It is very simple to check whether they are merchants. Just check whether they are members of Alibaba TrustPass, because Alibaba TrustPass registration must be certified by the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.

If they are, then the TrustPass will contain their detailed industrial and commercial registration information, and this information cannot be changed by the merchant himself. As for the prepayment, it must be treated differently. Generally, fraudulent companies dare not advertise on the Internet with great fanfare, and will not register formal merchants for transactions. However, there are also very few merchants who are greedy for small profits and cheat as many as they can. However, I have not found this in my transactions on Alibaba so far, because I generally only choose to buy and sell with TrustPass members. Even if I pay the full amount of the goods, I have not found any problems, but it is generally within 500 yuan. The above is for reference only.