TLDR: I got ripped off just over USD$1,000 trying to buy NMN from Sgonekbio on Alibaba.
Medium TLDR: First they sent me lactose powder with trace elements of a toxic solvent (DMF) then they sent me plain of vitamin B3 aka NAM. Alibaba Trade Assurance won’t cover it because I was sent two packages (which is absolutely ridiculous since neither package had what I ordered it in, i.e. NMN).
Long version/rant: A couple of weeks ago I decided to buy NMN in bulk from Alibaba. Being somewhat hesitant, I selected a ‘Gold Supplier’ with good reviews and Alibaba Trade Assurance. After all, I didn’t want to get ripped off.
I contacted Sgonekbio through Alibaba and was quoted USD$980 for ‘food grade’ NMN and USD$2950 for ‘pharmaceutical grade’. The seller assured me that “usually food grade is enough for customers to use”, and I (stupidly) took that at face value without looking into it further.
I agreed to buy 1kg of ‘food grade’ NMN and have it shipped to me via Fedex express for $USD55. So a total of USD$1035. Delivery was quick, but it was marked as ‘Daidzein’. I emailed the seller for an explanation and they assured me that they had deliberately changed the label so as to help it get through customs. Breathing a sigh of relief, I took it to a professional lab to have its purity tested.
The lab got back to me promptly to inform me that, unfortunately, the product had no NMN in it whatsoever. It was lactose powder with trace elements of a toxic solvent (DMF).
I was very disappointed, so contacted the seller on Alibaba to tell them I was unimpressed and that I expected them to send me the right product or a refund. Quick as a flash they screenshotted the bit about me wanting them to send me the right product and uploaded it to Alibaba. Then they emailed me telling me that they would resend it to me, but did not accept that the first batch was not NMN.
The second batch arrived and I had it tested and it was vitamin b3/NAM/nicotinamide at reasonable purity (approx. 96%). It had no NMN in it whatsoever. Disappointed (but not surprised), I emailed the seller again to tell them that the second package had now failed inspection, and they asked me for the lab’s HPLC reports.
I contacted the lab, and they informed me they were very reluctant to give the seller the HPLC reports as it contains revealing information on how the product behaves, and that info can be used to work out how the product is actually made (since the seller likely doesn’t know how to make NMN – it’s not easy to make – hence sending me the wrong thing twice).
I then told the seller I wouldn’t be providing the HPLC report in full, but would provide Certificates of Analysis. That was not good enough for the seller, who has been trying to convince me to send the full HPLC report ever since.
I escalated the issue to Alibaba, but they basically told me that the order is not covered under Alibaba Trade Assurance since I accepted a second package, and to work it out with the seller myself. After much back and forth, the seller agreed to a partial refund of USD$700, meaning I lost USD$335. And the way that Alibaba works is that I can't even post a review to let other people know of my experience.
So, if you were considering buying NMN in bulk from Alibaba let this story be a cautionary tale to you.
As an aside, I believe Bontac is a legitimate supplier. Don’t take my word for it, though, do your own homework and get samples first if you decide to proceed!
