2. DHGate A Scam? Or The Ultimate
Chinese Wholesaler? A Little Bit
Of Both, Maybe
A few years ago I entered the world of online entrepreneurial
and naturally selected eBay as my primary marketplace for
selling and trading. I wanted to create a profitable business
on the online auction giant and hopefully steal some of the
2+ billion dollar market. So, as when anybody is starting an
eBay business, their first quest is for reputable wholesale
suppliers whose prices are within a reasonable profit
margin, right? Well, this was my case anyways. So, I
started searching online for suppliers of iPods. digital
cameras, computers and mostly high-end consumer
electronics. I mean, that's where most of the market is,
correct? Correct.
3. The next logical rationale was that the most competitive
wholesale suppliers would be those overseas. After all,
most of the fortune 500 companies outsource their labor to
third world nations and primarily the Orient. So, I ended up
finding some great suppliers that processed online
payments and even used escrow-like services (after losing
quite a bit of money sending non-secured payments
through money transfer companies and wire transfers; see
my other post for ways to avoid this). There is one in
particular that I would like to talk about: DHGate. Dhgate is
sort of the Chinese version of eBay; well, sort of anyways.
4. This is a site that hosts suppliers in a marketplace
environment almost identical to eBay, with two major
exception: we're talking about wholesale items and a
marketplace that fosters negotiation rather than auctionstyle listings. The site works like this: you browse the
suppliers and come across for instance a supplier selling
digital cameras. You like it, and email the supplier and
haggle him down a few bucks and you come to an
agreement on a price. Now, you pay DHGate the amount
in question, via either Paypal or credit card. Dhgate holds
the funds in escrow until you receive the merchandise and
sign off on the trade.
5. It's all very safe, for the most part. There are some traders
that don't accept the escrow payments through DHgate
and will try and coerce you into sending payment via an
unsecured method, such as again, wire transfer or any
instant money transfer service. Please don't do this
because you WILL lose your money. There are no
questions about it.
6. There is one major problem with the site, however. The vast
majority of the items are COUNTERFEIT, mostly when
you're talking about clothing. The electronics are a little
different. The majority of them are not counterfeit, they're
just knock-offs, but they don't advertise the original
company's logo in any way, which is okay. And just
remember that when you are importing counterfeit clothing
from overseas, customs will pick up on it. Perhaps not right
away, but eventually they will catch it and either discard
the items, or if they so wish, levy charges in association
with the Manufacturing company. Yes, I am speaking from
experience, but thank God in my situation, I was able to
sweet-talk my way out of any major trouble....
7. For more info you can check my
sources:
http://dhgatescam.org/
http://bit.ly/1dOz9jF
