What happens after you paste a link
If you have never ordered through an agent before, the waiting is the strange part. So here is the whole sequence, written out so there is nothing to wonder about. You paste a link and pay. Pikobuy buys it. The warehouse receives it and photographs it. You take a look and decide whether it is fine. It waits, at no charge, for as long as you need. And then one day you press submit, and it starts moving towards you. Every one of those steps is visible in your account.
← Back to the startThe sequence, in plain terms
Paste it, look at it, let it sit, then send it. The looking and the sitting are the two stages where you actually have any say — and the sitting is free, which is worth using.
- Paste ita link or a product name, plus the size, colour and quantity you want
- Look at itphotographs arrive before anything is packed — zoom in on them
- Let it sitfree storage while you decide whether to add anything else
- Send itchoose a line, pay freight on chargeable weight, then follow it home
- Sendthe lane is chosen and the freight is charged on whichever weight is greater
The timings below are Pikobuy's published figures. Your own order page is what counts for your order.
Placing the order, one screen at a time
Four moves, and none of them takes longer than a minute.
Taobao, Weidian, 1688 and JD links all work, or you can search by product name if you only have a description.
Size, colour and quantity get locked in here — copy them from the row rather than trusting your memory.
The seller's price and the domestic leg. Freight is not charged yet, because the parcel does not exist.
Domestic tracking appears first, then the warehouse scan, then the images you need to look at.
Nine stages, and you can watch each one
There are nine stages in total, and your account shows each one as it completes, so you are never left wondering where your parcel has got to.
- 1
SubmittedYou have placed the order and paid for the goods
- 2
PurchasingPikobuy completes the purchase on your behalf
- 3
Seller dispatchedThe seller ships to the warehouse and domestic tracking appears
- 4
ArrivedScanned into the warehouse and logged to you
- 5
InspectedPhotographs posted — your chance to look properly
- 6
HeldSitting at no charge while you decide what else to add
- 7
SubmittedYou choose the line and extras, then pay freight
- 8
On its wayHanded to the carrier, tracking goes live
- 9
DeliveredArrived with you
Condensed from Pikobuy's published flow. Your account and Pikobuy's notices are what govern.
What goes on while you are waiting
Your item is scanned into the warehouse about two days after the seller sends it, and it is inspected roughly one day after that. From that moment it sits on the warehouse page at no cost, which is what makes it practical to wait for a second order and then send both of them together in a single parcel.
Logged against your account before the box is even opened.
Images posted for you to look at — zoom rather than glance.
Long enough that waiting for a second order is usually the sensible move.
And you can ask for the retail packaging to come off first, which is billed otherwise.
Sending it, and the one thing worth asking for
Three moves, and the first is the one that saves money.
- 1. Ask for lighter packing
On compact goods the retail box and filler often outweigh the product itself.
- 2. Choose the line
Compare on price, on speed, and on whether it will carry what you bought.
- 3. Pay and follow it
Freight follows chargeable weight, and tracking begins at the carrier's scan.
- 4. Pay and track
About a day after you submit the parcel the first carrier scan appears, and from that point the tracking actually means something.
As soon as you submit, the warehouse packs everything and gives the parcel to the carrier, and tracking appears on your parcel page. Because the charge depends on how heavy the finished box measures and how far it has to travel, the figure can move slightly in either direction, and the difference is settled against your balance.