May 13

Just now we received an email from a famous UK-based store review website, informing us that a new review about our site www.chinawholesalereviews.com has been posted by a user. This is not the first reminder of this kind to us. Out of curiosity I clicked on the link included in the email to see how our readers rate us. Not surprisingly, again, I found that it was a misunderstanding as obviously the content did not talk about our site. Instead, it was a review of Lightinthebox.com:

“I have purchased several pairs of dance shoes from LightInTheBox, and have been very satisfied with my purchases. The shoes are well made and are reasonably priced. The customer service is also outstanding. I would highly recommend LightInTheBox.”

customer review of Lightinthebox.com

I took a closer look at the title of the thread and confirmed that it was intended to rate Chinawholesalereviews. And the thumbnail of our site shown on the left further proved it.

Interesting enough, it seems quite a number of our readers have mistaken us for a specific online store like Lightinthebox.com, Milanoo.com or Aliexpress.com. I often receive emails or find comments here asking us about the product details offered by some store or commenting on the products or services they’ve got from an online shopping website, which has been reviewed by us on this site.

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Mar 19

Technically, Lightinthebox.com and Aliexpress.com are completely different from each other. Aliexpress is a transaction platform connecting lots of Chinese suppliers and global buyers while Lightinthebox itself is a super big supplier. However, if you are looking for best websites to shop for wholesale or retail products from China, you can’t afford to miss out either of them. Below let’s see what are the respective advantages and disadvantages of buying from the two sites.

Who is more popular on the global market?

In terms of global popularity, Lightinthebox and Aliexpress are equally famous. Lightinthebox is more extensively known among end consumers although the online store also does wholesale business. Comparatively, as an express channel for wholesale transactions, Aliexpress is more popular among merchants, resellers or retailers, though it also has a great number of customers who shop there regularly for personal needs.

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Mar 07

Every time when I was asked:”Do you know any websites like Milanoo?”, without a second thought I answered:”Lightinthebox”. Likewise, when I saw someone looking for sites similar to Lightinthebox, “Milanoo” instantly popped up out of my mind and I just couldn’t help sharing what I know. The two websites are way too much about fashion and both are outstanding among all Chinese international online stores that offer clothing and accessories and other fashionable products. However, they do have differences and have their own pros and cons. The following Lightinthebox VS Milanoo comparisons may give you some inspiration.

Company Sizes & Founders

Lightinthebox is definitely much more famous than Milanoo on the global market as well as in the Chinese e-commerce arena. Lightinthebox (2006) was founded two years earlier than Milanoo (2008). Currently Lightinthebox has more than 600 full-time employees while Milanoo has about 300.

Headquartered in Beijing, Lightinthebox.com has a few branch offices across China, most of which are responsible for warehousing and shipping. The store was created by a group of talents led by Quji Guo, the former CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) of Google China. In terms of global credibility and company size, Lightinthebox is the biggest China-based B2C online shopping website of fashion products and consumer electronics. Anyway, its wholesale ranking is not so high.

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Feb 21

Sourcing goods from China to resell in Western countries can mean huge profits. At the same time, many end consumers choose to buy products from Chinese online retail stores as they can save really much by bypassing the various levels of middle men. However, it is never easy or hassle-free to trade with Chinese suppliers before trust is established. This post is going to talk about the major concerns over doing business with Chinese suppliers online and a few small recommendations on how to cope with them.

Payment Security

Payment MethodsThe biggest concern is about the security of payment: Which payment method do I use? Will my money go forever while my order never arrives? If the product I receive does not work as described or is damaged, can I get my money back?, and so on. We all know that paying by credit card is the safest option as we can file a chargeback on the purchase if we are not satisfied for whatever reason. Or, at least we should use Paypal to make the payment as it is an internationally reputable payment service provider. Nevertheless, we have to face the fact that most Chinese suppliers, especially smaller ones, have great difficulties in applying for credit card because of the strict government regulations and criteria. As a result, while being the least safe to buyers, Western Union and wire transfer are the most popular payment methods accepted by the vast majority of Chinese sellers.

