Open Sesame - The Legend of Ali Baba

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# Open Sesame
## The Legend of Ali Baba

.bottom.right[
Christopher Biggs, .logo[Accelerando Consulting]
<br>@unixbigot .logo[@accelerando_au]
]

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# Who am I?

## Christopher Biggs — .teal[@unixbigot] —  .logo[@accelerando_au]

* Brisbane, Australia
* Former developer, architect, development manager
* Founder, .logo[Accelerando Consulting]
* Full service consultancy - chips to cloud
* ***IoT, DevOps, Big Data***

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.crumb[
# Intro
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# Ali Who?

* AliBaba.com - Founded 1999, by Jack Ma
* Biggest e-commerce site in the world. Valued at $420Bn.
* "Open Sesame" - connecting manufacturers of China to the world
* Now: B2B, B2C, C2C, Payments & more

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# Outline

* Finding products.
* Choosing a seller
* Paying
* Shipping
* Support
* Now I want 10000

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.fig60[
![](aliexpress.png)]

.spacedown[
# Finding products]

## Ali Express (aliexpress.com)

* Ali Express connects small businesses to buyers
* Sort of like eBay

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# Finding
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# What can I Buy?

## Everything

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# Finding

## Search or Browse

* If you know what you want, search
* If you just want shinies, browse categories
* The recommendation engine is quite good

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# Intro
# Finding
# Choosing
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# Choosing

* Free shipping?
* Sort by Price, but look out for shipping cost
* Country of origin may affect price
* Quantity may affect shipping cost
* Use your wishlist to shortlist items
* Review seller feedback

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# Buying

* Select shipping cost
* Select product options (eg colour, power supply)
* Consider power plugs (ask for an AU plug)

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# Paying

## Credit card is fine - AliPay are huge

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# Finding
# Choosing
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# Shipping
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# Shipping

* Free but slow - 4-6wk
* ePacket - few bucks, 1-2wks
* Courier - sometimes cheap, sometimes not

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# Where is my item

* Internal tracking is good, but lots of clicks
* 3rd party tracking tool - Aftership (app, website)

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# No really, where is my item

* 60 day buyer protection
* Open dispute if unhappy
* Pay attention to your messages (you ignore, you lose)

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# Finding
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# Support & Feedback

* Sellers generally helpful
* Leave feedback on good ones

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# Intro
# Finding
# Choosing
# Buying
# Shipping
# Support
# Volume
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.fig70[
![](alibaba.png)]

.spacedown[
# Can I have a shipload?
## AliBaba.com - Direct from wholesalers
]

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# Dealing with exporters

* Same process - search, buy
* Minimum buy quantity

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# If you like it, put a ring on it
## Zero interaction buying is possible

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# Or, open a Request for Quotes
## Bring your stick

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# Talking to sellers
## Business at the speed of light

* Sellers will negotiate or customise
* Have an account on WeChat and Skype

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# "How much for samples"?
## And in volume?

* Sellers will give you a sample price for 5ish items
* Volume pricing will be much better, of course

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# Proforma Invoice
## Pay with PayPal

* Typically use paypal for sample orders
* Other methods possible for big orders

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# Your new best friend

* Follow up will be cheerful, and persistent
* Be honest, if you don't like something, say so

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# The government is not your friend

* Orders over $1000 will attract GST and processing fees
* $1000 order may attract $100GST plus $120 in fees.
* So make orders under $1000, or go really big

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# Volume
# Coda
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# Alternatives to AliBaba

* DealExtreme.com (AU warehouse for some items)
* Amazon.com (Soon? Who knows?)

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.fig40[
![](keep-calm.jpg)
]

# Summary
.left[
* Finding products.
* Choosing a seller
* Paying
* Shipping
* Support
* Now I want 10000
]

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# Resources, Questions

## Related talks - [http://christopher.biggs.id.au/#talks](http://christopher.biggs.id.au/#talks)

## Me - Christopher Biggs

- Twitter: .blue[@unixbigot]
- Email: .blue[christopher@biggs.id.au]
- Slides, and getting my advice: http://christopher.biggs.id.au/
- Accelerando Consulting - IoT, DevOps, Big Data - https://accelerando.com.au/
]

???

Thanks for your time today, I'm happy to take questions in the few
moments remaining and I'm here all week if you want to have a longer
chat.   Over to you.