1688 and AliExpress both belong to the Alibaba group. 1688: the group describes it as its domestic wholesale marketplace, in China. Suppliers sell to buyers in China, so the site is in Chinese and delivery goes to an address in China. AliExpress: the group’s global retail marketplace. It sells one piece at a time, in English, and delivers abroad. Taobao: the group’s retail marketplace for shoppers in China.

How do you buy from 1688 without speaking Chinese?

Q: Why is 1688 hard to use from outside China?

The language: listings, messages with the supplier and after-sales service are in Chinese. The delivery: the supplier ships to an address in China, so someone there has to receive your goods. The check: a batch that leaves without being inspected is discovered when it arrives, too late to send it back. Your browser can translate the page, but it can’t receive a parcel in China. That is the job of a 1688 sourcing agent .

Q: What are the steps to buy from 1688?

Find the product: a 1688 link, a photo or a few words are enough for an agent to search. Order a sample, receive it and check it yourself. Order the batch. On 1688 the price per piece goes down with the quantity, and the supplier often sets a minimum. The agent receives the batch at their warehouse in China, checks it and photographs it. They ship it to you, by air or by sea. The batch clears customs in your country, which charges its import duties and taxes: what the US charges .

Q: How does Rabbit buy from 1688 for you?

Search. Send me a 1688 link, a photo or a few words: I search 1688 and AliExpress and show you what I find. You never read Chinese or talk to the supplier, and nothing I write to you is in Chinese. When my search finds nothing, a person in China searches for you. Price it. Before you order, I estimate the cost delivered to your door and your estimated profit on each sale. In the US, the import duties on goods from China are counted. Order. You order and pay in Rabbit, in dollars with a US account. Your first order doesn’t need a subscription. Receive in China. Your goods arrive at my warehouse in China. Every parcel is opened, checked and photographed, and you see the photos before it ships. If a piece doesn’t match, I offer a replacement, a credit or a refund. Ship. I ship to you, in the US or in any of the 23 countries I deliver to. A shipping quote is a ceiling: it can go down when the parcel is weighed, never up. Search for a product

1688 is China’s domestic wholesale marketplace: the site is in Chinese and its suppliers deliver to addresses in China. To buy there from abroad, you go through an agent who orders, pays the supplier, receives your goods in China, checks them and ships them to you. Rabbit is that agent, in an app and inside ChatGPT or Claude.

By Hussayn Delli, founder of Rabbit · Updated November 8, 2026.

What is 1688?

1688 and AliExpress both belong to the Alibaba group.
1688: the group describes it as its domestic wholesale marketplace, in China. Suppliers sell to buyers in China, so the site is in Chinese and delivery goes to an address in China.
AliExpress: the group’s global retail marketplace. It sells one piece at a time, in English, and delivers abroad.
Taobao: the group’s retail marketplace for shoppers in China.

Why is 1688 hard to use from outside China?

The language: listings, messages with the supplier and after-sales service are in Chinese.
The delivery: the supplier ships to an address in China, so someone there has to receive your goods.
The check: a batch that leaves without being inspected is discovered when it arrives, too late to send it back.

Your browser can translate the page, but it can’t receive a parcel in China. That is the job of a 1688 sourcing agent.

What are the steps to buy from 1688?

Find the product: a 1688 link, a photo or a few words are enough for an agent to search.
Order a sample, receive it and check it yourself.
Order the batch. On 1688 the price per piece goes down with the quantity, and the supplier often sets a minimum.
The agent receives the batch at their warehouse in China, checks it and photographs it.
They ship it to you, by air or by sea.
The batch clears customs in your country, which charges its import duties and taxes: what the US charges.

Should you buy from 1688 or AliExpress?

AliExpress to test a product one piece at a time: it delivers to you. 1688 once the product sells and you want a batch: it is a wholesale marketplace, and it delivers in China. You often find the same product on both: the quantity decides, not the product.

How does Rabbit buy from 1688 for you?

Search. Send me a 1688 link, a photo or a few words: I search 1688 and AliExpress and show you what I find. You never read Chinese or talk to the supplier, and nothing I write to you is in Chinese. When my search finds nothing, a person in China searches for you.
Price it. Before you order, I estimate the cost delivered to your door and your estimated profit on each sale. In the US, the import duties on goods from China are counted.
Order. You order and pay in Rabbit, in dollars with a US account. Your first order doesn’t need a subscription.
Receive in China. Your goods arrive at my warehouse in China. Every parcel is opened, checked and photographed, and you see the photos before it ships. If a piece doesn’t match, I offer a replacement, a credit or a refund.
Ship. I ship to you, in the US or in any of the 23 countries I deliver to. A shipping quote is a ceiling: it can go down when the parcel is weighed, never up.

Search for a product

Sources

Alibaba Group — annual report 2025 (Form 20-F), describing 1688, AliExpress and Taobao, read on October 31, 2026

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