Reading, not typing
The words on your own order are in the seller Chinese
Look at a PonyBuy order confirmation. Under the English product title there is a small grey line, and on the one we captured it read 尺码:XL;颜色分类:Red. That is your selection, stored the way the seller wrote it.
This page is deliberately not a list of words to type into a search box. It is the shorter and more useful list: the words you will read on your own order, in titles, and in the notes sellers attach to everything they sell. Twenty seven of them cover almost every case.
Where that line sits
It is directly under the product title in the Confirm Product Information block, next to the Remark column with its pencil icon. Reading it takes five seconds and it is the last free checkpoint before you pay.
On your own order
These are the field names PonyBuy stores your choice under. You will meet them on the order confirmation page whether or not you read Chinese.
| Chinese | What it says | Where you meet it | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 尺码 | size | The grey line under the product title on the order confirmation | The size you clicked. If this does not match the size button you meant to press, fix it before paying rather than in a message afterwards. |
| 颜色分类 | colour classification | The same grey line, right after the size | The colour swatch you clicked, written in the seller own words. A swatch named in Chinese here is normal; a swatch named after a different item is a sign you clicked the wrong thumbnail. |
| 规格 | specification | Used instead of size or colour on many non clothing items | Sellers of non-clothing items often put everything into one specification field, so read it as the whole variant rather than one attribute. |
| 备注 | remark | The Remark column on the order confirmation, behind the pencil icon | Anything you typed for this one item. It is per item, not per order, so a note about shoes does not travel to the jacket in the same cart. |
| 数量 | quantity | The quantity box on the listing and the quantity on your order line | How many of the same variant. Several identical items in one parcel is one of the things customs looks at. |
| 实付 | actually paid | Next to the amount on the checkout page | What leaves your account at that step, after handling fees. It is not the total cost of the order, because international shipping is charged later. |
Why this line is worth five seconds
Everything upstream of it can be misread. The thumbnail can be ambiguous, the translated title can be nonsense, and the size button can be the one your thumb hit rather than the one you meant.
This line is downstream of all of that. It is what will be bought. If it does not match your intention, the fix at this point is free, and twenty minutes later it is a message, a wait and possibly a restocking argument.
You do not need to read Chinese to use it. You need to recognise two or three characters and compare them against what you clicked.
In titles and option names
Words that change what you are buying rather than describing it. Two variants of one item often differ by exactly one of these.
| Chinese | What it says | Where you meet it | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 现货 | in stock, ships now | In the product title, or in an option name | The seller claims this variant is on the shelf. It is the good case: no waiting for a production run. |
| 预售 | pre-order | Titles and option names, sometimes on only a few of the colours | This variant is made after you order. It can add weeks before the item even reaches the warehouse, and the wait is not the agent fault. |
| 定制 | made to order | In the title, or in what the seller asks you to write in a remark | Built for you, which usually means no returns and a longer wait. Worth a message before you buy rather than a complaint after. |
| 断码 | sizes sold out | In the title or in a seller announcement | Some sizes have gone. The listing may still show them as buttons, so the stock number matters more than the button. |
| 均码 | one size | Option names, especially accessories and loose fitting clothes | There is no size choice. If you are at either end of the range, the measurements question becomes more important, not less. |
| 男款 | men cut | Titles and option names | Chinese listings split men and women far more strictly than western shops do. The same picture can appear under both. |
| 女款 | women cut | Titles and option names | Same as above, and the sizing scale changes with it, not just the shape. |
| 童款 | kids cut | Titles and option names | Worth checking when a price looks impossibly low for that item. |
| 加绒 | fleece lined | Option names on winter clothing | Two variants of the same jacket can differ only by this word, and the photos are often identical. |
| 同款 | same style as | In the title, usually after a brand or a celebrity name | A signal that the seller is describing a resemblance, not an origin. Read it as the seller own claim. |
| 高版本 | higher version | In the title or in an option name | The seller says this is the better production run. Nobody outside that workshop can verify it, so treat it as a price tier, not a fact. |
Which of these you have to read, and which you can skip
Twenty seven words is not a vocabulary course. Only the first group is compulsory.
Read every time
- The option line on the order confirmation
- The option name of the variant you are about to buy
- Anything in red or in a coloured box next to the price
- The word for pre-order, because it costs you weeks
Safe to skip unless something is odd
- Standing disclaimers about screen colour
- Marketing words in the title
- Shop policies that the agent after sales sits on top of
- Anything in the seller shop announcement banner
In what the seller wrote
Standing disclaimers and hedges. Knowing them tells you which risks the seller has already handed to you.
| Chinese | What it says | Where you meet it | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 实拍 | photographed in person | A corner label on a photograph, or in the description text | The seller says this photo is of the actual goods rather than a catalogue image. It is a claim, but a listing with none of these is worth more caution. |
| 色差 | colour difference | In the description of almost every clothing listing | A standing disclaimer that screens differ. It is also the exact case where a reference picture in Image Memo beats a colour name. |
| 轻微 | slight | Usually next to a colour difference or a flaw | The hedge word. When it appears next to a defect, the seller is pre-agreeing that a small version of that defect is not a fault. |
| 包邮 | domestic postage included | In the title or beside the price | Free delivery inside China to the warehouse. It says nothing at all about the international leg, which is priced separately. |
| 运费 | freight | In the price area, and on the Freight to the Warehouse line of your order | Domestic freight from seller to warehouse. On the order page we screenshotted this line was zero, which is common but not guaranteed. |
| 补差价 | pay the difference | In a seller message or a customer service message | The seller wants more money than the listing showed. Sometimes legitimate, often a sign the listed price was bait. You can decline. |
| 缺货 | out of stock | In a seller reply | The exact case your message should have covered in advance: say what to do if the variant is gone. |
| 发货 | dispatch | In the order status and in seller promises | The seller sending it to the warehouse, not to you. The two are weeks apart. |
| 不退不换 | no returns or exchanges | At the end of the product description | Set by the seller, and it sits underneath whatever the agent after sales policy says. Read it before you decide the risk is small. |
| 参考 | for reference | Next to a size chart, a weight, or a colour note | The seller telling you the numbers are indicative. A size chart carrying this word is not a measurement. |
Three habits that make this page unnecessary
The words above are a safety net. These three make you need it less.
Copy the option name into a translator
Two taps. Colour names in particular are frequently invented by the seller and mean nothing until translated.
Compare the order line to your intention
Not to the listing. To what you actually wanted. They are different checks and only the second one catches a misclick.
Write the request in English anyway
The buyer reads English. Keeping your note in plain English with the key sentence first is better than attempting Chinese you cannot check.
Machine translate your whole message into Chinese
You cannot proofread the result. A wrong word in a request you cannot read is worse than a plain English sentence, because you will not spot the mistake in the reply either.
Questions about the language side
Is the site itself in English?
Yes, with a currency switch next to it. What stays in Chinese is the text sellers wrote: option names, some photographs, and the line on your order.
Should I write my message in Chinese?
No. Write it in English. The person reading it works for the agent, not for the seller, and they are the one who talks to the seller.
What if I cannot type Chinese characters at all?
You never have to. Everything on this page is for recognising, not producing. Copy and paste covers the rest.