Guides: buying from 1688 and importing from China

By Hussayn Delli, founder of Rabbit.

• How do you buy from 1688 without speaking Chinese?
  1688 is China’s domestic wholesale marketplace: in Chinese, and its suppliers deliver in China. The steps to buy there from the US or anywhere else, from the sample to customs, and who does what.
• How does a 1688 sourcing agent work?
  A 1688 sourcing agent finds the product, pays the supplier, receives, checks and ships your goods from China. What they do step by step, when you need one, what they don’t do for you, and the questions to ask.
• How do you resell products from China in the US?
  Since the de minimis exemption was suspended, every shipment from China to the US pays import duties. What you pay at US customs, which products need paperwork, and the steps from a 1688 sample to your first sale.
• Can ChatGPT or Claude buy from 1688 for you?
  ChatGPT and Claude can’t pay a supplier or receive goods in China on their own. With Rabbit added as a connector, your assistant searches 1688, prices the product and gives you the link to order. How to add it, and what it does.
• Who is behind Rabbit?
  Who is behind Rabbit, the agent that buys on 1688 for resellers: the founder, the company, the warehouse in China, and the rules we hold ourselves to on prices and profit.
• What is 1688, and why do resellers buy there?
  1688 is the Alibaba group’s wholesale marketplace for buyers in China: who sells there, why the price per piece drops with quantity, and dated US examples.
• Why is the same product photo on 1688, AliExpress, Amazon and TikTok Shop?
  The factory makes the product photos, and resellers everywhere reuse them. What a shared photo tells you about a product, and where it stops telling the truth.
• How do you find the factory source of a product you saw online?
  From a photo or a product link to the 1688 listing: the steps of an image search, what Rabbit does, what happens when nothing matches, and brand risks.
• What sells in the US from 1688 right now?
  Products from 1688 that sell in the US: what you pay, the fees, the US price and the estimated profit, dated. And how 2,919 ranked products came down to four.
• How do you calculate your profit on a product from China, delivered?
  The order Rabbit counts costs in, from the 1688 piece to your buyer’s door: shipping, platform fee, US duties, the parcel. One real example, dated, in dollars.
• Test, batch, brand: how do you start reselling one product?
  Start with one product and three steps: test it, order a batch, then put your logo on it. How Rabbit runs each step, when it says wait, and when it says no.
• How do you order a sample from 1688?
  Why a 1688 sample comes before a batch, what one piece shipped to the US costs, how Rabbit orders it from the app, ChatGPT or Claude, and what to check.
• I don’t have an address in China: how do I receive goods there?
  1688 sellers deliver to addresses in China. Who receives your goods there, what a warehouse checks, how long goods can stay, and what Rabbit’s warehouse does.
• How do you choose a China sourcing agent?
  Ten questions to ask a China sourcing agent before you pay: fees, checks, photos, refunds, shipping quotes, customs, supplier contact. Rabbit answers each.
• The end of de minimis: what changes for US resellers?
  The US no longer lets low-value parcels in duty-free. What each shipment from China pays now, a worked example in dollars, and why one batch beats 100 parcels.
• What does an AI buying agent for 1688 do?
  With Rabbit connected, ChatGPT or Claude searches 1688, prices a product, tracks orders and shows warehouse photos. The real tools, and what stays with you.
• Is 1688 legit and safe to buy from?
  1688 is the Alibaba group’s wholesale marketplace. The risk is the seller: copies, borrowed photos, payment in China. What Rabbit checks, and its limits.
• How do you pay a 1688 supplier from abroad?
  A 1688 seller expects payment in China. What 1688’s own cross-border payment asks of you, and how Rabbit lets you pay by card in dollars, then pays the seller.
• How do you read a 1688 listing in English?
  Price tiers, minimum order, unit of sale, variants, the seller’s declared weight and video: how to read a 1688 listing, and what Rabbit shows you from it.
• How do you search 1688 in English?
  1688 titles are written in Chinese, so English keywords miss. How to write a search like a Chinese seller would, and how Rabbit searches, sorts and translates.
• How do you choose a supplier on 1688?
  Orders, repeat buyers, factory or wholesaler, a real video, matching photos, a sample: how to pick a 1688 supplier, and what Rabbit weighs without naming it.
• What is the minimum order quantity on 1688, and can you buy less?
  How common minimums are on 1688, dated from 436 products sold in the US, three ways to buy less, and what Rabbit does with a seller’s minimum when you order.
• Which products should you not import from China to the US?
  Prohibited and restricted goods from China, with the US agency for each (CBP, CPSC, FDA, FCC, USDA, ATF), and what Rabbit refuses to search, quote or list.
• How much does a China sourcing agent cost?
  The six ways a China sourcing agent gets paid, what each one hides, and how Rabbit charges to buy on 1688: inside the price per piece, with no fee added on top.
• How do you avoid China sourcing agent scams?
  Five known tricks of dishonest China sourcing agents, the sign that gives each away, what Rabbit commits to in writing, and what it doesn’t guarantee.
• How do you ship from China to the US: express, air cargo or sea?
  Express, air cargo or sea from China to the US: what each costs at US customs per shipment, who pays the duties, and how Rabbit shows and bills a shipping line.
• DDP or DDU: who pays US duties on a parcel from China?
  DDP means duties are paid before the parcel arrives; DDU means someone pays at the door. Who the importer is, the DDU trap, and how Rabbit counts each.
• How do you ship products from China to Amazon FBA?
  Shipping a batch from China to Amazon FBA in the US: importer of record, duties paid, barcodes, box labels, appointments, and what Rabbit can’t do yet.
• How do you find the HTS code of your product?
  Find your product’s US tariff code with the USITC search and CBP rulings, why that code sets your duties, and what Rabbit counts when the code isn’t known.
• Do you need a customs broker to import from China?
  No law makes you hire one, but above $2,500 a shipment needs a formal entry and a customs bond, and sea freight an ISF. What each step asks, from CBP texts.
• Which products from China need FCC, FDA or CPSC paperwork?
  Radio electronics need FCC authorization; food, cosmetics and medical devices answer to the FDA; kids’ products need a CPSC certificate. The rules, sourced.
• How do you put your logo on a 1688 product?
  Rabbit puts your logo on the packaging of a 1688 batch: a bag, a sticker, a card. When it is offered, what it costs, and what US law still asks of a brand.
• Can ChatGPT find suppliers in China?
  ChatGPT and Claude can search the web, translate a listing and compare offers. They can’t pay a supplier, receive goods or check them. What a connector changes.