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Glossary

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ACP

Asia Company Profiles is a third-party credit reporting agency which conducts authentication and verification checks for applicants of TrustPass membership.

Advanced Search

It is a high-level search, which provides more options to choose from.

Agent

A business person or company who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission.

Block List

It is a tool that you can use to prevent unwanted correspondence from coming into your Message Center in My Alibaba. Alibaba.com members can filter out unwanted messages according to Member IDs, email addresses or countries.

With Block List you can add new blocks or remove existing blocks, by doing the following:

  • Sign in with your registered email address and password at http://www.alibaba.com/myalibaba/;
  • Click "Block List" in "Message Center";
  • Fill out the form;
  • Click "Block" to confirm your Block List settings.

Bulk Folder

The Bulk Folder is the folder in the My Alibaba Message Center which houses suspected junk mail/spam:
  • You may choose to recover a message from Bulk Folder by clicking "Not Spam."
  • These suspected junk mail/spam messages will be stored here for two months, after which time they will be deleted.

Business Type

Business type is the primary role your company engages in within its trading sector. Alibaba.com currently recognizes five major business types: Agent, Buying Office, Distributor/Wholesaler, Manufacturer and Trading Company. These are located in our search engines under "Company" and when you fill out your Company Profile. You can select one of them according to your major business activities, or select "others" if your business type is not listed here.

Buying Lead

A Buying Lead is an invitation to sellers to contact buyers with appropriate product and price offerings.

Category

Click the button "Choose" to select relevant categories for your Company. By searching www.alibaba.com for similar products or services, you can find the most appropriate categories for your company.

CIF

CIF is one of the more common Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) accepted by Importers/Exporters around the world.

CIF - COST, INSURANCE AND FREIGHT (at named port of destination) "Cost, Insurance and Freight" means the ownership of the shipment transfers from seller to buyer the moment it passes the ship's rail in the port of shipment. The seller must pay the costs and freight necessary to bring the goods to the port. However, in CIF the seller also has to procure marine insurance against the buyer's risk of loss of or damage to the goods during the conveyance.

Consequently, the seller contracts for insurance and pays the insurance premium. The buyer should note that under the CIF term the seller is required to obtain insurance only on minimum cover. Should the buyer wish to have greater insurance cover, he would either need to agree to as much with the seller or to make his own extra insurance arrangements.

This term can be used only for sea and inland waterway transport. If the parties do not intend to deliver the goods across the ship's rail, the CIP term should be used.

CNF (or C&F)/ CFR

CNF (or C&F)/ CFR is one of the more common Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) accepted by Importers/Exporters around the world

CFR: COST AND FREIGHT (at named port of destination)

"Cost and Freight" means the seller's responsibilities are concluded once the goods pass the ship's rail at the port of shipment.

The seller must pay the costs and freight necessary to bring the goods to the named port of destination BUT the risk of loss of or damage to the goods, as well as any additional costs due to events occurring after the time of delivery, are transferred from the seller to the buyer.

The CFR requires the seller to clear the goods for export.

This term can be used only for sea and inland waterway transport. If the parties do not intend to deliver the goods across the ship's rail, the CPT term should be used.

Company

This means publishing your company details on Alibaba.com by completing a Company Profile in My Alibaba. Once approved, your Company Profile can be searched on the website.

Contact List

This is a tool to help you create and manage your list of valuable Alibaba.com contacts, as well as save time in corresponding with potential business associates.

Cookie

A cookie in the Internet world is a small piece of information stored by your browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape) that helps websites to keep a record of users. Alibaba.com uses cookies to allow members to get to the information they want as quickly as possible when they use our website, and to relieve you of the necessity of signing in each time you move to a new section of the site.

Cookie Error

A "cookie" is a small piece of information stored by your browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape) that helps websites to keep a record of users. Alibaba.com uses cookies to allow members to get to the information they want as quickly as possible when they use our website, and to spare you the burden of signing in each time you want to move to a new section of the site.Many websites require browsers to support cookies. At Alibaba.com, this allows you to have to sign in only once and thus make better use of our site's features.

If cookies are not accepted by your browser, it may change your current signed-in status and cause cookie errors as you navigate the site.

What can I do about a cookie error?

