AliExpress Apparel Category Standards
In order to improve the overall product quality of the apparel category on AliExpress, optimize the buyer experience, and better regulate sellers’ publishing behavior, AliExpress has published the following apparel category standards. These standards are formulated by reference to the National General Safety Technical Code for Textile Products (GB18401-2010) and Instructions for Use of Products of Consumer Interest - Part 4: Textiles and Apparel (GB 5296.4-2012). These standards were issued on 8 September, 2015 and entered into force on 15 September, 2015.
1. Scope
This standard specifies the fundamental criteria to be followed for apparel products sold on AliExpress.
This standard applies to the following categories of goods for sale at AliExpress:
Apparel & Accessories > Women's Clothing
Apparel & Accessories > Men's Clothing
Mother & Kids/Baby Clothing
Mother & Kids/Children's Clothing
Apparel & Accessories > Weddings & Events > Wedding Dresses
2. Product Release Specifications
2.1 Title Publishing Rules
For branded goods, it is recommended that the title should be in the form of “[Brand Name] + [Commodity Name]”.
The commodity title cannot include any words or symbols that are irrelevant to factual information of the commodity.
2.2. Image Publishing Rules
The rules for publishing product images are as follows:
1. It is recommended that the background color be white or solid color, image size be 800x800 or above, and horizontal and vertical ratio of the image be in the range of 1:1-1:1.3.
2. No borders or watermarks. Picture collage is also not allowed.
3. The logo should be uniformly placed in the upper left corner of the image.
For details about how to publish a product image, visit http://seller.aliexpress.com/so/tupianguifan.php
2.3 Specifications for Product Descriptions
• Material display
It mainly gives the composition of garment fabrics. For the specification on component content, see Appendix A.
• Washing instructions
In terms of labels for washing and maintenance, it is recommended that five symbols are included: Wash, Bleach, Dry, Iron, and Professional Textile Care.
• Express information
In order to ensure that the consumer has the full right to know about a purchased product, it is recommended that the seller explicitly clarify the following information when publishing the product:
- Product name
- Product size and specifications
- Composition and content of raw materials
- Labels for washing and maintenance (5 symbols)
- Safety category
Class A: Textile products for infants and babies.
Class B: Textile products in direct skin contact.
Class C: Textile products without direct skin contact.
• Other rules
Aside from the above-mentioned specifications, all the goods under Women’s Clothing and Men’s Clothing must be in conformity with the following rule:
All commodity information displayed on the commodity page, except color and size, must be consistent with that shown on the main image.
2.3.1 Management Specifications for Special Categories
2.3.1.1 Management Specification for the Wool and Cashmere Knitwear Market
1. Definition of goods
Pure or 100% cashmere knitwear: The cashmere content is at least 95%, and the remaining material is all wool.
Pure or 100% wool knitwear: The wool content must be 100%.
Cashmere knitwear: The cashmere content is at least 30%.
Wool knitwear: The wool content is at least 30%.
2. Specification for the use of commodity title keywords
A. “Pure or 100% cashmere”: The cashmere content must be at least 95%, and the remaining material must be all wool.
B. “Pure or 100% wool”: The wool content must be 100%.
C. “Cashmere knitwear”: The cashmere content must be at least 30%.
D. “Wool knitwear”: The wool content must be at least 30%.
E. “Knitwear” or “sweater”: For knitwear with cashmere or wool content below 30%, only this keyword can be used, instead of using “cashmere” or “wool”.
F. “Cashmere blended” or “wool blended”: To use this keyword in the commodity title, the rules 1), 2), 3) and 4) must be met.
G. “Wool” and “cashmere”: These two keywords cannot be simultaneously used in the title. If both the wool composition and cashmere composition are above 30%, and their content is consistent, you can select either of them.
3. Specification for the description of selling points
The sales pitch must provide complete information about the composition and content, e.g., 55% wool, 35% polyester, 10% viscose.
For specific requirements, see Appendix A.
2.3.1.2 Management Specification for the down garment market
1. Definition of goods
Down garments refer to garments with at least 50% down content.
2. Specification for the use of commodity title keywords
“Down”: The down content must be at least 50%.
3. The following information must be specified, and their attribute values must be consistent with those printed on the tag or Wash label:
• Filling materials
The filling materials include white duck down, gray duck down, white goose down, and gray goose down.
• Down content
The down content refers to the content percentage of down nap and down fiber in down and feathers.
• Filling weight
The filling weight specifies the total weight of down filled, expressed in grams (g).
For example, filling material: gray duck down; down content: 80%; filling weight: 200 g.
2.3.1.3 Management Specification for the Silk Clothing Market
1. Definition of goods
Silk clothing refers to clothing with 100% Mulberry silk or Tussah silk.
2. Specification for the use of commodity title keywords
“Silk”: The silk content must be at least 30%.
2.4 Specifications for Product Labels and Signs
2.4.1 The clothing category requires either tags (qualified certificates) or durable labels to be provided for the clothes. The durable label is permanently attached to the product, and can remain clear and legible during the use of the product, including but not limited to the Wash label and collar label.
