Questions grouped by what they are really about
Grouping by question type rather than by product category follows the way a worry actually arrives. You do not start with a category; you start with something that does not look right.
Categories in this desk are the spatial axis: they decide where a judging point lives and what it links to. Question types are the search axis: they group the same material by what the reader is asking, whether that is a link that resolves oddly, a photograph that is hard to read, a total that does not add up, or a parcel that has gone quiet.
Every question page opens with a direct answer rather than a preamble, then states the conditions under which that answer flips. Where a question is better answered by a calculator than by a paragraph, the page says so and links to the gauge.
Link and listing form
What the page you were sent actually is, how to tell one kind of shell from another, and what to do when a link stops resolving.
- What is a DHgate spreadsheet?A DHgate spreadsheet is a shared list of individual DHgate listings, circulated as rows: each row holds a link, a short label, a price and s…Current25 Sep 2026
- Why does my DHgate link open a different product?A link opens a different product for one of four reasons: the row pointed at a generic shell the seller reuses as a payment page, the listin…Current26 Sep 2026
- How do I check whether a DHgate link is still the same batch?Record a set of markers from the first order, then ask the seller to photograph the same markers before the next one ships: box label and st…Current24 Sep 2026
- What do I do when a DHgate spreadsheet link stops working?Capture what you already hold before anything else: the row's text, the price, the label, and a screenshot of the page that failed. Then pro…Current25 Sep 2026
- Do spreadsheet links cost more than searching DHgate myself?Usually not directly. Where a list earns a referral payment, that payment is normally settled between the list owner and the platform rather…Current27 Sep 2026
- How often is a DHgate spreadsheet actually updated?Update frequency varies by list, and the honest answer is that the price column ages faster than the link column. A working link can point a…Current25 Sep 2026
Photo reading
Which photos a seller has to send, the order to read them in, and the difference between a flaw you can live with and one you cannot.
- What do DHgate QC photos actually show?A QC photograph shows one unit, at one moment, under one light, taken by the party that stands to gain from it. It can show surface, shape, …Current24 Sep 2026
- How do I read a QC photo for flaws?Read fatal flaws first, surface flaws second and cosmetics last. Fatal means the item cannot be used as intended: a sole that opens under th…Current25 Sep 2026
- What counts as a minor flaw versus a return?A flaw is minor when it is reversible, invisible in use and smaller than the cost of sending the item back. A one millimetre spot of adhesiv…Current26 Sep 2026
- Which photos should a seller send before shipping?Before dispatch, ask for a fixed set: both items in one frame with a scale reference, each face at eye level rather than from above, the lab…Current24 Sep 2026
- Are review photos on DHgate trustworthy?Review photographs are useful as leads and unusable as criteria. They come from another order, another batch and often another year, and the…Current25 Sep 2026
Landed cost
The full path from the price on the listing to the amount that leaves your account, including the lines nobody puts in the listing.
- How do I estimate the real cost before paying?Add seven lines to the listing price: the quantity-tier adjustment, the international freight for the tier you actually chose, duty and any …Current22 Sep 2026
- Why do DHgate prices change with quantity?Tier pricing lowers the unit price and raises everything else. Moving from one unit to five usually cuts the unit cost, and it can also push…Current23 Sep 2026
- Which is cheaper, DHgate direct or an agent?Compare the two routes on the same seven lines, not on the headline fee. Buying direct usually wins on a single light parcel, because there …Current22 Sep 2026
- Does DHgate hold my payment until I confirm delivery?The platform holds the payment and releases it to the seller when the order is treated as complete, which normally follows either your confi…Current26 Sep 2026
- Is shipping insurance on DHgate worth buying?Compare the premium with the loss it covers, not with the price of the item. The desk models cover at three per cent of declared value, loss…Current21 Sep 2026
Transit and customs
How long silence on a tracking page is normal, who is liable when a declared value is challenged, and how destination rules change the answer.
- How long should tracking stay silent before I worry?A quiet tracking page is normal for most of a parcel's journey. This desk records a typical pause of five to fifteen days between meaningful…Current27 Sep 2026
- Who pays if customs revalues my parcel?The named recipient pays, because on a personal import the buyer is the importer of record even when the seller wrote the declaration. The a…Current27 Sep 2026
- What happens if the seller under-declares my order?The parcel clears quickly, then the corrected bill arrives at your door. A declaration below the amount you paid can be revalued by the asse…Current28 Sep 2026
- How is VAT handled on a DHgate parcel into the UK?Most parcels are assessed for VAT at import at the published standard rate for the United Kingdom, calculated on the goods value plus the in…Current26 Sep 2026
- What are the EU VAT collection gaps for DHgate parcels?The gap sits between the rule and the parcel. Tax on low-value consignments into the EU is meant to be collected at the point of sale throug…Current26 Sep 2026
- What fees stack up on a DHgate parcel into Canada?Three lines rather than one: duty where the item type attracts it, federal and provincial tax on the goods value plus freight, and the carri…Current25 Sep 2026
- How are low-value imports assessed in Australia?Goods and services tax is collected on low-value imported goods, and the collection point depends on who sold them. Where the seller or the …Current25 Sep 2026
Dispute and evidence
What a claim actually accepts, how much returning an item really costs, and the point at which a bank route becomes the only route left.
- What evidence does a DHgate dispute actually accept?Documents the platform itself can see, presented in the order they were created. That means the listing as it stood before payment, the plat…Current27 Sep 2026
- Can I return a DHgate order to China?Yes, and the arithmetic decides whether you should. A return to a seller address in China is paid for by the buyer in most cases, and revers…Current26 Sep 2026
- What is a reasonable partial refund to ask for?One anchored to what the fault costs you, not to what the item cost. A cosmetic flaw that leaves the item usable sits in a low band, a struc…Current25 Sep 2026
- When is a bank chargeback the right route?When the platform route has run out and the amount justifies the effort. A chargeback is a reversal claim made to your card issuer and decid…Current24 Sep 2026
- Which photos do I need for a damage claim?Six, in order: the sealed parcel before opening, the parcel label, the contents laid out, the whole item, the fault with a scale reference b…Current25 Sep 2026
Batch and version
The vocabulary sellers use for quality tiers, what a high rating percentage does and does not measure, and how relists drift from the original.
- What does "top batch" mean on a listing?It means the seller is claiming a quality tier and nothing more. Batch vocabulary is seller-side shorthand with no shared standard, so the s…Current27 Sep 2026
- How do I know a DHgate seller is reliable?Not from the percentage. A rating summarises completed transactions, and a high figure is compatible with slow dispatch, substituted items a…Current26 Sep 2026
- Is a relisted item the same product?Sometimes, and the difference can be checked. A relist appears at a new address, often with reused photographs and a changed price, and the …Current25 Sep 2026
- Why is there a price floor for a given build?Because the parts do not get cheaper. A build carries a cost floor set by its materials, its hardware, the labour to assemble it, the packag…Current24 Sep 2026