When it comes to the China wholesale market, it is interesting to mention that some of the wholesale shopping websites are making huge revenues every year while they may not be widely known in the arena. In particular, three names are the best representatives: DinoDirect.com, DealExtreme.com and ChinaVasion.com. I have introduced some basic facts about Chinavasion in a previous post (See ChinaVasion Review), and here I would like to share my findings of DinoDirect.com.
Business Model
DinoDirect.com adopts a special business model. It looks like a transaction platform as you can find supplier information on the product description pages. However, the website handles orders through its own order processing system and keeps a number of warehouses in the United States, Canada and other countries or regions. I was stunningly impressed by its advanced warehouse management system – it’s hard to find another wholesale site that has the same good warehouses.
Offices, Warehouses, Brands & Products
Based on my knowledge, DinoDirect is owned by DinoDirect China Limited and has a head office in Chongqing, Sichuan Province. Their major warehouse is located in Shenzhen — based on the latest report, the city’s foreign trade volume is the biggest in Chin this year. Besides, it has 10 branch offices in different countries and regions. The products sent to buyers are basically from its overseas warehouses.
According to the discussion about DinoDirect.com, the website only sells products from certified brands. This should be one of the greatest advantages of DinoDirect as buyers don’t have to worry about getting frauds of fakes there. I notice that the site does carry a long list of brands that are familiar to Chinese: Moonbasa, Lenovo, acer, SUMSUNG, SHARP, to name just a few. However, a closer look at the “brand products” reveals that they are mostly accessories for big brands, especially electronic accessories. For instance, when you open the SUMSUNG brand page, you will find products like Sumsung desktop docks.
The major product categories at DinoDirect.com include men’s clothing, women’s clothing, electronic gadgets and toys. Wedding dresses, special occasion dresses, tablet PCs, digital photo frames, flashlights, car GPS and costumes are all among the bestsellers there.
Prices & Free Shipping
The prices DinoDirect seem too good to be true sometimes. With such a doubt, I spent some time searching the web for “DinoDirect complaints”. Well, nothing surprising to me, I found some unhappy reviews claiming that what they received from the site are poor quality. It is like a universal rule for all China wholesale shopping websites; nobody can escape from the rule. Almost each and every of them has quality problems. The only way to evaluate a China wholesale store in terms of product quality is to see the proportion of negative reviews. I think the proportion of negative feedback on DinoDirect is “acceptable”, compared to other China wholesale online shops. After all, complaints are limited and not all products have quality issues. For instance, a customer said she bought a dress from DinoDirect, which is of good quality. But she insisted that the size chart at the website is not accurate.
While I am not confident whether the product prices at DinoDirect are true or not, I am pretty sure the site does offer free shipping worldwide. I remember a reviewer once mentioned that because DinoDirect provides free shipping, most China-based electronic gadget wholesale stores “have to” provide the same service to survive the fierce competition.
One thought on “DinoDirect Review: A China Wholesaler or A China Wholesale Transaction Platform?”