Turn-back refund ledger for an ACBuy parcel stopped before the flight
Pick the screen you are looking at, tick what the parcel cost and see which money ACBuy says comes back to the wallet and which it has never mentioned.
Turn-back refund ledger
Choose the situation that matches your screen, tick what you paid and type the amounts from your quote or order history. Every line is marked against what ACBuy has written, with the sentence and a link to the article underneath. Amounts are in CNY because that is what the wallet holds.
Reading the ledger without reading too much into it
This is how to use the tool: start with the screen, not with the money. The same 20 CNY means different things before you pay, while a parcel is with the carrier, and after it is back. If you pick “No route can be picked”, most charges show as not charged yet, because shipping is paid at submission. If you pick the tracking return, the freight shows as depending on the retry: ACBuy says most returned parcels try customs again, and only a parcel that ends up back at the warehouse is refunded.
Then tick only what this parcel cost. Detail photos and rehearsals were paid for items, not for the parcel, so include them only if they were bought for the goods now inside it. Coupon face value is shown as a discount and excluded from cash totals. The three totals are a reading aid, not a claim form: the green total is what ACBuy has put in writing, the hatched total is what you should ask about, and the third box collects lines that were never charged or are still waiting.
Where each verdict in the ledger comes from
The ledger applies the documented rule to the selected stage. Each verdict in the table below is drawn from the same data the tool uses, and the written table provides a fallback if the tool is unavailable. The documents behind them are Domestic Parcel Return in China, Whether and why my parcel was returned by China customs?, AC Care Service Instruction, Shipping Coupons, Warehouse Value-Added Services, Rehearsal service and How to submit a parcel, all read in English on 16 October 2026.
| Charge | No route offered | Returned at exchange office | Back in warehouse | Support told you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International shipping fee for this parcel | Not charged yet | Depends on the retry | Written: back to wallet | Depends on the retry |
| Customs and Declaration Fee | Not charged yet | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Warehouse Packing Fee | Not charged yet | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| AC Care fee | Not charged yet | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Rehearsal (package preview) | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Detail photos or detail video | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Shipping coupon used on this parcel | Not charged yet | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Item prices and domestic shipping | Goods restocked | Depends on the retry | Goods restocked | Depends on the retry |
“Written: back to wallet” appears only for the shipping fee and only once the parcel is at the warehouse, because that is the only refund either return article describes.
Why most lines stay hatched grey
It is tempting to fill the gaps with common sense. Surely the packing fee comes back with the freight; surely a coupon is restored. Perhaps it does. But the quote in ACBuy's estimator lists the shipping as separate items: a freight line, a Customs and Declaration Fee, and a Warehouse Packing Fee. Both return articles talk about “the shipping cost” or “the shipping fee” without saying which of those lines they mean.
The AC Care article is the clearest example of a gap that looks like an answer. It says fees are refunded if you cancel before the parcel leaves the warehouse, that cover cannot be cancelled separately once the parcel ships, and that international parcel returns do not refund it. A parcel stopped by Chinese customs did leave the warehouse, so cancellation is past, but it never became an international return in the usual sense. Rather than pick a reading, the ledger shows both sentences and leaves the line grey.
A worked example, line by line
Take the parcel from the front page: 1 kg of clothing to the United Kingdom on Royal Mail Duty Free EC-M. On 16 October 2026 the estimator priced it at 132 CNY: 104 CNY freight, a 20 CNY Customs and Declaration Fee and an 8 CNY Warehouse Packing Fee. The buyer added AC Care at 20 CNY, the flat rate for an insured value up to 667 CNY, had asked for four detail photos at 2 CNY each and a rehearsal at 20 CNY.
If the parcel is turned back at a Guangzhou exchange office and reaches the warehouse again, the ledger puts 104 CNY in the written column and 76 CNY in the not-stated column. The goods themselves, and whatever was paid for them, stay as goods on the shelf. That 76 CNY is not a loss; it is a question. Ask it before you resubmit, because after a new payment the answer is harder to untangle.
What the ledger does not decide
It does not tell you whether a label can be lifted, whether a route will accept an item, or how to describe goods on a declaration. ACBuy handles the first two through customer service and the third is yours to do truthfully. It also does not chase money for you: the ledger tells you which lines to ask about and quotes what ACBuy has said, and the asking is up to you.
Why does the ledger not include the item price?
You can tick it, and it will show as goods restocked. ACBuy's articles describe the items going back on the shelf, not a refund of what you paid the seller.
The tool says “Depends on the retry”. What should I do?
Wait. ACBuy says most returned parcels attempt to clear customs again. If it clears, the parcel flies; if it fails repeatedly, it comes back and the refund described in the article applies.
Does the ledger cover a parcel returned by customs in my own country?
No. ACBuy writes that if the destination country's customs returns a parcel and no shipping insurance was bought, the shipping cost cannot be compensated. That is a separate set of rules from the ones here.
