Buying on 1688 through an agent
1688.com is Alibaba Group's wholesale marketplace for the Chinese domestic market. The site is in Chinese and sellers price in renminbi for buyers inside China.
Why an agent is usually involved
Listings, chat and after-sales are in Chinese, payment runs through domestic payment methods, and sellers normally deliver to an address in mainland China. An agent places the order, pays, receives the goods and arranges export.
Cost lines to expect
The goods value on the listing, domestic freight from the seller to the agent's warehouse, the agent's fee, any inspection, and export shipping. Enter the first four in the estimator; shipping abroad goes under other quoted costs if you want it in the total.
What to settle with the agent first
Who checks the goods on arrival and against what, what happens to wrong or damaged items, how refunds from the seller reach you, and which fee structure applies to small repeat orders.
What this site cannot tell you
Seller ratings, platform fees and protection rules change and are set by the platform. Read them on 1688.com or ask the agent to show you the current page.
This site is not affiliated with Alibaba Group, 1688.com or Alibaba.com. The names are used only to describe the marketplaces. For rules, fees and protections, the platform's own pages govern. Official site: 1688.com