How to Dropship From 1688 in 2025: An Ultimate Dropshipping Guide for Beginners
Updated: 9 minutes ago
Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method in which merchants do not need to purchase inventory in advance, but ship directly from suppliers to customers. Due to its low threshold and high profitability, more and more dropshipping beginners have poured into the industry. This article aims to help dropshipping beginners understand how to effectively dropship from 1688 in 2025. This article contains almost all the information a dropshipping beginners needs to dropship from 1688. As long as you read it carefully, I believe one day you will have your own dropshipping business too.
The article is long. If you are in a hurry, you can click on the table of contents to go directly to the part you are interested in.
Table of contents
Part 1: What you must know about 1688
Background of 1688 and Alibaba Group
1688 is an e-commerce site which is mainly used for domestic wholesale trade and it is an affiliate of Alibaba Group. From start, the focus of 1688 has been on the development of an e-commerce platform through which Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers can conduct their business.
While the other business of Alibaba is international, Chinese 1688 market targets meeting the needs of the small and medium sized enterprises and retailers. Through 1688, merchants are able to deal with manufacturers in order to get a better price which in turn helps to minimize on costs that are incurred in procuring the goods.
Alibaba Group has several major marketplaces for international e-commerce and 1688 is one of them. This platform has been successful not only to the wholesale market in China but also to the global buyers in terms of product variety.
The comparison of 1688 with other platforms.
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Compared with other platforms such as Alibaba. com, AliExpress and Taobao, 1688 has its unique market positioning and functions:
1. Alibaba. com: Alibaba. com is the international wholesale platform that belongs to the Alibaba Group, and its major clients are the global buyers, multiple languages are supported, and the minimum order quantity is usually high. Its main aim is to facilitate the international trade and Chinese to suppliers bring together the global buyers
2. Aliexpress: This is a B2C platform that operates in the global market and makes it easy for sellers to sell in small quantities, including for drop shipping and small orders. AliExpress is user-friendly and multilingual website which is popular among e-commerce cross sellers border
3. Taobao: Taobao is a consumer primarily focused used retail by website which Chinese is consumers and is based on the C2C range model, of thus products offering at the wide most affordable prices. Although Taobao also has some targets wholesale at business, consumer it level primarily.
However, 1688 is transactions, focused mainly on cater the for B2B the Chinese wholesalers and directly retailers. engage By the using factories 1688, and the get users the can wholesale prices which is advantageous to the merchants in need profit of margins enhancing through the the direct sourcing.
1688's main functions and target user groups
1688's main functions include:
Product search and comparison: Users can browse a large number of products by keyword or category, and compare products from different suppliers to find the best purchasing options.
Supplier contact: The platform allows users to communicate directly with manufacturers to negotiate prices, MOQ and other purchasing details, thereby ensuring the transparency and flexibility of transactions.
Bulk purchase: 1688 supports users to make bulk purchases, suitable for retailers and wholesalers who need a large number of goods.
Customization service: Many suppliers provide customization services, allowing users to customize products according to their own brand needs.
The target user groups mainly include:
Small and medium-sized enterprises: Small and medium-sized enterprises that hope to reduce costs through direct procurement.
E-commerce sellers: Online retailers looking for competitive prices and products, especially those who want to operate through the dropshipping model.
Wholesalers: Wholesalers who need a large number of goods for resale can find suitable supply chain resources through 1688.
In general, as a platform focusing on the domestic wholesale market, 1688 has become an important procurement channel for many Chinese and international merchants by virtue of its direct connection to manufacturers. By understanding the background, functions and comparison of 1688 with other platforms, merchants can use this resource more effectively and enhance their market competitiveness.
Market advantages of 1688
Get lower prices directly from manufacturers.
The reduction of MOQ (minimum order quantity) in recent years.
Adapt to changes in market demand and support the dropshipping model.
Part 2: How to register your 1688 account
Instructions for registration steps (including selecting a personal account and filling in necessary information). Please follow the instructions in the picture to successfully register your 1688 account
First, find a translator that suits you. Here we recommend Google's official translator webtranslate, which you can download from the Chrome App Store.
Enter the 1688 official website 1688.com
Register a 1688 account
Notes
When registering an account, you should select the correct country code, otherwise the registration may fail.
After entering the verification code, the account registration is successful.
Part 3: Find and order products
1.Product search method
As you can see in the picture, similar to most software, 1688 also provides keyword search and image search functions
2.How to place an order on 1688
On the 1688 platform, users can choose two main procurement modes to meet different business needs and transaction methods.
Direct procurement mode
The direct procurement mode means that the buyer purchases products directly from the supplier after receiving the order. This model is suitable for small e-commerce or individual sellers who may not need a large amount of inventory. In this way, sellers can make flexible purchases according to actual needs and avoid the risk of inventory backlog. After the seller finds the right product on 1688, he directly places an order with the supplier to confirm the price and quantity.
