I have great respect for Mr. Jack Ma. He built an amazing company that made global trade so much simpler. Unfortunately, his era has passed—he’s now retired, and people often see him cycling in parks or taking walks.
Today, Alibaba is effectively a state-owned company. With Jack Ma stepping back, the company is quietly changing.
You might trust Alibaba, but what I’m about to share might change your perspective.
Alibaba’s third-party escrow system still works. Honestly, it’s probably the most useful part of the whole platform.
But if you’re looking for excavators or their parts on Alibaba, believe me, most of them are probably not actually in stock. Most of the pictures are two years old. Unlike Amazon, which only lists items that are actually in its warehouses, Alibaba doesn’t work that way. This is more a feature of B2B marketplaces than a problem with Alibaba itself.
Here’s the thing: Alibaba’s system rewards users who constantly update their products and keep their accounts active—it’s similar to Google SEO. Almost every company keeps uploading new listings to avoid being outranked by competitors.
But what if a company only has a dozen excavators? How do they keep up? Usually, they do things like this:
1. Take photos of the same excavator from different views and give each group of photos a different title.
2. Use competitors’ excavators to pad their own listings.
3. Copy pictures from other accounts or platforms.
When a customer asks if an excavator is in stock, the answer is almost always: YES!
Because the market is open, any salesperson can quickly find a matching excavator to show a customer. Even if the customer comes in person, there will be a machine to show.
Think about it—what single company could realistically stock hundreds of excavators? If it existed, it would be massive, and you’d see its ads all over the world. The truth is, such companies don’t exist.
Another point: Alibaba’s ranking favors account spending over effort. A company that spends 700,000 RMB a year can easily rank in the top three in its industry. Whenever you search “Excavator” on Alibaba, you’ll see it. But a company that spends only 100,000 RMB a year will struggle to rank high, no matter how hard they try. Most small business owners don’t want to waste money on heavy promotion. Still, effort is better than doing nothing.
If I were to set up an Alibaba account again, I’d upload very few products but improve video quality, with English explanations for each model. My main focus would be using Alibaba’s third-party escrow system. Honestly, it’s better to spend marketing budgets on Google or Meta—they’re more reliable.
Later, when you see an excavator on Alibaba that you like, you can ask the seller to shoot a short video of himself or herself with the machine. That way, you can test whether the seller is being honest. It’s a pretty simple method, right?
Once, I told a customer: “The nameplate on this excavator was painted over during refurbishment. We’ll replace it with a matching one.” Meanwhile, another salesperson said: “We removed the nameplate to prevent misuse by others.” Which one sounds like a sales pitch, and which one sounds like the truth?
In my view, if you start with a lie, you need more lies to cover it. When you get used to living in lies, it’s impossible to stay genuine. If you ask me whether I’ve ever lied to a customer, the answer is: yes. But it makes me feel really guilty. I believe I could probably sell you an excavator using those sales tactics—but we couldn’t be friends. And once you know the truth, you might never trust me again. Life is long, though, and I want myself and those around me to live honestly and freely, without the burden of lies.
Sadly, in China, people who lie skillfully are often seen as “high EQ.” Well, my EQ is zero.
Thanks for watching. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
I’m Mike Phua.
