About China Market Guide

I started buying from Chinese suppliers back in 2018 — first as a side hustle reselling phone accessories on eBay, then later for a small ecommerce brand I co-founded. Seven years on, China Market Guide is where I share what actually works (and what burned me along the way).

What We've Actually Done

Across the last few years I've placed orders through 1688, Alibaba and Yiwugo; flown into Guangzhou for the Canton Fair three times; spent a week walking the five districts of Yiwu International Trade Market in 2023; and lost about $1,800 on one bad order that taught me more than any guide ever could. I've worked with factories on consumer electronics accessories, home goods, packaging, promo merch, and a short-lived attempt at custom apparel.

I know what it's like to wire a 30% deposit at 11pm and not sleep until samples land. I've negotiated MOQ down from 1,000 to 200 units with a calculator app and a lot of patience. I've also had a freight forwarder "forget" a pallet in a Shenzhen warehouse for six weeks. Real stuff. Not theory.

Why We Built This Site

When I first searched "how to use 1688 from overseas" back in 2018, every English-language result was either a sales pitch for a sourcing agent or a 300-word listicle written by someone who'd clearly never opened the app. Practical stuff — how to actually pay a 1688 vendor when Alipay rejects your foreign card, what a Chinese shipping contract really says, why your supplier suddenly stopped replying after Chinese New Year — was scattered across Reddit threads, half-translated forum posts, and one or two YouTubers who knew what they were doing.

China Market Guide is the resource I wish I'd had on day one. Every article is written from direct experience or in close collaboration with people who do this for a living.

What You'll Find Here

• 1688 guides — how to use China's biggest domestic B2B platform as a foreign buyer, including the payment workarounds that actually work in 2025.
• Alibaba guides — supplier vetting, sampling, negotiation tactics, Trade Assurance pitfalls.
• Shipping & logistics — plain-English Incoterms, freight forwarder selection, Amazon FBA prep from China.
• China market guides — Yiwu, Canton Fair, Guangzhou wholesale streets, Shenzhen Huaqiangbei.

Our Approach

We don't sugarcoat. Sourcing from China has real risks and real frustrations. We'll tell you what can go wrong, not just the best-case scenario. When we recommend a tool, agent or service, it's because we've personally used it — not because someone paid us.

Where we earn affiliate commissions (currently a handful of freight forwarder and inspection company links), we say so on the page. No paid placements disguised as recommendations.

Get In Touch

Have a question about sourcing from China? Spotted something we got wrong? Email us — we read every message and try to reply within a few business days (Hong Kong time).