# Find suppliers for a product in China and Europe. Compare unit prices, minimum orders and distance Supplier sourcing compares who makes a product, at what unit price and minimum order, and how far away. Apify searches 1688, Alibaba and Europages and matches a product photo, Frankfurter converts the prices and Firecrawl reads each shortlisted supplier's website. - For: E-commerce brands, product teams and buyers - Providers: 3 (Apify, Frankfurter and Firecrawl), 6 tools - Example (One 1688 search and one Alibaba search of 10 results, 5 photo matches on each marketplace, 10 Europages companies, today's rates and two supplier websites): at most $0.41, computed from the live catalog - Updated: 2026-11-03 ## Each provider does one part No single provider covers this job. Through Agentik your AI calls each one for its part, from one connection and one prepaid balance. - **Apify** (4 tools, at most $0.40): 1688 and Alibaba listings with unit prices and minimum orders, photo matches across both, and European makers on Europages. - **Frankfurter** (1 tool, free): Today's exchange rates, to put yuan and dollar prices in your currency. - **Firecrawl** (1 tool, at most $0.005): Each shortlisted supplier's own website, to check what it makes and certifies. ## Give this to your agent ```text Use my connected Agentik MCP server for this job: supplier sourcing. Find suppliers for my product. First ask me for the product, a public photo URL if I have one, my target unit price and order size, and my currency. Search 1688 and Alibaba, match the photo on both marketplaces and find European makers on Europages. Convert the prices with today's rates and read the websites of the two strongest candidates. Keep each price with its minimum order and currency, label what a supplier says about itself as unverified, and contact no supplier without my instruction. Use these Agentik tools for the written steps: apify/1688-wholesale-products, apify/alibaba-products, apify/supplier-image-search, apify/europages-suppliers, frankfurter/latest-rates, firecrawl/scrape. Inspect their current schemas and availability first. Ask for missing inputs and use identifiers returned by actual earlier results. The page's example identifiers illustrate input shapes. Quote more pages before expanding. Preserve source links, dates and uncertainty. Before running anything, inspect each tool with inspect_tool, ask me for any input you don’t have instead of inventing it, and tell me the total price. Wait for my go. At the end, tell me what Agentik charged. ``` ## You provide - The product, with a public photo URL if you have one - Target unit price and order size - Your currency and the market you sell in ## Before this job - The tools must be available in your connected Agentik catalog. Ask for the missing provider configuration if a tool is unavailable. ## What you get: a supplier shortlist with prices in your currency - Matching products on 1688 and Alibaba with unit prices and minimum orders - Photo matches for the exact item - European manufacturers and wholesalers - A shortlist in your currency with the questions to ask each supplier ## How to find and compare suppliers for a product in Claude or ChatGPT Prices are the most each call can reserve for this example: One 1688 search and one Alibaba search of 10 results, 5 photo matches on each marketplace, 10 Europages companies, today's rates and two supplier websites. ### 1. Search the Chinese marketplaces Keep each result's unit price, minimum order and supplier tier. 1688 prices are in yuan and Alibaba prices in dollars. - [1688 wholesale products](/tools/apify/1688-wholesale-products.md) `apify/1688-wholesale-products` (Apify): at most $0.10 - [Alibaba.com products and suppliers](/tools/apify/alibaba-products.md) `apify/alibaba-products` (Apify): at most $0.10 ### 2. Match the product photo Use the photo the user supplies to find the same item, and never reuse another brand's listing photos in the brief. - [Supplier search by product image](/tools/apify/supplier-image-search.md) `apify/supplier-image-search` (Apify): at most $0.10 ### 3. Find European makers Search Europages for manufacturers and wholesalers closer to the market, with their country and size. - [Europages B2B suppliers](/tools/apify/europages-suppliers.md) `apify/europages-suppliers` (Apify): at most $0.10 ### 4. Convert the prices Put yuan and dollar prices in the user's currency at today's rate, and keep the original price beside it. - [Currency exchange rates](/tools/frankfurter/latest-rates.md) `frankfurter/latest-rates` (Frankfurter): free ### 5. Check the shortlist Read the two strongest candidates' own websites before recommending them, and note what each one claims to make and certify. - [Scrape a web page to markdown](/tools/firecrawl/scrape.md) `firecrawl/scrape` (Firecrawl): at most $0.005 Example total: at most $0.41. Each call is billed for measured usage; unused reservations are released. ## Ask it your way - Find suppliers for my product. - Keep the sample small and cite the source for each conclusion. ## Why through Agentik - Collect the sources through one Agentik connection. - Inspect the price of each bounded call before running it. - Keep the source evidence beside the proposed action. ## Good to know - Listings carry the supplier's own claims; ask for samples and certificates before ordering. - Marketplace prices leave out shipping, duties and agent fees. ## When to use something else For audited factories, quality control and freight, work with a sourcing agent or an inspection company. This playbook builds the first shortlist from public listings. ## Supplier sourcing: questions ### What does the example cost? At most $0.41 for the illustrated calls. Inspect the current tools and quote any additional pages or results before expanding. ### Does the result cover every source? No. Public feeds and search results can be incomplete. Keep the collection date, sample size and missing evidence visible. ### Does this send messages or change an account? No. These steps collect public evidence and prepare a brief. Sending a message or changing an account requires a separate instruction. ## Keep going - [China market check](/china-market-check.md): How your category lives on Xiaohongshu, Douyin and Weibo, its search popularity on Xiaohongshu, who ranks on Baidu, and local prices converted to your currency. - [Competitor price check](/competitor-price-check.md): Every seller of your products on Google Shopping and Amazon with today’s price, competitors’ shipping and promotions read on their own pages, and the coupon codes in circulation. - [Amazon product research](/amazon-product-research.md): Amazon search demand, the listings that win and their sellers, seasonality, who advertises, and what buyers complain about. - [E-commerce tools for your agent](/tools/ecommerce.md) - [Finance tools for your agent](/tools/finance.md) [All playbooks](/playbooks.md) · [Connection guides](/docs/clients.md) · [Billing](/docs/billing.md) --- [HTML page](/supplier-sourcing) · [Agent index](/llms.txt)