A ledger of what can be checked, and what cannot
This ledger exists to separate two kinds of number: the ones this site can check, and the ones nobody outside a service account can. The first kind is dated and reproducible; the second is either left blank or labelled not verified, because a plausible guess is worse than a visible gap.
Two entries below are fully reproducible: the catalogue snapshot, whose raw file and counting script ship with the site, and the volumetric-weight conversion, which follows from a published formula and the divisor you enter. Everything else is a template you replace with the rates shown in your own account.
- Snapshot
- 218 listings
- Median price
- $36.18
- Implied CNY/USD
- 6.232
- Ledger rows
- 8 verified / 12 not verified
Fee waterfall
Order matters in a cost breakdown: a percentage applied to the wrong base inflates everything after it. The waterfall applies each fee to its named base only — commission and payment fees to the merchandise value, tax to merchandise plus postage — and shows the share of the total that each line takes. Replace the rates with what you can see in your own account; the defaults are templates.
One order, ten inputs
Replace with the rate you can see; the default is a template band.
Fee waterfall
Landed total
$165.70
Postage $26.40 of a $146.40 merchandise-plus-postage base.
| Line item | Amount | Basis | Controllable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merchandise | $120.00 | seller price | no |
| Domestic freight | $4.00 | seller → warehouse | no |
| Service fee | $7.20 | 6% of merchandise | yes |
| Payment fee | $3.60 | 3% of merchandise | yes |
| QC and photos | $2.00 | per request | yes |
| Merge and reinforcement | $2.50 | per parcel | yes |
| International postage | $26.40 | 2.4 kg × $11/kg | yes |
| Tax estimate | $0.00 | 0% of merchandise + postage | no |
| Destination handling | $0.00 | carrier or clearance fee | no |
Largest three: Merchandise $120.00 · International postage $26.40 · Service fee $7.20.
Every row, with its basis
| Item | Basis | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalogue snapshot size | Listings collected from public category and search pages, deduplicated by listing URL | 218 listings, 15 source pages, 1 page returned 404scripts/collect-samples.mjs → src/data/samples.json | verified2026-09-29 |
| Median listing price | USD figures as displayed by the catalogue on the collection date | $36.18 (p25 $22.53 · p75 $53.32)scripts/make-stats.mjs → src/data/stats.json | verified2026-09-29 |
| Price range in the snapshot | Lowest and highest displayed USD figure across the snapshot | $3.62 – $190.88scripts/make-stats.mjs → src/data/stats.json | verified2026-09-29 |
| Implied conversion average | Mean of (CNY ÷ USD) across all listings showing both figures | 6.232 CNY per USDscripts/make-stats.mjs → src/data/stats.json | verified2026-09-29 |
| Price band distribution | Counts per band across the same snapshot | under $20: 44 · $20–34.99: 56 · $35–49.99: 49 · $50–79.99: 54 · $80+: 15scripts/make-stats.mjs → src/data/stats.json | verified2026-09-29 |
| Volumetric weight divisors | Divisors published by carriers for the space a parcel occupies | 5000 and 6000 g/L are the two common valuesPublic carrier documentation; entered per route in the tools | verified2026-09-29 |
| Volumetric weight formula | Space-based billing conversion | length × width × height (cm³) ÷ divisor (g/L) × 1000Public carrier documentation | verified2026-09-29 |
| Service commission rate | Percentage applied to the merchandise value only | Template 6% — replace with your account figure | not verified |
| Payment processing rate | Percentage applied to the merchandise value only | Template 3% — some methods charge a fixed fee instead | not verified |
| Inspection and photography fee | Charged per request; extra angles and measurements usually billed separately | Template $2 — accounts differ | not verified |
| Merge and reinforcement fee | Charged per parcel when items are combined or packed protectively | Template $1.50 merge + $1.00 reinforcement | not verified |
| First-kilogram and continuation rates | Light parcels are dominated by the first-kilogram band; heavy ones by the continuation band | Template $18 first kg + $11 per extra kg | not verified |
