Where the answers live
The help centre is small, and two of its articles are worth reading first
EastMallBuy publishes twenty two help articles grouped into four broad areas. It is not a large library, which is good news: you can read the relevant half in twenty minutes and it will save you a support ticket.
The two worth reading before you order anything are the article on checking QC photos before purchasing and the one on how long goods can stay in the warehouse. The first tells you what evidence exists at all, and the second tells you how long you have to act on it.
The service hours question has three answers
This is not a criticism so much as something to plan around. Three official pages give three different pictures of when somebody is there.
The site footer prints seven days a week, nine hours a day, in Beijing time, from nine in the morning to six in the evening. The help centre landing page shows online help from nine in the morning to midnight. The about page describes a multi-language customer service team providing uninterrupted service around the clock.
All three were read on the same day. Rather than guess which is current, treat the narrowest as the reliable one, put anything time critical in writing so it is waiting when the desk opens, and remember that the warehouse working hours are on Beijing time regardless of where you are.
Four ways to reach somebody, and what each is good for
Pick by what you need, not by what is quickest to type.
The help centre first
Twenty two articles covering ordering, money, parcels and after sales. Most first time questions are answered here. Open the help centre
A ticket inside your account
The right route for anything about a specific order, because it travels with the order number. The help centre points at tickets for parcels that have stopped updating.
The community, for questions about other people
Useful for what a seller is like or whether a line is moving. Not useful for anything about your own order, and nothing said there binds the agent.
Email, for a written record
Customer service and business enquiries have separate published addresses. Email is the route that leaves you holding a copy. Contact page
Which question goes where
Sending a question to the wrong place is the most common reason people think support is slow.
| If you want to know | Ask | Why there |
|---|---|---|
| Whether a specific size or colour is in stock | The seller, through your order comment | Stock lives on the marketplace, and nobody else can see it |
| What the inspection will cover for your item | Nobody, it is published | The policy is public and dated, and this guide maps it with the coverage check |
| Why your parcel has not updated | A ticket, with the parcel number | The help centre says some lines only scan on arrival in the destination country |
| Whether a line will carry your goods class | The estimate page | It quotes per line and tells you which are unavailable and why |
| Anything about money already paid | Support, in writing | Refund timing depends on order status, and you want a record of when you asked |
| Whether an item is authentic | Nobody can answer this | The policy excludes authenticity for functional goods, and the anti-counterfeiting policy puts the responsibility on the buyer |
Routing based on the help centre wording and the published policies, 4 August 2026.
Frequently asked questions, answered from official sources
Every answer below points at something published rather than at an opinion. Where the official pages disagree with each other, we say so instead of picking one.
Do I need an account to look at what is available?
Not for the catalogue. The EastMallBuy Spreadsheet opens to anybody, by category. You do need one for the agent site: we drove its search box four different ways on 4 August 2026 and, signed out, the Taobao results route renders empty while the 1688 and Weidian marks redirect to the login page.
What exactly does the EastMallBuy quality check look at?
Appearance: model, style and size, compared against the listing the item came from. Garments, bags, suitcases and shoes are unwrapped for that comparison. Anything else, and anything in sealed packaging or with sealing strips, is checked from the outside only.
Will they tell me if the colour is wrong?
No. Colour difference is one of three things the inspection policy names as not included, along with size measurement error and how the item performs in use. This is the single most useful sentence in the whole policy, because it tells you which questions have to be settled with the seller before the order goes in.
Can I see QC photos before I order?
Sometimes. EastMallBuy added a QC photo section to product pages, and the help centre says photos can be shown for a product once an EastMallBuy user has bought it. Not every product has them. If your own order has just been stored, the same help centre asks you to wait a few hours while the warehouse uploads.
How long can my things sit in the warehouse?
Ninety days, counted from the point the order shows as stored. Parcels that arrive without a matching order get sixty days from signing. The published rule is that goods past those limits are treated as abandoned and destroyed, with no further notice.
Why is my shipping more expensive than somebody else with the same weight?
Volume. The help centre gives the volumetric formula as length times width times height divided by 8000 for the ETL line, and says the larger of the two numbers is what gets billed. Down jackets, boxed shoes and toys in rigid packaging are the usual culprits, which is why removing a box at the warehouse can be worth more than it sounds.
What is the difference between the free and the paid insurance?
Compare the current policy’s eligible goods, insured value, covered events, limits and required evidence. A historical free-versus-paid description does not establish that every parcel or forwarded item is covered. Confirm the offered terms for the actual shipment before selecting protection.
Does insurance apply if I ship the parcel to the warehouse myself?
No. There is a specific help centre article saying forwarded goods are not within the scope of the product insurance compensation. Forwarding also runs to international destinations only, and a parcel that arrives damaged or below the signing standard is not signed for at all.
How long does a refund take?
It depends where the order has got to. The published windows run from about a day while it is still under process, to one to three days once purchased, three to seven days if the seller has already shipped, and five to ten days once it is stored and the seller has to agree a return.
What can EastMallBuy refuse to buy?
The prohibited list runs to twelve classes, including knives of any kind, guns and toy guns, electronic cigarettes and liquids, tobacco and alcohol, adult products, anything flammable, corrosive or radioactive, and goods that do not possess intellectual property rights. A separate anti-counterfeiting policy says non authentic products are strictly prohibited and that the agent can decline an order, withhold funds and suspend accounts.
When is support actually available?
That depends which page you read, which is worth knowing in advance. The site footer says seven days a week, nine hours a day, in Beijing time. The help centre landing page says online help from nine in the morning to midnight. The about page claims uninterrupted service around the clock. Plan around the narrowest, and put anything urgent in writing.
Is this site run by EastMallBuy?
No. EastMallBuy Spreadsheet is an independent guide. We are not the agent, we hold no stock, take no payments, and cannot see, change or refund your orders. Links to the agent are referral links, which is how the guide is paid for, and it does not change what we write. Who runs this and how it is funded
How to get the most out of a small help centre
The search box on the help centre index searches article titles, so short nouns work better than sentences. Storage, insurance, declaration and refund each land on the article you want. Long questions tend to return nothing.
Articles are grouped rather than ordered, so it is worth scrolling the index once even if you found what you came for. The article on why a shipping fee is higher than somebody else is the one most people wish they had read first.
Seven terms, and the money attached to each
The jargon on the agent screens is not vocabulary, it is a stack of line items. Read as a glossary ordered by what each term does to the total, seven are worth learning before the first order.
Volumetric weight. Length times width times height divided by 8000 on the ETL line, billed whenever it beats the scales. A down jacket in a compression bag and a de-boxed pair of shoes are both answers to this line.
First weight and additional weight. The two freight lines on every estimate result. The second kilo does not cost what the first one did.
Operation fee and fuel fee. The two lines on the same result that are not weight. They ride on top of whatever the weight maths said.
QC photos. Free evidence, but only on items somebody has already bought. Their absence is not a defect, it is a blank where proof could later be.
Stored. The status that starts the 90 day storage clock, 60 for a parcel that arrived without a matching order. After the clock, the help centre treats goods as abandoned.
Not reviewed. A submitted waybill the warehouse re-checks and packs within 24 hours. Money committed, outcome pending, nothing for you to do yet.
DIY Fill or Buy. The hand filled order form that lives at an address reading as not found. Every number you type there, price, shipping to the warehouse, quantity, is one you vouched for yourself.
Definitions read off the help centre articles and a live estimate result, 4 August 2026. The help centre index
