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Hipobuy Spreadsheet UK · Disputes & Holds

Browsing the Hipobuy Spreadsheet, with habits that help when money gets stuck

Every department in one place. Below the cards: what this catalogue is, how to judge a listing and a seller, and the purchases Hipobuy says cannot be cancelled or returned.

The catalogue behind these cards

Two columns: the catalogue groups items for browsing and starts links; it is not a shop, a guarantee or a place where money sits

The Hipobuy Spreadsheet is a catalogue of finds you can browse by category: trainers, denim, caps, bags and the rest. Each card leads to live listings from Chinese marketplaces, and when something suits you, you copy its link into Hipobuy, which buys it for you. Hipobuy also has its own image search for items you only have a photo of.

Because the catalogue never takes payment, it never appears in a dispute. The money question is always between you, Hipobuy and whoever issued your card or runs your PayPal or Klarna account. That is why this site spends its pages on Hipobuy’s rules rather than on the catalogue itself.

A good catalogue is one you can check: listings that still open, prices that match what the seller shows, departments that hold what their label says. Hold this one to that standard too.

Listings

What a listing should show before you paste it

Checklist of listing checks: size chart in centimetres, colour names, matching price, not custom or deposit-first, seller rating, returns accepted

Most disputes start with a listing that said one thing and a parcel that held another. The habits that help are dull ones, and they work for any agent.

Save the listing page or a screenshot of it on the day you order: the size chart, the colour name and the price. Hipobuy’s after-sales rules ask for the size label photo when a size is wrong, and if the listing never gave a size in centimetres, there is little to compare against.

Check the price in the listing against the price Hipobuy shows once you paste the link. Hipobuy’s Disclaimer also warns that some Taobao listings are deposit orders that cannot be cancelled once placed, and that custom-made items cannot be inspected professionally. Both close off routes you might expect to have later.

Keep the part of the listing that your decision depends on

A product card is a route to a seller, not the order itself. Open the source page and choose the precise option before recording its price. For shoes, keep the size system and the selected label; for a garment, keep the measurement chart and material description. Do not rely on a saved thumbnail when the seller has several versions under one listing.

If two shops reuse the same photograph, compare their own terms and option details rather than assuming the goods match. Keep the URL and a dated copy of the relevant description with your agent order. This is useful evidence of your request, although it does not guarantee a claim outcome. The catalogue helps discovery; the seller, agent and carrier remain separate participants in the purchase.

Sellers

Choosing a seller with a later dispute in mind

Quotation from Hipobuy's Disclaimer recommending sellers with at least a three-star rating who were paid through Taobao escrow

Hipobuy’s Disclaimer is blunt about sellers. It recommends at least a three-star rating and payment through Taobao’s escrow service, and it says that with a low-credit seller, fake shipments, non-delivery and missing after-sales service may happen, with the loss borne by you.

Read that line next to the dispute routes. If the seller never ships, the money usually returns to your Hipobuy wallet as a cancelled order, which is a Hipobuy refund, not a card refund. If the seller ships something wrong, Hipobuy’s after-sales process is the first place it gets argued. A seller with a long record and clear returns makes both easier.

Good sellers tend to show many completed orders, answer questions, give measurements and keep consistent photos across colour options. None of these is a guarantee, and Hipobuy does not claim to verify sellers.

Fewer options

Items that come with fewer ways back

List of five purchase types that narrow later options, from Taobao deposit orders to second-hand and food items

Some purchases are harder to unwind whatever route you choose. Hipobuy’s own Disclaimer and returns rules name them, and they are worth knowing before the money leaves your card.

Deposit orders cannot be cancelled. Custom-made goods cannot be professionally inspected. Electricals are checked only for appearance and accessories. Fragile items damaged in transit are your loss. The returns service excludes, among others, second-hand goods, underwear, socks and leggings, food and adult products.

Hipobuy’s returns window itself is five days from the Warehoused status. This site does not go further into returns; it notes the exclusions only because they shape what any later dispute can be about.

Holding a spreadsheet site to account, ours too

Five tests for any spreadsheet site: working category links, dated quotes, named operator, no fake ratings, a real corrections address

Anyone can put a catalogue site online, and most are never maintained, so it pays to know how to judge a spreadsheet site before trusting its links. A quick way to judge one is to click a handful of category links and see whether they still lead to live listings rather than to error pages.

Then look at how it handles rules. A trustworthy guide quotes the agent’s own words, links the page, and gives the date it read it. This site reads Hipobuy’s help pages through its public help centre and prints the reading date on every page; UK sources carry their own date.

Finally, ask who runs it and how it is paid. This one is a partner guide that earns a referral when someone registers through its link. It publishes no star ratings, because there is no honest data to base them on.