OOTDBuy SpreadsheetIndependent guide to OOTDBUY

Browsing

Categories, and what each one costs you in practice

Categories on a finds page are a browsing convenience. What they do not tell you is that the category largely decides your freight bill and your risk. A jewellery order and a jacket order behave nothing alike once they reach a scale.

Three things vary by category and are worth knowing before you fill a cart: weight against value, how much sizing information the seller publishes, and whether the category runs into shipping restrictions. The lists below open W2CSpreadsheet, where the finds actually live.

A wall of product cards under category chips, each card showing a photo, a name and a link, which is what a finds page isWhat a finds page actually isShoesTopsBagsWatcheslinklinklinklinklinklinkA photo, a short name, the marketplace it sits on and one link. Nothing on thepage is for sale.

All sixteen categories

Every one of these opens W2CSpreadsheet, where the finds actually live. Browsing costs nothing and needs no account. The note under each one is the thing worth checking before you pay, not a description of the category.

sneakers category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Sneakers

Sizing is the whole game. Sellers publish length in centimetres, and that number beats any local size you are used to.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheett shirt category iconW2CSpreadsheet

T-shirts

The cheapest thing to add to a box that is already going out.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheethoodie category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Hoodies

Heavy for the price. Two of them can cost more in freight than a pair of shoes.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetjeans category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Jeans

Waist labels vary wildly between sellers. Use the measurement table, not the tag.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetshorts category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Shorts

Light and small, the classic filler item.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetunderwear category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Underwear

Hygiene rules make a return unrealistic, so the size chart is the only check you actually get.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetjersey category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Jerseys

Printed names and numbers are made to order, which puts them outside the normal return window.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheethats category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Hats

Awkward to pack well, easy to crush in transit.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheeteyewear category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Eyewear

Light but crushable, and the official policy covers fragile goods for loss rather than damage.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetbags category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Bags

Ask for extra photos of hardware and stitching once the warehouse has it in hand.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetwatches category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Watches

Check battery and magnet rules on your chosen line before you pay for anything.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetbelts category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Belts

Measure the one you already wear. Belt sizing is inconsistent across sellers.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetheadphones category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Headphones

Batteries put these on the restricted list, which quietly removes several shipping routes.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetperfume category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Perfume

Liquids are restricted. Ask support before you build a box around one.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetjewelry category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Jewellery

Almost weightless, so it barely moves the freight total on a box you are already sending.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheetfigurines category iconW2CSpreadsheet

Figures

Designer toys ship in boxes that must not be crushed, and volume sets the price rather than weight.

Browse on W2CSpreadsheet

Practical differences

Weight, value and what tends to go wrong

None of these are OOTDBUY figures. They are the patterns that decide whether a category is comfortable to buy from abroad.

CategoryFreight characterThe usual mistake
ShoesHeavy and bulky, boxedOrdering by your local size instead of the seller's length in centimetres
Hoodies and jacketsHeavy or bulky, sometimes bothUnderestimating what two of them do to a freight quote
BagsBulky, light for their sizeJudging hardware and shape from a seller photo alone
Jewellery and watchesLight, high value per gramIgnoring battery and magnet restrictions on the shipping line
ElectronicsVaries, often restrictedAssuming any line will take a lithium battery
Home and lifestyleOften fragileForgetting that fragile goods are excluded from damage claims
Two panels contrasting parcels that read as personal with parcels that read as commercial to customsHow a parcel reads at the borderReads as personalMixed contentsModest total weightSmall counts per itemReads as commercialAbove roughly 10 kgMany identical unitsHigh declared value in bulkThe classification is a local customs decision, not the agent one.The 10 kg threshold and identical-item counts are named in the official Packagingand Customs notices.

Restricted categories deserve a check before you buy

Some categories run straight into shipping rules. Anything with a blade is on the restricted list, including kitchen knives, garden shears, letter openers and seam rippers. Lighters, magnets and seeds appear there too. Medicine, liquids, creams, powders and cosmetics are limited by Chinese export rules and OOTDBUY asks you to contact support before buying them.

The awkward part is that these do not stop you from ordering. They stop the parcel later, which means an aftersale request instead of a delivery. Checking first costs a minute.

The condensed restricted list

From the official Notes Before Purchasing notice. Checked 2026-08-03.

Two groups of goods: those OOTDBUY refuses outright such as tobacco and alcohol, and the larger restricted group including blades, lighters, magnets, liquids, powders and cosmeticsRefused outright, and merely restrictedRefusedTobaccoAlcoholContraband itemsThe order will not happen.RestrictedBlades of any kindLightersMagnetic componentsSeedsMedicinesLiquids and creamsPowdersCosmeticsThe order can happen. Your shipping options shrink.Restricted is the tier that catches people out, because ordinary shopping lives in it.Both tiers as listed on the official Notes Before Purchasing page.
Both tiers as listed on the official Notes Before Purchasing page.

