Cross-border Price Comparison

Compare prices across Chinese e-commerce platforms and calculate total landed cost including shipping, duties, and taxes.

When to Use

• User asks "which platform is cheapest for X?"

• User wants to know total cost of importing a product

• User needs shipping cost estimates from China

• User asks about import duties or taxes

• User wants to compare 1688 wholesale vs Taobao retail vs AliExpress prices

• User asks to convert between CNY and other currencies

MCP Server Setup

{ "mcpServers": { "cross-border-price-compare": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@shopme/cross-border-price-compare-mcp"] } } }

No API keys required! This MCP uses built-in calculation logic.

Available Tools

compare_price

Compare prices from multiple sources with full landed cost breakdown.

• sources : Array of products (platform, name, price in CNY or USD, weight)

• category : Product category for duty estimation

• destination : Country code

• shippingMethod : economy/standard/express/premium

• Returns: ranked results with savings calculation

calculate_landed_cost

Get detailed cost breakdown for a single product.

• priceCny or priceUsd : Product price

• weightKg : Package weight

• category : For duty rate lookup

• destination : Country code

• shippingMethod : Shipping speed tier

• Returns: full breakdown (product + shipping + duty + tax = total)

estimate_shipping

Compare shipping options and costs.

• weightKg : Package weight

• destination : Country code

• Returns: all shipping tier options with cost and delivery time

convert_currency

Quick currency conversion between major currencies.

• amount : Amount to convert

• from /to : Currency codes (CNY, USD, HKD, EUR, GBP, JPY, KRW, etc.)

Price Comparison Strategies

Quick Price Check

• Search for the product on each platform

• Note the price and currency (Taobao=CNY, AliExpress=USD)

• Use compare_price with all sources to get ranked results

Full Cost Analysis

• Identify product on multiple platforms

• Estimate weight (check product specs or estimate)

• Use calculate_landed_cost for each

• Compare total costs, not just product prices

Key Insight: Don't Compare Unit Prices Alone!

A ¥50 product on Taobao ≠ $7 on AliExpress because:

• Taobao: ¥50 product + ¥30 international shipping = $11.10 total

• AliExpress: $7 product + $0 shipping (free) = $7 total

• In this case, AliExpress is cheaper despite higher unit price!

Shipping Tiers

Method Cost/kg Delivery Best For

Economy ~$5 15-30 days Low value, not urgent

Standard ~$10 10-20 days Most purchases

Express ~$20 5-10 days Moderate urgency

Premium ~$35 3-7 days High value, urgent

Import Duty Quick Reference (US)

• $800 de minimis: No duty on orders under $800 (US only)

• Electronics: 0% duty

• Clothing: ~12% duty

• Shoes: ~20% duty

• Cosmetics: ~6.5% duty

• Bags: ~20% duty

• Toys: 0% duty

Common Cross-border Routes

From → To Typical Time Customs Risk

China → US 10-20 days Low (<$800 duty-free)

China → UK 15-25 days Medium (20% VAT from £135)

China → EU 15-30 days Medium (VAT from €22)

China → HK 3-5 days Very Low (duty-free port)

China → JP 5-10 days Medium (10% consumption tax)