Most guides about 1688 teach you how to read the price already sitting on the product page. That price is rarely the one a factory will actually approve once you ask for a full wholesale price sheet. If you have been ordering samples or small batches and paying the number displayed on the listing, you are very likely leaving 15 to 30 percent on the table. This post is about getting the real tiered catalogue, the one factories only send when you ask the right way.
Why the price you see on 1688 is not the price you'll get approved
The number displayed on a 1688 product page is almost always either a retail-adjacent price or the price at the lowest quantity tier, usually 1 to 10 pieces. It exists to get you to click and chat, not to reflect what you'll pay at 500 or 1,000 units.
Factories keep a separate tiered price sheet internally: one price at 100 pieces, a lower one at 500, a lower one again at 1,000+. That sheet does not sit on the public listing. It gets sent by the sales rep only after a buyer opens a conversation and asks for it directly.
The gap is real and it's not small. Take a silicone kitchen tool SKU listed at RMB 9.8 per piece on the product page. Message the supplier, state you're ordering 800 pieces, and the quote that comes back might land at RMB 7.2, a 26 percent drop from the displayed number. On a $3,000 order that's roughly $780 in margin you'd have paid away for no reason.
New shop owners skip this step constantly, usually because chatting in Chinese feels like friction, or because the displayed price looks "good enough" against what they'd pay locally. It isn't a failure of research. It's a missing habit: always ask before you commit to a number you never negotiated.
What a full wholesale price sheet actually includes
A real catalogue is not one number. It's a structure, and knowing what to expect helps you spot when a supplier is giving you the full picture versus a rushed answer.
Tiered pricing by quantity. Expect at minimum three tiers, something like 100 / 500 / 1,000+ pieces, each with its own unit price. A supplier who only gives you one number hasn't sent you the sheet yet, they've sent you a headline.
Pricing by variant. Color, size, and material often carry different costs. A phone case in clear TPU might run RMB 4.5 at the 500-tier, while the same case in a textured leather finish runs RMB 6.8 at the same quantity tier. If you're comparing SKUs across variants, ask for pricing on each one you actually plan to stock.
Sample price versus bulk price. These are two different line items. Sample price is almost always higher per unit and sometimes non-refundable against the first order. Don't assume the sample quote tells you anything about your real unit cost at volume.
Conditions attached to each tier. Production lead time, payment terms (deposit percentage, balance on shipment), and the MOQ required to unlock each price band. A 1,000-piece tier that requires 50 percent deposit and a 25-day lead time is a different deal than one requiring 30 percent deposit and 15 days, even if the unit price looks identical on paper.
Which channels to use to ask for tiered factory pricing
Aliwangwang (阿里旺旺) is the direct chat tool built into 1688, both on web and in the app. It is the official channel and the fastest way to reach a real sales rep instead of a bot reply.
The 询价 (ask for quote) button sits on most product pages, separate from just browsing the listed price. Use it instead of relying on whatever number is shown by default. Clicking it usually opens a structured inquiry that the supplier's sales team treats more seriously than a cold chat message.
The 1688 mobile app lets you attach photos or short videos to your question, useful when you're referencing a specific color swatch or a competitor's product you want matched or priced against.
When the language barrier is the real blocker, use a sourcing agent or a platform that can ask on your behalf and then verify the numbers that come back against what the factory actually confirms in writing. Don't skip verification just because someone else did the asking. A translated quote is still a quote you should double check before you wire a deposit.
Ready-to-use Chinese question templates for tiered pricing
Copy these directly into Aliwangwang or the 询价 form. They are phrased the way a factory sales rep expects a serious buyer to ask.
To request the full wholesale price sheet: 你好，可以给我完整的批发价格表吗 (Meaning: "Hello, can you send me the complete wholesale price list?")
To ask for pricing at a specific quantity: 如果我订 500 件/1000 件，价格是多少 (Meaning: "If I order 500 pieces / 1,000 pieces, what is the price?")
To confirm whether the price includes domestic China shipping: 这个价格包含中国国内运费吗 (Meaning: "Does this price include domestic shipping within China?")
To request a saveable file for comparison: 可以发我 PDF 或者 Excel 的价格表吗，方便我保存对比 (Meaning: "Could you send me a PDF or Excel price sheet, so I can save it and compare?")
