Standard terms: inspection, shipping lines, customs and insurance
Kakobuy’s inspection, route and insurance conditions affect different decisions. Start with what your item needs, then check the exact service and shipping line that will handle it.
Checked against official pages captured 2026-10-10 · page reviewed 2026-10-16
Quality check: appearance only, and its limits
Help article 89 limits Kakobuy's inspection to appearance: model, style and size. Only garments, bags, suitcases and shoes are unwrapped; sealed packs and items with sealing strips are checked from the outside. For household appliances, digital products and other electronics, the inspection does not include authenticity, function or quality. The inspection itself is free (help article 79).
Appearance inspection can help identify a visible mismatch, but it does not establish electronic function, authenticity or that every defect was found. A correct size tag also does not prove fit; use the seller’s measurements and request relevant evidence when that affects your decision.
How to check QC photos
The photos appear in the user centre under Warehouse, next to each stored item. Read them in this order:
- Match the label. Size tag, colour and any model code against what you ordered.
- Look at the seams and edges at full size, not the thumbnail. Loose threads and glue marks show there.
- Compare the photo with the listing photos for proportion: toe box, logo placement, strap width.
- If something is unclear, order a personalised photo at ¥2 each (help article 114), with a historical 24-hour service target; confirm current availability, aimed at the exact detail.
- Decide inside the window. The five-day return guarantee uses 120 hours from the next hour after “Stocked in”, subject to eligibility (help article 51), and it is the seller's policy relayed by Kakobuy, not Kakobuy's own.
Before shipping you can also tick the free parcel-photo option for three photos of the packed box (help article 118).
Shipping lines are third-party and reprice with the market
The official estimator carries a note: all logistics services on non-Kakobuy proprietary lines are provided by third-party logistics providers, who adjust freight with market conditions, and Kakobuy will notify in advance of a price change. Carrier, route, eligibility and the agent’s published service terms all affect the result. Compare the particular route and parcel, rather than assuming all agents provide the same service.
On 2026-10-10, a 1 kg ordinary parcel showed 13 lines to the United States, 16 to the United Kingdom, 18 to Germany, 17 to France and 16 to Poland. Some lines were greyed out because the parcel was too light: certain UPS lines require at least 2,000 g, and one UK line at least 5,001 g.
Reading a shipping line before you pick it
Each estimator result shows a line name, a price, a transit range and line notes. The notes carry the rules that bite: batteries and perfume refused on some lines, a 2 kg actual-weight cap on the EUB line to the US, volume weight calculated at length times width times height divided by 8,000 on some UK lines and by 5,000 or more elsewhere, with the larger of actual and volume weight charged (help article 26).
For a 1 kg US parcel on 2026-10-10 the lowest quote was $38.07 on a cosmetics air line taking 11 to 17 days, and USPS-delivered tax-free lines quoted $39.28 and $42 at 7 to 13 days. These are the operator's example figures for one day; re-run the estimator for your parcel.
Customs and duties: notices, not guarantees
Article 69 labels its country-threshold table as reference data, and some figures are outdated. Kakobuy’s 2026 EU notices describe the operator’s subsidy and duty-inclusive route terms. Confirm the selected line’s current wording, exclusions and recipient obligations; an old operator notice does not establish current customs law.
For the US, a 2025-04-17 notice introduced tax-free routes priced roughly $5 to $10 per package above USPS lines, with self-clearance on the rest. Declarations must name the actual goods; generic words such as gift, sample or clothes are refused.
Insurance and carrier losses
The captured insurance article describes optional cover selected with the parcel. Eligible delay cover uses a route-dependent 30- or 40-day threshold from shipment and a stated amount of 20% of freight. Customs-hold and loss/damage cover have separate criteria. The general loss/damage basis is actual freight plus goods value within the insured amount, with a prior qualifying delay payment deducted. Recipient-caused failures and listed force-majeure events can be excluded; the route and claim record decide eligibility.
The uninsured-transit article limits Kakobuy’s responsibility for third-party carrier loss or damage. Save the shipping record and ask for a carrier trace and the applicable claim process when there is a genuine problem. A tracking gap alone does not prove loss, and buying cover does not guarantee every claim will be paid.
Use QC as a decision point
A photo showing the correct colour does not establish the right dimensions. A label showing the correct size does not establish fit. Request a measurement when fit is the reason you might return the item, and specify exactly where the tape should run. Keep the listing image and your selected variant beside the warehouse photos so you compare the same details. If a defect or mismatch is visible, contact support before submitting the parcel; an international return can be very different from a seller return inside China. Check the official return conditions.