Step 5: combine and ship
Every charge, and the moment it appears
PonyBuy publishes a formula rather than a flat fee. That is good news, because it means you can work out whether an order is worth placing before you place it.
Where this page sits
- 01Pick a category
- 02Open the item
- 03Order on PonyBuy
- 04See QC photos
- 05Combine and ship
- 06Your door
The published formula
Three components, each with a different owner. The item cost is set by the seller. The international shipping is set by the line you pick. The customs charge is the cost of making the declaration, which PonyBuy gives as generally 8 yuan per parcel depending on the shipping method.
What the formula does not include is the tax your own country charges on import. That is billed by the carrier or the postal service on arrival, at a rate your customs authority sets, and it is the number most likely to surprise a first time buyer.
Total cost of the shopping agent service
- Item costproduct price + domestic delivery to the PonyBuy warehouse
- International shippingby weight, method and destination
- Customs chargesdeclaration cost, generally RMB 8.00 per parcel
Source: PonyBuy Help Center, Service & Fees, read 2026-08-03.
Paying
How you actually pay
The Beginner's Guide lists credit cards, WeChat and Alipay, and notes that multiple currencies are available. The live checkout adds PayPal, Stripe card processing, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the option to pay from a prepaid balance.
The balance route exists because two payments fall due weeks apart. Topping up once means the second payment does not need another card authorisation. The top up dialog offers fixed amounts and states its own upper limit per transaction.
One practical note that has nothing to do with PonyBuy: the interface can show prices in USD or your own currency, but the underlying charge is in yuan. Your bank sets the exchange rate and may add a foreign transaction fee, so the USD figure on screen is not always what leaves your account.
Do the arithmetic
Combine or ship separately
International shipping is priced as a first weight plus continued weight, with a handling fee per parcel. Every extra parcel repeats the first weight and the fee, which is the entire reason consolidation saves money.
PonyBuy publishes a worked example using GD-EMS to the United States, and its rate figures are the starting values below. The reason to put them in a calculator rather than repeat the example is simple: its three parcels are not your three parcels. Change any field and the result recalculates, and the line underneath says which first weights and fees dropped out.
Combine or ship separately: what the first-weight rule costs you
PonyBuy prices a parcel as one first weight plus continued weight, and adds a handling fee per parcel. Splitting one shipment into three means paying the first weight and the handling fee three times. Put your own numbers in and see the gap.
Rate fields are pre-filled with the GD-EMS to USA example published in the PonyBuy Help Center (Packaging, read 2026-08-03). Rates change by route and over time, so treat the result as arithmetic on the numbers you type, not as a quote. Check your own route on the PonyBuy shipping estimator.
What customs adds at your end
PonyBuy handles the export declaration. Your own country handles the import, and that is where the second set of charges lives.
| Item | Who sets it | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration cost | PonyBuy, generally 8 yuan per parcel | Included in the second payment. Varies with shipping method. |
| Declared value | You, within the rules | Declare it honestly. Too high raises duty, too low invites inspection. |
| Import duty and VAT | Your national customs authority | Look up your own threshold before ordering. Nobody in this chain can waive it. |
| Commercial parcel judgement | Customs officers, on the evidence | PonyBuy notes parcels over 10 kg are relatively likely to be treated as commercial, as are large quantities of the same item. |
| Prohibited goods | Both countries | Liquids, powders, food, plant and animal products and similar are commonly barred. Check the category before ordering. |
Source: PonyBuy Help Center, Service & Fees and Customs & Taxation, read 3 August 2026. Duty thresholds are set nationally and change; confirm yours with your own customs authority.
What insurance covers, and what it does not
PonyBuy offers three named cover types. Delay cover reimburses 20 per cent of the shipping cost if a parcel on certain routes takes more than 30 to 40 days to be signed for, counted from dispatch. Seizure cover applies if customs confiscates the parcel. Loss and damage cover applies to parcels lost or damaged in transit, with compensation set by its own published standard.
Whether a route can be insured at all varies, and PonyBuy directs you to check that per route on the shipping estimator rather than assuming it.
The limitation worth understanding: none of this covers you disliking the item, or the item being different from what a product photo implied. That risk is managed at the quality check photo stage, not by insurance.
Storage, and the clock you should watch
- 01
Ninety days, freefrom stored
The window starts when the order status becomes stored, not when you placed the order and not when the seller shipped.
- 02
It is per order, so your clocks stagger
Buy four things across two months and their windows end at four different times. Plan the parcel around the earliest one.
- 03
Past the window, goods are destroyed
PonyBuy states that if 90 days pass with no delivery order and no response, the goods are considered given up and will be destroyed. This is not a storage fee, it is an end date.
Where to go next
- Goes to ponybuy.com
Price your own route
The estimator takes a destination, a weight and a category, then shows which lines serve that country and what they cost. It is the only honest way to answer "what will shipping be" for your address.
Open the PonyBuy estimatorPartner link. Rates change by route and over time.
- Category
Go back and compare
If shipping makes an item not worth it, that is useful to know now. Look for the same piece from a seller whose weight or size works better.
Back to the productsBrowsing is free and needs no account.