Asking for the file matters more than it sounds. A screenshot in a chat thread gets buried in an hour. A file you can save gets compared against the next three suppliers you message.
How to read and compare price sheets once you get them
Getting the sheet is only step one. Misreading it wipes out whatever you gained by asking.
Check the unit basis first. Some sheets quote per piece, some per set (a set might be 2 or 6 units), and raw material suppliers often quote per kilogram. Comparing a per-piece quote against a per-set quote from another factory will make one look artificially cheaper than it is.
Check whether the price includes fapiao (the official VAT invoice). A quote without fapiao is often 3 to 13 percent lower on paper but changes your compliance position and what you can claim back, depending on your import structure. Always ask which price you're looking at.
Fold the number into your full landed cost, not just the factory price. The FOB number on the sheet ignores domestic freight, export processing, and everything on your side of the border. If you haven't built out that math yet, our guides on import cost breakdowns for new operators and calculating true landed cost on 1688 orders walk through it line by line.
Keep a dated log of every quote you receive. Raw material costs on 1688 move seasonally, plastics and textiles especially. A price sheet from March and one from September on the same SKU can differ 8 to 12 percent purely on input cost, not because anyone's trying to overcharge you.
Common mistakes when asking for wholesale price sheets
A few patterns show up over and over with operators new to sourcing on 1688:
- Asking a vague "how much is this" gets a vague answer, or gets ignored. Ask for the price sheet specifically, using the phrasing above.
- Not stating your expected quantity upfront means the rep defaults to quoting the lowest tier, the one closest to retail.
- Not following up when a quote comes back higher than the number on the public listing. That gap is worth questioning, not accepting silently.
- Forgetting to ask how long the quote stays valid. Some quotes hold for 7 days, others for 30. Closing late on an expired quote can mean getting requoted at a higher rate.
- Only messaging one factory. Without a second or third quote, you have no way to know if what you got is fair. Our post on building a supplier base that isn't dependent on one factory covers how to structure that comparison without slowing down your sourcing.
When to negotiate further after you have the price sheet
Once the tiered sheet is in hand, a few signals tell you it's worth pushing further: you're placing a large first order, you can commit to reordering on a set schedule, or you can pay faster than the standard terms (full deposit upfront instead of split payment, for instance).
Use the tiered sheet itself as your negotiating anchor. If the 1,000-piece tier is RMB 6.2 and you're ordering 1,500, it's fair to ask whether that qualifies for the next band down, or whether a standing reorder commitment gets you there faster than volume alone would.
Don't try to negotiate before the full sheet is in front of you. Without it, you're negotiating against a single anchor price the supplier controls, and you'll usually get pushed back to whatever number they quoted first. Our guide on negotiating discounts with 1688 suppliers goes deeper into sequencing that conversation. And if you're newer to sourcing, it's worth reading common mistakes new importers make on 1688 before you rush a quote straight into a locked order. Asking for the sheet and closing the order are two separate decisions, don't collapse them into one message.
Frequently asked questions
Does asking for a wholesale price sheet on 1688 cost anything? No. Asking through Aliwangwang or the 询价 button costs nothing and does not obligate you to order. Factories expect buyers to compare quotes before committing.
How large an order do I need before a factory sends tiered pricing? There's no fixed threshold. Most sales reps will share the full sheet as soon as you state a serious quantity range, even before you've placed a single order. Stating "around 500 to 1,000 pieces" in your first message is usually enough.
I don't speak Chinese. How do I ask for the price sheet? Use the templates above directly, they're ready to paste. If the conversation gets more complex than pricing (custom specs, packaging changes), a sourcing agent or platform that can chat on your behalf and verify the answer is the safer route.
Are the price sheets factories send actually reliable, or just a sales pitch? They're a real starting point, not a final contract. Treat the sheet as the opening position for negotiation and always confirm final terms in writing before you send a deposit.
Is it better to ask 1688 directly or have an agent ask for you? Asking directly is faster and keeps you closer to the source. An agent helps when the language gap is large enough that nuance gets lost, but either way, verify the numbers yourself before committing money.
We're building Scout inside Ordinex to handle exactly this step, structured quote requests to multiple 1688 factories at once, with the tiered pricing normalized so you're comparing real numbers instead of screenshots. Scout and our order management tool, Orders, are both in private beta. If sourcing quotes and comparing suppliers is eating your week, get in touch at ordinex.cc.