If a cookie error occurs, you can take steps to correct it by first opening one window of your Internet browser. Then:

1. Internet Explorer 7.0

  • Click "Tools" on the top toolbar
  • Select "Internet Options"
  • Click on "General" and then "Delete"
  • Click on "Delete cookies"

2. Internet Explorer 6.0

  • Click "Tools" on the menu bar of the browser
  • Select "Internet Options"
  • Click on "Delete Cookies" and then "Delete Files"
  • Click on "Privacy" on the top toolbar and set the level to "Medium"

3. Internet Explorer 5

  • Click "Tools" and then click "Internet Options"
  • Click "Custom Level" then scroll to the "Cookies" section
  • Click "Enable" for both cookie options

4. Internet Explorer 4.x

  • Click "View" and then click "Internet Options"
  • Click the "Advanced" tab
  • Scroll to the "Security" section
  • Under "Cookies", click "Always Accept Cookies"

5. Netscape Communicator 4.X

  • Click "Edit" and then choose "Preferences"
  • Click "Advanced" on the left
  • Check "Accept All Cookies" on the right

If you are still unable to correct the problem, please try to find the directory where your system is installed (e.g., C: Windows) then go to sub-directory "Cookies" and "Temporary Internet Files". Then delete all files named "Cookies".

When you have finished the above-described corrective measures, please reboot your computer.

Distributor

A businessperson or company which markets or sells merchandise.

DNS Error

This is when we report we can't find an IP address for your site through our ISPs. It is called a DNS Error, which may caused by the following reasons:

  • Your authoritative DNS servers are down or misconfigured.
  • There is a communication problem between your authoritative DNS servers and our data center. Since we see the problem through two separate ISPs, likely source of failure is within your ISP.
  • Suggested steps:

  • The administrator of your DNS server or your ISP should be able to help you resolve this problem. The outbound message we send contains all the information your administrator needs to resolve the issue.

FOB

FOB is one of the more common Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) accepted by Importers/Exporters around the world

FOB - FREE ON BOARD (... named port of shipment)
"Free On Board" means that the seller delivers when the goods pass the ship's rail at the named port of shipment. This means that the buyer has to bear all costs and risks of loss of or damage to the goods from that point onwards. The FOB term requires the seller to clear the goods for export. This term can be used only for sea or inland waterway transport. If the parties do not intend to deliver the goods across the ship's rail, the FCA term should be used.

Fraud

Fraud is illegal activity in which one party seeks to unlawfully cheat another party out of products, services or money.

Gold Supplier

Alibaba "Gold Suppliers" are Premium Suppliers from China (mainland), Hong Kong and Macau.
All Gold Suppliers have passed Company Profile authentication and verification by a third-party credit reporting agency such as ACP. All Gold Suppliers are categorized into 27 industries to help buyers conveniently locate relevant companies. All Gold Supplier product information is updated constantly to ensure useful and current content.

Global Search

  1. What is Alibaba's Global Search?
    Global Search is a new Alibaba search engine for buyers. It allows you to find the best suppliers in the country/region of your choice.

  2. Will I only find products from Alibaba suppliers?
    No. Using Alibaba's Global Search, you can find products from companies all over the world even if they are not Alibaba members.

  3. Where does Alibaba get non members' product information from?
    Like Yahoo! and Google, Alibaba's Global Search finds non-members' products and company information direct from its source on the Internet. This saves you valuable time and sourcing costs.

  4. Where are search results displayed?
    All search results are displayed on Alibaba's Search Results page - including products from Gold Suppliers, Trust Pass members, free members and non members. Find them all with Alibaba's Global Search.

  5. How do I know which suppliers are Alibaba members?
    You will always know which suppliers are Alibaba members. Alibaba members will still have a Gold Supplier, TrustPass or free member logo next to their company name depending on their level of membership. This means you can still find trusted Gold Supplier and TrustPass members first.
  6. How do I send inquiries to suppliers?
    Alibaba buyers can send inquiries to suppliers by email or negotiate with them by telephone and/or fax.


HTML

  • HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
  • An HTML file is a text file containing small markup tags
  • The markup tags tell the Web browser how to display the page
  • An HTML file must have an htm or html file extension
  • An HTML file can be created using a simple text editor

On Alibaba.com, you will see the HTML acronym when we request you do not input HTML into your Company Profile, Buying Leads, Selling Leads or Product postings

Inquiry

  • An inquiry is a message sent by a buyer to a seller/supplier requesting product information or a quotation.
  • If you are a buyer and want to contact sellers, you may simply send and inquiry to them by clicking the "Inquire Now" button.

Inquiry Basket

Our Inquiry Basket works like a shopping cart. It allows buyers and paid supplier members greater convenience when searching or browsing Alibaba.com.

