Same item, two order types: put one find through both
Enter what you know about one item and the tool lays an agent order and a forwarding order side by side, with every line tied to the Hipobuy page it comes from.
The two-lane comparison
Amounts are in CNY, Hipobuy's own pricing currency. Change any field and press compare; the result appears below the form.
How to use the tool, field by field
Start with the item price and the seller's domestic shipping exactly as the listing shows them, in yuan. If the item is a gift someone else already paid for, enter 0 as the price; the agent lane will tell you there is nothing for Hipobuy to buy.
The international shipping box starts with an example, 120 CNY, that you should replace. Hipobuy prices shipping per parcel, by weight, method and destination, so open its shipping estimator, enter your parcel's weight and size, and copy the figure for the line you would choose. The customs line defaults to RMB 10, the figure Hipobuy's fee page calls general; change it if your line shows something else.
Pick where the item comes from and how the domestic courier is paid, tick whether you hold a Chinese shopping account, and tick the protections that matter to you. Ticked protections are highlighted in both lanes so you can see at once which order keeps them.
Nothing you type leaves your browser; the arithmetic runs in the page, and Reset returns every field to the example. If you do not know a figure yet, leave it at 0: the protection lines do not depend on the money and still show what each order keeps.
Reading the two lanes
The money block has four lines in each lane: paid to Hipobuy when you order, paid outside Hipobuy, paid to Hipobuy when you submit the parcel, and money Hipobuy may take without a confirmation step. For a listed item the total out of pocket is usually the same in both lanes. The difference is who receives the item money and who is answerable for it.
Two lines deserve attention. In the agent lane, if the seller's real price or shipping turns out higher than you paid, the order stops at a status Hipobuy calls Clear Balance until you pay the difference. In the forwarding lane, a courier fee collected on delivery is charged to your balance automatically; Hipobuy's forwarding disclaimer says so in capitals.
Under the money, each protection appears with one of four marks: kept, conditional, not offered, or the same in both. Below that, the tool quotes the lines from Hipobuy's own 'Applicable to' text that match what you entered, under each lane.
Three finds, worked through
A quilted jacket on Taobao, and no Taobao or Alipay account. This is the one case Hipobuy writes the agent order for. The forwarding lane still computes, but buying the jacket yourself needs exactly the account you do not have.
A birthday gift your cousin in Guangzhou posts to the warehouse. There is no purchase for Hipobuy's buyer to make, so the agent lane shows nothing to buy. The forwarding lane carries the parcel cost only, and the cousin must give you the courier's tracking number before you can create the order.
A used camera lens you bought from a private seller. Both lanes compute. The agent lane flags that second-hand goods are outside the five-day return, and that Hipobuy does not open or test electrical items professionally. The forwarding lane adds that there is no after-sales at all and that specialist goods get no specialist inspection.
Limits of the two-lane comparison
It does not choose for you. Hipobuy does not rank its own order types, and neither do we: a buyer who wants a return window and a buyer who wants to bargain with a seller in person are both right.
It will not quote shipping lines, delivery times or line-specific fees; those change daily and belong on Hipobuy's estimator. It will not show the forwarding warehouse address, which Hipobuy only displays to signed-in users. And it cannot know a seller's own return policy, which decides whether the five-day guarantee is available at all.
Treat the result as a checklist for the order you are about to place, not as a quote. The seller's price and the shipping figure can change between the moment you compare and the moment you pay, and Hipobuy's own checkout is the figure that counts.
For the rules behind each lane, read the agent order and the forwarding order pages; for what happens once both reach the warehouse, read after both arrive.