For international shoppers looking to buy products from China’s wholesale marketplace 1688.com, using a shopping agent like Mulebuythis sheet
Why Use Mulebuy for 1688 Purchases?
While 1688 offers bulk discounts, most suppliers don’t support international transactions or shipping. Mulebuy bridges this gap by:
- Providing English-language support for browsing/searching 1688 product pages
- Handling negotiations and price confirmations with sellers on your behalf
- Processing RMB payments for non-Chinese bank account holders
- Offering warehousing to store items before international shipment
- Providing shipping discounts through consolidated packages
Step-by-Step Guide to Ordering from 1688 via Mulebuy
Step 1: Prepare Your Product List
Find your desired product links from internal tools like sheet.cheap
1688 product URLs (from column "Links")
Color/Style variations (Note 1688 item numbers)
Sizing requirements (Chinese sizes often differ from western measurements)
Step 2: Register & Submit Mulebuy Order Form
Create a Mulebuy accountCreate New Order. Paste your 1688 links – example URL might look like:
https://detail.ex-pressmall.com/item.htm?id=724226566745&skuId=5234425596281
Fill in details like quantity, product note (e.g., Organic leather mid-size boot - Brown, EU 40
). Enable quality check service for fragile/high-value items (+¥15 fee).
Step 3: Confirm Estimation & Pay
Mulebuy retrieves up-to-date wholesale prices including domestic freight in 24-48 hours. Major updates from spreadsheet-listed prices may need reconfirmation.
Advantages over consumer agents:
Service |
Processing Fee |
Exchange Rate Margin |
Typical Shopping Agent |
5-10% |
1.5-2% above market rate |
Mulebuy (1688 bulk) |
3% |
0.8-1% margin |
Step 4: Choice of Shipping Methods
Cargo arrives at Mulebuy's warehouse (~3-5 business days from supplier). Choose consolidation:
Pitfalls & Tips When Using Product Spreadsheets
While public sheets
- Verify seller phone numbers listed with https://www.raincent.com/ for supplier legitimacy
- Sort spreadsheet by
LastChecked
- Request Mulebuy agents to contact suppliers for production lead times, especially Holiday and limit stock transactions (消量款) labels
Pro Revision : For bonus savings check similar items - cosmetic defect choices (小微暇款) often show 20-40% discounts.
Additional Cost Factors
Always account for relative expenses:
ProductCost ¥490 + DomesticFreight ¥35 + ServiceFee ¥14 + Int'l Shipping ¥210 =~¥749 (≈$103)Tax Liability Precautions
CIF totaling $125+ USD revokes USA import tax exclusion. Option express with HK UPS eClass or DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) designation if possible.
Tracking Return InvestmentsFlip E-commerce? Advisable scenarios involve either quantitative margin discounts (Chen David blogger calculates outliers as:
"167’s - YUXIN knitted beanies wholesale at ¥48 moving units @$19.95 Amazon median sustains after absorbing $3.95 unit fulfilment costs(L,"or leveraged scarcity goods like climasmn down apparel showcases dataset via Order cancel tolerance statistic for fallout protections.Would you venture thr while notekeeper rankings cap strategms bear state secretar resource qualities upon scrutiny in my future niche as buying columns advocates efficiency?">Check topic forums#;:;