If you pay direct to the seller by either of them, your money is completely exposed to any potential risks. Anyway, to minimize such risks, you use transaction websites like AliExpress.com (similar to eBay) as such they provide payment protection service – money is sent to the sites first and then released to the suppliers after items are received. Of course, you are encouraged to choose suppliers who provide safer payment options as possible as you can. Generally, bigger China-based online stores all accept Paypal and credit card payments: Lightinthebox.com, DinoDirect.com (also see DinoDirect Alternatives), Milanoo.com, FocalPrice.com, to name just a few. If you really want to try smaller Chinese online shopping websites that only accept Western Union or wire transfer, we would suggest you start with a fairly small order first to test the water before you build up your order over time.

Quality & Name-Brand Products

The quality issue is the second biggest concern. Made-in-China products tend to be viewed as poor quality, partly because they are extremely low priced. In our experience, it all depends. Comparatively speaking, products offered by more world-renowned companies are better in quality as reputation is what they are striving hard to gain and maintain in order to keep long-term business relationships with buyers. However, it does not mean that all small suppliers sell inferior quality merchandise. On the whole, apparel and accessories have less complaint in terms of quality while consumer electronics, computers and communications products have more.

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Feb 13

On this site we have introduced several well-known China electronic gadget online stores, including DinoDirect, FocalPrice, MiniInTheBox, ChinaVasion, Tmart, DealExtreme, Lightake and more. PriceAngels.com is yet another legitimate company that sells cool gadgets to foreign countries via internet. It is, like most of its biggest competitors, based in Shenzhen, the manufacturing hub of consumer electronics, computers & accessories, and communications products. This research-based PriceAngels review is simply intended to help you learn more about the company.

electronic gadget store priceangels.com

In the arena of China international e-commerce, PriceAngels is recognized as a fast-growing online shopping website of electronic gadgets that keeps a low-key stand. I used the biggest Chinese search engine Baidu to search for related information about PriceAngels, but got few useful results. It seems that the company is not mentioned much among people who work in the e-commerce industry. However, with rapid growth in daily turnovers and annual revenues, it is definitely not to be neglected for those who share the global electronic gadget market, such as DinoDirect.com and FocalPrice.com.

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Feb 03

Days ago, I got an email from a reader asking me about the credibility of a China online store. I have never heard of the site before. By the first glance at the web address the reader provided, I did not feel good as it looks not at all professional, something like “ying2008” (a person’s name plus the year number). Anyway, to help the reader better identify whether it is a scammer or not, I paid a visit to the online shop and then shared what I’ve found about the store with the reader by email. In case more readers have similar concerns, I decide to introduce some must-read tips that may help you find reliable China online retail or wholesale stores.

China online storesFirst of all, I think it necessary to define what kind of China online shops is “reliable”. When you trade with a Chinese online shopping website, don’t expect that it is completely complaint-free. I have emphasized this point again and again in my previous posts on this site. Even the most reputable international stores based in China have complaints or negative reviews, e.g. AliExpress.com, DinoDirect.com (see DinoDirect Review), Lightinthebox.com, etc. Generally, Chinese global web stores are more likely to be rated as unsatisfactory in terms of item quality and customer service standards, especially for electronic products. But it doesn’t mean that all made-in-China products are craps, nor that all customer service of China stores sucks. Customers’ expectations are usually a big reason for bad reviews. Based on my knowledge, what really matters is that the store is a legitimate company doing serious and honest business. Only on this condition should you further explore the other details of the shop before you make a shopping decision there.

Third-party reviews or customer reviews are helpful for identifying the legitimacy of a store. On ChinaWholesaleReviews.com, we have posted many research-based reviews of a number of the most popular China wholesale (and/or retail) stores that specialize in various product lines. You can use the search box to find if the store you are interested in has been reviewed here. If you find no results, it does not necessary mean that it is unlawful – we are still working hard to expose the basic facts of more stores that are legitimate.

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