How to Buy on 1688 Step by Step
Buying on 1688 from abroad: why you need a Chinese account, how to filter out resellers, how yuan payment works and what export documents come out.
Import Blog
Strategies, tips and guides for doing business with China and importing successfully into Mexico, Brazil and the rest of Latin America.
Buying electronic components and PCBA from China
Buying components without ending up with remarked parts, and contracting board assembly: turnkey vs consignment, and the functional test to require.
Buying electronics at the Canton Fair: Phase 1
How the Canton Fair electronics phase works, why it filters suppliers rather than selling cheap, and how to pair it with a factory round in Shenzhen.
How to calculate landed cost from China
Method to calculate the landed cost of importing from China: the eleven line items a quotation leaves out, and how to spread them per sellable unit.
How much capital a first import from China needs
How to work out the real capital a first import needs, why the goods are only half of it, and what happens when the order arrives and does not sell.
What to do when cargo is held at customs
Why cargo gets held, which clocks start running, what each stopped day costs and what can still be done. What you recover and what you cannot.
What to do when a Chinese supplier stops replying
Practical guide for when a 1688 seller stops replying: where to claim, what deadlines apply, what you recover and what you cannot, and how to prevent it.
How to compare two Chinese supplier quotes
Why two supplier quotes are never comparable as they arrive, how to normalise them onto the same Incoterm, and when the cheapest offer is the right one.
Electronics certification for Mexico and Brazil
Which certification your electronics need for Mexico (NOM, CRT) and Brazil (ANATEL, Inmetro), when to start it, and what happens if you ship without it.
Factory or reseller on 1688: how to tell them apart
A method to tell a 1688 manufacturer from a reseller: what the licence says, what the catalogue shows, and why the difference changes price and lead time.
The most expensive mistakes of a first importer
The mistakes that really cost money on a first import, ranked by what they cost, with how to avoid each one before it happens.
How much does a China sourcing agent cost?
Real commission bands for a China sourcing agent: what the fee covers, what is billed separately, the hidden costs to watch and how to compare two quotes.
How to choose a China sourcing agent
Rubric for evaluating China sourcing agents: questions to ask, which answers are red flags, and how to compare two quotes without fixating on commission.
How to Import from China to Mexico: 2026 Guide
Step-by-step guide to importing from China to Mexico: RFC, importer registry, pedimento, NOM, real landed costs and door-to-door timelines.
How to Pay a Chinese Supplier Without Losing Money
T/T transfer, letter of credit, platform guarantee and staged payment: what each method protects, what it costs and which suits your order size.
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier Before Paying
How to tell whether a Chinese supplier is a real factory or a middleman: business licence, activity scope, certifications and the red flags of a scam.
Huaqiangbei: Shenzhen's largest electronics market
What Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen is, what it sells, how to use its prices as a reference and why importers should not buy retail at the counter.
Importing Bluetooth speakers from China
Why a portable speaker's claimed wattage cannot be real, how sound output is actually measured, and what the battery inside requires for shipping.
Importing chargers and power supplies from China
The category where a 30-cent saving can burn your brand: verify real power, why safety certification is not negotiable and what to check in the cable.
Importing LED lighting from China: what to check
How to import LED lighting that lasts: the driver decides service life, how to measure real lumens, and why the IP rating on the label often is not real.
Power banks from China: capacity, cells and freight
Why a 20,000 mAh power bank delivers 11,000, how to tell grade A cells from recovered ones, and which capacity can fly and which must go by sea.
Importing small appliances from China: plug and NOM
What to fix before making an electrical appliance: destination plug and voltage, certification before shipment, and where Shenzhen's advantage really is.
Importing smart watches from China: what to check
What to check before importing wearables: why sensor accuracy depends on the algorithm, why health claims change the legal category, and the app.
Importing to Mexico: the customs documents you need
The documents a Mexican import requires — RFC, padrón de importadores, pedimento, NOM — and the order to resolve each one so your cargo is not held.
Importing TWS earbuds from China: what to check
Technical guide to importing TWS earbuds: Bluetooth SIG declaration, UN38.3 report, how to measure real battery life and why claimed ANC rarely matches.
Prep Center in China for MercadoLibre Full
How to prepare your goods in China for the MercadoLibre Full warehouse: SKU labelling, barcode scan checks and the most common rejections.
How to Negotiate MOQ with a Chinese Factory
Practical ways to lower a Chinese factory's MOQ: mixed orders, neutral packaging, paid sample runs, and why some factories cannot go lower at all.
How to negotiate price with a Chinese supplier
Which levers actually move a Chinese supplier's price, in what order to use them, and why asking for a discount with nothing to offer does not work.
How to order samples from China and assess them
How to order samples from a Chinese supplier, what shipping really costs, what to measure before approving, and why a sample never guarantees the batch.
How to prepare a China purchase list
Template and criteria for a China purchase list that gets quoted in one pass: the five data points per line, how to state variants, what everyone omits.
How to Protect Your Product from Being Copied
Register the trademark in China, own the mould by contract, split the design and lock the firmware. What slows copying, and what protects nothing.
How to Reduce Freight Costs from China
The decisions that actually lower the transport bill: packaging volume, consolidation, route, timing and Incoterm — and why price per kilo misleads.
Sea vs Air Freight from China: How to Choose
Choosing between sea and air freight from China: volumetric weight, the 15 m³ FCL break-even and the cost of capital tied up in transit.
How to ship lithium batteries from China
UN38.3, MSDS, watt-hour limits, air and sea restrictions, and why the power bank you want to import may not be allowed to fly.
What a container shipment from China costs
How the cost of a container is built: which line items scale with volume, which are charged once per shipment, and why one container price does not exist.
1688 vs Alibaba: Which Is Better for Mexico?
The key differences between 1688.com and Alibaba.com, and why professional sellers prefer 1688 to protect their margins when importing into Mexico.
What Is DDP Shipping and Why It Matters in Mexico?
What DDP shipping to Mexico means: who acts as importer of record, what the all-in price covers and why e-commerce sellers use it.
Preparing Inventory for Peak Season: Buen Fin & Q4
Real sea and air import lead times from China to Mexico, worked backwards from Buen Fin, Black Friday and Christmas so your stock lands in time.