How To Buy Goods From 1688

Buying goods from China and having them brought to your doorstep has been made easier. In this article, I will show you how to buy goods from the 1688 website and ship it down to Nigeria using a procurement company

What is 1688.com?

1688.com is a B2B supplier directory owned by Alibaba Group which was made for the Asian market. Just like Alibaba.com, 1688.com is a portal where you can find factories, wholesalers and trading companies, in virtually any industry.

So why is it called 1688.com, and not Alibaba.cn? In Chinese, 1688 reads as “Yao Liu Ba Ba”, which (kind of) sounds like Alibaba.

Substituting words for similar-sounding numbers is common in China and all over Asia.

How To Buy Goods From 1688.com

The website was created for the Asian market; hence it was created in the Chinese language. 

Before now, buying goods from 1688 requires that you understand Chinese language

If you want to contact 1688 suppliers, you either need an agent, or learn mandarin.

Alibaba.com suppliers, on the other hand, almost always have English speaking sales reps operating their accounts.

To buy items on the 1688 platform, you will have to translate the item name to Chinese

Use the following steps to buy any item on the 1688 platform.

1. Open www.1688.com on your browser and www.translate.google.com in another tab or browser.
2. On the google translate page, enter the type of item you will like to buy and set the translation to Chinese. For example: wristwatch, waist trainer, belts,e.t.c.
3. Copy the translated version of the item you typed and go straight to the search bar located in 1688.com and paste it there. Hit the enter button of your computer and it will begin a search operation of the item on the platform.
4. After completing the search for the item, similar items from different sellers will be displayed

Placing orders for items in 1688

Since the website was created in the Chinese language, it makes it difficult communicating with sellers in English.

Therefore, it is advisable to use middlemen (agents) or procurement companies when buying goods from 1688 or any other Chinese website.

These agents helps you to buy goods from 1688 and handle communication with the sellers.

Using Agents or Procurement Companies

Agents handle all form of payment and communication with the sellers in 1688. The agent also ensures all your specifications (size, colour, quantity) are met before shipping your goods down to your country.

There have been cases of fraudulent agents in recent times, hence the need for licensed procurement companies, One of which is: www.chrisvicmall.com.

CVM takes care of the full procurement process and ensures your goods arrive in Nigeria within 3 – 21 days depending on the shipping option you choose.

How to ship your item from China to Nigeria using CVM

Visit www.chrisvicmall.com and fill the registration form.

Chrisvic also has a translation service for most stores in 1688.

This means that you can buy items from 1688 sellers on the chrisvic website without the need to translate the page.

After registering on the chrisvic website, you can then login to your dashboard using your username and password.

Chrisvic offers different order placement methods. purchase only, shipping only, purchase and shipping together. 

I will advise you to select the purchase and shipping option to enable them to handle the complete procurement process for you.

Chrisvic offers different shipping methods which include: Normal shipping, Triweekly shipping and Express shipping. Each shipping method has its price with normal shipping being the cheapest.

To buy on 1688 using chrisvicmall, you will have to copy the URL of the item you saw on 1688 and paste it in the purchase and shipping section of your dashboard.

Also, ensure you specify all product options (colour, size, quantity) of the item you want to buy.

Chrisvic charges in USD per Kilogram. 

The Naira equivalent can then be paid into their local bank account and your CVM account will be credited after filling the notification form.

After your account has been credited, you can then place your purchase or shipping order. 

It takes 7-14 days for your goods to arrive in Nigeria if you selected the normal shipping option.

Upon arrival, you will be notified via SMS that your parcel is available for collection.

Summary

In summary, buying goods from 1688 in Nigeria involves these simple steps.

1. Search for the item you want to buy in 1688. Use google translate service to translate your text in English to Chinese language.
2. Copy the URL of the item(s) you want from the 1688 website.
3. In your chrisvic dashboard, under the order placement section, select “purchase and shipping”. Paste the URL in the section and fill out the product options
4. You will be prompted to credit your CVM account before you can purchase or ship an item. Do that and notify them by filling out the notification form.
5. Click on add item to Cart
6. Your goods will arrive Nigeria in 7-14 days depending on the shipping method you chose.