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Choosing an agent for your finds, with four open agents compared
Any agent that takes marketplace links can buy a catalog find. The differences are in the published terms, and those can be read and compared like listings.
Reviewed October 20, 2026
The steps no agent does differently
Start with what does not differ, so you do not pay attention to it. Every China shopping agent accepts a marketplace link, pays the seller in yuan, takes delivery at its own warehouse in China, photographs the item, stores it for a while and ships it abroad on a line you choose. Every one charges for international shipping by weight or size. None of them can test fabric, metal or authenticity from a photo, and none can force a return on a seller who never offered one.
Those shared steps are why catalog links work with any agent. The seller’s page is the same page, whoever buys from it. What changes from agent to agent is the paperwork around the steps: fees, how long you may change your mind, how many photos you get, how long storage lasts, and how clearly all of that is written down.
Five written terms that make an agent worth trusting
How to choose an agent you can trust comes down to whether its terms are written, specific and stable. We look for five things, and we read them the way we read a listing: claims first, then checks.
- Fees in writing. Service fee, per-parcel charges and photo prices on a public page, not only inside checkout.
- A return window with a start point. Days or hours, counted from a named status.
- A photo promise. How many standard photos, and what extra ones cost.
- Storage terms. Free days, the price after that, and what happens to items left too long.
- Dated notices. Changes announced with dates, so you can tell old rules from current ones.
An agent that publishes all five, and whose pages agree with each other, has given you something to hold it to.
Four open agents on three published terms
All four accepted new orders on the days we read their pages, October 10 to 17, 2026. We compared three terms that matter for catalog finds and that each agent publishes in some form. Each entry carries the date we read it. There is no overall winner, and no ranking is implied by the order of the list.
| Agent | Agent service fee | Return window at the warehouse | Standard QC photos |
|---|---|---|---|
| LoongBuy | None: its FAQ described a “0 service fee mode”; paid add-ons extra.help center copy read October 10, 2026 | 5-day no-reason refund for “some eligible products”; start of the 5 days not stated.FAQ, read October 10, 2026 | “Normally 3 to 7”, depending on the item.inspection page dated September 4, 2026 |
| Tigbuy | 10% of item price plus China freight; lower rates for VIP levels.fees page, read October 17, 2026 | 7 days from arrival at the warehouse.help page, read October 17, 2026 | No count published on any public page we read.our reading, October 17, 2026 |
| iTaoBuy | Terms of use set a 10% “technical service fee” on top-ups, order payments and international freight.terms, read October 16, 2026 | 5 days from the hour after the order shows “received”.help page, read October 16, 2026 | “3-6 fixed-angle shots” as standard.site interface text, read October 16, 2026 |
| JoyaGoo | None: it called its agent service free; optional extras cost money.help page, read October 17, 2026 | 5 days (120 hours) after the order turns “QC completed”; the seller must agree.help page, read October 17, 2026 | “Free 3-7” on the product page, while one article spoke of three basic images.read October 17, 2026 |
Read by need. If a long chance to change your mind matters most, Tigbuy’s seven days from arrival was the widest window, and LoongBuy’s refund applied only to some eligible products with no stated start point, so it came off worst on this line. If you want no agent fee, LoongBuy and JoyaGoo both said they charged none. If a stated photo count matters, LoongBuy and JoyaGoo said three to seven, iTaoBuy three to six, and Tigbuy published none. The agent names in the comparison are links that carry our referral codes; see how this site is paid.
What drew shoppers to Mulebuy, and its weak spots
For a historical comparison, Mulebuy’s 2026 pages described inspection photos, storage and optional services separately. Terms varied by page and date. Compare the current agent’s complete terms rather than transferring a past fee or deadline from another service.
It also had soft spots. Its pages disagreed with each other in places, for example on the return handling fee and on how its exchange rate was set. And from October 2026, the plainest reason to use another agent applies: its website is offline. Even before October, the answer to when to use a different agent was clear in two cases: when you wanted a longer return window at the warehouse, or a guaranteed number of photos, which Mulebuy never promised. More on Mulebuy is on About Mulebuy.
Other agents you will see named in catalogs
Other agents may offer different products and routes. Check the current official site, fees, return conditions and whether the agent accepts the exact listing. A public-site error alone does not establish that a business has closed.
Be wary of agents you only meet through a coupon post or a referral link with no page of terms behind it. The same comparables habit applies: put an unfamiliar agent’s published terms next to two you know, and see whether they sit in a plausible place.
