How do you choose a China sourcing agent?

Ask ten things before you pay: how the agent is paid, what the quote leaves out, how your goods are checked and photographed, whether orders can be grouped, who pays when a piece doesn’t match, whether the shipping quote can go up, who pays customs, which language you deal in, and who owns the supplier’s contact. Below, Rabbit, an agent that buys on 1688, answers each one, including what it doesn’t do.

By Hussayn Delli, founder of Rabbit · Updated November 9, 2026.

What an agent does, step by step: how a 1688 sourcing agent works. This page is about choosing one. Ask each question in writing, and keep the answers.

1. How much do you charge, and how are you paid?

Agents charge in different ways: a fee on each order, a fee per request, or one all-in price. Ask for the total you pay for a real order, not a rate.

Rabbit: searching for a product and seeing its estimated profit is free within a daily limit, with no account and no card. Your first order needs no subscription. Rabbit’s order fees are already inside the price per piece it shows you, and the quote gives the total you pay before you pay it. Optional monthly plans give more searches and tools; for a US account they cost $19.99, $49.99 or $89.99 a month.

2. What isn’t included in your quote?

A low quote can grow later: storage, inspection, repacking, a second shipping bill. Ask for the list of what can be billed after you pay.

Rabbit: up to 3 pieces, the amount of the quote is the amount you pay, delivery included. Above 3 pieces, you pay the goods when you order, and the delivery once your batch is weighed and measured at the warehouse, never more than the maximum shown in your quote. For a US account today, an order of more than 3 pieces can’t be paid in dollars yet: its delivery is paid at the weighing, and that payment isn’t open in dollars. You can order up to 3 pieces, delivery included. What can come on top, and only in these cases:

• Storage after 30 days at the warehouse in China (30 days are free).
• Import duties at your door, if you pick a shipping line where duties aren’t included. You see an estimate before you pay.
• Extra services you choose yourself, like extra photos or neutral packaging, at the price shown before you pay.
• When the shipping can’t be priced yet, Rabbit says so before you order, and prices it when your parcel is weighed.

3. How do you check my goods?

Ask what “checked” means: counted, opened, compared with your order, or tested.

Rabbit: every parcel is opened, checked and photographed when it arrives at the warehouse in China, at no extra charge. The check covers what can be seen: the product, the quantity, the variant and its condition. It is not a lab test or a certification: if your product needs one, you arrange it.

4. Will I see photos of my goods before they ship?

Photos of a sample or of the supplier’s stock don’t prove anything about your batch. Ask for photos of your own pieces, before shipping.

Rabbit: yes. You see the photos of your pieces before they leave China, in the app, and your assistant can show them in ChatGPT or Claude.

5. Can you group several orders into one shipment?

Buying from several suppliers often means several parcels. Ask whether goods can wait at the warehouse, for how long, and at what cost.

Rabbit: yes. Your goods can wait at the warehouse while you group several orders. Storage is free for 30 days, counting the day they arrive. From day 31 it is paid and must be extended in time: goods left without a paid extension are destroyed. For a batch of more than 3 pieces whose delivery you haven’t paid within those 30 days, Rabbit extends storage at its own expense for 21 more days. Goods you bought elsewhere can be received there too, checked and shipped on.

6. What happens if a piece doesn’t match my order?

Ask who pays, and whether the bad piece still ships to you.

Rabbit: a piece that doesn’t match, found at the check, doesn’t ship. Rabbit tells you before shipping and offers a replacement, a credit on a future order or a refund, and you agree on one. A defect the check can’t see is handled as a claim, by email to support.

7. Can the shipping quote go up after I pay?

Many shipping quotes are estimates: the real bill comes when the parcel is weighed. Ask whether the quote is a ceiling.

Rabbit: no. Up to 3 pieces, a Rabbit quote is a ceiling: when your parcel is weighed, a lower shipping cost is refunded to you, and a higher one is paid by Rabbit. Above 3 pieces, the delivery is priced on your real parcel after the weighing, and never above the maximum your quote showed.

8. Who pays customs, and in whose name?

Ask whether the shipping line includes duties, and who is the importer. In the US, since the de minimis exemption was suspended, every shipment from China pays duties: what the end of de minimis changes.

Rabbit: it depends on the shipping line in your quote. On a duties-included line, duties are in the price you pay. On a line without duties included, you pay them at delivery, and you see an estimate before you pay. For the US, the estimated profit Rabbit shows already counts US import duties. You stay responsible, as a reseller, for your own customs and product obligations.

9. Which language do I deal in?

On 1688, listings and after-sales are in Chinese. Ask who talks to the supplier, and in what language you get answers.

Rabbit: you never read Chinese or talk to the supplier: the app is in English and French, and nothing Rabbit writes to you is in Chinese. When the search finds nothing, a person in China searches by hand; these requests are counted each month, according to your plan. One exception: the warehouse address is in Chinese, because the seller in China reads it.

10. Who owns the supplier’s contact?

Some agents give you the supplier’s name and contact. Others keep it. Ask before you start, because it decides whether you can ever buy from that supplier without the agent.

Rabbit: Rabbit keeps it. You don’t get the supplier’s name, contact or store, and in ChatGPT or Claude the assistant gets a Rabbit reference, not the 1688 listing. That is how Rabbit’s business works, not a service to you. If you want to negotiate with the factory yourself, visit it, or move to another agent with the same supplier, choose an agent who hands over the contact, in writing.

For your exact situation: your accountant or a customs broker.