The tag or durable label must include the following information (as shown in Figure 1):
• Product name (required for women’s clothing category)
• Product size and specifications
• Composition and content of raw materials
• Labels for washing and maintenance (5 symbols recommended)
Optionally, the following information can be included:
• Name and address of the manufacturer
• Implementation standard
• Safety category
Class A: Clothing products for infants and babies.
Class B: Clothing products in direct skin contact.
Class C: Clothing products without direct skin contact.
Figure 3 A Durable Label in English
3. Product Quality Specifications
AliExpress will check apparel goods' quality through sampling on an irregular basis. The sampling is conducted based on the relevant national standards.
Specification for the Random Check of Textile Products on AliExpress
The following table displays the product quality check items (excluding signs) and importance categories.
|
Category |
Subcategory |
Check Item |
Laws, Regulations or Standards |
Mandatory/ |
|
Textiles, clothing products |
Wadding fiber products, cashmere knitwear, knitted garments, towels, scarves, silk scarves, shawls, clothing section (woolen yarn, cloth), knitted underwear, wool knitwear, knitted women’s underwear, . Suits, coats, trousers, shirts, leisure clothing, children’s wear, maternal and infant clothing, down products, and other textiles and clothing products |
Formaldehyde content |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
|
pH value |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dye |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Color fastness to water |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Color fastness to perspiration |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Color fastness to dry friction |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Color fastness to saliva |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Odor |
GB 18401 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Raw material requirements |
GB 18383 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Sanitary requirements |
GB 18383 |
Mandatory |
||
|
Deviation rate of packing materials |
QB/T 1193, etc. |
Recommended |
||
|
Filling weight |
GB/T 14272 |
Recommended |
||
|
Nap content |
QB/T 1193, etc. |
Recommended |
||
|
Down content (including down type and nap content) |
GB/T 14272 |
Recommended |
||
|
Fiber content |
GB/T 29862 |
Recommended |
||
|
QB/T 1193, etc. |
||||
|
Noniron performance |
GB/T 18863 |
Recommended |
||
|
Anti-ultraviolet performance |
GB/T 18830 |
Recommended |
||
|
Antibacterial effect, dissolution |
FZ/T 73023 |
Recommended |
||
|
Water repellency |
GB/T 21295 |
Recommended |
||
|
Static voltage half-life |
GB/T 12703.1 |
Recommended |
||
|
Water absorption, drip diffusion time, wicking height, evaporation rate, moisture permeability |
GB/T 21655,1 |
Recommended |
||
|
Hydrostatic pressure |
Determined according to express indicators on pages or identifiers |
Recommended |
||
|
Product Labels Quality Examination Items and Categories |
||||
|
No. |
Check Item |
Testing Method |
Unqualified Degree |
|
|
Subclass a of Class I |
Subclass b of Class II |
|||
|
1 |
Name and address of the manufactures/agent |
Visual inspection |
● |
● |
|
2 |
Product name |
|
● |
|
|
3 |
Product size |
Visual inspection |
|
● |
|
4 |
Fiber composition and content |
● |
|
|
|
5 |
Maintenance/washing method |
|
● |
|
|
6 |
Description of use/storage requirements (applied when needed) |
Visual inspection |
|
● |
|
7 |
Product standard number |
● |
● |
|
|
8 |
Product safety category |
● |
● |
|
|
Note: If there are both Class I and Class II products in a project, mark those unlabeled as Class I whereas those incorrectly labeled as Class II. For the fiber composition and content, only Class I products are unqualified. If this item does not meet the requirements, the label can be directly marked as unqualified. |
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3.1 In terms of product safety, all the goods must meet the requirements of GB18401-2010 National General Safety Technical Code for Textile Products. For details, see Appendix B.
Note: The national standard GB18401-2010 came into effect as of Aug. 1, 2012, and textile products must comply with the standard as of this date.
3.2 All the product signs and labels must meet the requirements of GB 5296.4-2012 Instructions for Use of Products of Consumer Interest - Part 4: Textiles and Apparel. For details, see Appendix C.
3.3 The product quality must be consistent with the product implementation standard specified on product labels.
4. Punishment for violations
4.1 The seller must comply with the product release specifications (involving titles, images, product descriptions, and signs and labels) and product quality specifications stipulated in this standard.
4.2 If the seller’s product does not conform to the product release specifications of the category, it will affect the exposure of the product and its probability of being selected into the platform’s marketing promotions. In addition, if the official sampling test results show that a commodity utilizes unqualified signs and labels, AliExpress will take the illegal commodity off shelves. No points are deducted for the first failure to comply, but each subsequent time the label check fails, one point will be deducted, and it will be considered as a transaction violation, etc.
4.3 In the event that a seller sells any product that does not comply with the industrial product quality criteria, or is manufactured by an unqualified manufacturer, or does not meet any mandatory national, local, industrial and enterprise standards, or does not
1. If the seller fails to disclose commodity defects, or the commodity received by the buyer is inconsistent with the commodity description and affects normal use, AliExpress shall remove the illegal commodity, deduct 2 points for each violation, and incorporate the failure into transaction violations and other scoring systems.
