Topic · 8 entries
Storage & merging
How free storage windows, parcel merging and repacking change the weight you pay for.
Every entry, answer first
Open an entry to see the basis it rests on, the moves it implies, and the way people usually misread it. Every entry names the stage it bites at.
Can I merge parcels and then change the delivery address?The address is read when the label is issued, so correct it before you submit the parcel for shipping.
Flow dependency Merging turns several items into one parcel and closes the order for changes at stage 6. The address is read at stage 7, when the shipping label is generated, so the last moment to change it is just before you submit the shipping request. After the label exists, a different destination means a second shipment with a second freight payment, because the first parcel is already committed to the address printed on it.
What to do
- Check the address on file before you submit the shipping request, not after.
- Confirm the address in the same message as the shipping request if you have moved.
- Ask for the label destination in writing before the parcel leaves.
The misread is assuming an address can be corrected at any time because it is only a field in a form.
Bites at: stage 6 — Merge and pack
Does merging two parcels always cost less than sending them separately?Not always: one box pays fixed charges once, but a bulky merged box can be billed above the sum of its parts.
Worked example Two effects pull in opposite directions. The fixed charges are paid once instead of twice, and the published fee page lists one of them at RMB 8.00 per parcel for the declaration fee, which is a saving of RMB 8.00 on a pair of parcels (per Kakobuy help centre ?id=63, captured 2026-10). Against that, the merged box has a volume, and volume converted by the divisor can outweigh the actual kilos: two parcels of 2 kg each in tight boxes can become one 4 kg parcel in a box whose volume figure comes to 8 kg. Add the two separate bills and compare them with the merged one before you assume the saving.
What to do
- Write down each parcel weight and its three dimensions before merging.
- Compute the merged box volume and convert it with the same divisor.
- Compare the total of the two separate bills with the single merged bill, then decide.
The misread is counting only the saved fixed charges and ignoring what the bigger box does to the volume figure.
Bites at: stage 6 — Merge and pack
How long can items sit in the warehouse before it becomes a problem?The published window is 100 free days from the moment the status turns to in storage, with a reminder email on day 90.
Public rule The published storage rule gives normal parcels 100 days of free storage counted from the moment the status becomes in storage, with a reminder email sent on day 90, and states that a parcel still unshipped after 100 days is treated as abandoned and destroyed without a further notice; abnormal parcels, meaning ones signed for but not matched to an order, get 60 days from the Signed for status (per Kakobuy help centre ?id=1, captured 2026-10). The clock starts at the status change rather than at your first visit to the page. Terms of this kind are revised, so check the current rule and note the date you read it.
What to do
- Note the date the status changes to in storage for every item.
- Treat the day-90 email as the last routine warning and act before it arrives.
- Merge and ship inside the window rather than at the edge of it.
The misread is assuming the clock starts when you first open the warehouse page.
Bites at: stage 6 — Merge and pack
Can I add one more item to a parcel I have already submitted for shipping?Once the box is packed and the shipping request submitted, a new item means a second parcel.
Flow dependency The shipping request is submitted against a packed box that has already been weighed, which is what the freight figure is calculated from. Adding an item after that changes both the weight and the volume, and the box is no longer the thing the label was issued for. If 3 of your 5 items have landed and 2 are still moving, the shipping request is early; the late item stays on the shelf and can travel on its own.
What to do
- Track which items are still in transit before you submit the shipping request.
- Ask the agent how long a close item can wait on the shelf.
- Ship the late item separately rather than trying to reopen a closed box.
The misread is thinking a submitted parcel can be reopened the way an online basket can.
Bites at: stage 7 — Pay international freight
Does repacking change what I pay, and who decides the size of the box?The box decides the volume figure, so removing packaging can cut the bill when volume weight is the one that wins.
Worked example Take a 40 x 30 x 25 cm box, which is 30,000 cm3. Removing 5 cm from each side of the contents leaves 35 x 25 x 20 cm, which is 17,500 cm3, about 42 percent less volume. If the divisor made the volume figure larger than the scale weight, that reduction lands directly on the bill; if the scale weight was already the larger figure, the same reduction changes nothing except the packing. Work out which figure wins before you ask for a repack, and ask in writing for the shoe boxes to be left out.
What to do
- Compute both figures for the current box, so you know which one is billing you.
- Ask in writing for specific packing to be removed, and for the new dimensions.
- Check the new dimensions on the invoice against the ones you were told.
The misread is assuming any repack reduces the bill, when only the figure that wins matters.
Bites at: stage 6 — Merge and pack
What happens to the seller packaging and the shoe boxes when a parcel is repacked?Outer cartons are usually discarded to cut volume, and the published return rules exclude items stripped of packaging at your request.
Flow dependency A repack happens at stage 6 to reduce volume, and the material removed is what made the parcel bulky: outer cartons, filler, shoe boxes. The published exclusion list covers items whose packaging, tags or accessories were removed at the customer’s request (per Kakobuy help centre ?id=51, captured 2026-10), so a repack can end the return option at the same time as it cuts the volume. One line asking for the original box to stay with the item protects that route, and it has to be sent before the repack rather than after it.
What to do
- Decide whether the item is being kept before you approve any repack.
- Ask in writing for specific packaging to be kept if a return is possible.
- Photograph the packaging before it is discarded, if it matters.
The misread is assuming seller packaging is always kept inside the parcel.
Bites at: stage 6 — Merge and pack
When items are merged, does the heaviest one set the price?No single item does: the packed box is measured as one thing, and the larger of its two figures is billed.
Worked example Merging adds the actual weights: 2 kg plus 3 kg is 5 kg on the scale. The box then gets its own volume figure, and if that comes out higher, the volume figure is what the bill uses. With a 50 x 35 x 30 cm box the volume is 52,500 cm3, which at a divisor of, say, 6,000 gives 8.75 kg against 5 kg actual, so the box is billed above the sum of its parts. Neither item set that figure; the packing did.
What to do
- Add the actual weights of the items you are merging.
- Measure the packed box and convert the volume with the divisor you were given.
- Compare the two figures and expect the invoice to use the larger one.
The misread is adding up item weights and treating the total as the billable weight.
Bites at: stage 6 — Merge and pack
Do I know the final weight before I pay the international freight?The packed figure exists only after packing, so anything quoted earlier is an estimate and the invoice is the record.
Flow dependency Weight is a property of the packed box, and packing happens at stage 6, before the freight is calculated at stage 7. An estimate given at stage 2 or stage 3 is measuring the listing description, not the box in the warehouse. The gap between the two can be a whole category of packing material: a coat that ships in a bag and a coat that ships in a box are one item with two different weight figures, and only the second one is invoiced.
What to do
- Treat any early weight figure as an estimate and label it that way in your notes.
- Ask for the packed weight and dimensions when you request the shipping quote.
- Compare the invoiced figure with the dimensions you were told, and query it if they differ.
The misread is budgeting from an early estimate and reading the later invoice as an overcharge.
Bites at: stage 7 — Pay international freight