Introduction
The product to be imported is an optical fibre spool cable. The various companies that have in stock this product include; fibre optic for sale (Liquori, Danauda & Anca, 2009), Hong Sheng cables technologies Ltd (China), Changsha Guanghan optic cable co. Ltd (China) and Shenzhen Shanhai technology Ltd (China). All these companies offer the fibre spools at different prices and varieties. The most viable and appropriate company is the fibre optic for sale. This is a company that specifically deals with fibre cables, provide affordable and easy means of payments like PayPal, wire transfer, Western Union and international shipping via UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS with a typically 3-7 business days for shipped orders. They also provide step by step directions on the entire process of the order and monitors and tracks shipments.
Benefits of Alibaba
• Excellent features and simple operating tools
• Importing products at low costs.
• Lower risks of fraud
• Provides learning facility for beginners.
• Provides business access for sourcing a potential buyer/ seller and SMEs.
• It’s a faster and transparent transaction process
Costs of using Alibaba
• The search engines and process is free for users.
• The commodity listings are free.
• Personalized web pages and search engines are quite expensive.
Small companies like SpinCent and SMEs should quickly shift to sites like Alibaba.com to enhance their exports. The above benefits and costs of such engines are positive gains for them.
Alibaba group was established as a single apartment unit in China with a Chinese emphasis. It’s now the giant e-commerce marketplace where customers can upload their requirements in the hope of a “match” with a potential supplier. It’s governed by the 4ps (product/ service, pricing, place and promotion). It has collaborated with Yahoo China and Alibaba group. Further, Europages SA also provides business search engine service for European buyers, suppliers, distributors and exporters in France and internationally. The Alibaba contact templates are much more user friendly than Europages. However, Europages is available in different languages.
Countries and companies can also use e-commerce and sites to transact business transactions in importing and exporting its products too. The falling trade barriers set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) can enable SMEs to adequately identify its prospectus markets, demands and organize how they can hold trade shows and exhibitions. Their availability within the country implies that the problems of cost of participation, time consumption and casts of doubt can positively influence SMEs and individuals to attend them (Liquori, Danauda & Anca, 2009).
These sites increase transparency and reduce the risk of fraud. Alibaba allows suppliers to post information about their companies, including video tours of their facilities. In addition, Alibaba has developed the TrustPass designation. In order to obtain this designation, companies must pass an authentication and verification test from a third-party credit agency. Also available is the “Gold Supplier” designation, which also requires third party verification of trustworthiness. These greatly reduce the risk of fraud, but do not eliminate it entirely. Mechanisms such as letters of credit are used to safeguard transactions from commercial risk.

Reference
Liquori, T., Danauda, B. & Anca, B. (2009). Comparison of Ebay.com and Alibaba.com. Prof Reddi: BUS451 Bloomberg Business Week.