Handling fee

I am about to finalize my first deal, after months of learning and product search! My supplier is saying that if pay through Alibaba there is a handling fee of USD 115. Is that normal?

Yes normal, they try to get fees out of the buyer, but you can try and negotiate. Keep in mind that alibaba charges both parties so you will be paying their fees plus your own, thats why I prefer paypal where there is just 1 fee.

 The only price you should pay is whatever is negotiated. When paying through trade assurance, the alibaba fee for the buyer is automatically added at the end. Trade assurance also charges the seller, but thats not your responsibility and they’re trying to make you pay for it.

Google alibaba trade assurance fees and you’ll have a breakdown of exactly what is expected of both parties.

You will be able to get a much lower price if you work outside of Alibaba. We regularly see discounts of 30% nearly instantly outside, and when we go in and have the suppliers bid against each other locally, sometimes we can see reductions of 50% and warranties being added!

This is something my company does: http://movley.io. You will need someone local who can speak Chinese and has knowledge on the product line and the market. We call up different vendors, explain them requirements, obtain pricing, do manufacturing research, and the negotiate the top suppliers down by referencing other market prices.