Taobao & Weidian Pre-Orders Explained: Deposits, Final Payments and Those ¥0.5 “Shipping Links”

You found the item, the price is right, and then the listing says 预售 (pre-order), the checkout asks for a 定金 (deposit), or the whole thing costs ¥0.5. None of that is a mistake. It is how many Chinese shops sell limited runs, and once you know the three patterns, buying them from abroad is straightforward.

The short version: a pre-order means you pay now and the seller ships later. Some pre-orders are paid in two parts, a deposit first and the balance later. And a listing priced at ¥0.1 to ¥1 is not the product; it is a supplementary link the seller made so existing buyers can pay extra shipping or a price difference.

What a pre-order is on Taobao and Weidian

A pre-order (预售, yùshòu) is a listing for something the seller does not have in stock yet. You pay, the seller collects orders until a cut-off, then makes or restocks the item and ships. The product page usually says 预售 in the title or next to the price, and gives a shipping promise such as 付款后30天内发货 (ships within 30 days of payment) or a fixed date.

Independent creators use it heavily: plush and doll makers, fan merchandise studios, small clothing labels, cosplay tailors. A pre-order lets them make exactly as many as were ordered, which is also why so many of these items never come back once the run ends.

Two payment shapes exist:

• Full payment (全款预售). You pay the whole price at checkout and wait for shipping. Simple, and the most common shape on Weidian.
• Deposit plus final payment (定金预售). You pay a deposit when the pre-order opens and the balance (尾款, wěikuǎn) during a later window. Common on Taobao and Tmall, and with creator shops that need to lock in numbers before production.

The timeline, start to finish

1. Pre-order opens. You pay the full price, or the deposit.
2. Final payment window (deposit pre-orders only). It can open days after the pre-order closes or, with small creator shops, months later when production is done, and it may stay open for only a few days. Miss it and the order is cancelled.
3. Production or restocking. Anything from a week to a couple of months. Handmade and custom items sit at the long end.
4. Seller ships to a domestic Chinese address. Sellers typically quote 7 to 30 days after the pre-order closes; handmade pieces can take longer, and the listing says how long.
5. Arrival at the agent’s warehouse. QC photos, then international shipping together with anything else you have waiting.

The number to plan around is the seller’s shipping promise, not the day you paid. A pre-order placed in the first week of a 30-day run can take five or six weeks to reach the warehouse.

Deposits and final payments (定金 and 尾款)

A deposit pre-order works like this. During the deposit period you pay 定金, a fraction of the price set by the seller. When the final payment window opens, the listing shows a 付尾款 (pay balance) button; you pay the rest, and only then does the shipping clock start. The deposit counts toward the price, so you are not paying extra, just paying in two steps.

Three rules matter:

• Miss the balance window and you lose the deposit. Under Taobao’s pre-sale rules, a deposit is forfeited when the buyer does not pay the balance on time. This is the most common way people lose money on pre-orders, and the easiest to avoid: put the deadline in your calendar.
• If the seller fails to deliver, the deposit comes back. Chinese contract law treats 定金 as a two-way guarantee: the side that breaks the deal pays for it. On Taobao this runs through the platform’s dispute process.
• 定金 and 订金 are different words. They sound identical (dìngjīn), but 定金 is a binding deposit and 订金 is an ordinary prepayment that can normally be refunded. Small shops often mix the two up, so read the seller’s terms as well: if they say 不退 (non-refundable), treat the payment as non-refundable, whichever character is on the listing.

Some sellers run the two payments as two separate listings rather than one listing with two stages. You will see a 定金 listing and, later, a 尾款 listing at the remaining price. Buy the deposit listing during the pre-order, then the balance listing when the seller announces it. If you only buy the balance listing, or buy it without a deposit on record, the seller will not ship.

Why some listings cost ¥0.5: supplementary shipping links

Scroll a creator shop and you will find listings priced at ¥0.1, ¥0.5 or ¥1 with titles like 补运费 (supplementary shipping), 补差价 (price difference), 补邮 or 补拍. Sometimes the title adds 非本店买家勿拍, roughly “existing buyers only”.

These are not products. A seller creates them so that a buyer who already has an order can pay a small extra amount: a shipping surcharge for a remote address, an add-on, or a price difference after a change. Buying one on its own does nothing. The seller sees an order with no pre-order behind it, declines it, and refunds.

How to tell: the price is a fraction of what the item would cost, the sales count is a handful, the title is about 运费 or 差价 rather than the item, and the description often says who it is for.

Here is how it usually plays out. Someone orders two ¥0.5 links for a plush pre-order that has already ended, hoping the plush will follow. The agent checks with the seller, who explains the links are only for people who bought the original pre-order. Both orders are refunded. If you have already bought one of these through an agent, expect the same sequence: the agent asks the seller, the seller declines, you get the money back.

