Money on MambaBuy, itemised from the drill bill to the PayPal fee
The running bill from the rehearsal, taken apart. All figures carry the date we read them, because MambaBuy changed two of them in the last six weeks.
Six kinds of charge on one MambaBuy order
MambaBuy's own formula is short: total cost equals item cost plus international shipping plus duty, where item cost includes the seller's delivery to the warehouse. Optional services sit on top. In practice a first parcel has six kinds of charge, and only two of them are large.
| Charge | What it costs | When it is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Goods and seller delivery | The marketplace price in CNY | Scene four, at checkout |
| Purchasing service fee | CNY 0 on website orders; 3% or 1.5% on manual orders since 15 October 2026 | With the goods |
| QC photos | 3 standard photos free; detailed photos CNY 2 each | When you request them |
| Storage | Free for 90 days from Stored; extension RMB 10 per order per 30 days | If you exceed 90 days |
| International freight | Line price on the billed weight | Scene eight |
| Protection and extras | CNY 35 / 70 / 2% protection; packing extras CNY 3 to 35 | With the freight |
Yuan first: how MambaBuy converts your money
Yuan is the working currency on MambaBuy; your own currency is only a display. On 21 October 2026 a yuan was shown as US$0.1618, EUR 0.1440 or GBP 0.1213. Card and PayPal payments are converted by the payment provider; bank transfers arrive as euros or dollars and MambaBuy converts them to yuan at its own rate when they land.
The practical lesson is to compare totals in yuan. A CNY 155 freight bill is CNY 155 whatever the display currency says; the conversion only changes what your bank shows. If you top up by transfer, send a little more than the yuan total so a small rate move does not leave you short at checkout.
| Currency | 1 CNY equals | CNY 100 is about |
|---|---|---|
| US dollar | 0.1618 | US$16.18 |
| Euro | 0.1440 | EUR 14.40 |
| Pound sterling | 0.1213 | GBP 12.13 |
Payment methods: three official answers
MambaBuy's pages disagree, and we would rather show that than pick one. Help article 7045 names only PayPal and Alipay, with a screenshot sent afterwards for staff to match the payment. Article 6479, on topping up, lists bank transfer (no MambaBuy fee, 1 to 3 business days), credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, Discover; 5% + $0.30) and PayPal (3.7% + $0.30). The 8 September 2026 notice restoring Alipay lists Alipay, PayPal and account balance. The checkout screenshots add a fourth view: in June 2025 PayPal was shown as 3.7% + CNY 1.00 and in September 2025 as 3.7% + CNY 6.00.
For planning we use the top-up article's figures, which are the highest, and count the fixed part once per payment. Two PayPal payments on our drill cost CNY 20.95 in fees, which is 4.3% of the bill.
Paid extras, priced, and the two free ones
| Service | Price | Worth it when |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed photo | CNY 2 per photo | A seam, print or measurement matters |
| Product video, 20 to 30 seconds | CNY 15 per item | Colour or fit is hard to judge from stills |
| Whole-process packing video | CNY 35 per parcel | Expensive or fragile contents |
| Package preview (trial packing) | CNY 18 per shipment, +1 per item over 20 | You want the weight before choosing a line |
| Carton corner protectors | CNY 15 per package | Boxed items that dent |
| Shoe trees | CNY 8 each | Leather shoes or boots |
| Collapsible shoe box | CNY 3 each | Keeping a box but cutting volume |
| Remove original packaging | Free | Most shoe parcels |
| Luggage space optimisation | Free | You bought a suitcase |
Folding a shoe box creases it, and MambaBuy's note says folded items lose after-sales eligibility, so fold only what you are sure of.
The full drill bill again
Sample bill: UK parcel, every line
- Goods: a washed hoodie, a beanie and a canvas tote (sample prices)CNY 260.00
- Seller delivery to the MambaBuy warehouseCNY 12.00
- MambaBuy service fee on a website orderCNY 0.00
- Three standard QC photos per itemCNY 0.00
- Two detailed photos of the hoodie cuffs and printCNY 4.00
- Storage: shipped on day 21 of the free 90CNY 0.00
- RM01 to the UK, 1.6 kg box billed as 2.0 kgCNY 155.00
- Basic Shipping Protection (goods under CNY 3,000)CNY 35.00
- PayPal top-up fees, two paymentsCNY 20.95
- Paper total for the drillCNY 486.95
Converted at MambaBuy's 21 October 2026 display rates: about US$78.79, EUR 70.12 or GBP 59.07. The RM01 price comes from MambaBuy's line data read that day; the goods prices are made up for the drill.
Swap in your own numbers with the rehearsal calculator; it follows the same rules, including one fixed PayPal or card fee per payment.