Questions readers actually ask
Eight of them, answered from published rules rather than from experience, with the page each answer came from.
Need help with a specific order? That has to go to PonyBuy, not to this site. The last section says which is which. About
Eight questions, frequently asked and otherwise
These are the ones that arrive most often, and none of them is answered here from experience or from a forum. Each answer points at a PonyBuy page, and the sections below carry the wording and the screenshots.
- Does this site sell anything?
No. It holds no stock, takes no payment and ships nothing. It is a catalogue you browse and a set of explanations of PonyBuy own published rules.
- Do the QC photos prove an item is authentic?
No, and PonyBuy does not claim they do. The inspection covers appearance against the label on the product. Authentication is outside it, and the disclaimer says so directly for branded and electrical goods.
- Why did my electronics order only come with an exterior photo?
Because that is the published scope. Inspectors check the appearance and whether the fittings are complete, cannot check accessories inside a sealed box, and do not switch anything on.
- The seller threw in a free gift. Does it ship?
PonyBuy has a published answer for unsolicited gifts a seller adds to the parcel. Read it before assuming the extra item travels, because gifts follow the same prohibited and sensitive rules as anything you paid for.
- I bought something through another provider. Can PonyBuy handle it?
That is a separate published case with its own answer, and it is not the agent service. Goods bought or shipped through another provider are handled differently from goods PonyBuy bought for you.
- There is a mark on my order I did not put there. What is it?
PonyBuy states that when goods are found not to meet transport conditions it puts a special mark on the order to remind you to negotiate a return. It is a warning that the parcel cannot leave China as it stands.
- How long can goods sit in the warehouse?
PonyBuy publishes a ninety day free preservation period from the point the order shows as stored. The five day return window is a different and much shorter clock.
- Who do I contact when something goes wrong?
PonyBuy customer service for anything about an order, and the after-sales email address printed at the top of its return rules for counterfeit complaints. This site cannot see your order and cannot act on it.
Two cases that are not really about your order at all
A good half of the questions in the inbox turn out to be one of these two, and PonyBuy has a published answer for each. They are worth knowing in advance because both involve an item arriving at the warehouse that nobody planned for.
The first is the unsolicited gift. Sellers on Chinese marketplaces add things: a keyring, a spare set of laces, a sample. The warehouse now holds an item that is not on your order, and there is a published rule for what happens to it. Treat it as a rule rather than a courtesy, particularly if the gift is a liquid or something with a battery in it, because the prohibited list does not care that the item was free.
The second is goods bought or shipped through another provider. That is not the agent service and it is not covered by anything else on this site. The rule PonyBuy publishes for it is short, and reading it takes less time than finding out the hard way.
Where each of these is set out in full
The short answers above are short on purpose. Everything in them is developed on another page, with the published wording and the screenshot it came from.
| If you are asking about | The short version | Set out in full on |
|---|---|---|
| What the free photographs cover | Three fixed angles, checked against the label and your remark | What the photos show |
| Paying for a closer look | A capped, priced service that returns exactly what your sentence asked for | Detailed photos |
| Something arriving damaged or wrong | Two clocks, a refusal list, and the QC image fork | When it goes wrong |
| What the whole order costs | Four charges, two of them unknown when you pay for the goods | Costs and shipping |
| Whether a thing can ship at all | A sensitive list, a prohibited table, and four named destinations | Costs and shipping |
| Picking a seller or an agent | The disclaimer read backwards, plus the three hearts test | Choosing well |
| What the words mean | Which vocabulary carries rules and which carries none | Glossary |
Nothing on this site is a substitute for the PonyBuy page it describes. Every section links to the original.
Electronics, and the mark that appears on an order you cannot ship
Two passages from the inspection scope answer four of the eight questions above, and neither of them is quoted anywhere else on this site.
The first is why an electronics order comes back with so little. The inspector photographs the exterior, cannot open a sealed box to count accessories, and does not power anything on. What you get instead is an arrival picture to confirm. That is the whole of it, and no amount of asking changes the scope.
The second is the one almost nobody knows until it happens. If the goods turn out not to meet the transport conditions, PonyBuy marks the order to remind you to negotiate a return. That mark is not an administrative note. It means the thing you bought cannot leave China in that parcel, and the return window may already be running while you work out what the mark meant.
Electronic and digital products are special commodities. The quality inspectors only check the appearance of the product, cannot check the completion of accessories in sealed box, and cannot turn on the product to check the quality problem (the quality inspectors will send the arrival picture for the user to confirm the product);
After receiving the goods, if it is found that your goods do not meet the requirements of the transportation conditions, we will make a special mark on the relevant order to remind you to negotiate the return service.
Quoted from PonyBuy's help centre, Inspection Scopes, re-read 2026-09-22.
What this site can answer, and when to get in touch with PonyBuy instead
A useful division of labour, and one this site would rather state plainly than have you discover after a week of waiting for a reply that was never coming.
Ask here
- What a published rule actually says, and where to read it yourself.
- Which of the two clocks you are on, and what each one still allows.
- What the standard photographs do and do not cover for your category.
- How to word a detailed photo request so it comes back usable.
- Whether a word you saw on a forum is policy or folklore.
Ask PonyBuy
- Anything about your specific order. This site cannot see it, cannot change it and cannot escalate it.
- A price, a fee or a shipping quote. Those move, and only the platform knows the current one.
- A return, an exchange or a damage claim. All three run through your order, not through anyone else.
- A counterfeit complaint, which goes to customer service or to the after-sales email address in the return rules.
- Whether a specific item can be bought or shipped to your country. If you need certainty, ask before you order.