How to Dropship From 1688 in 2025: An Ultimate Dropshipping Guide for Beginners
Written by Friday MiiPublished How to Dropship From 1688 in 2025: An Ultimate Dropshipping Guide for Beginners
Bottom line: Dropshipping from 1688 means sourcing at wholesale, factory-direct prices from a Chinese-language B2B marketplace, then importing products into your store manually, through import tools, or through a dropshipping agent that handles the language and logistics for you. This guide walks through what 1688 is, how to register, how to find and order products, and how to get them into your store.
Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where merchants don't need to purchase inventory in advance — goods ship directly from suppliers to customers. Thanks to its low barrier to entry and strong profit potential, more beginners enter the industry every year. This guide covers almost everything a beginner needs to start dropshipping from 1688 in 2025.
What You Must Know About 1688
1688 is a Chinese wholesale marketplace focused on domestic trade, and an affiliate of Alibaba Group. While Alibaba's other marketplaces serve international buyers, 1688 targets small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises and retailers — connecting them directly with manufacturers to secure better prices and lower procurement costs.
Main functions: product search and comparison across a huge catalog, direct supplier contact to negotiate price and MOQ, bulk purchasing support, and customization services from many suppliers.
Target users: small and medium enterprises reducing costs through direct procurement, e-commerce sellers wanting competitive prices (especially those running a dropshipping model), and wholesalers sourcing large quantities for resale.
Market advantages: lower prices direct from manufacturers, falling minimum order quantities in recent years, and a platform increasingly adapting to support the dropshipping model.
How 1688 Compares to Other Chinese Marketplaces
| Platform | Model | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1688 | B2B, wholesale | Sellers prioritizing margin over convenience |
| Alibaba.com | International B2B | Established buyers ordering in bulk |
| AliExpress | B2C | Beginners, small quantities, dropshipping |
| Taobao | C2C retail | Lowest prices, less wholesale focus |
How to Register Your 1688 Account
- Install a translation tool (Google's official web translate extension works well) since the site is primarily in Chinese.
- Go to 1688.com and find the registration link ("免费注册").
- Choose a personal account (fine for individual buyers) or a business account (for companies, requiring more verification).
- Fill in your member name, login password (using letters, numbers, and special characters), password confirmation, and mobile number.
- Select the correct country code — an incorrect one can cause registration to fail — and enter the SMS verification code to complete signup.
Finding and Ordering Products
1688 supports both keyword and image search, similar to most modern marketplaces. Once you've found a product, you can choose between two procurement modes:
- Direct procurement — order directly from the supplier as needed, ideal for small sellers avoiding inventory backlog risk.
- Bulk purchasing — suited to wholesalers needing larger quantities at lower per-unit prices, negotiating price, MOQ, and delivery time directly with the supplier.
For beginners, self-managing purchases on 1688 can be time-consuming due to payment methods and logistics. Two options simplify this considerably; ZQ Solution's product sourcing service can also handle supplier communication, purchasing, and quality checks:
- A procurement Chrome extension — lets you image-search any product you see online directly on 1688, and purchase in US dollars with built-in translation, quoting, and logistics support.
- A dropshipping agent — brings market expertise, saves you time on communication and logistics, reduces risk through supplier vetting, negotiates better terms, and simplifies the entire procurement process.
Importing Products to Your Store
Manual import: select products on 1688, copy the title, description, images, price, MOQ, and inventory details, then create the listing on your e-commerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.) and publish.
Automated import: browser extensions can pull product data from 1688 and fill it into your store automatically. Dedicated platforms like ZQ Solution go further with automated order fulfillment — letting you enter a product URL to import directly into your store, with additional tools for image processing, text editing, and page design.
Data processing: whichever method you use, keep product data organized with accurate titles, descriptions, prices, and SKUs, and learn how to track 1688 logistics correctly. If importing via CSV, make sure the file includes all fields your e-commerce platform requires (name, description, price, inventory, image link, etc.) in the correct format.
Key Verified Facts
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| China marketplaces ZQ Solution sources from | 40+ (1688, Taobao, Weidian, Alibaba, etc.) | ZQ Solution service pages |
| Selling platforms integrated | 6+ (Shopify, WooCommerce, TikTok Shop, and others) | ZQ Solution platform page |
| Overseas warehouse locations | US and EU (Netherlands) | ZQ Solution service pages |
| After-sales window | 30 days after delivery | ZQ Solution refund policy |
Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
- Skipping supplier vetting because a listing looks good — check transaction history and ratings before ordering, since 1688's built-in verification is lighter than Alibaba.com's.
- Underestimating minimum order quantities — many 1688 sellers still expect bulk orders even as MOQs trend down; confirm before assuming you can order a single unit (see our MOQ workaround guide).
- Not planning for payment — 1688 sellers largely expect Chinese payment methods, which catches overseas beginners off guard (see paying 1688 suppliers without a Chinese bank card).
- Assuming shipping is included — 1688 has no built-in international shipping, unlike AliExpress, so factor a forwarder or agent into your cost and timeline from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to speak Chinese to dropship from 1688? Not if you use a translation tool for browsing and messaging, or work with a dropshipping agent who handles supplier communication for you.
Can complete beginners really use 1688 without an agent? Yes, but expect to spend more time on translation, supplier vetting, and arranging your own shipping — an agent primarily saves time and reduces risk, not something only experts can do without.
How is this different from dropshipping on AliExpress? AliExpress is built for single-unit, consumer-facing orders with shipping included. 1688 usually offers better pricing but requires more setup — translation, supplier vetting, payment, and shipping arrangements.
What's the fastest way to get started? Registering a personal 1688 account takes a few minutes; the more time-consuming parts are supplier vetting, first-order communication, and setting up a shipping path — which is where a sourcing agent saves the most time for beginners.
Is 1688 dropshipping actually profitable once fees are factored in? It can be, but margins depend on product category, agent fees, and shipping costs — see our breakdown on 1688 dropshipping profitability after fees.
A Practical Example
A first-time seller finds a promising product on 1688 through image search, but the listing is entirely in Chinese and the seller only responds in Chinese. Using a translation tool, they negotiate a small first order to test quality before committing to a larger batch — a common beginner approach on 1688 regardless of whether they use an agent. Once the first order arrives and quality checks out, working through a sourcing agent for subsequent orders removes the recurring translation and negotiation work, while a fulfillment integration removes the manual copy-paste import step for every new product added to the store.
Conclusion
1688's wide product variety and low prices give e-commerce sellers a real way to cut costs, enter the market quickly, and strengthen their competitive position. If you're new to dropshipping, it's worth the initial learning curve to get set up — starting with a small test order, confirming quality, and only then scaling volume. Continue with our 1688 sourcing guides for supplier, payment, refund, and shipping tutorials.
Sources & Verification Date
- ZQ Solution service details: zqsolution.com/services/1688-dropshipping, zqsolution.com/services/product-sourcing, zqsolution.com/services/order-fulfillment
- Platform and registration details reflect 1688.com's publicly documented registration flow as of September 2026.