Why is this Canadian buyer so mad at Alibaba and made-in-China.com

Full Question My associate and I procure USB flash drives for promotional purposes. The suppliers we used earlier have closed down; and in spite of due diligence, the last two suppliers our companies used (different for each of us) scammed us. We're both now out of money, without a product, and just a month away from our tradeshow!!!

Could you recommend legitimate suppliers to us? We will be giving repeat business to them and will also recommend them to our clients and associates.

I would like to add a comment here: I think the reason so many of us are being scammed is because we are relying on sites like www.alibaba.com, www.made-in-china.com, etc. for their "VALIDATED" suppliers, not realizing that these sites do not really check these suppliers to see if they are legitimate. In fact, I believe the companies can buy the ratings. I think these sites should be held accountable for the companies they give gold ratings to!

Answer Per your request, I'll be happy to add your comments about Alibaba and so-called verified suppliers to my blog in near future. In the meantime, you should expose those bad suppliers and mention the truth about “verification” on www.SupplierBlackList.com; this will help other buyers learn from your experience.

You asked about SD cards; here are some resources:

1. This is a link to a white paper I did. It's a bit outdated, but some of the suppliers listed in the report are still active: May 2013 CSIC White Paper. Behind the scenes: buying SD cards & flash/ thumb drives direct from China
2. The Global Sources.com trade show in HK is going on right now. I saw some SD card suppliers there. As they paid a lot of money to be at the show, they are not likely to be scam/fake companies. The list of exhibitors is searchable at www.GlobalSources.com in case you can't make it to the show in person.
3. If after exploring those 3 resources, you still need help, please keep this link in mind if you want to explore having an agent look after things for you: http://chinasourcinginfo.org/2014/05/13/options-for-support-with-sourcing-and-supply-chain-management/