China is known as the manufacturing hub of the world, so naturally, everyone is buying products from them. Be it electronics, fashion, cosmetics or even a fully assembled car, China exports all! Moreover, the products are very cheap and often have massive discounts.
China’s e-commerce sales make up 3.2% of the country’s GDP, which is more than the US even though it is generally termed as a 'consumer economy'. Online stores in China also have a wider range of products and have several unique products that are not available in America or Europe.
China has a fairly closed economy and the trade practices & standards are very much different from the rest of the world. Nearly 44% of global e-commerce is owned by just four Chinese companies. The problem is China is also a leader in selling unsafe products, according to European Commission data. If that is not enough warning, China has the largest number of hackers in the world.
We have already written about shopping using online marketplaces which could provide an insight into the general risks. Here we list some other specific risks of shopping from Chinese e-commerce sites.
There are few safety nets for online shoppers using online stores. We have listed some general rules to identify a fraud online shop. For Chinese sites, a consumer should take some extra caution due to the large number of sellers and few means to verify them.
Check your rights to return a product
We have also written about some of the most common mistakes consumers make when ordering stuff off Chinese e-commerce sites.
In general, we advise you to buy via Chinese marketplaces and due to the high number of scams, not on a smaller Chinese online store at this time.
We have listed some reliable market places that sell products from the country.
| E-commerce firm |
| Jingdong or JD.com |
| AliExpress |
| Banggood |
| DHgate |
| DealExtreme (DX) |
| GeekBuying |
| Shein |
| YesAsia |
| Gearbest |
| LightInTheBox |
| ClubFactory |
| Jollychic |
| ROMWE |
| Wish |
JD.com, Inc., also known as Jingdong and formerly called 360buy, is a Chinese e-commerce company headquartered in Beijing. It is one of the two massive B2C online retailers in China by transaction volume and revenue, a member of the Fortune Global 500 and a major competitor to Alibaba-run Tmall.
AliExpress is an online retail service based in China and owned by the Alibaba Group. Launched in 2010, it is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, such as Singapore, that offer products to international online buyers. It is the most visited e-commerce website in Russia and was the 10th most popular website in Brazil. It facilitates small businesses to sell to customers all over the world. AliExpress has drawn comparison to eBay, as sellers are independent and use the platform to offer products to buyers.
banggood.com, operated by Guangzhou Banggood Network Co., Ltd., is an internationally-focused online store that generates eCommerce net sales primarily in the United States as well as in Italy and the United Kingdom. With regards to the product range, banggood.com is an all-around online store, with products on offer that cover different categories, such as “Electronics & Media”, “Fashion” as well as “Toys, Hobby & DIY”. The online store was launched in 2006.
DHgate.com is a Chinese business-to-business (B2B) and Business-to-consumer (B2C) cross-border e-commerce marketplace that facilitates the sale of manufactured products from suppliers to small and medium retailers. It is one of the largest B2B-cross-border e-commerce trade platforms in China. The company is based in Beijing and has offices worldwide, including in the US and UK. The website sells numerous products, including a range of electronics, apparel, and health and beauty items, among many others. It is considered the largest digital platform in China that focuses exclusively on B2B transactions,[6] and is available in 8 languages including Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, and French.
dx.com, operated by DX.com Hong Kong, Ltd., is an internationally-focused online store that generates eCommerce net sales primarily in Brazil as well as in the United States and Spain. With regards to the product range, dx.com is an all-around online store, with products on offer that cover different categories, such as “Electronics & Media”, “Toys, Hobby & DIY” as well as “Fashion”. The online store was launched in 2005.
geekbuying.com, operated by GeekBuying.com, is an internationally-focused online store that generates eCommerce net sales primarily in the United States as well as in Germany and Italy. With regards to the product range, geekbuying.com achieves the greatest part of its eCommerce net sales in the “Electronics & Media” category. Furthermore, products from the “Toys, Hobby & DIY” category are part of the offer. The online store was launched in 2012.
Shein (styled as SHEIN) is a Chinese online fast fashion retailer founded in 2008. The company is known for its affordably priced apparel. TikTok plays a large role in driving customers to the company website due to a TikTok trend of bulk buying clothes from Shein and presenting Shein clothes to their audience like a standard haul video. On May 17, 2021, the number of Shein’s app downloads surpassed those of Amazon.
YesAsia (formerly AsiaCD) is an online retail company founded in 1998 that sells Asian entertainment products worldwide. After initially focusing on CD and video retailing, it has expanded into other entertainment and hobby products such as manga, video games and consoles, electronics and toys.
Gearbest, as a strategic brand product of the renowned Chinese cross-border enterprise Globalegrow, is backed by abundant funds and resources. Suppliers on Gearbest are managed through a professional rating system to select top suppliers and optimize the procurement of quality goods, while at the same time, maintaining the comprehensiveness of product categories.
LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. is an international online retail company that delivers products to consumers in over 200 countries and territories. It attracts the consumer by showing its lifestyle products through LightInTheBox.com, MiniInTheBox.com, and its other websites.
Club Factory is a fashion, beauty and lifestyle e-commerce store headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It was created by Jiayun Data Technology, a Chinese company, in the year 2014. Club Factory built an integrated supply chain from manufacturers to consumers for cross-border e-commerce. They scan the Internet to find factories that sell on Wish/eBay/Amazon, and bring consumers the best prices.
Jollychic is a one-stop e-commerce platform sells clothing and accessories online. Jollychic engages in the online retail of garments, shoes, bags, stationeries, pen, paper, babywear, baby accessories, sports goods, car electronics, plush and dolls, toys, bedding sets, wedding supplies, cleaning tools, storage racks, storage boxes, housewares, and kitchen appliances. Aaron Li founded it in 2012, with its headquarters in China.
romwe.com, operated by ZoeTop Business Co., Ltd., is an online store with nationally-focused sales. Its eCommerce net sales are generated mostly in the United States. Other countries only account for a small share of eCommerce net sales, e. g. France. With regards to the product range, romwe.com achieves the greatest part of its eCommerce net sales in the “Fashion” category. Furthermore, products from the “Food & Personal Care” category are part of the offer. The online store was launched in 2011.
Wish is an American online e-commerce platform that facilitates transactions between sellers and buyers. Wish is operated by ContextLogic Inc. in San Francisco, United States. The platform employs browsing technologies that personalize shopping visually for each customer, rather than relying on a search bar format. It allows sellers to list their products on Wish and sell directly to consumers. Wish works with payment service providers to handle payments and does not stock the products themselves or manage returns.
Sources: Wikipedia, Ecommercedb, Crunchbase
