People nowadays are preferring to directly buy their stuff from B2C companies because of the low prices. And hence I decided to curate this section of sites like Alibaba as this company is one of the largest B2B and B2C supplier in the world.
The idea behind these companies is to supply the products without any medium in between. They not only approaches to consumers but to other small scale businesses too and this is why they are called e-commerce giants. In this particular section, I am going to talk about more such sites other than Alibaba serving as B2B, B2C and C2C sources.
Top 10 Sites like Alibaba
Not only are these business models highly reliable but also easy on accessibility too. They are a global name and hence reaches to various customers easily. However, there are not too many of them and hence I picked out the 10 best options to curate for this category of sites like Alibaba. So, check out right away whether they deliver to your country or not.
1. Global Sources
Website: http://www.globalsources.com/
The first pick for the list of sites similar to Alibaba is Global Sources. This is a Hong Kong based Business to Business media company which works exactly like Alibaba. GS mainly works for those consumers who demands bulk products and hence small businesses prefer to buy their stuff from GS to avail products on wholesale prices.
They have been working actively from past 46 years and currently supplies their products to buyers from 240 different countries and territories.
Global Sources provides a variety of products to its millions of customers like bags and luggage, hardware, fashion apparels, mobile electronics, smart living solutions, auto-parts and accessories and many more. In fact, Global Sources also organizes timely events and Trade Shows to attract more and more consumers.
You can either become a buyer or also a registered seller here too. Global Sources makes one of the best sites like Alibaba which has been working tirelessly to supply at least 1000 units to a single consumer and there are millions of them out there. And the quality is undoubtedly the best in the market.
2. TradeKey
Website: http://www.tradekey.com/
Another China based B2B market in this list is TradeKey. It provides access to more than 9 million consumers around the globe and serves as one of the largest wholesale supplier in the world too. Trade Key has been in existence since 2006 and currently serves as one of the most trusted platforms for both exporters and importers.
TradeKey is one of the largest sites like Alibaba which connects consumers, businesses, buyers, importers and exporters from over 240 countries around the globe.
For registered sellers they provide premium services too which are served on the basis of various types of paid programs. These are SilverKey Membership, GoldKey Membership, GoldKey Plus Membership and VIP Membership with different prices and services.
Now, talking about the types of categories you can find on TradeKey then these are Agriculture, energy products, fashion apparels and accessories, automobiles, health and medicines, minerals and metallurgy and many more. You can become a member of this service right away for free and then can use it or buying as well as selling.
3. EC21
Website: http://www.ec21.com/
EC21 is the next choice for this list of sites like Alibaba and it is no less than a big opportunity for the people looking for their own online business. It is also based in China but has a global recognition and provides its services to buyers from more than 150 countries for both buying and selling.
This is also a type of B2B market and has been working since 1997. This global platform is popular for promoting small and medium sized enterprise as they can set up their own EC21 URL and start trading right away.
EC21 provides more than 7 million products but only in bulk volume and hence their price is of the wholesale rate. Types of products you can find here are consumer electronics, personal care, agriculture, construction and real estate, manufacturing machinery and many more.
For sellers, they provide three different types of membership options which are Basic for free and OK and Pro which are paid services with better features. You can get to know more about this platform when you will get on its homepage.
4. IndiaMart
Website: http://www.indiamart.com/
Did you know that IndiaMart is the second largest B2B marketplace after Alibaba? Well, at least I didn’t and not only India but this company serves to worldwide consumers. What makes it even more demanding is that it not only works on B2B business model but on B2C model too.
This makes it the most desirable Alibaba like sites for both small and medium businesses as well as individual consumers too.
Unlike other B2B websites, IndiaMart does not charge any amount for becoming a registered seller on it. In fact, it supports the emerging businesses even more than any other service provider ever. The category of products you can find on IndiaMart are industrial machinery, mobile and telecom, automobile parts, fashion accessories, building and construction and many more.
IndiaMart surely aces the category of sites like Alibaba and connects the buyers from so many countries together. The big brands you can find on this platform are Finolex, Force JCB, Motoros, Kohler, Lenovo, Philips and so many others belonging to variety of industries.
5. Amazon
Website: http://www.amazon.com/
Amazon is the largest e-commerce portal in the world but what makes them included in the list of sites like Alibaba is their connectivity. They not only brings down the best enterprise from the world together but also sell under their own registered name too where they manufacture the products on their own.
However, their B2B service is restricted to electronics section only but B2C services goes out through a lot of products in varying categories.
Amazon’s revenue ranks the highest after Alibaba group and this online platform is giving employment to millions of enterprises and individual people out there. The categories you can find on Amazon are electronics, fashion apparels and accessories, eBooks, food and grocery, home improvement, handmade stuff and many more.
