Judging a catalogue, a seller and an agent before you spend

How to judge a seller behind a listing

Sales history and dated reviews provide context alongside the actual specification; neither is proof of quality. Photographs that obviously came from the brand's own campaign tell you nothing about what ships. Compare several dated buyer images, remembering that reviews and photos can also be reused or misleading.

Ask about stock before paying when the listing is old. The operator's own help centre has an article for the case where you were told goods are out of sale while the listing still shows available, which exists because that happens often enough to need an article.

On 1688, read the quantity rules first. The operator's published rules note that the price changes by quantity and that minimum quantities apply, so a 1688 listing price is a starting point rather than a price.

How to judge an agent, in six questions

One, what is the conversion rate, not the service fee. Two, what does the free inspection actually cover, and what does it exclude. Three, how long is free storage and from which status does the clock start. Four, what happens when a parcel is lost, and is that compensation a percentage of freight or of value. Five, can you find a legal entity and a company number. Six, is the support channel a human in a timezone you can reach.

For Kakobuy, the retained evidence gives a dated FX comparison rather than a live rate; appearance inspection with exclusions; normal storage of 100 days from In storage and abnormal storage of 60 days from Signed for; conditional delay cover; and operator-published company identities. The contact page labels chat hours BST. Confirm each condition and date for your actual order using the graded source notes.

The other agents you will also see, without a ranking

There are several dozen other shopping agents serving the same marketplaces, and they differ less than their marketing suggests. Nearly all of them advertise no service fee on standard platforms, which is why that line tells you almost nothing. They differ on conversion rate, on which routes they have contracts for, on how long they will store goods, and on whether anyone answers when something goes wrong.

This site does not rank them. A ranking needs a measurement that is reproducible for every entry, and for service quality and dispute handling no such public measurement exists. What can be compared honestly is one variable at a time, with the date it was measured, which is what the grades on this site are for.

If you are comparing, compare the converted checkout total for the same basket on the same day. That single test folds the rate, the fees and the promotions into one number you can actually act on.

Choosing the item itself

Prefer items where the quality check can tell you something. Garments, bags, suitcases and shoes get the full appearance check. Sealed goods and electronics do not, so for those the photographs confirm arrival rather than condition.

Check weight before price on anything bulky. The weight floors on cheap routes and the volumetric divisor decide more of the final bill than a 20 CNY difference in the listing.

And read the size chart on the seller's page rather than assuming your usual size. Size is one of the three things the inspection does check, which only helps if you ordered the right one.

Before you pay, five things that are cheap to check

Confirm the item is not in a category the inspection will skip. Confirm the route you expect to use accepts what you are buying, because batteries, liquids and powders are refused on several lines. Confirm your parcel will clear the weight floor of the route you priced. Confirm your top-up channel will post in time. And screenshot the payment order, because on non duty-free routes that screenshot is the payment record the operator says it can supply. The requesting authority decides which documents meet its requirements.