If you’re thinking of buying on Alibaba, the first step you should take is to register. Now we know How to Register on Alibaba. Since this platform is intended for wholesale shopping, many people think that they can only register as a company.
Is this true?
Here we explain it to you.
How to Register on Alibaba if you don’t have a company
From the website
Even if you don’t have a company, the first step to registering on this platform is to access its home page from this link. The page is only available in English. If this is an inconvenience for you, most browsers have a translator to facilitate navigating through this page.
Click on the top where it says “Join for free”. When you hover the mouse over the person icon, you’ll see the option to register with e-mail or with a quick registration system. If you use the quick registration through Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, or Twitter, in a few seconds you’ll be able to start using your Alibaba account.
f you use the e-mail registration you’ll be redirected to a new screen where you’ll have to fill in several data: name, telephone, e-mail…
While it’s true that it will ask for the name of your company and that you can’t leave this field empty, here comes the trick: you can make up a name since no one will check this information.
The only thing Alibaba will ask for is a verification of the account through the email you’ve provided them. Absolutely nothing happens if you don’t actually have a company.
From the mobile app
This platform also has a mobile application so if you prefer this option, the steps are very similar. First, you must download the app and choose the option to register.
In this case, you’ll be offered to create an account with Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, or email. If you choose the first 3 options you’ll only have to log in to these platforms.
In case you decide to register with e-mail, when you do it from the application they don’t ask for so much data; just the name, password, and your e-mail. Through the app, they don’t ask you to enter the name of the company; so you can get an idea of how little this information really matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now that you know how to register on Alibaba, let’s go over the most common questions. You can find more information in this section of their website.
Why can’t I register with Alibaba?
If you’ve followed our steps, but still haven’t been successful, you most likely have a problem with the account you’re trying to use to register, or you were unable to complete the verification.
We recommend that you review the data you’ve entered to register and keep an eye out for special characters. If there are no mistakes in the information, it may also be useful to change your browser or use your smartphone if you were trying to register from your computer.
No AliExpress account?
While AliExpress and Alibaba are part of the same corporate group, they are different platforms, and data is not shared between them. So you’ll need to register a new account to use Alibaba.
Will I be able to buy without being a company?
Yes. As we mentioned above, there is no problem.
If you want to know more about how to import from China, we recommend our article about AliExpress wholesale.
