How to buy from 1688 and ship to Europe as a marketplace seller

Short answer. 1688 is the Alibaba Group's wholesale site for buyers inside China, and its prices are commonly up to about 40 percent below Alibaba.com. Most suppliers only take Chinese payment and only deliver inside China, so a European seller buys through a buying agent, a payment service plus a forwarder, or a sourcing company with a warehouse in China. In our worked example, 1,000 dog harnesses listed at CNY 15 (about EUR 2.00 each) cost about EUR 2.76 each at the port of Rotterdam, with duty and our fees, before value added tax (VAT).

This page is general information and not legal advice.

Why is 1688 cheaper than Alibaba?

1688.com belongs to the Alibaba Group but serves buyers in China, who pay in Chinese yuan (CNY). Prices carry no export costs, English-language sales team or international shipping (WorldFirst). Guides from a payment firm and a sourcing agency put 1688 prices commonly up to about 40 percent below similar listings on Alibaba.com (Epic Sourcing, WorldFirst). Many listings show a price ladder: the more you buy, the lower the unit price, with a minimum order quantity for each step.

The listed price is not your cost: freight, customs duty, import VAT and the fee of whoever buys for you come on top.

Why can't I just order on 1688 from Europe?

Three things stop most European sellers:

• Payment. Checkout runs on Chinese payment systems such as Alipay, and European cards and bank transfers commonly fail. Some payment services, such as WorldFirst, now let foreign buyers pay in yuan (WorldFirst).
• Delivery. Most suppliers only ship to addresses inside China, so your goods need a warehouse in China before they can be exported (Tonlexing, WorldFirst).
• Language and checks. Everything is in Chinese, and checking that a seller is a real factory is up to you; our factory verification page shows the checks.

What are the ways to buy from 1688?

Route	How you pay	Typical cost	Quality check	Product safety documents
Buying agent	You pay the agent in euros or dollars; it pays the supplier in yuan	Commonly 3 to 10 percent of the order, or no purchase fee but charges on warehouse handling and shipping	Carton and condition check at the agent's warehouse; inspection extra	Yours
Payment service plus your own forwarder	You pay the supplier in yuan through a service such as WorldFirst	A currency fee, plus the forwarder's warehouse and freight charges	Yours to arrange	Yours
Sourcing company with a warehouse in China (Equilinq)	One invoice per accepted quote, by bank transfer	10 percent of goods, minimum EUR 150 per shipment, plus 2 percent China purchasing and handling; freight at cost	Every order checked with photos at our warehouse in China	Compliance pack as a paid add-on, EUR 250 to 500 per product

Agent fees: typically 3 to 10 percent (Tonlexing) or 5 to 10 percent plus an exchange rate margin (Epic Sourcing); Superbuy lists no purchasing fee on 1688 orders and charges for warehouse handling and shipping instead (Superbuy). Your own company or staff in China only pays off at large, regular volumes.

How does a 1688 link become a euro price?

Here is one order with every assumption shown.

• Product. A boxed dog harness of 0.5 kg with its box, 20 to a carton of 50 x 40 x 30 cm, the same carton as in our freight guide.
• Listing price. CNY 15.00 per piece at the 1,000-piece step. This is an example, not a quote. We assume the supplier delivers free to our warehouse in China.
• Exchange rate. CNY 7.5177 to the euro, the European Central Bank reference rate of 4 November 2026 (ECB).
• Freight. EUR 454 by sea in a shared container to Rotterdam for 3 cubic metres, the October 2026 example rate from our freight guide. Customs clearance and delivery to your door come on top.
• Duty and VAT. Harness for any animal falls under tariff code 4201 00 00, which carries 2.7 percent customs duty from China in the European Union (EU) tariff database (TARIC). Dutch VAT is 21 percent.
• Fees. From our pricing page today. A request with a product link pays no EUR 49 request fee.

Line	Amount
Goods: 1,000 harnesses at CNY 15.00	EUR 1,995.29
China purchasing and handling (2 percent)	EUR 39.91
Sea freight to Rotterdam (example rate)	EUR 454.00
Equilinq fee (10 percent)	EUR 199.53
Paid to Equilinq	EUR 2,688.73
Customs duty at 2.7 percent	about EUR 67.21
Cost at Rotterdam before VAT	about EUR 2,755.94
Import VAT at 21 percent (you get this back)	about EUR 536.85
Cost at Rotterdam including VAT	about EUR 3,292.79

Per harness that is about EUR 2.76 before VAT and EUR 3.29 including VAT, against EUR 2.00 listed: about 38 percent more before VAT. Duty is worked out on the customs value, here goods, purchasing and freight, as in our landed cost example. A VAT-registered company deducts the import VAT on its return.

Two things change the result. Below about EUR 1,500 of goods our minimum fee of EUR 150 per shipment applies, so on 500 harnesses (about EUR 998) the fee is about 15 percent. Air freight for 1,000 units would cost about EUR 1,892 instead of EUR 454, so compare the landed cost of both.

What documents do TikTok Shop and bol.com ask for?

Both marketplaces ask for the product safety details in the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988. Its Article 19 says an online offer must show at least:

1. The manufacturer's name and its postal and electronic address.
2. If the manufacturer is outside the EU, the name, postal and electronic address of the responsible person in the EU.
3. Details that identify the product, including a picture, its type and any other identifier.
4. Any warning or safety information, in a language consumers in the country of sale understand.

For goods from 1688 the manufacturer is usually the Chinese supplier, so an EU responsible person is needed: normally your EU company as importer, or you as manufacturer if your brand is on the product. The responsible person guide explains who is who.

TikTok Shop asks for the manufacturer's and the responsible person's name, full address, phone number and email, a batch or model number and the warnings; a listing missing them can be rejected, restricted or deactivated (TikTok Shop Seller University). bol.com asks for the manufacturer and the responsible market operator for each item. New items without manufacturer details have not gone online since 5 March 2026, and since 1 April 2026 bol has been taking existing items offline in phases (bol.com).

Electronics, toys and anything with a battery also need CE papers; see CE marking for small electronics.

Can I ship from 1688 straight to my customers?

You can, but parcels sold online to EU consumers now pay a EUR 3 customs duty per item if worth EUR 150 or less, and since 1 November 2026 a EUR 2 handling fee per item at any value, plus import VAT. One bulk shipment imported as your own stock pays neither, only the normal duty rate. See the EUR 3 parcel charge guide.

Further reading

Read what a China sourcing agent costs and the responsible person for goods made in China. To send a 1688 link for a quote in euros, see Source.