Whalebuy costs in three bills: goods, freight and declaration

Whalebuy exchange rate: goods prices in yuan and dollars

Every listing is priced by the seller in yuan. Whalebuy shows a converted price beside it, and its payment article ties that conversion to the rate Bank of China publishes, adjusted from time to time during the day. On October 24, 2026 the listing pages we read all used 0.1654 US dollars per yuan, about 6.05 yuan to the dollar: the CNY 21.00 sherpa hoodie showed as USD 3.48.

Add the seller's domestic delivery, shown on each listing. On our thirty picks it ran from zero (the merino scarf and the cardigan) to CNY 7 (the hoodie and the padded vest). Price tiers matter too: the wicking tee drops from CNY 31.80 to 26.90 at ten pieces, which is only useful if friends are ordering with you. Quantity minimums are a cost as well: seven of our listings will not sell you a single piece.

Freight bill and chargeable weight

Freight is priced per parcel by the line you choose, on whichever is larger of the real weight and the volumetric weight. Volumetric weight takes the three sides of the box in centimetres, multiplies them, and splits the result by a figure each line sets. Whalebuy's help centre gives 5,000 as the usual divisor and notes that other divisors, as high as 8,000, apply on certain lines. In the estimator on October 24, 2026, most economy lines used 8,000, the UPS-based lines 5,000, and one express line 6,000. Lines also round up, in our results to the next 100 g.

A worked case from our tests: the rain-kit box of 38 by 28 by 14 cm comes to 14,896 cubic centimetres. Divided by 8,000 that is 1.86 kg, above its real 1.8 kg, so the lines charged 1.9 kg. The loose winter box, 50 by 40 by 25 cm, comes to 50,000 cubic centimetres: 6.25 kg at 8,000, charged as 6.3 kg; at 5,000 it is 10 kg, which is what one US express line built on UPS charged.

Two packing extras exist to beat this. The vacuum bag compresses clothing; the rehearsal packing, CNY 20 per parcel, packs and measures it so you see the real figure before paying. Use our bulk calculator to test your own box sizes.

Declaration fee and duties at home

Each parcel carries a customs declaration fee, which the fee page gives as generally CNY 8 per package and depending on the freight line. It pays for the export paperwork in China; it is not an import tax. Duties, import VAT and handling charges in your own country are separate and, on most lines, payable by you on arrival. The estimator labels each line either "Tax free" or "Duties Payable by Recipient"; the first kind builds an allowance for import tax into the freight.

Two warnings from the help centre are worth keeping in mind. Heavy boxes close to 10 kg, and boxes holding many copies of one item, invite commercial treatment at the border. And a customs seizure is only partly covered: the estimator offers an optional seizure protection whose terms refund a share of the shipping cost, not the goods.

Wallet top-ups and card charges

You can pay at checkout directly or top up a Whalebuy balance first. Top-up methods include PayPal, international cards, Wise in five currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, NZD and AUD), and manual bank transfer. PayPal is where the fee is unclear: one article charges USD 0.30 plus 4.5 per cent, another USD 0.30 plus 3.7 per cent. Assume the higher figure until the payment screen tells you otherwise.

Two smaller costs often missed. Paying in a currency your card is not denominated in can add your own bank's conversion fee on top of Whalebuy's rate. And balances are easier to put in than to take out: withdrawals follow their own process and timing in the help centre, so keep the balance close to what your next purchase requires.

Line names decoded

The estimator names lines with codes such as BF-RoyalMail-GB-1, BSF-DHL-DE-1, ZTF-Colissimo-FR-1 or ZF-UNIUNI/GOFO-US-1. The middle part names the carrier that handles the final stretch, the two letters before the last dash are the destination country, and the final number separates variants. The leading letters are Whalebuy's internal channel code; we found no official key to them, so compare lines by price, days and tax label rather than by prefix.

Where no unit is shown the estimator gave plain days. Price adjustments on some routes are announced in the logistics notices; see the barometer log.