What the Heck Is Alibaba?

Alibaba.com is the largest and most successful import/export marketplace for entrepreneurs in the world. It boasts more than 24 million members in 200 countries. And it facilitates more than $5 billion in import/export transactions each year – everything from sleeping bags to cement mixers.

This makes importing a viable way for you to generate extra income on the side or as a full-time venture.

Through the Alibaba website, you can meet qualified suppliers (manufacturers and other sellers) and reach agreements on pricing, delivery, insurance, and even storage (if necessary). Then you can re-sell their products online.

And you don’t even need a website. All you have to do is list your products in the online marketplace – on high-traffic sites like eBay, Amazon, MSN Shopping, and Yahoo! Stores. You can customize your listings to make them really stand out. What’s more, you can feature your products on the front pages of these sites for a small fee.

One of the best ways to start making money with Alibaba is to focus on importing products that have the greatest demand. And the fastest way to find out which products are in demand is by reviewing Alibaba.com.

With some products, there are minimum order requirements, so you may need to purchase them in bulk. Even so, you can start out fairly small and grow from there.