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The U.S. Small Business Administration says that Alibaba alternatives are a must for companies that want to diversify their suppliers. Other overseas providers include Chinabrands, India Mart, and HKTDC. For businesses looking for suppliers close to home, U.S. companies like Thomas Net and Worldwide Brands are good options.
Sourcing products from China and other foreign suppliers is a common practice for many U.S. businesses. Many companies and small business owners have used Alibaba as their provider of choice for years. However, using a single supplier can leave your business susceptible to supply chain disruptions. Sourcing from multiple providers abroad and at home keeps your business flexible.
Below, we’ll take a close look at 19 of the most commonly used and reputable Alibaba alternatives.
Important note: The information contained in this article does not serve as an endorsement of the companies listed here. Before doing any business with the companies discussed in this article, conduct your own research to determine their quality and fit with your company.
Alibaba is a Chinese-based Business-to-Business (B2B) eCommerce store that sells wholesale products from suppliers in China to businesses around the globe. It’s China’s largest eCommerce network, and one of the biggest B2B eCommerce stores in the entire world.
Its parent company is the Alibaba Group, which is headquartered in Hangzhou, China. As you can see by the statistics we’ve provided, the Alibaba Group has done very well financially in the last few years, increasing its status as a reputable source for suppliers and products.
| Year | Revenue |
| 2020 | $509,711 |
| 2021 | $717,289 |
| 2022 | $853,062 |
| 2023 | $868,687 |
There are a several other companies that contribute to the Alibaba Group’s success, including some of its subsidiaries such as:
Alibaba is used by hundreds of millions of business owners and suppliers, so it’s no surprise that it’s usually a person’s first choice when looking for wholesale pricing on products, parts, or supplies. We would just like to point out that it’s not your only choice.
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Some would argue that Alibaba is the best choice on the web for getting in contact with foreign suppliers, but that’s not necessarily true. Sure, Alibaba does many things right — it’s intuitive, facilitates easy communication with suppliers, and the site is completely in English — but that doesn’t mean it’s the only good online marketplace.
There are many reasons to consider alternatives. For one, maybe you’re looking to source your goods somewhere other than Asia due to the political climate of the last few years.
Perhaps you want to try something cheaper, faster, or more flexible than Alibaba. These are all valid reasons to consider looking in other places for suppliers.
Even if you’re content with Alibaba, looking for suppliers on other sites could have some benefits for you as well — such as:
Take a look at some of Alibaba’s top competitors, not just in China, but elsewhere in the world to find the right suppliers for your business.
Global Sources is one of Alibaba’s top competitors — and with good reason. Their thorough vetting process weeds out trading companies and fake accounts, meaning almost all the suppliers you can contact are genuine manufacturers.
In addition to that, this site isn’t limited to just Asia. As its name suggests, they show manufacturers from all over the world. The site is also clean and easy to use, and completely in English.
Global Sources has a variety of different products that are organized into the following categories:
With so many categories of products available, businesses of many varieties will have access to the goods they want to sell. The quality of products offered by Global Sources tend to be much better than what can be found on Alibaba.
However, this alternative isn’t without its faults. The prices listed on the site don’t always reflect the true cost, so it’s important to go over everything with any supplier you contact.
Additionally, they tend to have high minimum order quantities (MOQ), so you’ll need to purchase large quantities of products, which can be a problem for smaller companies.
DHGate is a great alternative to Alibaba because of its immense variety of items. They have suppliers selling extraordinarily niche products, so if you can’t find products you need on Alibaba, you should definitely check DHGate next.
As an added bonus, they have particularly low minimum order quantities — sometimes even as low as a single item for some suppliers.
The site works much like Alibaba, and it even looks pretty similar, too. It’s also all in English, and it makes it easy to find, reach out to, and negotiate with suppliers. DH Gate pricing is considered one of the cheapest online marketplaces in the world. You can expect to find products that are 90% cheaper than what you would find at a retail store.
One downside of DHGate is quality control. Many buyers have complained the products they ordered didn’t arrive as they were described. In other cases, buyers complain the quality of the goods ordered were terrible.
All.Biz focuses mostly on suppliers in Europe, so if you’re looking for suppliers outside of Asia, this is a great place to start looking. In addition to that, not only is it a great place to source wholesale products, you can also order private label products for company-branded goods. That makes this site good for more than one main purpose!
