Both are settled before anything is bought. One decides whether you keep after-sales support; the other decides how much of every top-up reaches your balance.
Default vs switch
Kakobuy's help centre says it is "well supported" on Taobao, Tmall, 1688 and JD.com. Paste one of those links and the product page fills itself in: title, variants, price, seller shipping. That is the default, and for most catalogue picks it is the right one.
Anything else goes through the manual order form, which Kakobuy calls Fill & Buy. You type the link, the product name, the specification, upload an image and enter the price yourself. Kakobuy then buys from what you typed, so a wrong colour code is your mistake, not theirs.
The article also says Kakobuy is "working on" connecting other Chinese platforms. Until a platform appears in the automatic reader, treat it as manual. The search box on Kakobuy's own home page has the same limit: keyword search covers only 1688, Taobao, Tmall and JD listings.
The manual form carries conditions the automatic route does not. Kakobuy describes these as third-party links it cannot verify for quality or authenticity, without after-sales support, and without cancellation once paid. In practice that means a Weidian order that arrives in the wrong size is a conversation with the seller, relayed through Kakobuy, with no guarantee of an outcome.
Three habits make the manual route safer. Paste the exact listing address, not a shop front. Put the full variant name in the specification field, copied character for character. And upload the listing's own photo of the variant you want, so the buyer can match it against what the seller hands over.
Weidian, Yupoo and Xianyu buyers work Monday to Sunday, 9:00 to 18:00, the same as Taobao and JD. Other third-party platforms are Monday to Friday only, which matters for decision 3.
Decision 1 is also where you choose a seller, even if it does not feel like it. The same product often appears in several shops. Before you paste, compare three things across them: the variant list and seller history (a full size range alone does not identify the original seller), the domestic shipping fee (Kakobuy charges it once per seller per purchase order, so two items from one shop cost one delivery), and whether the shop's own photos match each other.
Prices on Chinese marketplaces can change after you pay. When a seller raises the price, Kakobuy asks you to pay the shortfall, usually presented as a delivery fee. Settling quickly keeps the order moving; leaving it unpaid parks the order.
The same article adds a catch: if many items from one seller push the delivery over the seller's weight allowance, customer service asks for a delivery shortfall. Buying three pieces from one shop is still usually cheaper than three shops, just not always free of a top-up.
Default vs switch
Kakobuy runs on a balance. You top up, then pay for items and freight from it. The checkout counter in Kakobuy's tutorial shows the options: balance, Alipay, PayPal, WeChat. Choose from the methods your checkout actually offers; availability and conversion costs can depend on the account and country.
The official help pages disagree: articles 64 and 99 state 3.5% + US$0.30, while the PayPal article 65 states 2.9% + US$0.30. Both are official figures in the October 10 snapshot. At 3.5%, a US$120 example gives US$4.50; at 2.9%, it gives US$3.78. Check the actual checkout charge and use that rate in the switchboard.
Alipay and WeChat Pay top-ups carry no handling charge, according to the same help article. The trade is time: the deposit can take 1 to 60 minutes to appear. PayPal top-ups usually show immediately, apart from e-cheques and payments PayPal holds for review.
There is a second difference. A PayPal top-up is converted to US dollars whatever currency your account holds; Kakobuy then applies its own exchange rate, which it says follows the bank rate and is adjusted from time to time. A yuan wallet skips one conversion. For a first order of a few items, switching is rarely worth opening a new wallet for. For a buyer who already has a supported yuan wallet, compare the final debit and credit before choosing.
Refunds go back the way the money came in, and the handling fee is yours. You can only apply for a top-up refund two days after the recharge. So if you are unsure about Kakobuy, top up only what the first order needs.
Currency conversion can change the effective price even when the purchase service fee is zero. A dated independent measurement in October 2026 found about an 8.5% all-in markup; it is a historical comparison, not a promise about your payment method. Compare the amount actually debited with the yuan credited, using a reference rate from the same time.
When the switchboard asks for your top-up amount, it uses it only for the PayPal handling charge. It never converts yuan to dollars for you, because the rate you get depends on the day and the channel.
Put it into practice
