What we can date about PandaBuy
| Date | Fact |
|---|---|
| April 2024 | Raided by Shanghai police; never returned |
| 5 Oct 2026 | Trustpilot: 2.6 from 514 reviews, profile unclaimed |
| 12 Oct 2026 | Domain behind a Cloudflare block, no working shop |
That is all the dated evidence we hold, and it is enough for the label. We did not log in, and we have no storage or fee terms to quote. The rows in an old sheet are a different matter: they were written for marketplace listings, and some of those listings may still exist.
The agent is gone; the listings behind its rows may not be.
Clone checklist before you type anything
Because the PandaBuy name still attracts searches, other sites use it. A name is not an identity. Run these checks in order and stop at the first failure.
- Read the address bar letter by letter; swapped letters and unfamiliar endings are common.
- Look for a company name, a contact address and written terms. Missing terms mean stop.
- Be wary if it asks for a login or payment before showing a fee or storage rule.
- Search the domain name plus "scam" and read dates, not just counts.
- When unsure, skip the agent entirely and use the marketplace link elsewhere.
Our own KakoBuy legitimacy check applies the same questions to the agent this site focuses on, including its three different company names.
If a site cannot say who it is, the answer is no.
Extracting marketplace links from a 2024 sheet
We have no confirmed PandaBuy link pattern, so read the sheet differently: hunt for a Taobao, Weidian or 1688 address within each link, or in the sheet's source column. Old PandaBuy rows still contain marketplace links, and those are what you reuse.
Shapes to rebuild: Taobao pages carry the number in an id parameter on item.taobao.com; Weidian pages use itemID on weidian.com; 1688 pages put the number inside detail.1688.com/offer/ and end in .html.
Paste each address into the KakoBuy link converter, open the item page, and compare the CNY price. A row older than two years should be re-priced from scratch, not trusted. Log keepers in the haul tracker CSV.
Rebuild from the marketplace address and price it fresh.
Money, parcels and accounts from the PandaBuy years
If something was left at PandaBuy, the honest position is that it is probably unrecoverable and no process is published. The most useful step is a short inquiry: ask your card issuer or PayPal whether a dispute is still possible for your payment date, and keep any receipt you have. Do not send fresh money to a service that offers to "unlock" funds.
Passwords are a separate risk. If you gave PandaBuy a password you still use on email or another agent, replace it and enable two-step sign-in.
Expect little back; protect what you still use.
Rebuying the survivors
| Item | KakoBuy |
|---|---|
| Service fee | None beyond item, shipping, customs |
| Customs declaration | Generally ¥8 per parcel |
| Free storage | 100 days |
| Return window | 5 days after stocked in |
| Payment | PayPal, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Wise |
The estimator's US Tax-Free (Actual Weight) line came to $43.33 at 1,000 g, listed at 8–15 days, when we read it on 12 October 2026. Our USA page explains why the old $800 allowance no longer helps. For a second agent, Oopbuy is Open; check the domain, since lookalikes exist.
Pay per order, ship small, and keep a spare agent.
Questions buyers ask
Did PandaBuy ever reopen after the 2024 raid?
Not according to our checks. Shanghai police raided it in April 2024, our status label has been Closed since, and on 12 October 2026 its domain was behind a Cloudflare block rather than a working shop. Trustpilot showed a 2.6 score from 514 reviews on an unclaimed profile on 5 October. Claims of a return deserve evidence, not screenshots.
How do I tell a PandaBuy clone from the real thing?
There is no real thing to compare it with, which is the point. Treat any site using the name as a new, unknown business. Check how long the domain has existed, whether it publishes a company name and terms, and whether it asks for payment or a login before you can read anything. If you cannot answer those, do not use it.
Are the links in my old PandaBuy sheet still usable?
Often yes, because an agent link usually wraps a marketplace listing. Take the Taobao, Weidian or 1688 address, check it still opens, and compare the price with the sheet. A sheet that predates April 2024 is more than two years old, so expect many dead listings, changed variants and prices that moved.
Can I still get money from a PandaBuy balance?
We found no published refund route, and the raid was in April 2024, so card and PayPal dispute windows may already have passed; we have not checked them for your payment. It costs little to ask your provider and to keep the receipts. Do not pay anyone offering recovery for a fee.
Is KakoBuy a like-for-like replacement?
The workflow is similar: paste a marketplace address, KakoBuy buys it, stores it for 100 days free, then you pay shipping. It states no handling fee and generally ¥8 customs declaration. The difference is verifiability: it was Open on 12 October 2026, with Trustpilot 4.2 from 321 reviews and a claimed profile.
Is it worth changing passwords tied to PandaBuy?
Yes, if you reused them. We found nothing in our notes about what the raid exposed, so the safe assumption is only about reuse: a password you gave a closed service and also use on email or another agent is worth replacing. Spend the ten minutes now rather than after a surprise login alert.