Taobao agent checks, returns and shipping approval
Agree the checks and evidence before buying, record each seller's return deadline and its trigger, and name who can request a return or approve UK shipping. Require a hold on disputed goods and explicit release approval; silence should not authorise dispatch. Discuss the receiving and approval brief with Cambridge China Bridge.
Separate the goods purchase from the agent's service
Ask whether the agent buys on your behalf or sells the goods to you. Record who holds the platform account, order confirmation and payment record, and who communicates with the seller about discrepancies. Our buying without a platform account guide explains the ordering route; add a written receiving and returns brief to that arrangement.
Tell the agent whether the purchase is for personal use or business stock. Where UK consumer protection law applies, businesses must use reasonable care and skill when providing services to consumers. Ask which protections apply to your goods purchase and agency service separately, rather than treating a seller's contractual return policy as the complete answer. For dealings with a UK seller, see our guide to accessible complaints and returns for disabled buyers.
Make warehouse checks specific and time-bound
Agree whether staff will open every retail pack, compare variants, measure key dimensions, check accessories or perform an agreed functional check. Specify the photographs you need and how each image identifies your order. Use the inspection guide for the wider inspection brief. Photographs cannot establish hidden performance or safety.
Set a reporting deadline that leaves you time to decide before the seller's return deadline. Require the report to distinguish checked, failed and unchecked items. Ask staff to retain labels, packaging and accessories, and agree whether opening, testing or repacking could conflict with the seller's stated return conditions before permitting those actions.
Record each contractual return deadline
Ask the agent to obtain and save the seller's terms for the exact order before payment. Record what starts the return period, the actual expiry date and time, the time zone, and whether the deadline concerns submitting a request, dispatching the return or the seller receiving it. Ask separately about wrong goods, damage and a change of mind.
Keep these details against each seller's order. Do not plan around an assumed deadline starting at your UK delivery. Ask how warehouse receipt or platform delivery confirmation affects the seller's stated timetable, and whether any extension has been confirmed in writing. Agree what happens if the agent's report arrives too late for you to use the agreed return route.
Give limited authority to protect a return
Name who must contact the seller, submit the return request and arrange domestic collection. Agree who pays return carriage, handling and replacement delivery, which agent charges are refundable, and how a seller's refund reaches you. Request the submitted claim, seller response, return tracking and refund record rather than accepting an unsupported status update.
Agree an escalation contact and a fallback instruction for when you cannot reply before expiry. You might authorise the agent to lodge a return request for a clearly wrong variant, while requiring your approval before accepting a partial refund, repair or substitution. State any spending limit in your agreement. Keep disputed goods on hold and require permission before disposal.
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Approve onward shipping through a separate instruction
Agree that warehouse arrival, a completed check, payment of freight and silence do not count as your shipping instruction. Name the authorised approver and communication channel. The approval should identify the goods, accepted discrepancies, packing arrangement, freight quote and destination. Require fresh approval if the contents, packing or quoted charges change.
Use an instruction such as: release only the listed approved items; hold all disputed or unchecked items; do not substitute or dispose of anything without written approval. Ask for acknowledgement before collection and a dispatch record afterwards. Our China warehouse guide covers custody and stock records. Keep the check report, return decisions and release instruction together.
Frequently asked questions
What should my Taobao agent check at the warehouse?
Agree the exact opening, variant, accessory, measurement and functional checks before payment. Request order-linked photographs and a report marking unchecked items, delivered before the seller's return deadline.
Does my return deadline start when the parcel reaches the UK?
Do not assume it does. Ask for the exact seller terms, the trigger event, expiry time and required return action. Separately ask which UK consumer protections apply to your purchase and agent service.
Can my buying agent ship without asking me?
Agree explicit written release approval from a named person. State that silence, warehouse receipt and freight payment do not authorise dispatch, and keep disputed or unchecked items on hold.
What if I cannot reply before the return deadline?
Pre-agree a limited protective instruction, such as requesting a return for a clearly wrong variant. Name an escalation contact and reserve partial refunds, repairs, substitutions and spending for your approval.