This site deviates visually from Alibaba a bit, but it is still easy to navigate. Contacting suppliers is a breeze, and the page even automatically translates itself depending on your browser’s preferred language settings.
Made in China shows suppliers mostly from China and other Asian countries, and although it’s not as large as Alibaba, it has some benefits. For one thing, it has reasonable minimum order quantities for small businesses, so you don’t have to feel pressured to overstock just to meet their order requirements.
In addition to that, you would likely find many more smaller manufacturers who would be open to negotiating, and can offer you more personalized product options. Made-In-China also provides audit reports that describe the quality control of each supplier.
The site looks muchlike Alibaba’s, and its clean layout is completely in English. It is well organized, making everything easy to find.
One of the most popular imported items, car parts, is a hot commodity on Made in China’s website. To learn more about this process, check out our article Importing auto parts to the U.S.
A company that’s been around since 2004, Chinavasion partners with tons of suppliers and offers a plethora of products. Furthermore, this website has many positive aspects that can help out your business. Chinavasion’s specialty is providing Chinese-made electronics to buyers.
This includes products like:
Another benefit is that Chinavasion offers wholesale purchasing as well as certain retail items. These retail items periodically go on sale, meaning you can still purchase those when they are discounted and flip them for a profit.
Chinavasion doesn’t have a minimum order quantity, which is perfect for businesses of all sizes. They also use a no-questions asked return & refund policy in case the goods that arrive are subpar for any reason.
As for the drawbacks: if you want wholesale pricing, you’ll have to reach out to the seller directly. Also, as is often the case when ordering items from Asia, shipping can take up to a month to reach you.
Chinabrands has an expansive amount of goods — over 1 million unique listings — for purchase. The company itself touts that it has no minimum order quantity (MOQ), wholesale pricing, a 24-hour lead time, and dropshipping capabilities.
It’s important to note that even though there is no MOQ, you will receive a better price for buying in bulk in many cases. Like Alibaba, you have to create an account, but you don’t have to pay a subscription fee to source products for your business.
For an Alibaba substitute not located in China, there is IndiaMart. They’re an essential player on this list, since their only focus is on suppliers in India. Events in the past few years have been encouraging business owners to move manufacturing out of China and diversify their supply chains.
Indiamart offers a variety of goods, such as:
IndiaMart makes it easy to get into contact with suppliers in India. Most users use the popular app WhatsApp to communicate between suppliers and buyers, making it easy. The site is mostly in English, but the translations can seem a bit off in places. Still, it is easy to navigate and understand.
Another useful feature on IndiaMart are the detailed supplier profiles it offers. This gives buyers more insight into the supplier they’re using.
Speaking of India, many importers turn here when importing rice. To learn more, check out our article on import costs from India.
The JD stands for Jingdong Mall and that’s what this online retailer is like. Boasting an assortment of products after starting off as an electronics provider, JD.com now sells pretty much anything you can think of. It is considered a secure way to buy goods from China.
A large portion of their site targets consumers. That said, there’s a wholesale section on the site for businesses as well. In this part of JD’s site, companies can purchase goods in bulk and enjoy more affordable per-item prices.
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The following alternatives to Alibaba get their own category for one very specific reason — unlike Alibaba, some of the following websites are not set up for businesses to buy directly from the website. Rather, the websites act as a middle man where products are displayed, but you’ll have to directly contact the manufacturer to purchase the items.
Known as Business-to-Business Directories, or Trade Directories, they are sites that exist specifically to provide contact information.
Even though the websites don’t function in the same exact way as Alibaba and some of its other direct competitors, they still serve the purpose of providing an alternative to challenge Alibaba.
Think of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) as a go-between for suppliers and buyers. While a vast array of products can be found here from more than 100,000 suppliers, it’s still just a trade directory, so you can’t buy said goods. Instead, you receive the suppliers’ information and then reach out to them.
From there, you’ll negotiate the cost of the products and shipping directly with the supplier. While goods can’t be purchased from the site, HKTDC’s online marketplace is where businesses can view detailed product information.
This includes:
HKTDC also has a Small-Order Zone that allows businesses to order small quantities of products from verified sellers.
This Chinese website is for retail products, so you might not get the cheapest prices. In fact, there are no markdowns for big orders and attempting a wholesale purchase can only be done on a case-by-case basis.
