Costs, exchange rates and the price of a piece you cannot send back
Service fees are the visible cost, the exchange rate is the hidden one, and a no-return line is the cost nobody adds up until the parcel arrives.
What you actually pay, line by line
A purchase through an agent has six cost lines: the item price, the seller's domestic shipping to the warehouse, the agent's service fee if it charges one, any extras you ask for, international shipping, and whatever your country charges at the border. Only the first two are set by the seller.
On service fees the six featured agents split three ways. Hipobuy, JoyaGoo and Oopbuy publish a free agent service, and LoongBuy describes a 0 service fee mode. Basetao's cost calculator has a service fee column but no rate printed on the pages we read. iTaoBuy is the odd one: its terms of use contain a clause on a 10 percent technical service fee for top-ups and payments, while its public freight estimator showed a zero service-fee line on every quote when last read; we could not reconcile the two and suggest checking the checkout page itself.
Exchange rates and the markup inside them
An agent with no service fee still has to earn money, and most do it in the exchange rate: the rate at which it converts yuan into your currency is set above the mid-market rate. The gap is a fee you pay on every yuan, including the item price and domestic shipping.
Independently measured in October 2026, the markups at five of the featured agents were: LoongBuy about 2 percent, JoyaGoo about 12 percent, Oopbuy about 12 percent, Hipobuy about 16 percent, iTaoBuy about 18 percent. Basetao was not in that measurement. Rates move, so treat these as a snapshot and compare the yuan price with the price the agent shows in your currency before paying.
Sale-rack pieces sold without a way back
特价不退不换 or 清仓不退 means the piece was sold at a sale or clearance price and the seller will not take it back or swap it. On a domestic purchase the buyer at least saves the cost of a return trip. Through an agent the arithmetic is harsher: you have already paid the agent's markup, and if the piece arrives wrong in a way the seller has ruled out, you either keep it or pay to ship something you do not want.
It is worth knowing what the national rules list. Neither the 2017 measures on seven-day returns nor the 2024 regulations name a sale price on its own as a reason to exclude a return; the measures mention goods with a defect disclosed at the time of sale, which the buyer has to confirm. How that plays out for a purchase made by an agent's account is not something we can settle. In practice, plan as if the sale line will be applied.
So price the risk in. A sale piece that saves a third of the price but has a real chance of not fitting may cost more than the full-price piece next to it with a five-day window.
Return costs when the seller does say yes
When a return is accepted, someone pays for it. For returns for your own reasons, Hipobuy charges the return shipping, the original domestic shipping and a 5 yuan service fee; iTaoBuy charges 5 yuan per return or exchange plus the freight to the seller; JoyaGoo describes a small shipping and service fee of about 0.75 US dollars; Basetao says the customer pays the shipping for the return or exchange. LoongBuy says costs depend on platform rules and the product's situation. Where the seller sent the wrong item or a faulty one, these charges are normally waived.
That is why the wrong-variant and obvious-damage cases matter so much: they are the ones where the seller is at fault and the return costs you nothing. Everything a seller warned about in advance falls on the other side.
Extras that answer a warning
Two paid extras speak directly to seller warnings. A measurement photo answers a hand-measuring margin; a detailed close-up answers a thread, print or trait question. Prices differ widely. Hipobuy charges one yuan per custom photo of your chosen angle or measurement. JoyaGoo sells detailed photos at 0.22 US dollars each, up to twenty. LoongBuy lists size measurement and extra photography among its value-added services without a price in the FAQ. iTaoBuy offers custom photos, with a monthly free allowance tied to membership level; the fee is not public.
A rule of thumb: pay for a measurement photo whenever the size chart puts you within the printed margin of the next size. It costs less than a single return.
Compare the amount actually returned
A cancelled item, money credited to an agent balance and a withdrawal received by your bank are separate events. Keep the original item and delivery charges, any returned amount and each stated deduction. Ask whether the seller has refunded the domestic order, whether the balance credit is complete, and what withdrawal method is available.
Do not assume the card-currency amount will match the original debit: exchange rates and provider charges may differ. Request an itemized explanation rather than accepting a vague “service fee” label. For a new purchase, compare the same option, quantity and destination so a shipping difference is not mistaken for a currency difference.