch the video and learn why buying from Alibaba listed suppliers takes a lot more than simply pressing a “buy now” button.
About the Alibaba IPO
Outside of China, Alibaba is largely synonymous with the B2B supplier directory, Alibaba.com. The online supplier directory has made international trade accessible to small and medium sized businesses worldwide, since its launch in 1999 – but not without controversy. In 2011, a relatively large number of Alibaba employees were caught defrauding foreign buyers. As expected, Alibaba acted quickly and cleaned up it’s act.
Today, Alibaba.com is still the top supplier directory for businesses sourcing suppliers in China, and other Asian countries. However, the Alibaba IPO is not only about the supplier directory. The Alibaba Group also operates a range of other businesses, including Taobao.com, China’s leading B2C online market place, Aliexpress, AliPay and Youku Tudou. Earlier this year, Alibaba Group posted profits exceeding those of Ebay and Amazon – combined. I guess that explains why investors are quite excited about the company going public.
Read more about Alibaba on ChinaImportal.com
Alibaba Scams – 3 common types & how you avoid them
While Alibaba has cleaned up its act in recent years, there are still plenty of stories about buyers being scammed by Alibaba suppliers. Alibaba does not turn a blind eye to these scams, but there are limitations to what they can do in order to help victims of fraud. In this article we look into 3 common types of Alibaba scams and explain how you can prevent the scammer from evading your compensation claim.
Alibaba Gold Suppliers: A Beginners Guide
If you’ve ever browsed Alibaba.com for new suppliers and products you’re likely to be familiar with those nice and shiny “Gold Supplier” badges. There’s quite a bit of confusion among small business owners regarding the meaning, and importance, of a Gold Supplier Membership.
How to order from Alibaba in 3 steps
Do you have a product that you would like to order from a supplier on Alibaba.com? Ordering from Alibaba.com might seem like a simple task but a quick search on Google or the Alibaba forum proves the opposite. This article provides you with a step by step guide to ordering from Alibaba.
Thanks for the great insight and congrats on the publicity. You earned it!
Congratulations! But never lean back in your chair like that, it makes you look uninterested in the subject ;-)
Renaud, you’re right. For 2015 I will get a better posture and a new office chair!