Inexpensive Alibaba Retort - Thoughts?

I see stuff like this thing on Alibaba and I must admit, it's tempting:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Non-smoke-Charcoal-Retort-Kiln_1601239722090.html

No idea what shipping would add, but that price is super reasonable. Think it's legit? Any obvious design flaws? Anyone ever order something like this from Alibaba?

Help talk me out of, or into this...

Hi Mike,
I have not used Alibaba, but I have used Temu, and I have heard there are some similarities. My experience with Temu was legitimate things that are cheap to buy and are made cheap. Some people want that. Some people don't.

There are some theories that those two companies and another one I can't recall... are trying to take market share away from Amazon by selling things at a loss. Take that as you will :)

In general, I agree with Matt's idea about long-term Chinese strategy.  I think their plan is to slowly take over everything.

I don't think that this retort works as well as it shows in the video.  Yes, retorts can work.  However, I am skeptical about how well that thing works.  It doesn't look like it should work that well.   If it doesn't , you pay shipping back to China and get no refund?

JOhN S
PDX OR

I can't speak to the similarities with Temu, I've never used them, and it has been years since I've dealt with AliBaba/AliExpress, but I can tell you with AliBaba you are dealing directly with a Chinese manufacturer with basically no mediation between. The price you are seeing is the 'at cost' price that American retailers pay for that item.

The difference is in the shipping, as you are seeing the price for where it currently is - China -. You will be responsible for dealing with transportation, associated costs, Customs, taxes, tariffs, etc. whatever is relevant to the item you are shipping. Keep in mind once you get it in the US you still need to ship it from the Customs intake port to your home somehow, which will involve freight, most likely forklift assisted freight unless you have fork attachments for a tractor to unload. For this size and weight of an item I would imagine the costs of all those things would be into the thousands of US dollars, with at  least 1-2 months of coordination to get it to your location, depending on how Customs is feeling about your item.

Big retailers already have all that paperwork, infrastructure, and logistics figured out and bulk priced to accompany other items, which is why when you see the price on AliBaba you think "Why is everyone not doing this if it's this cheap?" - it's not that cheap. I would look forward to hearing what the final price would be delivered to your door if you do decide to attempt this route, please keep us updated.

After some quick research, the freight cost (just for the trucking alone) from port to delivery if you are about 100 miles from port and you have your own forklift to unload would be around $1,500 USD. Keep in mind this pallet will be close to 4,000 pounds so you would need a whopper of a forklift to get it off their truck, and it would have to be a flatbed delivery unless you have a loading dock. Also keep in mind this is the easiest logistical leg of the trip. Dealing with Chinese logistics and Customs will be more expense and oh so much more headache.

Thanks all for the thoughts on this. The shipping is the kicker, as you all stated. Might look into building something locally instead.

HI.
I've been checking the alibaba post.
-Kiln/Retort. The article described looks much like half of the thing to make it a Retort, and it looks more like a kiln/oven (the VOCs escape unburnt). The pipes and connections needed to for the retort properties (VOCs being conducted to the firebox area to be burnt and sustain the pirolysis) seem to be absent.

Other technical points to observe:
-Is material thickness in charring chamber up to requirements?
-Is loading door seal airtight enough?

For instance of a high quality retort, see this one from Biochar Kilns International: