As I get asked this every so often, I’ve decided to get around to writing a guide. The guide will be centred around pre-ordering figures, but the process is largely the same for most other items. For Chinese figure pre-orders, it’s common to pay a deposit then do a final payment when the figure releases. If you’re buying merch or for cheaper figure pre-orders you may pay in full upfront. Some sellers will offer full payment upfront for more expensive figures – it’s not my personal choice to do this, but is an option for people who prefer to get the payment over and done with.
If you find this guide useful and you’re new to Superbuy, feel free to use my affiliate link.
For this guide, “¥” refers to Chinese yuan.
Terminology
- Deposit: A small amount payable upfront to secure a preorder
- Informal deposit: A small, refundable deposit (normally ¥10) that doesn’t reserve an item, but will normally grant first dibs when pre-orders officially open. Often grants a small discount (normally ¥10) off the formal deposit.
- Formal deposit: The “official” deposit, that secures the figure.
- Final payment/Supplement/Tail: The final payment to settle the balance for a preorder
- Freight collect/SF Express: Shipping is paid on receipt of the goods
- Virtual delivery: Fake tracking number that is used to confirm delivery to lock in deposits
- Spot goods: “Ready stock” – these items are in stock and ready to buy
- Shoot: Purchase/buy. Often final payment buttons will say “don’t shoot” if you haven’t paid a deposit.
Why Superbuy?
I prefer to use a proxy for pre-ordering as Taobao can just randomly lock out accounts – I’ve gotten locked twice, so I prefer my orders to be tied to a Chinese account. I originally chose Superbuy as they have no limit to the amount of time an order is open -some Chinese proxies don’t allow for orders to be open more than 3-6 months, so if you’re looking for an alternative I’d bear this in mind.
I’ve been happy with the services Superbuy offers, and they have decent postal rates to my country. This doesn’t apply to all countries, so I’d recommend checking out their shipping calculator before purchasing. They also have a habit of tagging popular Chinese gacha game items as “famous branded” which affects postal lines to varying degrees depending on country. Most of the items I order don’t all under the “famous brand” restriction.
Ordering
First things first, find the link of the thing you want to pre-order. If you want to use Hpoi‘s main store, they will have links to their Taoabo listings on their website (n.b. 18+ items are on a different store that isn’t linked on the Hpoi site itself, but the store name is 天狗通贩). Most figure stores don’t seem to allow browsing without an account, so you may wish to register on Taobao, though I know this can be difficult for American users. If you’re using Superbuy to find things, I’d recommend forcing the “no translation mode”.
Once you’ve found what you want to pre-order, it’s time to take the link to Superbuy. Paste the link in the search box provided:
(if you’re using the app, search bar is at the top).
If the link is valid it should forward you to the item page:
If there are warnings about “Batteried Items” and it doesn’t have a battery – ignore this. Superbuy tries to detect likely restrictions to warn you about, but they can be inaccurate.
For some listings, you may get presented two options for one of the selectors that may reference a “first” or “advanced” deposit:
For this, select the higher-priced option unless you did an informal deposit. Usually the “first deposit” will be around ¥20 cheaper than the regular. For more information about informal deposits, see the appendix “Informal deposits”.
If everything looks good, can click the “add to cart” or “buy now” button. If the price is incorrect, then see the appendix “Editing prices”.
If you added to cart, let’s go to the cart:
Select the item you want to pre-order, and click “submit”. If you want to pre-order items with mixed release dates, I’d recommend doing these as separate orders. If you’re doing pre-order for variants of the same item, these are fine to do as a single order.
You will then be presented with the checkout:
OK, fair few things here but for the deposit we don’t need to worry about too much of it. If you’re new to Superbuy, you may need to select the destination country (1). The “standard inspection service” (2), “inbound method” (3) and “priority stock-in” (4) options will only apply if there is a bonus sent out at reservation time – I usually set standard inspection to “no” and inbound method to “Inbound with original packaging” out of habit, but if the deposit won’t be linked to an item then these selectors will do nothing.
If it’s a hotly-contested pre-order you may want to select “speedy response” (5), but otherwise the default SLA (service level agreement) is fine. Speedy orders have an SLA of 1 working hour, normal is 6 working hours but usually they’ll be processed within 3 working hours.
Value-added services (6) aren’t needed at this stage, or only if there is an item sent out at time of deposit. For these services, you can always add them after your item is stocked into the warehouse.
There isn’t a need to make a remark (7), but you can try adding a remark that it’s a pre-order deposit and you accept the pre-order T&Cs, though some agents will get you to confirm anyway.
Small amounts payment service (8) usually isn’t needed for a deposit – this service allows the agent to advance you up to ¥50 and still order your item, then raise the payment request later. If you chose the correct options there shouldn’t be a shortage.
Remember to tick you have read the disclaimer (9), then click Submit. Complete the payment step as you see fit. See appendix “Payment methods” for more information.
When the agent picks up the order, you will likely need to confirm the following message:
Hello! friendly reminder, the product you selected is a pre-order product, and the ordering procedure for such orders is: pay deposit – pay final payment – ship. Please note:
- After paying the deposit, it cannot be cancelled. After the deposit is paid, the platform will mark the deposit order as “Completed” status;
- You need to continuously follow up on the information released by us or the seller to pay the final payment of the order later. If the seller notifies us to supplement the payment, we will notify you via internal message, and the order can only be shipped after the final payment is paid;
- If you fail to make the final payment before the deadline, the deposit will not be refunded.
Please confirm/reply to this message, tell us you have known about and accepted above risks, then we will handle it for you within 24 hours. If you do not reply within 72 hours, the system will automatically refund for you. If you still need this product, please resubmit the order and add notes about you accept above risks.
Ultimate service, all for you!
Ignore the line about having to resubmit – click the “Confirm info” button and write something to let the agent you’re happy to accept the terms e.g. “I confirm”. The order will re-enter the status “Order processing”, then when the agent sees your reply it should progress to “Purchased”.
Pre-order monitoring
And now comes the waiting. And the watching.
Your deposit order may go into “shipped” status (though this is rare these days), even if nothing is dispatched. If your shipping number looks suspiciously like a Taobao order number, this is just the agent showing the virtual shipping has marked as shipped – though they will be doing this even if the order sticks in “Purchased”. Rarely a seller may use a real tracking number tied to some random package.
If you have a pre-order bonus or order confirmation card sent at the time of deposit, the tracking on the deposit will be for this – it’s a way for stores to force deposits to “completed” on Taobao. When the item arrives, the order will be split:
The bottom sub-order was for a pre-order card (which has been internationally shipped, so marked as completed), and the deposit remains as “Separate to ship”.
For most sellers, they recycle the deposit page so you can keep checking back on the deposit page to see if it has been updated with options to pay the final payment. Some stores will create new listings, so worth periodically checking for new listings/searching the store if you’re unsure what method the store uses. If the item is on Hpoi, you can also check comments on there, sorted by latest (最新) to see if anyone mentions that they’ve paid. Different stores receive their stock at different times, so you may end up waiting longer than other people if the store you ordered from gets their allocation later than others or are slower to organise the final payment.
If you’re pre-ordering 18+ unlicensed resins, some of those stores have a convoluted way of putting up the final payment, so for those you may be better off asking your agent periodically for updates if you’re not getting the “batch deferred shipping” emails.
The agents will periodically check for messages about the final payment and you’ll get “Batch deferred shipping”/”Batch deferred storage” messages when they do. Often they’ll use a template message – if you want to know more you’ll have to contact your agent to see if they have any info. Generally, I’d say it’s fine to leave it and let them chase until you know it’s time for release. You will normally get one “batch deferred” a few days after ordering, then it should go silent until around the release time – if the agent keeps checking too frequently, you can message them the release date and they should stop until around release.
If an agent leaves Superbuy, their orders are transferred to another agent. So you don’t need to worry about pre-orders that take over a year to release :).
Final payment
Your agent has messaged you or you’ve noticed it’s time to pay…. Now it’s time to pay the piper! As a side-note, you don’t need to wait for the agent to notify you – if the final payment is up you’re good to order. There may be a small caveat to this – rarely some pre-orders are done in batches, so the agent won’t be able to settle the balance until the final payment for the correct batch is available. If you do try to pay prematurely, the agent will notify you, but it’s best to do it at the right time for convenience’s sake :).
If the agent notifies, they will normally send the Taobao link. So slap that link into the search box:
Example of an item in final payment:
Ensure the final payment option is selected (in this case it says “The last shot”, but translations will vary). If the price doesn’t match up with the correct amount left to pay, edit the price (see “Editing prices” appendix) before adding to cart/buying now. If there is a note like “Please contact customer service to change the price”, don’t worry about this – the agent will handle this for you.
Now for the checkout, we do need to pay attention to various parts of the screen:
The part we have to do is the Remark (6). You need to note which order/item this final payment is for e.g. “Final payment for order DOxxxxxxxxxxx” – this ensures the order gets assigned to the right agent. If you’ve put the note don’t panic if you see another agent initially take it – it will be reassigned. If you forget, usually the agent picking up the order will ask for your deposit order number – but I wouldn’t leave it to chance. If your item is freight collect I’d recommend adding to your note “Freight collect to pay – please take from balance”. For more information about freight collect, see the appendix “Freight collect”.
I’d recommend switching “standard inspection service” (1) to “No” and “inbound method” (2) to “Inbound with the original packaging” – normally the warehouse will force these options for figures, but the first ensures they just take the quality inspection (QC) photos of the figure box without opening it and the second keeps the shipping box, so the item is protected in the warehouse. Priority stock in (3) I don’t use as the 1 day stock-in time is fine by me. Speedy Response (4) isn’t needed for final payments. Well, maybe if you’ve forgotten and need the agent to sort it ASAP. You can peruse the value-added services now as these will apply to the incoming item – my personal preference is to not use any of these, as I either ship out in the seller’s original packaging or use loose EPE on shipout. Again, you don’t need to stress over these as you can always add them later.
Small Advanced Payments Service (7) shouldn’t be needed, but you could turn it on if you want the agent to get on with ordering if there’s a price discrepancy.
Finally, tick 8, click “Submit” and complete payment.
Recieveing
When the agent picks up the final payment, the deposit will be moved to “completed” and the final payment to “purchased”. When the seller ships, the final payment order will change to “Shipped (local)”, and a tracking number will be made available.
If all goes well you’ll get some QC photos after the figure arrives at the warehouse:
Yay! You’ve successfully completed your pre-order. Next is to ship it out – but that will be another guide if there’s demand. The above example is with no to standard inspection and yes to keeping the original packaging.
Appendix
This section covers items that are optional or not always applicable during pre-ordering/ordering.
Editing prices
If a price, is incorrect you can use the edit price button to change it on the website:
For the app, you need to tap the “add to cart” or “buy now” buttons first, select the option you want to buy then tap “Modify” at the top of the screen.
For both the app and the site, you’ll be presented a form to fill in:
Type the correct price in the first box, select the most appropriate reason in the “Modification reasons” then write a description of why it is wrong. If Superbuy is incorrectly reading the price I usually use “Web price error” and description of “Superbuy bug”. For correcting final payments I usually use “Preferential discount” and “Final payment of ¥xxx”. It’s not massively critical what you write here – the agents will usually figure out what is going on.
Informal deposits
For items that are announced prior to their pre-orders opening you may see ¥10 listings allowing you to effectively pre-reserve an item. They mostly exist as a notification system for Chinese users, as they’ll be sent a text/message when the formal deposit opens up. Informal deposits are normally cancellable at any time. For popular items they may also get you ahead of the normal pre-order queue, but not many figures are that hotly contested. As an appreciation of your pre-reservation, you will also usually get a small discount of ¥10-20 off of the formal deposit if you choose to formally reserve. Personally, I don’t bother with this system as it’s more hassle than the tiny saving you can make. Superbuy will support doing the informal deposit if you wish to – when paying the formal deposit you will need to ensure you pick the discounted option and put a note on the order e.g. “Formal deposit for order DOxxxxxxxxxxx” so the order is assigned to the correct agent. Paying an informal deposit doesn’t change the final payment process.
Specific time service
Superbuy has an unofficial service called the “specific time service”. If a pre-order opens out of hours and you need the agent to order at the time pre-orders open, you can place the order during working time – I recommend at least 1 working day before, and put a note e.g. “Pre-orders open at 20:00 on the 11th. I am happy to pay the ¥20 specific time fee”, and the agent should raise a charge for the fee (usually as a domestic shipping cost charge). Once you have paid the fee, they should place the order at the time you gave them. Remember that agents are on Beijing time, so provide any date/time information in Beijing time zone.
Payment methods
Superbuy offers a range of payment methods – which you choose depends on your personal preferences and country. My advice will be based around 18+ – not all payment methods are useable by minors.
Best bang for your buck is AliPay, WeChat Pay or Wise. They are very similar exchange rates, assuming you’re using a fee-free card if you’re using AliPay/WeChat. Wise does not support all currencies, though. WeChat and AliPay charge a 3% fee for purchases over ¥200. AliPay allows you to do top-ups on Superbuy, but WeChat does not.
Credit card and Apple Pay payment is used by a lot of users but has two downsides – not the best bang for your buck due to transaction fees and poor exchange rate and has the habit of randomly rejecting transactions. Multiple credit card/Apple Pay transfers in a day increases the risk of rejection, but it does sometimes just straight-up reject stuff… after billing you. If it happens, the money should return in 1-3 working days, and recommended to wait 24 hours before retrying.
My personal preference is ¥200 top-ups with AliPay using a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. If I’m doing a larger transfer, I tend to send money to their Wise account directly from my bank – however I recommend people new to bank transfers to register a Wise account so they can do Wise-to-Wise as it simplifies the transfer process.
Freight collect
For some figures, they may be sent freight collect – this means the freight is payable on delivery. Normally resins are sent freight collect (both licensed and unlicensed). If you buy from Xianyu, items are commonly sent freight collect. Usually it will say “freight collect”, but sometimes sellers will say “not free shipping” or “SF Express”. SF Express doesn’t exclusively do freight collect, but if it isn’t specified “free SF Express”, chances are you’re going to be paying for freight.
Normally Superbuy will reject freight collect parcels – you need to tell your agent you are happy to pay the freight collect for them to arrange with warehouse to pay it. The warehouse debits it from your balance and it will come up in your account transactions as “Chinese Local Delivery”. It’s normal for the first delivery attempt to be rejected – your agent will ensure the parcel will be redelivered (normally the next day) and warehouse will debit you. Sometimes it does take a couple of days for the charge to be added.
Freight collect varies largely by the item’s size – small goods may be ¥5-10, an average figure around ¥15-30, large resins ¥40-60. Your agent may be able to confirm freight price, but I usually ensure I have at least ¥80 on my account if I know I’ve got something with freight to pay.