How do you avoid China sourcing agent scams?

Know the five usual tricks: payment outside any platform, stock photos instead of your goods, a quote that climbs at weighing, fees that appear after you pay, and a supplier contact sold as exclusive. Then ask for the agent’s promise against each one in writing. Rabbit, an agent that buys on 1688, writes its own in its terms, below, with what it doesn’t guarantee.

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

An agent you can’t check is a risk, honest or not. For each trick below: how it works, the sign that gives it away, and Rabbit’s written answer. Choosing an agent in general: ten questions to ask a China sourcing agent.

Why is paying outside a platform the most common trap?

The trick: the agent, or someone posing as the supplier, asks you to pay a personal account by wire, crypto or a payment app, often with a reason to hurry. Once paid, nothing protects you. The Federal Trade Commission lists both signs: scammers pressure you to act immediately, and tell you to pay in a specific way. It also warns never to pay someone who insists you can only pay with cryptocurrency.

Rabbit: you pay in Rabbit, by bank card, through Stripe. Rabbit buys from the 1688 seller on your behalf; you never pay a seller yourself, and no order goes to the seller before your payment is complete. In ChatGPT or Claude, the assistant gives you the link to the product in Rabbit, where you pay. Paying in detail: how to pay a 1688 supplier from abroad; and whether 1688 itself is safe: is 1688 legit and safe to buy from?.

How do you know the photos are of your goods?

The trick: you receive the seller’s catalog photos, or photos of a sample, as if they were your batch. They prove nothing about your pieces. The sign: photos that look like an ad, with the same background as the listing.

Rabbit: “Inspection photos of YOUR items before shipment” is one of the two commitments written into its terms. Every order gets them, and you see them before your goods leave China. A piece found not matching your order doesn’t ship: you agree on a replacement, a credit or a refund. The limit: the check covers what a photo shows, not a lab test or a proof the product is authentic.

Why does a shipping quote climb after the goods are weighed?

The trick: a low shipping estimate wins your order. Once your goods are at the warehouse, the “real” weight comes back higher, and you pay the difference or your goods stay there. The sign: a quote that says “estimated” with no maximum.

Rabbit: up to 3 pieces, the quote is a ceiling: if the weighed parcel costs less to ship, the difference is refunded to you; if it costs more, Rabbit pays it. Above 3 pieces, the delivery is priced after the weighing, and the quote gives its maximum: you never pay above it. 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 else to ask about shipping quotes: the questions to ask before you pay.

How do hidden fees appear after you pay?

The trick: a low fee on the order, then a bill for things you never chose: checks, repacking, labels, storage, “bank fees”. The sign: an agent who can’t give you, in writing, the list of what can be billed after you pay.

Rabbit: its terms say no service fee is added as a share of your order, and that up to 3 pieces, the quote is the price paid, with nothing claimed after payment. Options are added only if you pick them, at the price shown before you pay. The terms list what can come after the quote: the delivery of a batch of more than 3 pieces, capped by the quote; storage after the free 30 days; and import duties at your door on a shipping line without duties included, estimated before you pay. How Rabbit and other agents charge: how much a China sourcing agent costs.

Is an “exclusive” factory contact worth paying for?

The trick: the agent sells you a supplier’s contact as an exclusive source. On 1688, the same product is often listed by many sellers, with the same photos: why the same product photo shows up everywhere. The sign: a fee for a name, before any sample.

Rabbit: it doesn’t sell supplier contacts, and doesn’t give them. Rabbit buys, checks and ships for you, and keeps the supplier’s name and contact. That means you can’t buy from that supplier without Rabbit. If you want the contact, choose an agent who hands it over in writing, and order a sample from it first: how to order a sample from 1688.

What doesn’t Rabbit guarantee?

• That you will sell, or make a profit. Its estimated profit helps you decide; it isn’t a promise.
• Delivery dates. Lead times are the carriers’ for the shipping you chose; customs and transport can extend them.
• That a product is authentic or certified. Rabbit doesn’t show a listing whose seller writes that it is a replica, but it can’t see a copy sold without saying so. Its check is photographic.
• Your customs and product obligations. As a reseller, they stay yours: which products not to import from China to the US.
• More than the order. Under its terms, Rabbit’s total liability to you is capped at what you paid for the order concerned.

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