Check this list against your cart, not after it ships

Two tiers, and the second one catches people out. Tobacco, alcohol and contraband are refused outright. The restricted tier is where ordinary shopping lives: blades, lighters, magnetic components, seeds, medicines, liquids, pastes, powders and cosmetics all carry route limits.

A restricted item does not always stop the order. It narrows which shipping lines will carry the box, which is why a cart that looks fine can come back with far fewer delivery options than you expected.

Official restrictions

OOTDBUY Notes Before Purchasing page listing prohibited goods such as tobacco and alcohol, and restricted goods including blades, lighters, magnets, liquids, powders and cosmetics

Scroll the panel sideways to read it at full size.

Screenshot of the official Notes Before Purchasing page, taken 2026-08-03. View the original.

When the category you want is not on the list

Category pages only cover what enough people have been buying. Plenty of things people order through an agent never get a category of their own: a specific silhouette, a seasonal piece, one seller everyone is talking about this month.

Search is the way through that. W2CSpreadsheet takes a plain search term, so you can look for the thing rather than the category it might belong to. These are live searches, not category pages:

  • hoodie, when you want every hoodie regardless of which category page it sits under
  • cargo pants, a shape rather than a category
  • sneakers, which pulls in things filed under both shoes and casual shoes

If a search comes back empty, the item may simply not be on a finds page yet. That does not mean OOTDBUY cannot buy it: anything with a Taobao, Weidian or 1688 link can go straight into the order form. How to order something nobody has listed

Two panels showing the official ways to start an order: pasting a product URL, or typing a product name into the OOTDBUY search boxTwo ways to start an orderPaste a linkFind it on Taobao, Weidian or 1688Copy the product URLPaste it into the OOTDBUY search boxType a nameEnter a product name insteadPick from what OOTDBUY suggestsWorks without any ChineseBoth end on the same product page.Method 1 and Method 2 as named in the official Novice Guide, step 1.

Good first categories, and ones to leave until later

Not a quality judgement. Purely about how forgiving each one is when you are still learning the flow.

Forgiving for a first order

  • T-shirts, shorts and socks, where sizing is coarse and freight is small
  • Jewellery and keychains, cheap enough that a mistake costs little
  • Sandals and slippers, light and simply sized
  • Anything you can compare against something already in your wardrobe

Leave until you know the flow

  • Fragile home goods, since damage claims are excluded for fragile items
  • Electronics with batteries, which restrict your choice of line
  • Anything liquid, powdered or cosmetic, which needs a support check first
  • Large bulky items, where volumetric weight can double what you expected
Comparison of shipping three parcels separately for 1071 yuan against consolidating them into one 3400 gram box for 645 yuan, a saving of 426 yuan, using the official OOTDBUY exampleThe official consolidation exampleShipped separately700 g205 + 72 + 81100 g205 + 72x2 + 81600 g205 + 72x3 + 81071 yuanConsolidated into one box3400 g total205 + 72x6 + 8Two first weight charges and two handlingfees stop being paid twice.645 yuanSaving 426 yuanGD-EMS to the United States, worked through on the official Packaging page: 205 first 500 g, 72 per extra 500 g, 8 handling.

Choosing

Four decisions that decide how the order goes

Most of what goes wrong with an agent order is decided before anyone packs anything. You choose a marketplace, a seller, a size and a shipping line, and those four choices set up almost everything that happens later.

None of these are OOTDBUY policies. They are judgement calls that stay yours, which is exactly why guides tend to skip them.

Four rows describing Taobao, Weidian, 1688 and the brand malls Tmall and JD as the marketplaces listings come fromWhere the listings come fromTaobaoIndividual sellers. The range and the risk both live here.WeidianSmaller shops, heavy in community finds.1688Wholesale layer. Cheaper per unit, built for multiples.Tmall and JDBrand malls with a higher bar to open a store.Sources OOTDBUY accepts, from its own tutorial. Tmall and JD appear there ascomparison, not as inputs.

Which marketplace a listing lives on tells you a lot

OOTDBUY's own tutorial compares these directly, and the differences are real.

MarketplaceWhat it isWhat that means for you
TmallBrand stores with a high bar to open oneHigher prices, stronger after-sales, fewer surprises
TaobaoIndividual and agent sellersThe widest range, and the most variation in seller reliability
1688Wholesale platformCheaper per unit, often built around minimum quantities
JDLarge retailer, part self-operatedSelf-operated listings are the more consistent ones
WeidianSmall independent shopsWhere a lot of community finds point, with quality that varies by shop

Marketplace characteristics summarised from the official OOTDBUY tutorial. Checked 2026-08-03.

