The card was right on the day somebody saved it
Product cards do not rot in any visible way. The photograph stays sharp while the seller behind it changes the price, runs out, or closes.
Everything on this page is about the seller side of an order. What the order itself is doing is on the statuses page.
In this guide
Stock that is displayed, and stock that exists
The single most common failure is not a broken address. It is an address that works perfectly and leads to something the seller no longer has.
PonyBuy explains it without any spin: some sellers rarely update their store, so the page can show a healthy quantity while the seller tells the purchaser there is none. Its conclusion is the one to remember, because it is also a statement about who you should believe: the real inventory is what PonyBuy learns after contacting the seller, not what the listing displays.
The same article has a second, quieter consequence. Buying several things from one seller and checking them out in a single order means the Chinese domestic delivery is charged once. Buying the same things from four sellers means four of those. PonyBuy also warns that pushing the quantity from a single seller far enough to make the package overweight brings the purchasers back to you for a delivery balance, so the saving has a ceiling.
What can still be changed, and when it stops being possible
Everything here hangs on one line that PonyBuy draws: has the seller dispatched yet. Before that line, changes are a conversation. After it, they are a return.
Before the purchaser has bought
The remark box on the order is the channel. Anything you want asked of the seller has to be there, because the purchaser reads the order and not your inbox.
Bought, seller has not dispatched
PonyBuy says it will negotiate the modification with the seller. It does not promise the seller agrees, but this is the window where agreement is possible at all.
Seller has dispatched
The change stops being negotiable. PonyBuy states it cannot modify at this stage.
You still want the other version
Request the return service once the item reaches the warehouse, then submit a fresh order for the version you wanted. PonyBuy is explicit that the delivery cost of sending the first item back is yours.
You paid for several orders at once
Cancelling any one of them during verification cancels and refunds the entire transaction, and the orders you kept have to be paid for again.
Four things that look identical from outside
A card that leads nowhere useful can mean four different things, and the right response is different in each case. The symptom is what you see on the seller page or in the order.
| What you see | What it usually is | What is worth doing |
|---|---|---|
| The address loads, the item is gone from the page | The seller pulled the listing or replaced it | Search the catalogue for the same item under another seller |
| The address loads and looks normal, PonyBuy says out of stock | The store was never updated | Believe PonyBuy, it asked. Pick a different seller rather than waiting |
| The listing is there but the variant you want is not selectable | The seller dropped that colour or size | Decide before paying. After dispatch this becomes a return |
| The order was bought and then went quiet | Usually the seller has not dispatched yet | PonyBuy says it starts chasing on the fourth day. Statuses and timing covers the waiting |
None of these needs a complaint. Three of them need a different seller, and one of them needs patience.
The three things PonyBuy asks first timers to read
PonyBuy puts a short article in front of new users, and it is the most useful thing in its help centre precisely because it is the least promotional. Two of its three sections are worth quoting in shape if not in full.
The shopping procedure section says the service is two steps and two payments, and recommends estimating the international shipping before you place the order rather than after. It also states the storage window at the warehouse in days, which is what makes consolidating several purchases into one parcel possible at all.
The logistics risks section is the one people skip. It sets out where the risk sits once the parcel leaves, and it is not with the browsing wall and not, after a point, with PonyBuy either. The wording matters more than any summary of it, so read the original before the first order rather than after a bad one.
The third section is a disclaimer about third party platforms, quality and copyright. It is worth knowing it exists.
Four questions about links that have gone stale
More of these, including what the abbreviations mean, are on the questions page.
The page still loads and the seller still lists it. Why is it out of stock?
Because a listing that is still up is not the same as a shelf that is still full. PonyBuy says plainly that some sellers rarely update their store, so a page can advertise plenty while the seller tells the purchaser there is none. The stock figure that counts is the one PonyBuy gets by asking.
Can I swap a colour after I have paid?
Only while the seller still has the parcel. PonyBuy says it will negotiate a change before the seller dispatches, and that once dispatch has happened it cannot. After that the route is a return once the item reaches the warehouse, a fresh order for the version you wanted, and the return leg paid by you.
I paid for five orders together and want to drop one.
Read the rule before you click anything. Cancelling one order inside a combined transaction during the verification period cancels and refunds the whole transaction, and you then pay again for the four you still want. It is recoverable, but it is not one click.
Is a dead link worth reporting to anyone?
Not to a browsing wall, which has no account and no inbox. To PonyBuy it matters only inside an order. If you have not ordered yet, the useful move is to find the same item under a different seller and compare what the two listings claim.