Buy direct from 1688.
Skip the agent.
Keep the margin.
Your suppliers already source from 1688 — China's factory-direct wholesale market — and resell to you at a markup. SourceProof lets you search it in English, vets the supplier before you pay, negotiates in Chinese on your behalf, and shows your true landed cost including freight and duties. Backed by real humans in Shanghai.
// 50 founding spots · locked-in launch pricing · no spam, one email when we open
Sound familiar?
"The sample was perfect. The bulk order was garbage — and the refund window closed while we argued."
"My agent altered the invoices and overcharged me for years. When I asked for an explanation, he stopped responding."
"UPS handed me a $1,400 duty bill on a $750 shipment. Nobody warned me before I ordered."
"The spec sheets are all in Chinese. Machine translation got the material wrong and I ate the loss."
"I can see the same product is 60% cheaper on 1688, but I can't register, can't pay, can't even message the factory."
"The supplier went silent the week my shipment was due. Season lost."
How SourceProof works
Search in English
Describe the product in plain English. We search 1688 directly, translate listings and spec sheets accurately, and compare factory prices side by side.
We vet & negotiate
Every supplier gets a risk report: factory vs. reseller, years trading, dispute signals, scam patterns. Our AI messages them in native Chinese to confirm specs and push MOQ and price.
Know the real cost before you pay
Unit price is fiction. We estimate freight, duties, and fees up front so the landed cost lands on your screen — not on a surprise carrier bill.
What's inside
English search across 1688
Natural-language search with accurate translation of titles, spec tables, and size charts — the details machine translation gets wrong.
Supplier risk score
Factory-or-reseller detection, trading history, dispute signals, and known scam patterns (fake storefronts, off-platform payment requests) flagged before money moves.
AI negotiation in Chinese
Confirm specs, request samples, and negotiate MOQ and price in fluent Chinese — translated back to you in real time, with the full thread on record.
Landed cost calculator
HS-code lookup, current duty rates, freight estimates, and platform fees rolled into one per-unit number you can price against.
Human verification on demand
We're in Shanghai. For larger orders, request a video factory check or in-person sample inspection by our team — not a stranger from a directory.
We're two builders based in Shanghai. We read 1688 in our native language, we can get on a train to a factory in Yiwu or Shenzhen, and we've watched too many overseas sellers get burned by opaque agents. Our promise is boring on purpose: transparent pricing, everything on record, no hidden markup. If a listing looks wrong to us, we'll tell you before you pay — because our business only works if yours does.
Get founding access
We're opening to 50 sellers first. Founding members get locked-in pricing, direct WeChat/WhatsApp access to us, and a free supplier vetting on their first order.
// tell us what you sell when we email you — we prioritize by fit, not by queue position
Questions, answered straight
Is 1688 even legit?
Yes — it's Alibaba's wholesale platform for the Chinese domestic market, which is exactly why it's cheaper than Alibaba.com or AliExpress: no international markup layer. The catch is that it was never built for foreign buyers — Chinese-only interface, domestic payment, domestic shipping. That gap is what agents charge 10% to bridge, and what SourceProof automates.
Do I need to speak Chinese?
No. Search, chat, spec sheets, and negotiation all happen in English on your side. The Chinese happens on ours.
How is this different from a sourcing agent?
Agents are opaque: commission on top of hidden markups, quality checks you can't see, and invoices you can't verify. SourceProof shows you the actual 1688 listing, the actual price, and the full negotiation thread. When you want human eyes on a factory, you order it explicitly and see exactly what it costs.
What about tariffs and customs in my country?
Our landed-cost estimates cover the US, UK, EU, Australia, and Canada at launch, using current duty rates and your product's HS classification. Estimates are estimates — but they beat finding out from a carrier invoice.
When do you launch, and what will it cost?
Private beta opens to the waitlist first. Founding pricing will be a flat monthly subscription for search, vetting, and negotiation — no percentage of your order value. On-demand human services (video factory checks, sample inspection) are priced per job, quoted up front.