Haul Tray / Storing a haul
Shelf life of a haul: AllChinaBuy's free days, paid days and cut-off
A haul only works if the first item to arrive is still waiting when the last one turns up. This page sets out the storage rules in AllChinaBuy's help centre as it read in August 2026, in our own words, with the worked examples it gave. They record how things worked then, not how they work now; for its present state see the AllChinaBuy record.
How long finds waited in the AllChinaBuy warehouse
The rule that shaped every haul was the free storage period. As AllChinaBuy's help centre read on 4 August 2026, goods bought through its shopping agent service could sit in the warehouse for 90 days at no charge. The overall storage period for ordinary goods was 180 days, about six months, and both were counted from the order status that showed the item as stored in the warehouse, not from the day you paid.
That starting point matters for a haul. An item that a shop took a week to dispatch, and a few more days to reach the warehouse, only began using its free days once the warehouse logged it. Two items bought on the same afternoon could therefore end up with different deadlines, and the earliest arrival set the pace for the whole parcel.
The article also drew a line around what the warehouse was responsible for. Within the storage period it took responsibility for keeping the goods, but not for their shelf life; it gave the example of perishable items that only last a month. Bags and wallets are not perishable, but a leather-look piece left for months in a sealed bag can come out smelling of it, which is one more reason not to let a haul drift.
The paid days between the free period and the cut-off
Between day 90 and day 180 the goods were still held, but no longer for free. The help article set the storage fee at CN¥0.1 per item per day, using its own unit "DI" for an item, and the fee was not billed as it built up. The system added it when you submitted the parcel delivery order.
Its worked example is easy to follow. Two items submitted for delivery after 100 days in the warehouse were ten days past the free period, so the fee was ten days times CN¥0.1 times two items: CN¥2 in total. The same sum scales with every extra item and every extra day, which is why a large haul left long past its free period cost more than a small one.
The storage line on the delivery-order screen
In AllChinaBuy's step-by-step buying guide, the screen for submitting a delivery order had a transaction summary down its right-hand side. Storage fee had its own line there, beside the estimated deposit, VAT and value-added services, and it fed into the total paid at that step. While goods sat within the free period that line stayed at zero.
The figure in the guide was an example, and so is the one in our crop. What matters is the placement: storage was settled together with the parcel, at the moment you sent the haul on its way, so a buyer who had forgotten about the fee met it on that screen.
Buying more shelf time with an extension
For a haul still waiting on a late item near the 180-day limit, the help article described a paid Storage Period Extension. It cost CN¥10 per month, could be bought for up to six months at a time, and could be bought again. Each month added 30 days to the item's storage period.
The article's example: one item that had been in the warehouse for 120 days, with 60 days left before it would count as overdue, plus a two-month extension, ended up with 120 days left. The extension was presented as a way to wait for other goods to arrive before submitting one delivery order, which is exactly the position a slow haul ends up in.
Read that next to the daily fee. The extension moved the cut-off; the article did not say that it cancelled the daily charge for days beyond the free 90, and it did not spell out how the two interacted. Treat any assumption either way as an assumption.
The reminder, the cut-off and what became of overdue items
AllChinaBuy said it would send a reminder if no parcel delivery order had been submitted after 150 days. After 180 days with no delivery order and no word from the buyer, items were automatically deemed abandoned and processed as overdue, and the article stated plainly that AllChinaBuy would then have ownership of them.
The detailed rules added that overdue items received no further reminders or notices. One reminder at day 150 was the only warning the help text promised, which left thirty days to act on it.
Parcels that reached the shelf without an order
The help article had a second, shorter rule for what it called unusual parcels: goods the warehouse signed for before a matching order existed, or where the buyer had not filled in the tracking details. These were kept for 60 days from the time warehouse staff signed them in.
Because the warehouse could not match such a parcel to anyone, it said it could not send a reminder, and overdue parcels of this kind were deemed abandoned too. The rule mattered most to anyone who had a shop or a friend post goods straight to the warehouse address: without the order or tracking number entered, there was nothing to match the box to.
Pacing a slow haul with the tray
None of these rules can be tested on a live AllChinaBuy account now, but the pattern is common across agents: a free period counted from arrival, a fee after it and a final cut-off. The tray on this site is not a timer and does not try to be one; it cannot know when your items arrived. What it can do is keep the whole haul in view while it trickles in.
One way to use it: add everything you mean to order, copy the links into your notes, and write the arrival date beside each link as the warehouse photos come in. The earliest date tells you when the first item's free period runs out. If the tray still holds finds you have not ordered by then, that is the moment to decide whether to wait, pay for storage or send what is ready.
The agents compared on the AllChinaBuy record page publish their own free periods, which ranged from 60 to 90 days on the dates we read them.
A warehouse plan for a mixed bag order
Consolidation works when the items can travel together and the waiting time is still useful. Write down what has arrived, what is outstanding and which item has the nearest return or storage deadline. Count from the date shown in that agent’s account, not from the day you first saved the product link.
- Review arrivals before waiting for the slow seller. A wrong wallet colour or damaged zip can need action while the rest of the haul is still in transit.
- Separate an item deadline from a parcel deadline. Free storage does not mean the seller will accept a return for the entire storage period.
- Check the route before adding restricted goods. Perfume, batteries and oversized cases may not share the route you planned for soft bags. Buying a small add-on is not a saving if it forces the whole parcel onto a different service.
- Set a stopping point. If the final item is late, compare sending the ready goods now against the extra wait and storage exposure. Ask the agent about the missing order before placing a replacement.
What the haul tray does and does not save
The tray keeps catalogue links in this browser. It is a shortlist, not an agent cart or a warehouse inventory. After copying the links, record the agent’s own order numbers separately and check the selected variants there. Clearing browser data or using another device can remove access to the tray; keep a copy of a shortlist you intend to buy.
A useful warehouse note: “Keep the structure of the backpack and the protective wrap on the hardware. Please quote the package dimensions before dispatch if the packing choice changes the route.”
Packaging requests depend on the agent’s available services. Ask for confirmation and any charge before approving the parcel. The historical AllChinaBuy storage numbers above should not be applied to a different agent.