1688 Link Review Before You Buy — What We Check for Overseas Buyers

A 1688 link looks like shopping. From overseas it is usually a research tab with Chinese payment rails, Chinese delivery addresses, and sellers who never heard of your postcode.

YueFetch can review the link and, if it is clean, buy it for you. Those are two different jobs. This note is the review.

Review is not purchase

Link review (or a WhatsApp paste) means we assess:

• Is the listing still alive?
• Do specs match the photos?
• Is MOQ realistic for one overseas parcel?
• Are we being asked to buy a counterfeit or trademark knockoff?

Purchase only starts after you accept a three-line quote and pay. We do not “just order it” from a half screenshot.

What we actually open

1. Full URL — not a cropped title card 2. Variant — color, size, voltage, pack count 3. Ship-to country — freight math changes 4. Quantity — one gift vs twenty units 5. Deadline — optional, but say it early

Background channel guide: How to buy from 1688 & Taobao overseas.

Red flags we walk away from

• Luxury logos, sports marks, or character IP on a blank from a side alley → hard no (see our no-fakes stance)
• Seller will not ship to a Guangdong address we can receive
• Price that only works if you ignore freight, breakage, and returns
• Photos stolen from a brand site while the seller “has stock”
• “Free worldwide shipping” on a ceramic teapot that weighs like a brick

If Amazon or a local shop is cheaper including delivery this week, we will say buy local. That sentence saves more money than a clever coupon.

What a clean review looks like

You get English notes, not a vibe:

• Product line estimate
• Likely freight band after weigh (or free-ship rules if the cart path applies)
• Service line
• One clear risk (stock, MOQ, fragile, lead time)

Then you choose: proceed via Custom Source, browse ready catalog, or skip.

WhatsApp template that works

Paste this and fill the blanks:

> Link: … > Qty / color / size: … > Ship to: … > Need-by date (if any): … > Notes: …

WhatsApp +86 134 2285 5855 · email hello@yuefetch.com

— YueFetch · Source Notes