DHgate is a B2B (business to business) trading platform where importers can buy small volumes from Trading Companies in China. DHgate has been accused of being a scam website, which is not true. I’ll begin by explaining what DHgate really is:
- DHgate is not an online store but a market provider, similar to Amazon or Ebay
- DHgate is used by almost one million small Chinese vendors. DHgate does keep a close watch on the suppliers and don’t take scams lightly. However, it’s impossible to guarantee that every single supplier is legit
Avoiding DHgate scammers is fairly easy, avoiding illegal or low quality products is not so easy. There are two simple reasons for this:
- There is no universal definition of “good quality”. What the supplier in China or a buyer in Russia might consider to be “good quality” might not be considered the same in your country or market. I strongly suggest that you always purchase samples before you order a new product, even if it’s from a supplier you got experience buying from and trust
- The US and EU have regulations in place for certain products such as cosmetics, toys, baby products, plastics and electronics (among others). Most products on DHgate.com are made in China, for China. Products made for the domestic market are rarely made according to American or European certification requirements
How to find certified products DHGate.com
Some suppliers on DHgate offers CE, RoHS and FCC certified products. The easiest way to weed out uncertified products is to type in the product name along with the certificate standard in the search field.
Now you should see a list of certified products. Remember that some unscrupulous suppliers are dishonest and tell the importer whatever they want to hear so make sure that you ask your supplier for a test report or certificate that proves their claim. When you’ve received a digital copy of the report you can contact the testing company and ask them to verify the authenticity and validity of the document. We also recommend you to follow this checklist:
- Is the product name on the certificate matching the product name on DHgate.com?
- Is the tested certificate standard matching the standard required by your country or market? (Notice! The US and EU have different product standards)
How to avoid bad suppliers
DHgate.com is a market place for thousands of suppliers, similar to Ebay. There are plenty of reliable suppliers, but there are scammers out there too. Follow these our advice in order to identify good suppliers and avoid scammers:
- Use safe payment methods such as Escrow payment and avoid Western Union payments
- Avoid suppliers without any buyer feedback
- Avoid suppliers with only a few products in their DHgate store
- Avoid suppliers with incredibly low prices – expect to get what you pay for
How to avoid receiving the wrong or damaged items
While plenty of importers are making money importing products from DHgate, it’s important to be careful when you select a supplier online. The most common issues when buying from Aliexpress are the following:
- Receiving damaged products
- Receiving the wrong items
- Receiving fake products with brand name logos
Follow these steps if you want to avoid these issues:
- Review the DHgate supplier buyer feedback, including the negative feedback
- If a supplier proves to be reliable, stick to them. Don’t change suppliers on a regular basis even if others may be a few dollars cheaper
How American and European businesses can buy safely from DHGate.com
Certain products in the USA and EU requires compliance with certain product standards such as FCC, CE and EN71. Far from all products offered on DHgate.com are complying with American and European product standards. While there still are plenty of quality products to buy from DHgate.com we recommend US and EU buyers to avoid certain products, such as toys, electronics, baby products, vehicles, cosmetics or chemical products.
Disclaimer
This article is provided only for informational purposes only and neither the author nor any companies and/or service providers mentioned in this text makes any representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information in this article. This article only represents the views of the author and is not endorsed by any company and/or service provider mentioned in this text.