How do International Buyers Send Inquiries on 1688.com?

1688.com is the largest wholesale website in China. Both 1688 and Alibaba.com are owned by the Alibaba group. Another popular site, Taobao, is also owned by Alibaba. 1688.com, in contrast to Taobao, was retail in Taobao, and 1688 shopping was wholesale sales between global businesses (B2B). No matter which country you are in, you can import Chinese goods through the 1688 e-commerce platform.

Difference between 1688 and alibaba.com:

1. Different target markets

1688.com is a professional online shopping site in China.
Alibaba.com is one of the premier online platforms for exporters to expand their international trade abroad.

2. Different uses

1688.com: a reputable and well known online shopping mall website with the latest discount promotion information and coupons, to achieve one–stop online shopping and 1688 shopping at ease.
Alibaba.com: An export marketing service that helps small and medium–sized enterprises expand their international trade and obtain business opportunities and orders by showing and promoting their products to overseas buyers.
To find the source manufacturer, use 1688.com instead of Alibaba.com. Because 90% of the suppliers on Alibaba.com were traders, most of the suppliers on 1688.com were factories, with very few trading companies (because if these companies were domestic, what exactly would they need trading companies).

How do I register for 1688 shopping?

1. Log On to 1688.com

2. Use Google Translate to translate it into English

3. Click My Ali

4. Click to register for free

5. Click to register a personal account

6. Agree to the terms of service

7. Enter the relevant information, as shown below

Now you’re done with 1688.com

How to contact the supplier via 1688 shipping agent?

Register buyer’s account number and send inquiry to the supplier. An inquiry can be sent from the point of view of the supplier’s product and from the other point of view of the supplier’s store.
1688.com is designed for Chinese buyers. If you’re from outside China, you basically have to solve four problems before you can buy from 1688 China wholesale:

1. Language

1688.com is in Chinese, while most Americans only speak English, and even if they can purchase goods through Google translate, how do they communicate with 1688 China wholesale sellers? Some businesses may be English when you encounter non-English suppliers suggest you use Wechat communication with them because Wechat has a very friendly translation function.

2. Payment

1688.com is focused on the Chinese market, so only Alipay and credit cards can be used for bank transfers. Thanks to Alipay, it is difficult for Americans to pay with credit cards. You must have a Chinese bank account in order to pay. If not, you can only emply an agent to help.

3. Transportation

Most suppliers can only ship goods in China, they are difficult to provide express air transport services and invoices, packing list, and customs documents to ship abroad. If you do not have friends in China who can help you to receive the parcel locally. You must use a freight forwarder in China. But 1688.com also has some suppliers that have an International Trade Department, if your supplier is also do foreign business, then you do not have to worry about the problem of transportation. Or you can choose a 1688 shipping agent or 1688 sourcing agent who will source and ship for you.

4. Quality Control

This is probably the customer’s biggest concern. If you can overcome all of the above, how do you do quality control before shipping? Unless you choose a 1688 shipping agent or 1688 sourcing agent. 1688 shipping agent can help you check your goods before shipping. 1688 sourcing agent can help you choose the most suitable seller and help you control the quality of your goods. He can help you to send your 1688 shopping purchase and express.

How to buy easily and safely at 1688.com? Some tips can help:

1. Start with a small order, or ask for a sample to check before buying in bulk.
2. Since the 1688 website is written in Chinese, please use the Google Chrome browser to translate the entire page into English.
3. When searching for 1688 shopping products, use Chinese keywords and avoid lengthy keywords to get more accurate results (you can use Google translate).
4. Not all products can be transported internationally. When you use ordinary express, can not transport liquids, powder, pure batteries, knives and so on.

Perhaps many people know the 1688 website is safe, but the seller so many, that they are not necessarily safe. So how do you know which sellers are reliable and whose products are guaranteed?
Don’t worry, 1688.com has its own set of complete security systems, through big data to assess the seller’s rating, let the buyer at a glance.

How to choose a reliable seller on 1688.com

To determine the seller’s level

As a first time importer from 1688.com, we can judge the level of the seller from the following points:

Power suppliers—bull head symbol

The bull head symbol shown above is the power supplier. This is a valid proof of business class. Because the businessman wants to obtain the title of power supplier, must satisfy three qualifications at the same time. They are:

1. Source manufacturer: Enterprise registered capital ≥500,000 yuan RMB(or equivalent foreign currency) or plant area ≥500 M2;
   
2. Official flagship store: Enterprise registered capital ≥300,000 yuan RMB(or equivalent foreign currency) or operating/factory area ≥500 M2;
3. Brand franchise stores: registered capital of enterprises ≥300,000 yuan RMB (or equivalent foreign currency).

The different management category also has the corresponding request to the actual power supplier’s qualification. We can use the symbol to screen out a few relatively reliable businesses before making a more detailed selection.
As a buyer, we came to the 1688.com home page, you can directly click the blue box below.

Then choose a random category, and here’s an example of apparel underwear.

On this page, we can see that each seller is a power supplier with a bullhead symbol, which saves the US more than half the time.

In-depth factory inspection or in-depth trademark inspection

As you can see from the image above, businesses with such logos have passed Alibaba’s in-depth certification. It is 1688.com purchase and wholesale platform for production enterprises and non-production enterprises users launched a proprietary certification service, by the third-party Authority on-site Inspection and verification. From the basic situation of the enterprise, flexible production capacity, e-commerce receiving capacity, rapid proofing capacity, quality control capacity, trade and service capacity to fully demonstrate the real ability of the enterprise.

Years of operation(1688 China wholesale)

The bottom right corner of every product usually has a year of operation. Its year represents the business history of this online store. We can judge how long this shop has been open by the year of integrity and trust. Eight years means the store has been open for eight years. But this can not guarantee the quality of the product, it can be used as an auxiliary standard.