Bulk purchasing mode
This model is suitable for wholesalers or small and medium-sized enterprises that need a large number of goods and hope to get lower prices through centralized procurement. Buyers browse the products on 1688 and select the required bulk commodities. Communicate with suppliers to confirm the price, MOQ (minimum order quantity), delivery time and other details of the product. Buyers can arrange logistics as needed to ensure that the goods arrive in time.
Due to payment methods, logistics and other reasons, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive for dropshipping beginners to choose to purchase on 1688 by themselves, which is not conducive to starting and developing. Therefore, here I will recommend two more suitable purchasing methods for dropshipping beginners.
Use procurement Chrome extension
Here we recommend the 1688 dropshipping pro Chrome extension, which can be easily downloaded in the Chrome store. When you add this plug-in, there are two things that can be greatly facilitated.
Firstly, when you browse the web, you see a picture of a product you like. When you use the plug-in to browse any website, put the mouse on the picture and a small icon of the plug-in will appear. Click the small icon and the plug-in will automatically take you to the 1688.com official website for image search. You can easily find super cheap sources of goods (as shown below).
Beside that，When you use the 1688 dropshipping pro Google plug-in, you can freely purchase your favorite products on the 1688 website with US dollars at any time. The plug-in provides various services including translation, timely quotation and supporting logistics. It is the best choice for dropshipping beginners to simplify the dropshipping selection and procurement process.
Choose a dropshipping agent
Here are the five reasons why dropshipping beginners are opting for using purchasing agents:
Expertise: Dropshipping agents are often well versed with the market and the products they offer and thus can be of great help to new dropshipping vendors in identifying quality suppliers and products.
Save time: These agents can take care of the communication with the suppliers, the ordering process and the logistics arrangements, so that the dropshipping beginners can concentrate on marketing and the customers’ service.
Reduce risks: Dropshipping agents can assist in the identification of possible liabilities, the quality of the product as well as the supply chain to ensure that dropshippers do not lose money on poor products.
Negotiation ability: Most agents are known to be good negotiators and can able to get better prices as well as other transaction terms for dropshipping beginners to enhance their profits.
Simplify the process: Through agents, dropshipping beginners can simplify the entire procurement process and avoid errors and delays caused by unfamiliar operations.
Of course, if you are choosing a Dropshipping agent, you might as well take a look at zqdropshpping provides professional agent delivery services .
Part 4: Importing products to e-commerce platforms
For dropshipping beginners, importing products to e-commerce platforms is an important step when doing dropshipping business. Depending on different needs and technical levels, merchants can choose to import manually or use automated tools to complete this process.
1. Steps to manually import product information
Select products: On 1688 or other supply platforms, browse and select the required products.
Copy product information:
Title: Copy the title of the product, make sure the description is clear and meets the SEO requirements of the e-commerce platform.
Description: Copy the product description in detail, including features, specifications, and instructions for use.
Image: Download clear product images, and make sure the images meet the requirements of the e-commerce platform.
Price and inventory: Record the price, minimum order quantity (MOQ), and inventory of the product.
Create a product list: Log in to an e-commerce platform (such as Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.), add new products one by one, and paste the information copied previously.
Save and publish: After completing all the necessary fields, save and publish the product list.
2. Automated import
Although manual import allows merchants to better control the details of each product, the process can be time-consuming, especially when a large number of products need to be imported. It is more convenient to use Chrome extensions or other tools for automated import. Here are some commonly used tools and methods:
Chrome extensions
Extensions such as AliScraper and Oberlo can help users quickly grab product information from platforms such as 1688 and automatically fill it into e-commerce platforms.
When using these extensions, users need to install the extensions. After finding the product, click the extension button to import the data.
ZQDropshipping is a professional dropshipping platform that provides product import functions. , It is very suitable for novice sellers with no experience, and it can be easily operated even with zero experience.
Users can directly enter the URL to select products through its interface and automatically import them into their own e-commerce stores.
Provide information transfer functions to simplify the tedious information processing process.
The website also provides functions such as image processing, text editing, page design, AI advertising image design, etc.
Here are some pictures of the web page.
3. Process product data and format conversion
Whether it is imported manually or automatically, it is essential to process product data and organize it into a format suitable for the e-commerce platform. Here are some steps:
Data organization
It is important to ensure that all product information including the title, description, price, inventory details such as SKU etc. are up to date and correct.
It is also important to ensure that there is no duplicate product information so that there is no duplication of products on the e-commerce platform.
Format conversion
Most e-commerce platforms support CSV file format. Users can use Excel or Google Sheets to organize product information into CSV format.
Make sure that the CSV file contains necessary fields such as product name, description, price, inventory, image link, etc., and follow the format requirements of the e-commerce platform.
Log in to the e-commerce platform, find the data import function, upload the organized CSV file, and the system will automatically import the product information into the store.
There is a wide variety of products offered by the 1688 website as well as cheap prices which can aid managers to cut costs, enter the market fast and strengthen the competitive edge of e-commerce companies. Therefore, I encourage everyone to act fast, it is worth a try.
Also, if you have any questions, please leave a message below.We will reply promptly
