The practical encyclopedia for buying from China
Everything you need to know before buying from China
Plain-English guides written from the ground in Yiwu — suppliers, platforms, quality control, shipping and the trade terms that decide your real cost.
28 guides90 Glossary8 🌐
Topics
How the Yiwu International Trade City works: districts, product zones, prices, MOQs and visiting tips.
- Yiwu Sourcing Agent Fees
- How to Buy from the Yiwu Market Without Visiting
- Yiwu International Trade City
Buying from 1688, Alibaba.com and Taobao as a foreign buyer: accounts, payment, supplier checks and agents.
4 guides →Where products are made in China, how to find factories, and how to tell a factory from a trading company.
2 guides →Custom logos, OEM vs ODM, samples, MOQs and packaging for your own brand.
4 guides →Inspections, AQL sampling, factory audits and what to do when goods arrive defective.
3 guides →Sea, air, rail and express from China: costs, transit times, consolidation and FBA prep.
3 guides →EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP explained, plus deposits, T/T, and safe ways to pay Chinese suppliers.
3 guides →Sourcing for Amazon FBA, Shopify and dropshipping stores: labelling, prep and fulfilment from China.
1 guide →Canton Fair, Yiwu Fair and planning a sourcing trip to China.
2 guides →Import duties, HS codes, certifications (CE, FCC, CPC) and product safety rules by market.
- CE, UKCA, FCC and CPC
- How to Calculate Landed Cost When Importing from China
- How to Find the Right HS Code for Products Imported from China
Directory
Reference data you can use on a sourcing trip or before you contact a supplier.
Start here
- 1How to Buy from 1688.com Outside China: A Step-by-Step GuideTo buy from 1688.com outside China, you either open your own 1688 account (verified through Alipay) and pay with a cross-border option such as 1688's Alipay-based Cross-Border Pay, or you use a purchasing agent who pays in RMB for you. Most 1688 sellers only ship inside mainland China, so you send orders to a China warehouse or freight forwarder that inspects, consolidates and exports them to you.
- 2EXW vs FOB vs DDP: Which Incoterm to Use When Buying from ChinaFor most buyers importing from China, FOB is the best default: the supplier delivers the goods onto the vessel at a Chinese port and pays export clearance, and you control the main freight and insurance. EXW looks cheapest but pushes Chinese export formalities onto you. DDP is the simplest for beginners because the seller delivers duty-paid to your door, but the freight and duty margin is hidden in the price.
- 3How to Calculate Landed Cost When Importing from ChinaLanded cost is the total cost of getting a product to your warehouse, divided by the units received: product price, China-side charges not in the quote, international freight and insurance, import duty, customs fees, brokerage, destination port charges and final delivery, plus any import VAT or GST you cannot reclaim. Calculate duty on the right base: the US charges it on the price excluding international freight and insurance, while the EU and UK include freight and insurance to the border.
- 4Factory vs Trading Company in China: How to Tell and Which to UseCheck the supplier's business license on China's official enterprise registry: a factory's business scope (经营范围) includes production verbs such as 生产 (produce), 制造 (manufacture) or 加工 (process) for your product, while a trading company's scope lists only sales, wholesale or trade. Then confirm with a live video walk-through or third-party audit. Factories usually win on price and technical control; trading companies win on low MOQs, mixed orders and English-speaking service.
Recently updated
- EXW vs FOB vs DDP: Which Incoterm to Use When Buying from China
- How to Plan a China Sourcing Trip: Cities, Itinerary, Visas
- AQL Explained: How Pre-Shipment Inspection Sampling Works
- China Dropshipping Agent vs AliExpress: Which to Use and When
- Custom Packaging from China: Options, Printing, MOQs and Labels
- Alibaba Trade Assurance: What It Covers and How to Claim
Why this wiki reads differently
Written for buyers
Guides say what we would tell you on a call, including the parts that are inconvenient for sellers and agents.
Sourced and dated
Figures link to their source, and every page shows when it was last checked.
Nobody pays to be listed
Markets, fairs and clusters are chosen for usefulness. No listing or ranking is for sale.
When you have found what you need, we can take it from there
Three services from our sourcing partner in Yiwu. Each is quoted separately, and you can use this wiki without ever buying any of them.
Find suppliers
Describe the product; we contact factories in Chinese and send back verified options with MOQ, unit price and lead time.
Find suppliers →Verify a supplier
We check a company you already found: business licence, factory or trading company, capital, litigation, and an on-site visit if needed.
Verify a supplier →Inspect & ship
Pre-shipment inspection, consolidation of several suppliers into one shipment, export documents and freight to your door.
Inspect & ship →