- Marketplaces
- 1688 and Taobao, orders paid for inside China
- Receipt of parcels
- Our own warehouse in Guangzhou, storage free of charge
- Collection from the seller within China
- $20–50 or as incurred by the carrier, as at 20 August 2026
- Dispatch weight
- Terms depend on the shipment
- Chargeable weight
- Road – by the density in the route rate card; on air express there is no threshold
How 1688 differs from Taobao and from Alibaba.com
These are three different marketplaces within one group, aimed at different buyers. 1688 is China's domestic wholesale market: wholesale prices, a Chinese interface and Chinese payment, with dispatch assumed to be within China. Taobao is retail for the Chinese buyer, where a single unit can be bought, but the price includes a retail mark-up.
Alibaba.com is the shop window for the buyer abroad: an English interface, international payment, export documents and a noticeably higher price for the same item. The difference in price between 1688 and Alibaba.com arises not from the quality of the goods but from who is running the transaction and in what language. That is why purchasing through 1688 with goods receipt in Guangzhou often works out better value, even taking domestic logistics into account.
| Criterion | 1688 | Taobao | Direct supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sells | Chinese factories and wholesale traders | Retail sellers and resellers | The manufacturer or its sales department |
| Orientation | The domestic wholesale market | Domestic retail | The buyer abroad, regular orders |
| Minimum consignment | Usually there is one, set by the seller | One unit | Set by the factory, higher than the rest |
| Price | Wholesale, depends on the order volume | Retail with a mark-up | Negotiated for the volume and how often it repeats |
| Payment | Inside China, a local payment is required | Inside China | Bank transfer to the company's account |
| Delivery | Within China, to an address inside the country | Within China | Dispatch to a warehouse or a port as agreed |
| Export documents | As a rule none | None | Yes, if the factory works for export |
| Customisation and branded packaging | Limited, depends on the seller | Practically none | Negotiated directly |
| When it applies | Testing a range, a wide product range, top-ups | One-off samples and rare items | A stable product range and repeating volumes |
Why the price on the marketplace is not the price of the supply
A 1688 listing shows the price of the goods on the basis of dispatch inside China. Everything else appears later and taken together changes the calculation noticeably. What has to be worked out is the cost of a unit at your warehouse, not the price on the listing.
- Domestic delivery within China: the seller sends the order to the warehouse in Guangzhou, and that is a separate payment for each seller. If the seller does not send it itself, collection costs $20–50 or as incurred by the carrier (as at 20 August 2026).
- Packaging: factory packaging is often designed for a trip across town rather than for international carriage, and needs repacking.
- Minimum consignments and price bands: the price on the listing often relates to a volume larger than yours, and a different one applies to a small quantity.
- Different sellers mean different dispatches: ten items from eight sellers produce eight domestic parcels, each with its own timing.
- Volumetric weight: on road routes the calculation follows the density in the route rate card, while on air express there is no threshold at all – the coefficient is set by the carrier's rate card on the route. The listing price says nothing about this.
- Defects and wrong items: without a check in China they travel to you and turn into a write-off.
From which a simple conclusion follows: comparing a marketplace with a direct supplier on the listing price is pointless. A comparison only makes sense on the cost per unit after delivery, taking domestic logistics and losses on defects into account. How that calculation is built up is described in the section pricing.
What is added to the listing price and what it costs
Some of the items can be named in advance, without waiting for the consignment to be measured. The prices below are current as at 20 August 2026, and a quote on your list of links holds for 7 days.
| Item | When it arises | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Collection of the cargo from the seller within China | The seller does not send the order to the warehouse itself | $20–50 or as incurred by the carrier |
| Storage at the warehouse in Guangzhou | While the parcels from the other sellers arrive | Free of charge, there is no paid storage at all |
| Bag and tape | The factory box will not survive transhipments | $5 per place |
| Cardboard corner with a bag | The cargo will travel in several tiers | $6 per place |
| Wooden crate for small boxes | Fragile contents: glass, electronics | $15–25 |
| Crated pallet | A heavy or bulky consignment | $30 per cubic metre |
| Chargeable weight | Road – by the density in the route rate card, air express – no threshold | On the actual weighing and measurement at the warehouse |
The rest is calculated on the consignment: carriage on the route, the carrier's compulsory insurance cover and the last mile. The structure of the quote – pricing; packing and cover – insurance and packing; timings by route – delivery times.
We have no paid storage at all, so parcels from different sellers wait for one another at the warehouse in Guangzhou at no extra charge. The price per kilogram is noticeably higher on a small shipment, and a pause to build up works out cheaper than dispatching in small consignments.
What we check about the seller and the order on the marketplace
Before payment, we review the seller information available on the marketplace and confirm the order details in Chinese-language correspondence. We look at the shop and listing details and confirm availability, dispatch time and product specifications.
- The type of seller: factory or trading company. That is visible from the shop listing and from the answers to questions about production.
- How long the shop has been trading and the sales volume on the specific item, not on the shop as a whole.
- Reviews on this item, including complaints about sizes and colours not matching.
- Real photographs and video of the goods, requested from the seller separately from the listing.
- Confirmation in correspondence of the key parameters: material, dimensions, weight, configuration, packaging option.
- Availability in stock and the dispatch date: a divergence here is the most frequent cause of the whole consignment's timings breaking down.
