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When I was trying to search online about sourcing products to sell online, I discovered that a lot of the information online was pretty much useless. I was trying to find high-quality clothing and shoes for my online business. Today I will uncover a secret to my success, an amazing wholesale website. The products are of excellent quality and great prices which will help you to boost your profits.
Almost everyone shops online because it’s so convenient. As a result, there are lots of new online shops opening every day. The cost of opening an online store is relatively low since there’s no need to pay rent, and any service and payment fees are kept very low. This means that you will be able to keep more of the profits for yourself. With the high competition online, you need to make your business stand out. One way of doing this is to have a brand for your online store. This will help customers to trust you and your products.
The Internet can be used to make money in many different ways. When you are browsing social media platforms lots of people promote products as affiliates to make some money. But if you are serious about selling your own products in an online store then you will need to first think about how you can buy the products to sell. Once you have sourced the products, you can then decide how to market, promote and sell them.
Finding Great Products at Cheap Prices
As a business, you will be interested in your bottom line and making as much money as possible. But you need to be careful not to sell inferior products. Don’t just sell cheap products at low prices, make sure you are selling great value products. One of the biggest wholesale platforms in the world is Alibaba.com. This is a Chinese website that makes it simple for foreign buyers to buy direct from factories in China and around the world.
Although Alibaba might be the most popular, it’s not necessarily the best. Alibaba can actually be quite expensive just because it is such a popular site. The website I am introducing today is www.1688.com. This website offers many of the same products as Alibaba, but at much cheaper prices.
Translating it into English or any other languages
The only downside to using 1688.com is that there is currently no English language option. The only way you can use this site is in Chinese. Don’t let this put you off though, you can use a modern browser like Chrome to automatically translate the website into English or any other language of your choosing.
To view the page in English is very easy. Simply visit www.1688.com in Chrome and wait for the popup. It will offer you to choose between the original language or English. If this option is not available then you can also right-click the page and select translate to English. Once you have done this all of the links will be translated. The translations are pretty good, but as they are automatic they are not perfect.
Open the product link, click the right mouse button, and select Translate to “English”. You can also select other languages in the settings of Google Chrome.
Finding your Products on 1688.com
There are 2 ways to search for the products you want on the 1688.com website. The first is a keyword search, and the second is an image search.Please follow my steps as below
Keyword Search
This is probably the quickest way to find the products you are looking for. However, you must first translate what you are searching for into Chinese. You can use Google Translate to translate your search terms into Chinese.
Image Search
Image search is another very easy way to find products that you want to sell. It is however important to note that just because two products look identical, they aren’t necessarily the same. It’s a good idea to order some samples first before ordering a larger quantity.
Price Comparison
Before you decide which wholesale website to purchase from, you will want to do some price comparisons. Try searching for products on popular sites like Alibaba and Made-In-China.com. Then search for the same products on 1688.com to get an idea of how much money you can save buying, and so how much more money you can make selling them.
This price is from 1688.com
This price is from alibaba.com
You will find that the prices are quite different when comparing different suppliers. Sometimes the more expensive products will be of higher quality, but this isn’t always the case. Choose a price that you think is acceptable to pay and order some samples before you invest too much money. At least this way you will be able to check the products are good quality and will be easy to sell. If you have time, consider buying products from different suppliers at different price points to get the best value and highest quality product possible.
Purchasing from 1688.com
The prices on 1688.com are lower than other websites because it is aimed at Chinese buyers. The website only accepts payments in CNY (RMB). To get around this you will need to find a Chinese agent to act as your partner. They will help with purchasing the products and assist you with everything else.
You will also need to choose the exact products that you want to purchase, copy and paste the links, and also note down the colors, quantities, and any special requirements. You need to include as much detail as possible to reduce the chance of any problems with your order.
Once you have all the details you can then submit your order to your agent and get the ball rolling.
Receiving Products from 1688.com
If you want to receive products from 1688.com then you will first need to consider how you can get the products shipped to your own warehouse or address. None of the sellers on 1688.com will ship directly to foreign addresses, so this is where you need to ask your Chinese agent to assist you. Your Chinese partner will buy the products on your behalf, receive them, and then forward them on to you. Even if you buy products from different suppliers you can have your agent combine them into one package to be shipped.
There are a few different ways your agent can send the products internationally to your warehouse, these include:
– Air Freight
– Sea Freight
– Small Package
Air Freight will be the quickest mode of transportation. You can get your goods in 3-7 days which is fantastic since you can start selling them sooner. Air freight however is quite a bit more expensive. There are many companies that offer air freight, including FedEx, UPS, DHL, and TNT. Anything expensive, or small light products are suitable for air freight.
Sea Freight takes quite a bit longer, it can take 25-35 days for you to receive the goods in your country. However, sea freight has one big advantage – it’s a lot cheaper. Some of the sea freight companies include Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Evergreen, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd, APL, CSCL, NYK, HANJIN, MOSK/MOL, OOCL, YML, ONE, PIL, and others. Anything bulky can be shipped by sea, this can include machinery, winter clothes or shoes. Large shipments are best sent by sea if you can afford the time.
Small Package post is suitable for very small shipments. Companies offering small package post include Yanwen, YunExpress, and ePacket. It is possible to use small package shipping for dropshipping individual items directly to customers’ homes. Some agents will offer dropshipping services which can send individual products to customers. Delivery time of small packages can take 15-45 days. This method of shipping is not completely reliable and packages can go missing, but the cost of shipping is very low.
Almost all online stores will use air and sea freight transportation. This is because most of the businesses will buy products in bulk and store them in their own warehouse. This allows you to offer the best experience to your customers since they can receive the product in a few days.