| Free storage window | Days an item may sit before storage is billed, then before it is treated as abandoned | Not published on any page this site can check — read it in your own account | not verified |
| Duty and tax treatment | Depends on destination, category, declared value and the clearance method used | Left at 0% in the waterfall until you enter a rate | not verified |
| Restricted category acceptance | Battery, liquid and magnetic items are assessed per line, not per parcel | Verified only against the line you actually choose | not verified |
| Service-published operating figures | Numbers a service publishes about itself (free photo count, storage, line count, destinations) | A public page states 3–5 free QC photos, free storage, 150+ shipping lines and 200+ destinationsService’s own public pages, read 2026-09-29 — self-reported, not independently audited | not verified |
| Return window and restocking terms | Terms a third-party review page attributes to the service agreement | Reported as a 5-day return window, one free exchange per 30 days, a 60-day free storage window and a service fee of 8% of international postageThird-party review article, read 2026-09-29 — second-hand account of the agreement, not the agreement itself | not verified |
| Service operating status | Whether a service is still accepting orders | A third-party tool page and several community threads state that this service stopped operating; the service’s own pages were not reachable for confirmationThird-party tool page and search-result summaries, read 2026-09-29 — unconfirmed, asserted as a claim only | not verified |
| Third-party rate anecdotes | Figures quoted by other catalogue pages rather than by a service | Reported EMS ranges of roughly $25–35 to the US and $28–38 to Europe, economy lines 15–25 daysCompeting catalogue pages, read 2026-09-29 — no methodology published | not verified |
| Catalogue link reuse across sites | Whether several domains point at the same shared spreadsheet | One shared sheet address appears on three separate domains in the same search resultsSearch results and page markup, read 2026-09-29 | verified2026-09-29 |
Volume needed to reach a billable weight
Read the table backwards from the usual direction. Instead of asking what a box weighs, it asks how large a box has to be before volumetric weight overtakes a given mass — which is the question that matters when a parcel contains textiles, where air is most of the volume.
| Billable weight | Volume at 5000 g/L | Volume at 6000 g/L | Equivalent box (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 2,500 cm³ | 3,000 cm³ | ≈ 14 × 14 × 14 cm |
| 1 kg | 5,000 cm³ | 6,000 cm³ | ≈ 18 × 18 × 18 cm |
| 1.5 kg | 7,500 cm³ | 9,000 cm³ | ≈ 21 × 21 × 21 cm |
| 2 kg | 10,000 cm³ | 12,000 cm³ | ≈ 23 × 23 × 23 cm |
| 2.5 kg | 12,500 cm³ | 15,000 cm³ | ≈ 25 × 25 × 25 cm |
| 3 kg | 15,000 cm³ | 18,000 cm³ | ≈ 26 × 26 × 26 cm |
| 4 kg | 20,000 cm³ | 24,000 cm³ | ≈ 29 × 29 × 29 cm |
| 5 kg | 25,000 cm³ | 30,000 cm³ | ≈ 31 × 31 × 31 cm |
| 7 kg | 35,000 cm³ | 42,000 cm³ | ≈ 35 × 35 × 35 cm |
| 10 kg | 50,000 cm³ | 60,000 cm³ | ≈ 39 × 39 × 39 cm |
Where the sampled prices sit
The snapshot was collected on 2026-09-29 from 13 catalogue pages. Prices are the catalogue’s own displayed figures, including any conversion it applies, so the bands describe what a browser shows rather than what a card is charged.
Change log
Each weekly pass adds an entry: what changed, and why it changed. A ledger without a log is just a page that might be old.
2026-09-29
First ledger published: 218-listing snapshot, 15 audited parameters, six template line bands.
Why: Baseline. Everything that cannot be checked is marked not verified rather than filled in.
2026-09-29
Volumetric divisor default set to 6000 g/L with 5000 g/L selectable per tool.
Why: Both values are in common use; the choice is a route property, so it belongs to the reader rather than to a default.
2026-09-29
Tax and handling lines default to zero with an explicit “not included” note.
Why: An invented tax rate would make the waterfall look complete while being wrong.
2026-09-29
One category page returned 404 during collection and was skipped, then recorded in the snapshot’s failure list.
Why: A silently missing category would bias the price bands without anyone noticing.