How do you choose a supplier on 1688?

Look at what you can check: whether the seller is a manufacturer or a wholesaler, how long the company has existed, its orders and repeat buyers, a real video, a complete listing and photos of one same product, then order a sample. With Rabbit you don’t pick the seller yourself: Rabbit ranks 1688 offers on those signals, drops declared copies, and never tells you who the seller is.

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

What should you look at in a 1688 supplier?

• Manufacturer or wholesaler. A factory sets its own price and can change the product; a wholesaler resells. Both can be fine, but you should know which one you buy from.
• How long the company has existed. A company registered last year has less of a track record.
• Orders and repeat buyers. Buyers who come back are a stronger signal than a large number of one-off orders.
• A real video of the product. It shows the size, the material and how it works better than a retouched photo.
• A complete listing. Weight, dimensions, variants and specs filled in. A seller who leaves them empty leaves you guessing.
• Photos of one same product. Photos that don’t match each other, or that you’ve seen on other products, are a warning: why the same product photo is everywhere.
• A sample before a batch. No signal replaces the piece in your hands: how to order a sample from 1688.

Does Rabbit show you who the seller is?

No. You don’t get the seller’s name, shop, link or contact, in the app or in ChatGPT and Claude. That is how Rabbit’s business works: it buys for you, and keeps the supplier. If you want to talk to the factory yourself, visit it or move it to another agent later, choose an agent who hands over the contact, in writing: how to choose a China sourcing agent.

What does Rabbit show you about the seller?

On search results in the app, under the price, a short seller line with up to four facts, and never a name:

• “Manufacturer” or “Wholesaler”: from the seller’s factory profile on 1688, or else from what its registered company name says. When neither tells, nothing is written.
• Its rating, as the seller’s record gives it, with its decimal.
• “Since” a year: the year the seller’s company was registered, not a guess from its time on 1688.
• Its minimum, when it is more than one piece.

A fact Rabbit doesn’t have stays blank. It never shows a default rating or a zero.

How does Rabbit choose which offers to show you?

When you search by words, Rabbit asks 1688 for results sorted by sales, then:

1. Keeps, when at least five qualify, the offers with a real record: enough orders, enough repeat buyers, or 1688’s verified-supplier mark.
2. Ranks them on the seller’s orders, its share of repeat buyers, the verified mark, and a price that isn’t suspiciously low.

The search itself, step by step: how to search 1688 in English.

What makes Rabbit drop an offer?

• The seller’s own title says it is a replica: it leaves your results, and the listing doesn’t open even from a link.
• It isn’t what you asked for: another object, an accessory of it, a miniature.
• In ChatGPT and Claude, it belongs to a banned family, such as weapons, vapes, alcohol, medicines or adult products.
• A variant with no stock isn’t offered.
• In Rabbit’s US catalog, each 1688 match was checked by eye, and a product is set aside with its reason and date. On November 9, 2026, one left because its photo carried a brand name.

How does Rabbit say whether an offer is worth it?

On the product page, Rabbit gives a verdict on the numbers, the same for the same inputs:

• “Go for it.” Only when the estimated profit per piece is above a set amount, still leaves something after paying for an ad on each sale, and nothing in the count is left unknown.
• “It works, to be confirmed.” A good estimated profit with a question still open, or a brand signal: a branded product can be stopped at customs.
• “It works, but it’s tight.” Some profit, not much room.
• “Skip it.” A loss, or too little to work with.
• “I can’t tell.” When the shipping price or the market price is missing, Rabbit says so instead of guessing.

The seller’s orders and repeat buyers, without its name, go into the explanation under the verdict. How the profit itself is counted: how to calculate your profit on a product from China.

What doesn’t Rabbit check about a supplier?

• Rabbit doesn’t read 1688 buyer reviews: it stopped on September 24, 2026, because they weren’t coming through reliably.
• It doesn’t audit factories or test products in a lab. At its warehouse in China, your pieces get a photo inspection before they ship: what you ordered, how many, which variant, their visible condition. A piece that doesn’t match doesn’t ship, and you agree on a replacement, a credit or a refund.
• A word check doesn’t see a copy whose title doesn’t say so. More on the risks: is 1688 safe to buy from?.

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