Simply check items of interest and then click "Add to Basket." You can add up to a maximum of 38 items to your Inquiry Basket and continue searching. When you are ready, you can send all of your Inquiries simultaneously.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a cross-platform, object-based scripting language for client and server applications. There are two types of JavaScript:
  • Navigator JavaScript, also called client-side JavaScript
  • LiveWire JavaScript, also called server-side JavaScript

Keyword

In Alibaba.com, a search result is mainly dependent on the keywords entered in the search field. More precise and accurate keywords will give you a greater chance of being found by others.
  • Please use common product names as keywords; do not use model numbers.
  • Keywords must be separated by a comma (,), instead of other punctuation marks or symbols.
  • Don't use adjectives (descriptive words like "cheap, powerful") as your keywords.

Manufacturer

A producer of products.

Member ID

It is the identity of your account on Alibaba.com. For security reasons, each Alibaba.com account has an exclusive Member ID.

Message Center

Message Center is an online management tool that allows you to track your messages (inquiries and quotations) online.

My Alibaba

A secure online management tool for your Alibaba account, where you can:
  • Manage your account information.
  • Receive and reply messages from other business partners.
  • Post advertisements and subscribe Alibaba.com services.

OEM

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) indicates that a manufacturer offers the service of manufacturing products to be marketed under another company's brand.

Product

It is the main way to describe your product with your product pictures, where your partners can see the product samples.

Product photo

When you post a product, you need to display a product photo. You can display about 5-20 pictures in your product showroom.

Prohibited products

Alibaba.com does not allow postings for products such as guns, weapons and precious metals. For additional information regarding prohibited products, please see our user agreement.

Quotation

  • A Quotation is a message sent by a seller to a buyer.
  • If you a seller, and want to contact buyers, you may just send quotation to them by clicking the "Send Quotation" button.

RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a standard XML-based format for delivering web content which is regularly updated. Web content providers use RSS to create and distribute feeds of data to their audiences. An RSS feed usually contains a summary and links of the new content on a website. Visitors can subscribe to the feeds and automatically receive updates on their personal computers.

Scam

A fraudulent business scheme.

Scammer

A sender of scam emails.

Secret Answer

After your registration, you are suggested to set a secret question, so if you forget your password, you can try and retrieve it by submitting the secret answer of the question.

Secret URL

To protect your TrustPass information from being stolen, we send a secret URL to your registered email. Only when you receive that URL can you then update your TrustPass information.

Selling Lead

A Selling Lead is an invitation to buyers to contact sellers with appropriate product and price requirements.

Server Busy/ internal server error

This problem is usually caused by a temporary network jam or server reboot. Sometimes it is caused by a browser problem on your computer if you use a browser other than IE and Netscape. If the problem persists on a specific page, it may be caused by an error in the web page itself.

Spam/junk email

The term "spam" is Internet slang that refers to unsolicited commercial email (UCE) or unsolicited bulk email (UBE). Some people refer to this kind of communication as junk email to equate it with the paper junk mail that comes through the US Mail. Unsolicited email is email that you did not request; it most often contains advertisements for services or products. There are very few reputable marketers using UCE to advertise goods and services.

Time of Efficacy (Effective Period)

It means how long will your Trade Leads be valid. This depends on the time span you select when you post a Trade Lead.

Trade Alert

Trade Alert is a customized email that delivers information and business leads which match product keywords and categories of your choice. This information is sent directly to your email box.

Trade Lead

It is a timely buying or selling advertisement. It includes Buying Leads and Selling Leads

Trade Lead Type

It is the type of request you want to send to other trading parties. Currently, there are four kinds of Trade Leads you can post. They are: Buy, Sell, Agent, and Cooperation.

Trade Shows

The channel where you can find exhibitions Alibaba.com attends and will attend.

TrustPass

"TrustPass® Member" is Alibaba.com's seller membership for suppliers from outside China (mainland), Hong Kong and Macau. All TrustPass members must undergo an authentication and verification check by a third-party agency before their membership can be activated.

Members who pass the authentication and verification check are entitled to display a TrustPass qualification marker to demonstrate credibility to buyers.

Wholesaler

A wholesaler sells products in bulk to various retailers and then receives a percentage of the mark-up price. In other words, a wholesaler buys directly and usually rather inexpensively from the manufacturer and then arranges a deal with a retailer who desires to purchase the same product.
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