If you did join the seller’s pre-order and now need to pay a supplement, the seller will want to match you to the original order. Have the seller-side order number or a payment screenshot ready. An agent’s own order number means nothing to them. If you joined through Fishgoo, send support your Fishgoo order number instead; the buying team holds the seller-side order and handles the supplement from there.

Buying a pre-order through an agent

Pre-orders work with an agent the same way any other item does, with a couple of extra checks. With Fishgoo:

1. Paste the product link into the search box and order as usual. In the order note, say that it is a pre-order and give the seller’s shipping promise, for example “预售, ships within 30 days”. The note goes to the buying team.
2. The buying team places the order with the seller. If the seller asks for a deposit, or the real total differs from the listed price, the team confirms the amount with the seller and you get a top-up notice in My Orders for the difference. Pay it and the order goes ahead; decline it and you can apply for a refund. Pay any top-up notice promptly: on a deposit pre-order the seller’s balance deadline still applies, and the team can only pay the seller once your top-up is in.
3. Wait for the seller to ship. Fishgoo’s automatic follow-up on unshipped orders (day 13) and automatic cancellation (day 14) do not apply to pre-order items, so a slow pre-order is not cancelled on you. If you are worried, message support with the order number and say it is a pre-order.
4. The item arrives at the warehouse. You get 5 free QC photos, and it sits in free storage for up to 100 days. That is enough time to collect several pre-orders with different ship dates and send them as one parcel.

One thing an agent cannot do: turn a supplementary link into a product, or buy a pre-order after the seller has closed it. Both come down to the seller.

Paste the pre-order link and see the price with QC included →

Missed the pre-order? Your options

• Ask about a second batch. Many creators run a second pre-order if the first sold out fast. An agent can message the seller and ask. Sometimes you get a date, sometimes “no more”.
• Look for it second-hand on Xianyu. Xianyu (闲鱼) is where buyers resell items they no longer want, including unopened pre-order pieces. It is second-hand, so no returns, and photos can only go so far on authenticity. Worth it for a sold-out original; not worth it for anything still available new. If you find one, paste the Goofish link or the app’s share text into the Xianyu link converter and it opens on Fishgoo, ready to order.
• Be careful with “same style” listings. Image search will turn up look-alikes of almost any popular creator item, usually from a different seller. If you want the original, those are not it, and buying them does nothing for the person who designed it.

Reading the listing: the words that matter

FAQ

Can I cancel a pre-order?
Before the seller ships, you can apply for a refund through My Orders. With a deposit pre-order, sellers usually keep the deposit if the order is cancelled after it has been paid, so decide before the deposit goes in. After the seller ships, wait for the item to reach the warehouse and raise any problem there.

When do I pay the final payment on a deposit pre-order?
When the seller opens the balance window. That can be days after the pre-order closes or, with small creator shops, months later once production is done, and the window itself can be short. The listing shows a pay-balance button and a deadline. Through Fishgoo you never pay the seller directly: the buying team confirms the amount with the seller, sends you a top-up notice for anything beyond what you have already paid, and pays the deposit and the balance for you. Pay that notice as soon as it arrives. The seller’s deadline still applies, and the team can only pay the balance once your top-up is in.

Why does the listing cost only ¥0.5?
It is a supplementary shipping or price-difference link, not the product. Sellers create these so buyers who already joined the pre-order can pay a small extra amount. Ordering one on its own gets you nothing; the seller refuses the order and it is refunded.

Will my pre-order be cancelled if it hasn’t shipped after 14 days?
No. Fishgoo’s automatic follow-up on day 13 and cancellation on day 14 apply to regular unshipped orders, not to pre-order items. The buying team keeps waiting for the seller. Mention that it is a pre-order in your order note so nobody has to guess.

Is a deposit refundable?
A 定金 deposit is not refundable if you back out or miss the balance deadline. It is refundable if the seller fails to deliver. A 订金 prepayment, written with a different first character, is an ordinary advance payment and normally refundable. Small shops often mix up the two words, though, so if the listing says 不退 (non-refundable), treat the payment as non-refundable whichever character it uses.

How long do pre-orders take to ship?
Sellers usually quote 7 to 30 days after the pre-order closes. Handmade and custom pieces can take longer, and the listing says how long. That shipping promise is the number to plan around, not the day you paid.

Can pre-order items ship together with in-stock items?
Yes. Each item waits in free storage for up to 100 days after it arrives at the warehouse, so you can collect pre-orders with different ship dates and in-stock items, then submit them as one parcel.

Next steps

New to the platform? Weidian agent explains how buying from a Weidian shop works from abroad, and Is Weidian safe? covers how to vet a small shop before you pay a deposit. When the item lands, check the QC photos before it ships, and the refund guide covers what happens if a seller cancels. Cosplayers dealing with tailor pre-orders should read buying cosplay on Taobao.