Open 1688, click sign up, then close the tab because you cannot tell what it is asking and have no idea how the cross-border purchase limits actually work. That is the common experience for most Vietnamese sellers starting to source from China. This post walks through each step: creating an account, getting it verified, and the limits you need to understand before placing a first order.
Which version of 1688 you are actually using
There are two versions of the platform that overseas buyers regularly confuse.
The domestic site (1688.com) is a wholesale marketplace built for buyers inside China. Prices run lower, the catalog is much wider, but payment requires Alipay linked to a Chinese bank card, and most suppliers do not ship internationally on their own. Vietnamese buyers can still use this version, but they need a sourcing agent or order service to handle payment and warehouse consolidation.
The international site (global.1688.com) is designed for buyers outside China. It accepts international credit cards and PayPal, and parts of the interface have English support. Some suppliers ship internationally themselves. The tradeoff is a narrower catalog than the domestic site and prices that tend to run higher because suppliers have factored in the effort of serving overseas buyers.
Most Vietnamese shops importing in moderate to larger volumes use the domestic site through an order service, because the price and selection difference is significant. The rest of this post focuses on that path.
Creating an account on the domestic site
Use a desktop browser rather than a phone for the initial setup. Some verification steps are easier to complete on a larger screen.
Step 1: Register. Click "免费注册" (free registration) in the top right corner. The page asks for a phone number to receive a confirmation code. Vietnamese numbers (+84) can receive SMS from the Alibaba Group system in most cases, though some virtual SIM numbers or newly activated SIMs occasionally get rejected.
Step 2: Fill in the basics. After confirming the phone number, set a password and a username. Use Latin characters or numbers for the username and avoid special characters. No real name or company name is required at this stage.
Step 3: Log back in and check. After the account is created, log in and see whether you land on the homepage or get immediately pushed to another verification step. If a prompt appears, proceed with the verification section below.
Getting the account verified
An unverified 1688 account has hard limits: you cannot message suppliers, cannot place orders, and some product information is hidden. Verification has to happen before anything useful is possible.
Two verification tiers come up regularly.
Basic verification through Alipay. This is the most common route. If you already have an Alipay account (or a Taobao account, since they share the same login system), linking it completes this tier immediately. An international Alipay account can be created from Vietnam using a passport and a Visa or Mastercard.
Identity verification. At certain points, or when transaction volumes get larger, 1688 asks for more specific identity confirmation. Overseas users can submit a passport. Upload photos of both sides of the passport and take a selfie following the on-screen instructions. Review typically takes a few hours to one business day.
If you get stuck on the verification steps and cannot read Chinese, most reputable order services will help their customers set up an account as part of onboarding. This is one practical reason many Vietnamese shops go through an agent rather than working through the platform entirely on their own.
The cross-border limits to know before you order
Even with a fully verified account, buyers from Vietnam run into real structural limits that affect how importing works.
Suppliers do not ship internationally themselves. The vast majority of factories and traders on the domestic 1688 site deliver only within China. You need a consolidation warehouse address in China to receive the goods, and from there a freight service carries them to Vietnam. An order service or forwarding agent provides that warehouse address.
Payment mechanics. The domestic site accepts Alipay and other Chinese payment systems. When you go through an order service, you pay the service in Vietnamese dong (or whatever method they accept), and they pay the factory. Service fees generally run a few percent of the order total, on top of freight from the consolidation warehouse to Vietnam.
MOQs and price tiers. Some suppliers set a minimum order quantity, ranging from a few dozen to several hundred units depending on the product. Prices typically drop at higher quantity tiers: buy more, pay less per unit. When comparing prices across suppliers, check which quantity tier the displayed price applies to.
Exchange rate. All 1688 prices are in Chinese yuan. The Vietnamese dong to yuan rate floats with the market. At the time of writing it sits around VND 3,600 per yuan, but this moves, so pull the current rate when you are calculating actual landed cost rather than relying on a remembered figure.
Total lead time. From order placement to stock arriving at your Vietnam warehouse, the full timeline adds up: factory preparation time (typically three to seven days), domestic China shipping to the consolidation warehouse (one to three days), consolidation waiting time for the batch to be ready, and international freight. Sea freight from a China consolidation point to Vietnam takes roughly 18 to 30 days. Air freight or express routes run seven to fourteen days but cost significantly more per kilogram. Do not plan based on the factory's stated dispatch date. Add every leg to get the real number.
Keeping the account from getting restricted
1688 accounts sometimes get flagged or temporarily limited when behavior looks unusual compared to typical domestic buyers. A few patterns come up for Vietnamese users specifically.
Frequent IP changes. If you browse through a VPN and then switch it off on another device, the IP address shifts constantly, which can trigger security alerts. Logging in consistently from one device or one network is safer.
Avoid anything that looks automated. Rapid clicking through many pages, opening dozens of tabs simultaneously, or using scraping tools to pull product data can get flagged. Browse manually and at a normal pace.
Complete verification prompts immediately. 1688 occasionally asks for a re-verification via image captcha or SMS. Do it right away rather than dismissing it, because ignoring several requests in a row leads to account restrictions.
One account is enough. A single account handles both personal browsing and business purchasing. Creating multiple accounts from the same device or IP often results in all of them getting flagged together.
After the account is ready
Once the account is verified and has full access, the practical next step is choosing an order service and getting their China warehouse address. That address is what you enter as the delivery address when placing an order on 1688.
When placing an order, message the supplier directly through the chat window on the product page to confirm the price at your quantity tier, their production lead time, and any packaging requirements. Many factories do not have strong English, but short template messages with a translation tool get the job done. Confirm everything before the deposit, not after the goods are already in transit.
Bottom line
Setting up and verifying a 1688 account from Vietnam is straightforward once you know the right steps. Most friction comes from the language barrier and not knowing which version of the platform to use for which purpose. The account is just the entry point. The real work is choosing the right goods, calculating full landed cost, and picking a freight route that fits the product before any capital goes into a first order.