A little background on Alibaba. Alibaba was started in 1999 as a way to connect Chinese factories and suppliers with global retailers. In the years since it has skyrocketed atop China’s rapidly expanding middle class. Their increased spending and Internet use have created one of the world’s biggest Web-business goldmines, and investors are hungry to jump on IPOs, like Alibaba’s, that have run so parallel to China’s rise. When Alibaba was founded, 9 million people in China used the Internet. Last year, that number had climbed past 600 million. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is a massive, elaborate, wildly profitable company that dominates online buying and selling in China: Eighty percent of the stuff sold online there goes through an Alibaba site. Like eBay and other online marketplaces, Alibaba doesn’t own the stuff that it sells on its Web site: It takes a cut from sellers who use it and charges a little extra to advertise.

To start with if you just want to start selling, get a free account, this gives you access to limited number of products you can display, consider this as a trial account which will help you.
1) Get comfortable with the platform and features of course a paid member would have priority over you
2) Gives you a fair idea around the enquiries and business potential.
The second stage is the paid membership which gives you access to unlimited product posting, features and facilities for getting higher number of enquiries.

Gold Supplier membership starts around $5,000/year but the sales contacts will also look for upsell and cross-sell opportunities to help 'get your page noticed'.

What are the advantages to using alibaba.com?

The number one benefit of using alibaba.com is you have instant access to a countless number of global suppliers who sell just about any product known to man, and you can normally find low wholesale pricing. That is the benifit to buyers, but what about vendors? Specifically, US vendors and manufacturers. This can mean big profits for buyers who buy their supplies at rock bottom prices and selling them at premium retail prices. But I am still not convinced that this is an advantage for a US based manufacturer.

Another nice thing about alibaba.com is they do a good job of organizing products and categories so you can find what you want fast. For example, clicking “coffee” in the food category leads to a list of options that can be compared and there are filters on the side to narrow down the options even further. Additionally, this list has a familiarity to it as it looks similar to eBay, meaning American businesses will feel at home very quickly. This layout, use of community features, and their messaging system gives Alibaba a friendly look and feel. Another advantage is that you can get started listing your products online for free. This is obviously enticing as I have no idea if this would be a good opportunity for us. My gut feeling is probably not, but you never know. I have been wrong before.

What are the potential disadvantages to working with alibaba.com?

The company’s reputation is not good and there are a lot of complaints filed against alibaba. This is reflected in the appalling F rating given to alibaba.com from the BBB. The report on the BBB website states that this rating is due to a failure to respond to 114 complaints, with the company having received 154 complaints in the last three years alone. The vast majority of these complaints are regarding problems with a product or service, but there are also billing, advertising and delivery complaints too. Now this potentially I guess could be an advantage for a very reputable US-based plastic jar and cap manufacturer, but I am just not sure how much of a premium Chinese based consumers would be willing to pay for a great reputation these days?? Regardless of how many 5 star reviews Parkway Plastics has for their award winning products and services.

Should you take the risk and join this emerging Chinese company?

Because of the huge potential profits, it is easy to see why so many companies want to buy from overseas suppliers on Alibaba, particularly when its future seems so bright as a gigantic global business. But is there that same excitement about buying from a US-based manufacturer on a website that focuses namely on selling potentially lesser quality goods at substantially lower pricing? In addition, there are many complaints against alibaba.com itself, so you need to be very careful when starting out. It is recommended that you start small with your purchases and only expand to larger purchases after you have built trusting relationships with suppliers.

Interesting right.... Not sure if Alibaba would be the right  opportunity for a Plastic Jar and Cap manufacturer like Parkway Plastics... That being said, Let's take a look at another one of Alibaba's competitors Ebay.... Who while as illustrated by the graphs below has a significantly lower market share....

From: https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-sell-on-alibaba-com

Other Links:

https://techboomers.com/t/sell-on-alibaba

http://fortune.com/2014/09/22/does-alibaba-offer-a-golden-opportunity-for-u-s-small-businesses/

http://projects.wsj.com/alibaba/

https://seller.alibaba.com/learningcenter/quickstart.htm