Wayward Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Just wondering, What type of experiences have people had with the chinese producers from Alibaba? Any manufactures to avoid? Any whom you've had an excellent experience with? I'm looking specifically for some smaller scale ( <500L ) stainless tanks for blending, holding and transferring. I started looking at basic tanks but there is so much available and like many of you out there, I dont have huge amounts of money. So every dollar I can save on the startup is golden. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSpye Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 55 gal stainless barrels can be had pretty inexpensively from some of the cooperages that make that stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schnit Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Alibaba is the world's leader in e-commerce for a reason. With that being said, make sure you do your homework before ordering. Understand that one major risk is that if you are unhappy with your product, you don't have as many options/ways to settle a dispute as you would with a seller in your country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artisan Still Design Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 we've had issues with companies using our pictures and claiming that they produce our equipment. Our Factory does not advertize on Abibaba. there have been more than one that was fooled by this and got a lot less than they were promised. in fact, downright unusable. there are a lot of companies advertising on Alibaba that are not even real companies, just some guy, who will try and find a factory to build what you ask as cheap as possible. get references, if they've never sold to the USA before, dont trust they can get it delivered, or even built right. and make sure they are real references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salishseaorganicliqueurs Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 As a rule, I avoid it. Too many bad stories about vendors on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Avoid. I have nothing but bad experiences with Alibaba and any Chinese manufacturer on there. They promise you the moon and guarantee everything, but when the wheels fall off, you have no recourse. Cheap is cheap and you get what you pay for. My advice, find a manufacturer that has local support. I have spent more money replacing bearings and re-welding than the original cost of one of the machines I got on Alibaba. It will end up costing you more than you saved very quickly. My biggest issue was with a cane mill. The Chinese mill was 1/3 the cost of the US made one. The nice guy in Texas was right when he said "you best buy three then, son." I am now in the process of getting a PO for the US made mill. What a waste of time, money and energy. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chefedgardo Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 thank you for the input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetonDistillery Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 there are a lot of companies advertising on Alibaba that are not even real companies, just some guy, who will try and find a factory to build what you ask as cheap as possible. get references, if they've never sold to the USA before, dont trust they can get it delivered, or even built right. and make sure they are real references. This is 100% correct. There are many companies in China that are pretending they are the factory. In fact, they are often just a middleman with a website. They are just marking it up. It takes a lot of research to figure out if you are dealing with the actual company/factory. We actually made a trip to China to visit our bottle supplier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 Thanks for all the info: I was mainly looking for our no nonsense stainless tanks for transfer, storage, ageing. At my size, the amounts saved by outsourcing just dont cover the risk. And thats just for tanks, I couldn't imagine the problems associated with ordering a complex piece of machinery like a still! -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 We actually made a trip to China to visit our bottle supplier. That is the caveat to my above post. If you can work directly with a factory and make a site visit, your luck in China increases tenfold. iPhones are put together in China, so anything is possible. But, Alibaba has never been good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypnopooper Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 We bought our still tanks from ZHENGHENG found on Alibaba. and had a good experience. I learned a little about importing too Each of our still boilers are 474L tanks that are insulated steam kettles. We bought 2 of them and paid 5322.00 each. It was a little unnerving sending 12K overseas in a bank wire transfer though. new-474L1.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG Thermal Consulting Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Just curious hypno, did you wind up using a chiller for the condenser or did you use well water? If so, how much HP did you go with? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypnopooper Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 MG, I got a deal on a 4ton chill king unit that I could not turn down. It came from an ice cream shop that never opened. We are using it for our condenser's and to chill our ferment tanks as well. Thanks, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG Thermal Consulting Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 ....and you are able to chill both stills at once plus fermenters!!!..great performance from a small chiller in your heat down there. I would figure about that except for all that heat from air derates the chiller a bit. Great that you're up and rolling. Mike G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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