However, the positives are numerous enough that this could be an option worth looking into. For starters, there are thousands of suppliers and products available. This does give the option to reach out to suppliers directly.
Like Alibaba, you also receive buyer protection and buy retail. There are always sales on the website for retail products, and there are a variety of ways that Lightinthebox allows you to pay.
This is another Hong Kong-based company that helps link wholesalers with businesses. Another site with a large array of different products, it can be considered an option other than Alibaba because of the very reasonably priced goods.
Shipping is free, which can be a huge savings on your end. However, because the shipping is free, it tends to take quite a while. One other con of using TinyDeal is its difficulty for use as a dropshipping service.
This might be the opposite of using a site like Alibaba, but it can still get the job done if you know what to do. The website is a conduit of sorts in that you tell support personnel what you’re looking for and they in turn contact suppliers and tell them what, how many and at what price you’re willing to pay.
This system may actually help you get a more narrow list of suppliers faster because it’s weeding out those that don’t meet your criteria early on.
Product categories offered by ECVV include:
Another great part about using ECVV is that they help connect you with what you need at no additional cost to you. While ECVV is a reliable Alibaba alternative, their product and supplier choices are somewhat limited compared to other sites.
This is strictly a dropshipping affair and while it shares some likenesses with Alibaba, it works differently. Doba helps businesses in a variety of ways. For one, it helps retailers access millions of wholesale products from their numerous suppliers.
Doba also provides its users with advanced search capabilities to gain more information on the products they offer. Using this will help you determine the top-selling items at a given time. Based on this information, businesses can identify a retail strategy for their unique situation.
Yes, this is part of Alibaba, but hear us out. AliExpress is built for those willing to pay retail prices in exchange for being able to purchase smaller quantities of an item. In many cases, the prices are still cheap enough that you should be able to turn some profit.
It is an alternative to Alibaba’s more quantity-focused business model. You also will have access to most of the goods sold on Alibaba since both websites share many of the same suppliers.
While you might be looking overseas because of expensive domestic costs of products in the first place, don’t dismiss some websites that have their foothold in America. There are numerous U.S. substitutes for Alibaba that your business can use.
This includes:
Using these suppliers will have an array of advantages. First, products won’t have to travel from overseas, which helps your business save on shipping costs. Since these suppliers are in the U.S., it won’t take long for the ordered goods to arrive.
We’ll discuss these best alternatives to Alibaba located in the U.S. in detail to show you what each one has to offer.
ThomasNet is a sourcing platform that offers various industrial products. It’s essentially a giant database on different suppliers and items.
Company profiles on ThomasNet include:
ThomasNet can help businesses find a supplier that’s right for them with their custom quotes. After filling these out, ThomasNet will recommend up to five qualified suppliers that are suited to your needs.
Another U.S. alternative to Alibaba is Worldwide Brands. They have directories that businesses can use to locate dropshippers, bulk wholesales, and online sellers.
Sometimes, it can be difficult for you to locate the exact products you want to sell. Fortunately, Worldwide Brands offers product requests that businesses can fill out. After completing one of these, they’ll track down the item and the wholesaler selling it.
A U.S. B2B platform that only supports wholesaling is Wholesale Central. They have a supplier directory and a product page for businesses to review. However, the goods that can be viewed don’t have detailed information.
Wholesale Central allows you to select suppliers based on category. They also let businesses search a specific product name to find the vendor they require. Wholesale Central has a collection of over 380,000 items and numerous supplier categories.
Supplier Database is an Amazon selling tool run by Jungle Scout. On this site, you’ll be able to find verified sellers and find useful information on what they have to offer. Businesses can also locate factories that manufacture the products they wish to purchase and sell.
The site includes other types of support, such as:
With these tools, Supplier Database will provide you with everything you need to run a successful Amazon business.
There are many Alibaba alternatives that your business can choose from. Regardless of where in the world you decide to source goods, USA Customs Clearance has the expertise to get your goods into the country.
Here are a few services we have to offer:
Avoid the challenges of importing goods into the country with the expertise of USA Customs Clearance. Our skilled and talented team will move your goods with ease. Call us at (855) 912-0406 to get started with our services, or look into our Import Self-Help Guides to get a head start.
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