AI China sourcing agent: from an Amazon product to 1688 factories and a landed cost
- Price
- Free plan: 100 credits, no card. One analysis uses about 51 credits.
- What you get
- Amazon product facts, 2 Chinese search terms, factory and trader counts, a table of up to 8 factories with product and shop links, price tiers and minimum order for the top 3, a landed cost table with the exchange rate and duty sources, a Chinese inquiry message with an English translation, and brand-name flags.
- Coverage
- One amazon.com listing, 2 searches on 1688 (first 60 results each), details for 3 listings, one exchange rate lookup and official US tariff sources (USITC HTS, CBP). No freight quotes, FBA fees, factory audits or image search.
- Time to report
- Usually 13 minutes.
- Account
- Sign-in with Google required to run it. You can read the example and fill in the form without an account.
What does a China sourcing agent do, and what can AI do?
An agent finds factories, compares quotes, checks samples and ships the goods; the first part is research that AI can do from public data. For the Fullstar vegetable chopper on Nov 9, 2026, a 1688 search found 24 manual dicer listings from 18 companies, 14 of them factories, at a median of ¥19.80. At 500 units that lands at about $4.89 a unit with 21.2% duty, or $5.19 if the 10% reciprocal tariff also applies, against a $29.99 price.
A product sourcing agent finds factories in China, compares their prices and works out what a unit costs once it lands in the US. This tool does the research half of that job. Paste an Amazon ASIN or link, your target retail price and order size. Nolyn reads the listing, searches 1688 (China's domestic wholesale site) in Chinese, drops ads and other product types, separates factories from traders, and lists the factories with product and shop links. It then checks price tiers for the top 3, looks up the current duty for the HTS heading from official sources, and adds up a landed cost per unit against your price and Amazon's referral fee. You still need a person or agent to pay, inspect and ship.
- Factories, manual dicers
- 14
- Median factory price
- ¥19.80
- Landed cost per unit
- $4.89
- Left after referral fee
- $20.60
Key findings
- 14 factories make manual dicers
- About $5 a unit landed
The report includes
- Factories, not traders
- Links and price tiers
- A landed cost you can check
- An inquiry ready to send
What you get
Factories, not traders
Links and price tiers
A landed cost you can check
An inquiry ready to send
Example: sourcing a vegetable chopper like the Fullstar Pro
We ran the tool on Nov 9, 2026 with the Fullstar Pro vegetable chopper (B0764HS4SL), a $29.99 target price and 500 units. Amazon showed $27.99 (list $49.99), 4.5 stars from 122,654 ratings and "9K+ bought in past month". Nolyn searched 1688 for 多功能切菜器 (multi-function vegetable cutter) and 蔬菜切丁器 (vegetable dicer). The two searches returned 120 listings: 33 were ad slots and 86 different listings were left, of which 24 were manual dicers. The run took 51 credits and about 13 minutes.
Factories, manual dicers
14
of 18 companies, 24 listings
Median factory price
¥19.80
17 factory listings, ¥3.70–¥55.00
Landed cost per unit
$4.89
500 units, 21.2% duty; $5.19 at 31.2%
Left after referral fee
$20.60
at $29.99, before FBA fees and ads
| Company (as shown on 1688) | Location | Why a factory | Price (quantity) | Sold label | Years on 1688 | Repeat rate | Shop page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 义乌市世博塑料制品厂 | 浙江金华 | 生产加工 | ¥26.90 (1+) / ¥25.90 (500+) / ¥24.90 (5,000+) | 已售3.0万+件 | 6 | 39% | shop756o93i956582.1688.com |
| 义乌市尚威塑料制品厂 | 浙江金华 | 生产加工 | ¥26.90 | 全网100+件 | 6 | 38% | shop522416e5q71q1.1688.com |
| 台州市黄岩华光恒久塑业有限公司 | 浙江台州 | 生产加工 | ¥20.00 | 已售800+件 | 20 | 44% | hsslc888.1688.com |
| 双马塑业有限公司 | 浙江临海 | 生产加工 + factory inspection | ¥46.20 | 全网1.7万+件 | 20 | 43% | marsha750601.1688.com |
| 常州克欧克厨具有限公司 | 江苏常州 | 生产加工 | ¥55.00 | 已售600+件 | 14 | 53% | shop1361516181158.1688.com |
| 义乌市越泓日用品有限公司 | 浙江金华 | 生产加工 | ¥27.00 | 已售3300+件 | 4 | 39% | shop37805430f0810.1688.com |
| 义乌市简伊电子商务商行 | 浙江义乌 | 生产加工 | ¥15.00 | 已售1600+件 | 11 | 44% | shop1460997942244.1688.com |
| 永康市环艺金属制品有限公司 | 浙江永康 | 生产加工 | ¥6.50 | 已售1500+件 | 15 | 49% | ykhy2003.1688.com |
Factories are sellers whose 1688 business type is 生产加工 (production). Prices are the listed lowest-quantity price in yuan, with tiers from the product detail where we fetched it; sold labels are the seller's own counter. Manual dicers are listings with 切丁 (dice) in the title, leaving out electric, cordless and commercial machines.