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Reading a seller instead of a listing

OOTDBUY's tutorial makes a point worth repeating: on Taobao, seller reputation varies, after-sales can be weak, and some sellers inflate their standing. It suggests checking whether the store has posted a deposit, and looking at its rating level and customer feedback.

In practice that means spending your attention on the shop rather than the product page. A good shop with an average photo is a better bet than a spectacular photo from a shop with no history, because the photo is the easiest thing to borrow.

The same logic applies to finds pages. A card tells you somebody liked this item once. It does not tell you the seller still ships well.

A single product card with four numbered parts explained on the right: photo, short name, marketplace badge and the linkWhat one card on a finds page tells youTaobaolink1 PhotoSeller supplied, not verified by anyone2 Short nameUsually a community label, not the seller title3 Marketplace badgeTells you which site the link opens4 The linkThe only part the page really exists forPrice, stock, sizing and quality are not on the card. They belong to the marketplace listing behind the link.
What a single card does and does not carry.

Sizing

How to buy clothing you have never touched

Sizing is where most disappointment comes from, and the warehouse cannot help: size error is explicitly outside the inspection scope.

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Measure something you own

Compare a garment that already fits against the seller's measurement table. That beats any conversion chart.

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Use centimetres, not letters

A letter size means different things across sellers. Shoe length in centimetres is the most reliable number on the page.

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Ask before you buy, not after

Sellers answer sizing questions. Once the item is stored, your options narrow to a return request that may be refused.

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Expect tolerance

Small differences between the stated and actual measurement are normal and are not treated as a fault.

Choosing a shipping line

The line you pick decides price, speed, what may travel and what happens if delivery fails. OOTDBUY recommends lower risk methods based on what is in your box once the goods have arrived, which is a genuinely useful moment to ask questions.

Read one thing before you choose: whether that route offers overseas redelivery or returns. OOTDBUY warns that some do not, and that a parcel returned to the courier's overseas warehouse will not be sent out again.

A fork from the warehouse into two routes: rehearsal with a 20 CNY preview fee that shows the real freight first, and create waybill which prepays an estimate and settles the differenceTwo ways out of the warehouseGoods are in the warehouseRehearsalPay a 20 CNY preview feeWarehouse packs firstYou see the real freightThen you choose the lineCreate waybillPrepay an estimateWarehouse packs and weighsDifference refunded or billedFewer steps, less certaintyOnly one of them shows you the number before you commit.Both routes and the 20 CNY preview fee are named in step 6 of the official NoviceGuide.
Route behaviour from the official Delivery Notice and Novice Guide. Checked 2026-08-03.

Declaring a parcel: sensible against reckless

OOTDBUY asks for reasonable declarations against your country's tariff threshold, and is explicit that customs consequences fall on the buyer.

Sensible

  • Declare in line with what is actually in the box
  • Check your country's threshold before you choose a value
  • Split a very large haul into more than one parcel when it starts to look commercial
  • Keep the invoice and photos in case clearance asks for proof

Reckless

  • Declaring a value low enough to look implausible
  • Twenty identical units in one box, which reads as a commercial import
  • Assuming a spot check will not happen to you
  • Ignoring restricted item rules and hoping the line accepts the parcel
Four boxes showing what decides a landed cost: goods price, weight, freight and duty, with a note that a finds page only shows the firstWhat decides the number you finally payGoodsSeller price, set on the marketplaceWeightReal and volumetric, measured in the warehouseFreightLine, destination and the weight aboveDutyYour own country decides this oneA finds page can only ever show you the first box.Components named across the official Service and Fees, Packaging and Customs notices.

A decision order that works

Same four decisions, in the order that causes the least rework.

Five stage map of the guide: understand, choose, order, ship and after, with a note that two of the five stages are paymentsHow this guide is laid outUnderstandWhat OOTDBUY isChooseCategories and findsOrderLink to paid orderShipWarehouse to your doorAfterClaims and returnsTwo of these five stages are payments, and they are not next to each other.The five stages follow the official ten step guide, collapsed into the order a first time buyer meets them.
Step one is the only part a finds page can do for you.

  1. Decide what you want precisely enough to search for it

    A finds page is good for this. So is a photo and a bit of patience.

  2. Choose the seller before you choose the price

    The cheapest listing of a popular item is usually the one with the least history behind it.

  3. Settle sizing while you can still ask questions

    Before payment you have a seller who wants the sale. After storage you have a return request.

  4. Leave the line until the goods are in the warehouse

    You cannot sensibly choose a route before anyone knows the weight. That is what the rehearsal exists for. The two routes compared.