How to order from 1688 to Kazakhstan

1688.com serves China's domestic market. The site is in Chinese, payment goes through Chinese banks and payment systems, and sellers ship mostly within China. A buyer from another country therefore orders through an intermediary who makes the purchase inside China.

We handle the correspondence with sellers in Chinese. The steps:

• You send links to 1688 listings, or photos, with quantities.
• We confirm stock and terms with the sellers and send you a quote.
• Once you pay, we make the purchase.
• We consolidate orders from different sellers into one shipment and check it before dispatch.

Many 1688 sellers who call themselves factories are resellers. Before ordering we tell manufacturers apart from intermediaries and send you what we found. We look at:

• the business licence and registered scope of activity;
• rating, time on the platform, reviews and sales volume;
• photos and video of the workshop and goods, taken at our request;
• sample prices.

Samples come by air in 3⁠–⁠7 days. The approved sample becomes the benchmark: the finished batch is compared with it by photos, dimensions, labelling and packaging. Any differences are settled with the seller before dispatch.

Transit times to Almaty. Road and rail take batches from 100 kg, as groupage, a full truck or a full wagon. Light cargo, under 200 kg/m³, is charged per cubic metre by road and rail.

• Truck: 10⁠–⁠18 days.
• Rail: 18⁠–⁠30 days.
• Air: 3⁠–⁠7 days.