- Terms on defects and replacement, put in writing in the correspondence before payment.
On a new item it is cheaper to buy a sample and look at it at the warehouse in Guangzhou than to sort out a discrepancy after the consignment has arrived. The sample can be received and photographed at the same warehouse the main order will later come to.
Buying through DPC step by step
You send the links to the goods on 1688 or Taobao, the quantities and the options you need: colour, size, configuration.
We review the available seller information and confirm the order details in Chinese: availability, dispatch time and product specifications.
You receive the assembled list of items with the sellers, quantities and terms of dispatch to the warehouse in Guangzhou.
DPC pays the sellers for the orders. The payment arrangement and the supporting documents are described in the section paying the supplier.
Parcels from all the sellers arrive at the DPC warehouse in Guangzhou and are received by number of places, weight and volume.
There is an inspection of the goods before dispatch: verification against the description, quantity, completeness, condition. You receive a photo report.
The orders are combined into one dispatch, with repacking where needed, and leave under the scheme selected: cargo or official import.
Why a warehouse in Guangzhou is needed when working with the marketplaces
Sellers on 1688 and Taobao send goods inside China, and they need a Chinese address. The warehouse in Guangzhou is that address, but its role goes wider than a mere receiving point. It is at the warehouse that scattered small parcels turn into a single supply.
- One address for all the sellers instead of trying to agree an international dispatch with each of them.
- Storage while the remaining parcels arrive: orders from different sellers ship on different days, and we have no paid storage at all.
- Checking before dispatch: wrong items and defects are found in China, where the seller is still answerable for the order.
- Repacking for carriage, where the factory packaging will not survive the journey.
- Consolidation into one dispatch: the logistics is calculated once rather than for each parcel.
- Weighing and measurement of the actual cargo rather than a calculation from listing data.
What to do about a divergence from the description of the goods
A divergence from the description is the most frequent problem with purchasing on the marketplaces. A different shade, a different material thickness, the wrong connector, the wrong configuration. It can only be resolved before dispatch, because once the cargo has left China the seller stops being a party to the process.
- At goods receipt the goods are checked against the listing and against the parameters the seller confirmed in correspondence.
- The divergence is recorded in photographs and goes into the photo report before dispatch.
- You decide: replacement, return to the seller, a discount, or dispatch as is.
- The claim is brought against the seller inside China, together with confirmation that the order was paid for.
- The item is taken out of the dispatch or replaced, and the rest of the consignment goes ahead as planned.
If divergences keep recurring on the same item, it is cheaper to leave the marketplace for a direct supplier. That is usually the next step once the range has been tested and the volume has become predictable. What moving purchasing onto a regular footing looks like is described in the section switching to DPC.
FAQ
Can I order from 1688 straight to Kazakhstan or Ukraine?
Not directly: sellers on 1688 send orders within China and ask for a Chinese address. So the order comes to the DPC warehouse in Guangzhou, is received there, and travels on from there to Kazakhstan, Ukraine or Uzbekistan. The dispatch runs under one of two schemes: cargo or official import.
Why is the final price higher than the price on the 1688 listing?
Because the listing does not include domestic delivery within China, packing, goods receipt and international carriage. Collection from the seller costs $20–50 or as incurred by the carrier, packing starts at $5 per place, and on road routes weight is calculated under the density rule in the route rate card (data as at 20 August 2026). On top of that, each seller sends its own parcel separately, and the listing price often relates to a volume larger than yours. The only correct comparison is on the cost per unit at your warehouse.
Why is 1688 better than Alibaba.com if it is the same company?
On 1688 the prices are wholesale and domestic; on Alibaba.com the same item costs more, because the marketplace is aimed at the buyer abroad and includes export support. In return, 1688 requires Chinese payment, a Chinese delivery address and correspondence in Chinese. Those three parts are exactly what buying through an operator covers.
What seller and product information do you check before payment?
Before payment, we review the available seller information and confirm the order details. We check the seller type, how long the shop has been active, and the sales and reviews for the specific item rather than the shop as a whole. We also request separate product photos and videos. In our correspondence, we confirm the material, dimensions, weight and included components. For a new item, we first purchase a sample and inspect it at our warehouse in Guangzhou.
What happens if what arrives is not what was in the photograph?
The divergence is recorded at goods receipt in Guangzhou, before dispatch, and goes into the photo report. After that you choose: replacement, return to the seller, a discount, or dispatch as is. The claim goes to the seller inside China, while the order has not yet left the country.
I am buying from eight different sellers – will that be eight dispatches?
No, inside China there will be eight parcels, but one dispatch will leave Guangzhou. The parcels are received at the warehouse and wait for the last one to arrive: there is no paid storage at all, so the wait costs nothing. The minimum weight is counted on the dispatch as a whole, and the logistics is calculated once rather than for each seller.
Is there any point in the marketplaces if I need a permanent range?
There is a point at the stage of testing a range and for topping up rare items, while for a stable volume it works out better to move to a direct supplier. A marketplace gives you a wide product range without large minimum consignments; a direct supplier gives you a price for the volume and the ability to influence the packaging. Often both arrangements run in parallel and travel in the same dispatch.
We will quote your list of links
Send us the 1688 or Taobao links with quantities and we will put together a quote for the full supply.
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