Alibaba seller sent the wrong material: what now?

First, check what you owe and preserve the evidence

If your delivery has material different from the agreed specification, the outcome of a claim varies. Any refund a buyer received in another case is not a benchmark or a promise for yours.

Check any outstanding payment obligations straight away and request a written pause or revised payment arrangement through the platform; raising a dispute does not by itself give you a right to withhold payment. Set the affected goods aside without altering or relabelling them.

Photograph the packaging, shipping labels, product labels and fabric beside the approved sample. Preserve any original unboxing video; if cartons remain sealed, record their opening continuously. Do not recreate an unboxing as though it were the original. Keep complete platform chats, order attachments and payment records.

Show exactly what differs from the order

Compare the delivered goods with both the order specification and the approved physical sample. Describe observable differences separately from suspected fibre composition: appearance and touch alone cannot establish a fibre percentage. Where composition is disputed, obtain suitable laboratory evidence tied to the delivered batch.

Use our Trade Assurance order specification guide to organise the agreed requirements, and our wrong goods and claims guide to structure the mismatch record.

Open the Trade Assurance refund process promptly

Alibaba’s public guidance links Trade Assurance protection to orders placed and paid through Alibaba.com, and covers quality differences from the agreed online order. A documented material mismatch can support a claim; it does not guarantee approval.

Check the deadline shown in your order immediately, including any evidence or response deadlines. Alibaba’s public pages give different claim periods (the buyer guidance says 30 days after delivery; the money-back page says 60 days for Enterprise buyers), and the transaction contract ties the period to confirmed receipt, so rely on the terms of your own order. Apply through the order’s refund process rather than waiting for supplier negotiations to finish. Alibaba says the online order and communication records form the basis of refund resolution.

Request the remedy you want and explain it: a refund without return, or return and refund. Confirm which option is agreed or approved. Before returning anything, record the destination, shipping responsibility, tracking requirements and refund conditions in the platform process. Alibaba’s Easy Return service has eligibility conditions; do not assume your order includes free returns.

Partial settlements happen; there is no standard refund percentage established by the guidance reviewed here. Assess an offer against the affected goods and remaining obligations. Do not agree to an off-platform settlement or withdraw a claim merely for a private refund promise. Record any settlement in the platform process and check that it has been completed. If negotiations fail, request Alibaba’s assistance through the dispute process.

Check whether the goods can legally be sold

For products within scope, the Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/1102), as amended, enforce textile composition requirements. GOV.UK says fibre content must be labelled and manufacturers and retailers are responsible for compliance. The practical consequence is that goods with a verified composition mismatch cannot simply be resold under their existing incorrect composition labels.

Keep sales on hold until the actual composition is established and the labels and sales descriptions are accurate. Correcting a label does not, by itself, establish product safety or make the goods suitable for their intended use.

For a newborn gift box, assess each item and its intended use separately. GOV.UK requires consumer products to be safe and identifies specific rules for categories including nightwear and toys. Check the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 for each garment: babies’ garments (chest 53 cm or less, normally worn by children under three months) fall within them even if sold as daywear, with labelling duties but an exception from the flammability performance requirement. Do not assume every baby textile is covered. Check the applicable Great Britain or Northern Ireland guidance, and seek Trading Standards advice where classification or corrective action is unclear.

Make the next 50–100 units easier to control

Approve a physical sample before production, identify and date it, and keep matching reference samples with the buyer and supplier. Write the fibre names and percentages, fabric construction, weight, colour and permitted tolerances into the order. Prohibit material substitutions without written approval.

Keep an identified fabric swatch and obtain a relevant composition test report where needed. Check that a report relates to the material actually being supplied. A swatch supports comparison; it does not prove fibre percentages.

Arrange a pre-shipment check against the approved sample and written specification, including labels and packaging. Visual inspection cannot replace composition testing where that is the disputed requirement. Start with a small first order and agree what happens if inspection fails before authorising shipment or releasing the balance.

For help assessing suppliers, confirming materials and coordinating checks for 50–100 units, contact Cambridge China Bridge through our small-order sourcing service. If the current mismatch still needs evidence or supplier coordination, see our supplier-problem support.