However, when you opt to sell through the platform of Amazon then there are some platform charges which needs to be paid for this. But in return, you get to access the already established market of millions of consumers to offer your services to.
6. Made in China
Website: https://www.made-in-china.com/
Made in China as the name says it all is a leading China-based third party B2B e-commerce platform. Their objective is to aim on global approach where they can supply the Chinese origins products to the entire global market in order to employ the local Chinese enterprises.
They try to bridge the gap between global buyers and Chinese suppliers by maintaining the much-needed trust and security concerns. Hence it is required to register and verify yourself as the trusted supplier before you can start selling on Made in China.
There are more than 27 categories of products further divided into 3,600 sub-categories. Some of them are apparel and accessories, transportation, consumer electronics, construction and decoration, lights and lighting, manufacturing machinery and many more.
Made in China works exactly like the rest of the sites like Alibaba mentioned here but somewhere the area of service providing of it is less than others. Talking about the supplier registration then there are premium membership options also through which you can get access to additional features.
7. ThomasNet
Website: https://www.thomasnet.com/
Next Alibaba alternative you can consider for this list is ThomasNet. The working and objective of this website is different than other ones because it mainly works for suppliers discovery which means it works as a third party software/platform through which you can get to know about verified suppliers in USA and Canada.
It might not be the direct B2B functionary but supports completely to other small and middle enterprise who are looking for such supplier which can provide them bulk products on wholesale prices.
You can find more than 500,000 registered and verified suppliers with the help of ThomasNet in the variety of industries and services. Some of the product categories you can find on ThomasNet are Metals and Metal Products, Fashion, Process Equipment, Chemicals, Customer manufacturing and fabricating and many more.
ThomasNet works differently from other sites like Alibaba but it is surely a reliable source of finding the best supplier in variety of categories. There are millions of CAD models available on the site for preview and you can also register yourself here as a seller and that too for absolutely free.
8. Grainger
Website: https://www.grainger.com/
Founded in 1927, Grainger is the next pick for the category of sites like Alibaba. The main revenue of this site is generated from its usual Business to Business model but it also deals in retail sector too. The company of Grainger also operates in form of other subsidiaries too.
Grainger serves in various other categories too like distributors alliance program, info library, green resources, Grainger energy services and many more.
You can find a number of categories enlisted on Grainger like abrasives, hardware, security, hydraulics, lab supplies, power transmissions and many more. As the working model of Grainger is B2B, you are supposed to order in bulk instead of single piece supplies.
You would have to get registered here in order to become a buyer or seller and the entire process is verified to maintain the security of the website. You can also operate it through their mobile applications too.
9. DHGate
Website: http://dhgate.com/
Interestingly the next addition for this category of sites like Alibaba is also happens to be a China based company. DHGate is a type of B2B e-commerce website like the rest of the platforms mentioned here and no matter if it is based in China, DHGate provides its services to worldwide consumers.
The objective of DHGate is to provide the manufactured products from small and medium enterprises to the needy buyers and in this way it promotes the employment for small enterprises as well as individual consumers.
It also operates a retail business but it has a completely different website for it. The categories you can find here are electronics, home and garden, lights and lighting, health and beauty, sports and outdoor, automobile and motorcycle and hundreds of many more other sectors.
Their ultimate aim is to promote the products of Chinese sellers into the entire global market but on reasonable/wholesale prices only. They provide 100% buyer protection and also bridges the gap between demand and supply chain.
10. ECPlaza
Website: https://www.ecplaza.net/
And the final pick I made for the list of websites similar to Alibaba is ECPlaza. This is a top B2B portal based in Korea. It started its operation in 1996 and soon became the top trade leader which provides its services through both online and offline medium to more than 1 million consumers.
Interestingly, this is the only option amongst other sites like Alibaba which keeps the process of registration optional but it is for buyers only.
The categories in which ECPlaza serve are agriculture, hardware, telecommunications, electrical equipment, chemicals, health and medical and hundreds of many more products and services. For the sellers, they offers premium membership options too named Yes Silver and Yes Gold which provides additional benefits.
They have a number of brands connected with them under tie-up schemes but they are mainly Korean as they promote the employment in Korea and connects the Korean sellers to global buyers.
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Conclusion
I strongly believe that consumers (large or small) should support the concept of these sites like Alibaba. This is because they are a direct source of the consumer’s requirements and hence you can save big while directly shopping from them instead of the other middle-men.
I hope these options are going to serve you in better way. As the main area of service of Alibaba is China, I thought of mentioning other e-commerce giants which serve globally. You can shop from more such sites as I could not list them all here.
