Part two · the route
Two other doors: hand-filled orders and forwarding
The main route assumes a link the system can read. Two other routes exist for when it cannot, and they are priced differently from each other.
Hand-filled orders, for marketplaces the system cannot read
Tomebuy reads links from four marketplaces. Everything else goes through a form where you supply the details yourself: product name, link, specification, a note, an image, and the price. The page is laid out as three steps, submit, pay, wait for the seller to ship, and it is the route for resale and social-selling platforms.
Fill it in as if the person reading it has never seen the product, because they have not. The specification box is the one that matters: write the exact option text as it appears on the seller's page, in the seller's own words, rather than translating it. A note saying "the blue one, second from left in the third photo" is worth more than a tidy sentence.
What this route cannot do is guarantee a seller will cooperate. Tomebuy describes the service as finding the linked seller, asking questions on your behalf, buying, and arranging onward shipping. If the seller refuses to sell to an agent, or the listing has gone, the order comes back and you are refunded to your balance.
The forwarding door, for goods already bought
The second door skips the buying entirely. You order with your own accounts, have the seller post to a warehouse address Tomebuy gives you in the member centre, and submit a forwarding order describing what is on the way. When it lands, it is inspected, repacked and shelved exactly as a purchased item would be.
The cost structure is shorter by one line: freight, the packing charge, and any optional services. There is no goods payment because you already made it. This is the route for gifts, for anything bought during a sale you could not wait out, and for people who already hold accounts on the Chinese marketplaces.
Two rules bite harder here than on the purchasing route:
- Submit the order first. A parcel that turns up unannounced cannot be matched to anyone. Tomebuy signs for it as a special case and says it will destroy unclaimed goods after sixty days from the signed-for status.
- Enter the tracking number correctly. It is the only thing linking a box on a shelf to your account. The warehouse updates these cases at set times each day rather than continuously.
Repacking is the default: the original box is removed and the goods are bagged, unless they are fragile, oversized or otherwise need the box. If the packaging is part of what you are buying, say so in the notes before it arrives.
Which door to use
| Situation | Door | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A link from one of the four readable marketplaces | Paste the link | Options and price come across; nothing is retyped |
| You know the item but not the seller | Keyword or image search | Compares several sellers before you commit |
| A resale or social-selling listing | Hand-filled order | The only route that accepts those platforms |
| You already bought it yourself | Forwarding | No goods payment; freight and packing only |
| A gift posted by a friend in China | Forwarding | Submit the order before the parcel arrives |
Both doors can share one outbound parcel with purchased goods, as long as the combined weight stays inside the route's limit and nothing in the box is restricted.
The main route, stop by stopFreight and customsQuestions about both doors