If you’re tired of finding great Amazon FBA products just to go to Alibaba and discover that your margins don’t work or the suppliers are charging way more than you want to spend, then this article is for you. I will detail how you can bypass Alibaba entirely, go straight to the manufacturer in China, and get direct pricing using 1688. Perhaps you’ve heard of 1688 before but simply do not know how to navigate it to find the best manufacturers and pricing. This tutorial will show you exactly how to save money on your next order of Amazon FBA products.
Using 1688 To Source Amazon FBA Products
1688 is essentially Alibaba for Chinese retailers. They sell clothing, homeware, food, beauty products, appliances, tech products, and much more at ultra-low prices. However, because 1688 is designed for Chinese business owners, you will notice that the website is in Chinese. Not ideal, right? To remedy this, simply right-click on your cursor and select “Translate to English.” Alternatively, you can get a Google Chrome extension that will translate foreign languages into English.
Although the translation does not work perfectly and can mess with the formatting of the website, it should still show you the information that’s important, like products, pricing, and contact information. Please note, you will have to translate to English each time new page loads.
After the language barrier is fixed, you can get your product search started. The process looks like this:
Search for products
If you search for products in English using the search bar, you may not see all of the available suppliers because they are listed in Chinese. To get around this, simply take your search term and use Google to translate it into Chinese (simplified), as shown below. Then, you can type your Chinese word into the search bar and see all of the results. You can also search by an image if you’re looking for something very specific.
Narrow Down 1688 Suppliers
As with Alibaba, I recommend searching “By supplier” instead of “By product.” Once you have a list of all available suppliers for the product you wish to sell, you will need to apply several filters to hone in on the perfect supplier for you. The first filter I like to use is the “Number of workers” filter. I use this filter because it tells you if the supplier is a trading company. Trade companies are not the direct supplier and do not have the best pricing; they are middlemen. A supplier with 50-500 workers is the sweet spot for this filter because they will have the time to talk to you personally, offer samples, and have great pricing.
The next filter I apply to the list of suppliers is the “Powerful merchant” filter. This filter indicates that the manufacturer has been vetted for product quality, customer service, and order fulfillment.
Finally, you will want to apply the “Buyer guarantee” filter for added order protection. This added protection means that once you pay for your products, 1688 will hold that money in escrow until the supplier ships out the product. Additionally, 1688 will work with you to mediate any disputes or get you a refund. This feature is here to protect you as a buyer, and I wouldn’t overlook it.
Contact Suppliers
Once you have a few suppliers that interest you, you can view their profiles to learn more about them. The more information suppliers put on their profile, the better because they care about their business and want to project a professional image. Once you have selected 5-10 favorite suppliers, you can start communicating directly with them. Within a supplier’s 1688 profile page there is a link for the “Company’s main page” which will link to their website where you can contact them if they have one.
If not, it will redirect you back to 1688. From their profile, you can connect with them in a few different ways. The first way is to call them via WeChat, a messaging app that is popular in China. You will have to download the software and create a profile to get started. The second method is to use the blue bubble tool within 1688. With this tool, you will also need to download a communication software called aliquangwang and create a profile. Using aliquangwang is the best, but hardest choice because the entire program is in Chinese and you will need to translate everything to use it. However, once you’ve moved past the hurdles, it is the easiest way to communicate with suppliers and is similar to an instant messaging platform.
Remember to be patient during this process, as there will likely be language barriers when speaking to suppliers. I typically spend about two weeks talking to suppliers before I ask for sample products. To compare suppliers, I like to make an excel sheet with pricing, delivery times, customizations, etc., to make an informed decision before purchasing. I strongly recommend investing time into this process to ensure that you order a winning product and have a positive purchasing experience overall.
1688 is where I source many of the products I sell, so I firmly believe that it’s the best place to source products at ultra-low prices. I hope this guide will help you find the right supplier for you!
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