Anybody ordered through "Ali-Baba.com"?

[907tec]

Has anybody here used Ali-Baba.com for sourcing parts? I have come across the site a few times while hunting for rare items, but always got bad vibes. Lately I have been looking for fuser rollers to fit in Konica Minolta Biz C350/C351/C450 and it seems like the only option is ordering direct from manufacturers in China. Ali-Baba comes up in tons of my searches, and appears to be a portal for making orders direct to factory. I have sent a few emails to retailers through Ali-Baba and they are very quick to respond (not to mention...they have suspiciously good prices: about $30 for the lower sleeved roller).

With that being said...the site still seems a little shady. It would definitely be nice to hear some favorable reviews before sending my money out across the interwebs.

Here's one of the sites I was looking at: Minolta Bizhub Color C350/351/450 Lower Sleeved Roller - Detailed info for Minolta Bizhub Color C350/351/450 Lower Sleeved Roller,fuser roller,Minolta Bizhub Color C350/351/450 Lower Sleeved Roller,Bizhub Color C350/351/450 on Alibaba.com

[Gregg]

Most(all) of the vendors are overseas, its primarily wholesale.

[Gregg]

[QUOTE=Gregg;257419]Most(all) of the vendors are overseas, its primarily wholesale. If you need 500+ of anything its the way to go. but shipping takes a month.

[907tec]

Gregg, have you ordered from any of the vendors through Ali-Baba? Or are you assuming? I've spoken with 3 vendors so far that have minimum orders in the neighborhood of 10-20pcs, which seems acceptable to me. Shipping is definitely a concern, so I am eager to know if you are speaking from experience with this site...or generalizing.

[Gregg]

Ive ordered feed rollers etc. (small stuff just in case) and found that I really wasn't saving all that much with shipping time and cost, you can get a better price break like I said, if you order bulk. It just didn't seem worth it to me when i can get the same parts within 3 days with a 2-5% difference in price. If I were going to stock my shelves, that would be the place I would go.

[907tec]

Ahh, ok. Yeah, it definitely isn't my ideal place to get parts. However, I have been unable to find anyone in North America that sells fuser rollers for the Bizhub C350 family. Just don't want to end up on a Homeland Security watchlist for funneling money to terrorists or something.

[Gregg]

Ha Ha Ha.. I hear ya there.
I think its pretty legit, they've been around for a while now and a Buddy of mine wholesales equipment for export through them and does pretty well with it.
But like ya said, where it comes from or where it goes is kinda questionable when it comes to overseas transactions.
What about Katun? they dont have parts for the bizhub?

[907tec]

You know, I thought I remembered Katun selling the same rolls, too. But they apparently don't...or at least not anymore. Neither do Q2, Copylite, Precision, or Densi.

[Gregg]

Wow your right...
Thats weird, let me call a Kon/Min dealer i know here and see what they use for aftermarket.

[Gregg]

He said its the whole unit, they dont sell parts to rebuild that he knows of anywhere.
WOW. thats expensive sh*t there.