Alibaba launch order inspection service

The one complaint I’ve heard over the years regarding Alibaba is that you’re never quite sure if the goods you receive will be the same as the goods you ordered, or even the same as the sample that your received.

Alibaba have done their best to resolve this issue over the years with AliExpress, enabling you to purchase small quantities, Escrow services, Gold Partners, and feedback to give reassurance from previous merchants purchases. Now they’ve launched a new “Order Inspection Service” currently in Beta where not only can you engage and inspector to check your order prior to shipment, but there are also financial penalties for inspectors should your order be incorrect when it arrives.

Alibaba hand-picked 20 China-based inspection companies, most of them based in the Pearl River Delta, China’s manufacturing hub, to participate. They vetted them by checking how many orders they handle per year, how many years they’ve been in the business and their experience dealing with overseas purchasers.

All participating inspection companies are required to demonstrate their good faith by putting up a deposit which may be forfeited to buyers in the event of a dispute. Inspection complaints are handled by Alibaba’s dispute-resolution team, which has the authority to pay 20 times the inspection fee up to $3,120 in compensation in the event of a faulty inspection. Alibaba also holds the buyers’ payments for inspection services in an escrow account until they agree to release funds to the inspectors.

Buyers use an online communication system to select inspectors and upload their requirements. Inspectors use the same system to upload their reports. Buyers then use the site to release funds to the inspectors.

The inspection services charge around $150 to $250 per day to carry out product inspections prior to shipping from the factories. For more details check out the full details of each approved inspector on the Alibaba Inspection Services website.