14 factories make manual dicers
About $5 a unit landed
The duty is the moving part
A closer spec costs more
Room for fees and ads
The table and counts were recounted from the 120 listings saved from this run. The run's report read only 24 of them, and two of the three factories it priced in detail were ad slots, so its median (¥6.70) and landed cost ($2.32) differ from this page. The brief now tells the run to fetch details only for non-ad factories in its table.
How to source a product from China
Paste the Amazon product
Enter the ASIN or link, your target price and how many units you want.
Shortlist factories
Nolyn searches 1688 in Chinese and lists factories with product and shop links, prices and tiers.
Check the landed cost
Replace the freight placeholder with a real quote and confirm the duty with your customs broker.
Send the inquiry
Send the Chinese message to the top factories through your sourcing agent or 1688's chat, then order samples.
Who uses the AI China sourcing agent
Amazon private label sellers
Shopify and DTC brands
Sourcing agents
What it can't do
It does not pay suppliers, order samples, inspect factories or arrange freight. It does not read Alibaba.com, search 1688 by image or check a factory's licenses, audits or capacity. 1688 business types and inspection flags are what sellers show, not proof that they own a factory. The landed cost uses a freight placeholder and the duty sources found on the day of the run; tariffs on goods from China change often, so confirm them with a customs broker. It does not estimate FBA fees or sales. Do not use it to copy another brand's design, logo or trademarks.
Questions
No. It does the research part: finding factories, comparing prices and working out a landed cost. A person still needs to negotiate, pay, check samples, inspect goods and ship them. Many sellers use this to prepare before they hire an agent.
1688 is a domestic Chinese wholesale site, so it expects a Chinese address and payment. US buyers usually order through a sourcing agent or a 1688 buying service who pays the factory, consolidates and ships.
Both belong to Alibaba Group. 1688 serves buyers inside China in yuan and usually has lower prices and smaller minimums; Alibaba.com serves overseas buyers in dollars with English listings and Trade Assurance.
The run looks up the HTS heading on the USITC tariff database and the extra duties on goods from China (Section 301 and IEEPA headings) from USITC and CBP, and gives each source and date. For the chopper example that was 3.7% + 7.5% + 10%, with a further 10% reciprocal tariff depending on the entry date. Confirm with a customs broker.
1688 shows a business type: 生产加工 means production (a factory) and 经销批发 means distribution (a trader). An inspection flag, a company name with 厂 (factory) or 制品 (products) and a shop focused on one product type are further hints. Confirm with a quote, a video call or an inspection.
Selling a product with the same function is common; copying a brand's design, logo, trademarks or patented features is not. The tool flags 1688 listings that use a brand name in the title. Check patents and trademarks before you order.
You can start free: new accounts get 100 one-time credits, no card required. One analysis like this uses about 51 credits, so the free credits cover about 1 runs. Paid plans add monthly credits.
To run it, yes: sign in with Google. It is free and asks for no card. You can read the example and fill in the form before signing in.
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