Originally Posted by XD2

I have a couple of clients who do this, one of them goes out to China to meet with the manufacturers before he buys so i doubt that is relevant to you. Another has done a lot through AliBaba, he gave me quite a lot of good advice on it, but to much to write here.

Remembering Import Tax is very good advice though especially if you are importing a lot, and also remembers they decide what the value of the item is for tax, doesn't matter what you paid or YOU think it is worth.

Apart from that, do background checks on the company and probably only go for companies on AliBaba who are like 3+ Years Gold suppliers.

Getting samples is a good idea to before a big order.