2. In case that the commodity received by the buyer is entirely out of line with the commodity description about the material, composition, and parameters, and causes the buyer to be unable to use it properly, AliExpress shall remove the illegal commodity, deduct 6 points (12 points for some special categories like 3C products) for each violation, and incorporate the failure into transaction violations and other scoring systems.
3. If a commodity is considered to be harmful and hazardous to human safety and has severe impact according to the notification by national authorities or AliExpress’s official sampling results, e.g., formaldehyde or decomposable aromatic amine dye in clothing products is detected to be unqualified, AliExpress shall remove the illegal commodity, deduct 12 points for each violation, and incorporate the failure into transaction violations and other scoring systems.
4. If any quality-related check item is unqualified in the seller’s commodity, e.g., the washing shrinkage rate is not up to the standard, AliExpress shall remove the illegal commodity, and deduct 2 points for each violation, and incorporate the failure into transaction violations and other scoring systems.
(5) Where a seller is found to have repeatedly violated the rules, or the circumstance or impact of the violation is extremely serious, AliExpress may decide to “directly deduct 48 points and close the account” based on the severity of the aforesaid violations.
Suggestions for Sellers
The seller should describe the commodity material, composition, and parameters via images and text as truthfully as possible. The seller should clarify information such as the defects, shelf life, and incidental goods of the commodity, so that the buyer is aware of the commodity from many aspects. This way, both parties will have a clear understanding of the commodity description, avoiding unnecessary disputes.
Furthermore, the seller should conduct strict quality control on the goods sold to strive for a win-win situation between the buyer and seller.
1. What does “Mismatch” mean in “description of material and components of a product ‘mismatches’ with the product received by the buyer”?
“Commodity inconsistency” includes but is not limited to the following:
1) There is a discrepancy between the check result and the labeling or description of commodity material and composition, and the discrepancy is outside of the allowable margin range. For example, the seller claims that the clothes are 100% cotton on the commodity page, but the commodity received by the buyer is not pure cotton.
2) The commodity description or label indicates leather (such as sheepskin and cowskin), or the material and composition are marked as PU artificial leather (or synthetic leather), whereas the check result is PVC artificial leather (or synthetic leather). In this case, AliExpress shall adjust accordingly in accordance with the national and category standards.
2. What does “Completely Different” mean in “description of material and components of a product is ‘completely different’ from the product received by the buyer”?
“Complete inconsistency” includes but not limited to the following:
The seller’s description of all materials and composition of the commodity is completely inconsistent with the commodity received by the buyer. For example, the nominal value indicates that there is only one fiber (such as “pure” or “100%” fiber content), but the truth is completely different. Take another example. The composition indicates 100% cotton, but the actual material is polyester.
3. What is the application scope of “Where a seller is found to have repeatedly violated the rules, or the circumstance or impact of the violation is extremely serious, AliExpress may decide to ‘directly deduct 48 points and close the account’ based on the severity of the aforesaid violations”?
It is applicable to the circumstances including but not limited to: there are a huge number of nonconforming products or complaints from buyers, which has caused a very serious impact to the platform and buyers.
Appendix A
Examples of the Labeling of Composition and Content of Textiles and Apparel
1. Textiles and apparel made from a type of fiber
If the fiber content of a product is marked as “100%” or “pure”, the product must comply with the provisions of the corresponding product standards (national standard or category standard).
|
Example 1 |
100% cotton |
or |
pure cotto |
2. Textiles and apparel made from two or more types of fiber
2.1 Under normal circumstances, you can list the generic names of all fibers in the descending order of content percentage, and then give the percentage of each fiber in the total product content next to the fiber.
|
Example 2 |
85% nylon |
Example 3 |
55% wool |
2.2 If the content of one or more types of fiber is less than 5%, you can use the following methods to indicate the fiber content:
1) List the name and content of the fiber.
2) Mark these fibers as “other fibers” in a centralized way, and provide their total content.
3) If the total content of these fibers is less than 5%, ignore them.
|
Example 4 |
50% viscose |
Example 5 |
90% wool 10% other fibers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example 6 |
92% acetate fiber |
or |
92% acetate fiber |
3. For textiles and apparel made of bottom tissues and villus, you should separately indicate the content of each fiber in the product or in down and basic fabric.
|
Example 7 |
60% cotton |
Example 8 |
Villus 90% cotton |
4. For textiles and apparel with linings, the fiber content of the linings should be indicated.
|
Example 9 |
Fabric pure wool |
5. For textiles and apparel with filling materials, the type and content of the filling materials should be indicated. In the case of down fillings, the down content and filling weight should be indicated.
|
Example 10 |
Set 65% polyester |
Example 11 |
Fabric 65% cotton |
6. For a single textile product or garment that is made from two or more types of different fabrics, you should separately indicate the fiber name and content of each part of the fabric.
|
Example 12 |
Body 100% polypropylene |
Appendix B
Based on the indicators, the general safety specifications for textile products are classified into three categories: A, B, and C. Textile products for infants and babies should meet the Class A requirements. Textile products in direct skin contact should at least meet the Class B requirements.
Textile products without direct contact to skin should at least meet the Class C requirements. The specific requirements are listed in the following table.
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