Kakobuy: how ordering, QC photos and shipping work

Kakobuy is a proxy buying platform built for shoppers outside China. It does not sell anything of its own and it does not hold stock. It buys on your behalf instead: you send a product link from a Chinese e-commerce platform, or you pick an item from a catalogue, and Kakobuy places the order with the seller, receives the parcel at its warehouse in China and forwards it internationally. Ordering, payment and shipping all go through Kakobuy.

From your side this works differently from ordinary online shopping: you do not arrange international shipping with an individual seller, and you do not combine parcels yourself. Parcels from different sellers arrive at one warehouse instead, and you see photos of what arrived before anything leaves the country. The photos and the order status collect in your account.

What follows tracks the order as it actually moves: from a product link, through the warehouse, to a parcel on its way to your address.

How an order moves

An order starts with a product. You submit a link to a specific item, or you open one from a catalogue and continue the order on Kakobuy's side. The seller then ships the item to the warehouse in China, and at that moment the parcel leaves the seller's hands.

Warehouse staff book the parcel in, carry out a basic inspection and photograph the contents. The photos go to your account, where you see them, and this is where you decide: approve the parcel, or raise a return or exchange request. Items can only be combined into a single parcel after approval.

The next step is choosing a shipping line and paying for international transport. From there the parcel travels to its destination, clears customs and is delivered to the address you gave.

What the QC photos show

QC photos are taken in the warehouse once the item arrives in the parcel from the seller. Staff take them, and the set covers several angles: labels, close-ups of stitching, the soles of shoes, the hardware on bags and the overall appearance. A basic set is usually included with an order, while extra angles can carry a small fee.

You see the photos in your account before the parcel leaves the warehouse. They show what a photograph can capture — how the item looks, what is printed on the label, how the stitching and the metal parts come out. This is a basic visual inspection, not a full quality guarantee and not a check of authenticity.

You have a choice at this stage. You can approve the parcel for shipping, or raise a return or exchange request before it is sent abroad. Whether a return is possible, and in what form, depends on the seller and the individual case.

The international leg

Once items have been approved, several of them can be combined into one parcel, so a single international shipment can carry everything you have bought. You choose a shipping line and pay the international shipping fee at that point, not when you place the order.

The fee depends on the weight and the volume of the parcel, so it is calculated for the parcel you actually build rather than fixed in advance. After payment the parcel is dispatched, passes through customs at its destination and is delivered.

Finding items to order

A catalogue in spreadsheet form gathers 10K+ products, 275 brands and 15 categories in one place and lets you open items by brand or by category. Everything sits on a single page that is already sorted, so a shortlist and the comparison between similar items build up before you order anything. The interface runs in English and Polish.

Questions people ask

What does Kakobuy do that a shop does not?

Kakobuy buys items for you rather than selling them. You submit a product link, it orders from the seller, receives the parcel at a warehouse in China, checks it and forwards it internationally. Because parcels from different sellers arrive at the same warehouse, several orders can travel as one international shipment.

What can I see in the QC photos?

Labels, close-ups of stitching, the soles of shoes, the hardware on bags and the overall appearance of the item. The photos are taken by warehouse staff after the parcel arrives and are uploaded to your account before it is sent abroad. They are a basic visual inspection, not a quality guarantee and not an authenticity check.

Can several orders travel in one parcel?

Yes. Once the items have been approved, they can be combined into a single parcel, so one international shipment carries everything you have bought. You choose a shipping line and pay the international shipping fee for that combined parcel, which is calculated from its weight and volume.

What if the QC photos are not what I expected?

You can raise a return or exchange request before the parcel is sent internationally; your account gives you that option once you have seen the photos. Whether a return is accepted, and in what form, depends on the seller and the individual case. Extra angles can carry a small fee.

Where to start

Pick the product first, then look at what the parcel will cost once it is on its way. The warehouse photos are the checkpoint before anything is sent abroad, and the shipping fee is calculated for the parcel you actually build rather than for the items one by one. Combining several orders into one parcel is what keeps that fee from multiplying. A catalogue sorted by brand and category turns the first step into a shortlist instead of a search.