Customs Service
Before you can open an online store, it’s important to consider getting the goods through customs. Importing goods can be very time-consuming, and clearing customs can cause headaches. Only when goods clear customs can we stock them in our warehouse and send them out to our customers. We must calculate the duty and tax required so that we can accurately calculate how much the products will cost us to buy.
When we are importing products from china the amount of customs tariffs will vary depending on where you are importing the products to, and the method of transportation.
Importing by Air
Importing by air is easy since most of the carriers will help to get the goods through customs as quickly as possible. You just need to pay the tariffs due. The declarations will be completed for you. You can also use the HS code to accurately check the tax rate. Choosing air freight will be the quickest and easiest way to get your hands on your products. It should take between 3 and 7 days to ship products from China to America or Europe. But the cost of air freight is quite a lot more expensive.
Importing by Sea
When importing by sea the issues of customs clearance will be more of a concern. Every product imported by sea will be carefully inspected by customs. They will check the value and ensure that the correct tax has been declared. When importing products by sea from china you must accurately declare the value to avoid delays and trouble. If you don’t declare the values correctly, then you could find yourself blacklisted. Which will make it difficult next time you try to import products again.
Trying to do this yourself is very difficult, it will be much easier to find a local customs clearance agent. These are professionals and have a lot more experience in dealing with customs. They know how to expedite your goods through customs and get them cleared. The only thing you need to do is submit the information to the customs clearance agent and they will handle the rest. They will solve all of the tax rate issues to reduce the possibility your goods are held for any length of time.
To find a customs clearance agent in your country, you can search online using a search engine like Google.com. You can research a few different options and contact a couple of them to check their prices and services. Then choose one that you feel comfortable working with.
Finally, when importing products from china, you only need to deal with customs issues entering your country. The Chinese suppliers will handle all of the procedures required to get your goods out of China. You don’t need to worry about declaring your products to get out of china.
Suggestions before buying bulk goods
After you compare products and prices, you will find that you can buy the same product from multiple suppliers. First of all, we recommend that you purchase samples to check the quality of the different products. This way we can compare the price and quality of products from different suppliers. We must ensure we are choosing high-quality products because only quality will help you to win long-term business.
Buying in large quantities without first buying samples is very risky. You could end up with a large batch of poor quality, unsalable products. It’s also worth noting that a lot of the products bought on 1688.com are non-refundable and returnable. This is why it’s so important for you to buy sample products.
This all requires plenty of planning, especially if you are buying seasonal products like clothes, shoes and pants. You should be starting to order samples a couple of months in advance and ship them by air so you can assess their quality quickly. As soon as you can check the quality, you can then place your bulk order and start making money. Take a bit of extra time now to reduce the risk in the long run. It’s also worth highlighting that if you are buying clothes, the sizes are generally 1 to 2 sizes smaller than American and European sizes.
Online Store Shipping
The Internet has made shopping much more efficient and convenient. People want their orders as quickly as possible, so you need to process and ship orders as quickly as you can. Choose a shipping mode that is suitable for your business.
1. Shipping Yourself
This is the most commonly used shipping method. You buy products from a wholesale website like Alibaba, or 1688.com and stock the products in your own warehouse. The products must be imported in large quantities to help keep the costs down. They are then shipped out individually to customers when they are ordered online. This model is popular because prices are relatively low, it’s easy to keep track of inventory, and customers will receive the goods in a couple of days. There is however a risk, if the goods don’t sell then you will be holding a large value of stock. If you are an established business with good sales then shipping by yourself is a good choice.
2. DropShipping
Dropshipping is being used by more and more businesses. Dropshipping means that you don’t have to hold any stock yourself, instead, you advertise products online. When these products sell, you then place an order with your supplier and have the goods shipped directly to their home address. There’s no need to hire a warehouse, or stock any products. Aliexpress.com is one of the most popular dropshipping platforms available. The only weak point with dropshipping products is the time, it can take 15-60 days to dropship products to your customers. Sometimes packages also go missing which can create extra problems. Dropshipping is only really suitable for new businesses looking to expand.
Branding Packaging
Before you can open your online store you must build your brand. One way of doing this is to use custom packaging. By building a reputable brand you will give customers more reason to buy from you again. You will need to create your own logo to make your products stand out from the others available. Also, consider writing your own instructions to make your products look more professional.
Once you have grown your business and are importing in larger quantities you can actually start to customize the products yourself. By creating unique products which stand out you can make bigger profits.
FAQ
Why does 1688.com not support English or other languages?
This is because 1688.com is aimed mainly at the Chinese Market. But don’t let this worry you, it’s not a major problem. Use automatic translation offered by Chrome or Google Translate to buy from this platform.
Can the suppliers on 1688.com ship directly to foreign countries?
No, suppliers on 1688.com won’t be able to ship directly to foreign customers. As a workaround, you need to find a freight forwarder to receive the goods, and then ship them to your country.
Does 1688.com support payments in US dollars, Euros, and other currencies?
No, at the moment, 1688.com only accepts payments in RMB(CNY), so you will need to find a purchasing agent to make payments on your behalf.
Do 1688.com suppliers deliver fast?
The delivery is mainly based on the requirements and quantity of your order. Usually, the delivery time is 2 to 7 days. If you customize the product and packaging it can take longer, it can take up to 30 days.
How many days does it take for suppliers of 1688.com to ship to the warehouse in China?
Goods are shipped out very quickly, it only takes between 2 and 4 days for goods to be shipped to a warehouse in China.
Are 1688.com’s suppliers of good quality?
The products available on 1688.com and Alibaba are exactly the same. Many of the sellers on Alibaba will buy from 1688 and sell the products to foreigners at a higher price. You do need to check the quality first by buying a sample and trying it out. It might take a bit longer, but it’s worth the extra effort.
The End
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions after reading this post.
