Sourcing online
Most sourcing now starts in a chat window rather than at a fair, and four words carry it: 客服 (the seller's chat agent), 现货 (in stock), 改价 (adjust the price) and 一件代发 (drop-ship single units). The reply that surprises most foreign buyers is 我们不发国际。 — "we don't ship abroad", which on 1688 is normal rather than a refusal.
What actually happens
1688 is Alibaba's domestic wholesale site, and it is where Chinese businesses actually buy. Alibaba.com — the English-facing site — is a different marketplace with export-ready sellers, higher prices and English-speaking staff. Prices on 1688 are routinely a third to a half of the same item on Alibaba.com, and the whole reason is the friction this page is about: the site is in Chinese, the sellers do not ship abroad, and payment expects a Chinese account.
The unit of interaction is the chat window, not the listing. Almost nothing on a Chinese marketplace listing is final: the price shown is a starting point, the minimum is negotiable, and the seller expects you to open 客服 and ask. A conversation that would be presumptuous on a Western site — "is this in stock, what's the price for a hundred, can you adjust it" — is simply how the transaction is meant to begin. Sellers open with 亲, which is marketplace register rather than familiarity.
Two practical mechanics matter more than any phrase. 一件代发 (drop-shipping single units) is what lets you test a product without a container of it, and not every seller offers it. And because most sellers ship domestically only, small buyers use a 集运 forwarding warehouse: the seller posts to a Chinese address, the warehouse consolidates and re-ships to you. Keep the whole negotiation inside the platform chat — that log is the evidence if a dispute follows.
What they'll say back to you
Understanding the reply is the half of the conversation phrasebooks skip. These are the lines you will actually hear in this situation — learn to recognise them, not to say them.
What to say
Opening the chat
Price and ordering
Checking before you pay
When it goes wrong
The bit that isn't language
Ask for one photograph of the actual item on the seller's own bench, taken today, before you pay for anything. It costs them a minute, it is a completely ordinary request on a Chinese marketplace, and the sellers who will not do it have told you something useful for free.
Quick quiz — 5 questions
Five questions built from the phrases above: you get the English, you pick the Chinese. No sign-up, no score kept — just a check that they have stuck.
How do you say this?
Common mistakes
| ✗ What visitors do | ✓ What works | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Assuming a 1688 seller will post to your country | Arranging a 集运 forwarding address in China first | Most 1688 sellers are domestic wholesalers with no export process at all. This is not a rejection of your order — it is simply outside what they do, and a Chinese delivery address makes the problem disappear. |
| Agreeing the price by WeChat or email | Keeping every number inside the platform chat | Platform dispute resolution reads the platform's own chat log. An agreement reached elsewhere is invisible to it, and a refund claim that depends on it usually fails. |
| Reading 厂家 on a listing as verified | Asking for a video of the line, or visiting | Anyone can write "manufacturer" on a listing. The claim costs nothing to make and is made constantly; a short video of the production floor costs the seller a minute and tells you most of what you need. |
Sourcing online (1688 and Alibaba) — frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 1688 and Alibaba.com?
1688 is Alibaba's domestic Chinese wholesale marketplace; Alibaba.com is its international one. 1688 is cheaper — often by a third to a half on identical goods — because its sellers serve Chinese buyers: the site is Chinese-only, most sellers do not ship abroad, and payment assumes a Chinese account. Alibaba.com sellers price in the export process and usually have English-speaking staff.
What does 一件代发 (yí jiàn dàifā) mean?
Drop-shipping by the single unit — the seller will pack and post one item at a time to your customer instead of requiring a full carton. It is what makes testing a product possible without buying a hundred of it. Not every listing offers it, so ask: 支持一件代发吗？
Can I buy on 1688 without speaking Chinese?
Machine translation handles the listings, and the phrases on this page cover the chat. The two real obstacles are not language: most sellers ship only within China, so you need a 集运 forwarding warehouse, and payment generally expects a Chinese account or an agent. Buying agents solve both for a percentage.
What does 集运 (jíyùn) mean?
Consolidated forwarding. You are given an address at a warehouse in China, sellers post your orders there, and the warehouse combines them into one international shipment. It is how small buyers get around domestic-only sellers, and it also cuts the freight cost of several small parcels down to one.
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Before you fly
Work through the whole trip in Ready for a trip to China in 30 days, play Travel Survival Sprint to make the phrases automatic, practise saying them aloud in Airport Roleplay, or look up anything else in the Chinese → Pinyin translator.