Guides
Straight answers about buying from China: what an agent really costs, why freight is priced by weight and volume, who pays customs, and how to get a parcel to your door without surprises.
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Shopping platforms
How to Buy from 1688 (China's Wholesale Marketplace) from Abroad
1688 is Alibaba's domestic wholesale site: same factories as Alibaba.com, lower prices, minimum order quantities and no English interface. What to know before you buy.
4 min read
Shopping platforms
How to Buy from Taobao in English (2026 Guide)
Taobao has no real English storefront, no international card checkout for most sellers and no overseas shipping. Here is the complete workaround, step by step, using a shopping agent.
4 min read
Shopping platforms
How to Buy from Weidian: The Chinese Platform With No Search
Weidian sellers are largely mobile-only, link-driven and invisible to search engines. How to find them, what is safe to buy, and how to order through an agent.
4 min read
Getting started
新手指南
Pricing & saving
费用与省钱
How to Reduce International Shipping Cost: 7 Moves That Actually Work
Consolidation, volumetric weight, packaging choices, tier selection and honest declaration - ranked by how much they actually save, with the arithmetic.
2026-09-15 · 5 min read
What Does a Taobao Agent Actually Cost? Full Fee Breakdown
The four fees you pay an agent — item price, domestic shipping, service fee and international freight — plus the value-added charges nobody mentions up front. How to tell a real quote from a padded one.
2026-09-15 · 5 min read
Volumetric Weight Explained: Why Light Parcels Cost So Much
International freight is billed on the greater of actual and volumetric weight. Here is the formula, worked examples for real items, and the repacking moves that cut the bill.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
Shipping & customs
物流与关税
Shipping from China to the EU: IOSS, VAT and Country Differences
The EU is not one customs market in practice. How IOSS changes what you pay at the door, why Germany and the Netherlands behave differently from France, and how to keep landed cost predictable.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
Shipping from Taobao to the UK: VAT, Customs and Delivery Tiers
What UK-bound parcels face after Brexit, why the tax-included line matters more than it used to, how chargeable weight is set, and where UK deliveries get stuck.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
Shipping from Taobao to the USA: Speeds, Duties and What to Expect
How parcels reach the United States from China, what the four delivery tiers mean in practice, how de minimis and duties work, and where packages actually get delayed.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
What Is DDP Shipping? Tax-Included Lines Explained
DDP, DDU, tax-included lines and "tariffless" — what the labels actually promise, what they do not cover, and when paying more for a DDP line is the cheaper choice.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
Shopping platforms
平台导购
How to Buy from 1688 (China's Wholesale Marketplace) from Abroad
1688 is Alibaba's domestic wholesale site: same factories as Alibaba.com, lower prices, minimum order quantities and no English interface. What to know before you buy.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
How to Buy from Taobao in English (2026 Guide)
Taobao has no real English storefront, no international card checkout for most sellers and no overseas shipping. Here is the complete workaround, step by step, using a shopping agent.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
How to Buy from Weidian: The Chinese Platform With No Search
Weidian sellers are largely mobile-only, link-driven and invisible to search engines. How to find them, what is safe to buy, and how to order through an agent.
2026-09-15 · 4 min read
Policies
政策与合规
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