A CNFans Spreadsheet glossary of agent-buying terms
The vocabulary of agent buying is small, but it is used loosely. These definitions are the ones this site uses, written for the places you will meet each word: on a catalogue card, on a listing, in the warehouse and on the way home. The last section translates the Chinese terms we actually saw on listings and shop pages on 20 October 2026.
Home / Glossary
Terms from the catalogue card
- Aisle
- A category page in the catalogue, such as trainers or denim. An aisle label is a filing decision, and cards are sometimes filed on the wrong one.
- Card
- One entry in the catalogue: a photo, a title, a price in yuan and a link to the original listing.
- Cover photo
- The image on the card. Often a grid showing several colours or styles at once, chosen to attract a click.
- Card price
- The cheapest option on the listing, as of the day the card was refreshed. A floor, not a quote.
- Item number
- The digits after
w-
in a card address: the Weidian listing number, and the most precise way to name a listing. - Badge
- The small label on our aisle cards.
Category
means the link leads to an aisle;Search results
means it runs a search.
Terms from the listing page
- Listing
- The seller's own page on the marketplace, with the full gallery, the option menu and the shop panel.
- Option menu
- The list of choices a seller offers, such as colour, size or style, sometimes numbered, sometimes coded. Each combination is one variant.
- Option code
- A seller's label for a variant, such as 7428A. Quoting the code avoids confusion when names or numbers are vague.
- Size chart
- Measurements in centimetres for each size. Read it against a garment you own; size letters alone mean little.
- Sales count
- The number of units the listing reports as sold. Low counts call for questions, not panic.
- Dispatch promise
- How quickly the shop says it ships inside China, shown in the shop panel.
- Coupon banner
- A platform promotion shown to visitors. Not part of the item price.
Warehouse and parcel vocabulary
- Warehouse
- The agent's premises in China where your items are delivered, photographed and held.
- QC photos
- Quality check photos taken when an item arrives. A record of the unit you bought, not a grade.
- Holding period
- How long the agent keeps goods before charging for storage. Set in its terms.
- Consolidation
- One parcel made up of goods from more than one seller.
- Line
- An international shipping route with its own prices, limits and refused goods.
- Volumetric weight
- The weight a carrier assigns from a parcel's dimensions. Carriers bill the larger of this and the real weight.
- Tracking number
- The reference for following a parcel. It can change when a local carrier takes over.
Chinese characters printed in listing photos
Reading Chinese is not required to buy through an agent, but a handful of words turn up again and again on listings, menus and shop panels. These are the ones we saw ourselves when opening listings logged out on 20 October 2026.
- 尺码
- size (option heading)
- 颜色
- colour (option heading)
- 款式
- style (option heading)
- 型号
- model or variant; the listing counts options this way
- 销量
- sales count
- 交易资金担保
- payment held by the platform until delivery is confirmed
- 企业店
- shop registered to a business
- 店长实名认证
- shop owner identity verified
- 回头率
- return-customer rate
- 发货
- dispatch, as in a dispatch promise
- 所在地
- location of the shop
- 购前说明
- notes to read before buying
- 立减券
- instant-discount coupon
