About to place my first Alibaba.com order......any advice?

[acecard]

Hi guys,

So been doing lots of research into the LiFePO4 cells I want for my DIY powerwall and have settled on a seller on Alibaba.com. Done due diligence, seems good, and others on here have ordered from the supplier before, so I think I'm happy with that. The supplier seems to know what they are doing, and send you a cell matching proof video with your order. Read the sales contract and everything looks in order and will be paying on VISA credit card in order to have some Section 75 protection............ready to take the plunge! Anything else that I should be thinking about with regards to Alibaba.com purchases before hitting the "Make payment" button?!

Thanks guys
AC

 

[Thermodynamical]

I'm actually placing my own first order as well for some lifepo4 cells later this week. I wasn't sure if you have come across it, but member Ghostwriter66 wrote up a great post here on some ordering tips in case you haven't covered all the bases. I am definitely making sure to get them to tell me in writing that the cells are indeed "Grade A" before I click that payment button myself... other than those tips I have no idea.

 

[Ampster]

Be prepared for the disappointment if your credit card is not approved by Alibaba. Several of mine were declined with no rhyme or reason because there was plenty of availability. I even told one CC company that I was traveling in China and still nothing. I do not think Alibaba even went to my CC company because normally I get text messages from them. I finally went with another vendor who agreed to take Paypal because I wanted the same protection. Other than that I has been a nice journey.

 

[acecard]

I'm actually placing my own first order as well for some lifepo4 cells later this week. I wasn't sure if you have come across it, but member Ghostwriter66 wrote up a great post here on some ordering tips in case you haven't covered all the bases. I am definitely making sure to get them to tell me in writing that the cells are indeed "Grade A" before I click that payment button myself... other than those tips I have no idea.

Thanks for the link. I think I have everything covered. I just fired one final message to the seller and then will proceed (based on the answer of course!).

 

[acecard]

Be prepared for the disappointment if your credit card is not approved by Alibaba. Several of mine were declined with no rhyme or reason because there was plenty of availability. I even told one CC company that I was traveling in China and still nothing. I do not think Alibaba even went to my CC company because normally I get text messages from them. I finally went with another vendor who agreed to take Paypal because I wanted the same protection. Other than that I has been a nice journey.

Yeah I've heard about this.......fingers crossed!!!!!

 

[Thermodynamical]

Good luck!

 

[acecard]

Good luck!

Order made! Now I'll wait to receive them!!!

 

[acecard]

Be prepared for the disappointment if your credit card is not approved by Alibaba. Several of mine were declined with no rhyme or reason because there was plenty of availability. I even told one CC company that I was traveling in China and still nothing. I do not think Alibaba even went to my CC company because normally I get text messages from them. I finally went with another vendor who agreed to take Paypal because I wanted the same protection. Other than that I has been a nice journey.

My card DID fail the first time! Their help centre says that the same card will not be able to be used, but I ignored that and just did it again and the payment went through!! Phew! Lucky because I wasn't prepared to use any other payment method, not even PayPal because that is not covered by Alibaba.com protections.

 

[Ampster]

Good, glad it worked. I have heard that approach has worked. Paypal protections are much greater than Alibaba protections as are Credit Card protections. Debit Card protections are not so great.

 

[svetz]

You might find @ghostwriter66's thread useful: How to order Chinese Batteries