Searching 1688 is not like searching Amazon or Google. The platform is built for Chinese wholesale buyers, its listings are written in dense factory language, and the most important signals — store age, repurchase rate, production badges — sit in small badges and numbers that first-time foreign buyers scroll past. This guide explains the search […]
Returns and refunds on 1688 are possible, but they run on the platform’s own rules rather than the ones you may be used to from Amazon or eBay. Your money is protected by Alipay’s escrow and by 1688’s buyer-protection system, but a refund only lands when the dispute process is followed, the supplier agrees or […]
A China purchasing agent is a specialist you hire to source, negotiate, order, and manage the delivery of goods from Chinese suppliers on your behalf. The part most buyers get wrong is the label: a purchasing agent does more than a buying agent, because “purchasing” means the whole supply task — finding the right supplier, […]
Most importers only think about inspection after the goods are made. By then the cartons are sealed, the balance payment is due, and a defect that should have been caught three weeks earlier is now a negotiation. Pre-shipment inspection is not a formality bolted on at the end of an order — it is a […]
1688 is safe for domestic Chinese buyers, but an international buyer faces real, specific risks — around payment, product quality and supplier reliability — that the platform’s buyer protection was never really designed to solve. The honest answer is that 1688 itself is a legitimate, heavily used wholesale marketplace owned by the Alibaba group. The […]
A 1688 buying agent typically charges 5% to 10% of order value, plus domestic and international shipping.
You found a great product on 1688, but the seller will not ship it to you. Most 1688 suppliers only deliver within mainland China.
What 1688 MOQ means, whether it is negotiable, and how sample orders de-risk your bulk purchase before you commit.
A practical guide to paying a 1688 supplier from overseas, covering payment methods, risks, and how a buying agent settles suppliers in RMB.
Buying wholesale from 1688 is the fastest route to lower unit costs for an overseas business.
