The 2026 delay rows, read cell by cell
Only the delay columns of iTaoBuy’s April 2026 compensation table, quoted as written, with the two cells that do not read cleanly and the estimator’s own figures beside them.
Which parcels the 2026 table covers
The table sits in a help page titled “Standard for Parcel After-Sales Compensation”, created and last updated on 15 April 2026. Its opening lines draw the boundary by shipping date:
For parcels shipped on or after April 1, 2026: The New Compensation Scheme (see table below) will apply. For parcels shipped before April 1, 2026: The Original Compensation Scheme will continue to apply and will not be affected by this announcement.
So the first thing to check is the shipping date on the package page, not the order date and not the delivery date. A parcel ordered in March and shipped on 2 April is under the new table.
The delay column without Worry-Free Shipping
Without Worry-Free, the delay column has only coupon lines. For dedicated routes, express routes and the postal EMS, ETK and EMS-T routes, one merged cell covers all three groups:
If a package takes more than 25 days to arrive, we will provide a shipping discount coupon: If the billable weight of the package is 3 kg or less, you will receive a shipping discount coupon for a flat 30 CNY off; If the billable weight of the package exceeds 3 kg, you will receive a shipping discount coupon for a flat 50 CNY off.
Land and sea routes get the same coupon, but only past 50 days. Nothing in this column pays cash, and nothing pays a percentage of the fee. The coupon is a discount on a later shipment, which only has value if you ship with iTaoBuy again.
The coupon wording is precise about weight: it is the billable weight that decides 30 or 50, not the scale reading. On most dedicated routes billable weight is the greater of the actual weight and length × width × height ÷ 8000, so a light but bulky parcel can land in the 50 tier.
One merged cell also means one rule for three very different kinds of route: a dedicated line through a partner carrier, a Hong Kong express service and a China Post EMS service all reach the same coupon at the same day. Only land and sea routes, and the postal small parcel routes, are treated differently in this column.
The delay column with Worry-Free Shipping
Worry-Free parcels keep the same coupon lines and gain a second line in each box of the column. For dedicated routes:
If the delivery time exceeds 45 days, 20% of the actual shipping cost will be reimbursed.
For express routes and EMS, ETK and EMS-T the second line reads 30 days instead of 45. The coupon line in these cells is worded as a “compensation voucher” for a “CNY 30 discount with no minimum spend” (CNY 50 over 3 kg).
The table lists the coupon and the 20% in the same cell without saying whether one replaces the other. Ask when you file rather than assume both.
Two cells that do not read cleanly
The table image is 1,683 by 1,000 pixels, and the last row is cut off at the bottom. In the Worry-Free delay cell for land and sea routes, the coupon text is complete, then a second line begins: “If the delivery time exceeds”. The number and the rest of the sentence are below the edge of the image. We have not seen that figure anywhere else in the help pages.
The second oddity is in the no-cover column. The land and sea delay cell is drawn down across the postal small and large parcel row as well; there is no line under it. On that same row, the loss and missing-item cells say “No claim, no payout”, the Worry-Free cells hold a dash, and the estimator’s own description of HZ-EUB says compensation for “loss/delay/damage” is unavailable. We read the postal row as having no delay payout, and say so as our reading.
The estimator carries its own day counts
Every route in iTaoBuy’s freight estimator that offers Worry-Free returns a cover record with a field called invalidDays and a short text. On 16 October 2026 there were three versions:
The first two match the table. The third does not appear in the table at all, and it sits on the one line of the table that is cut off. None of the three mentions the 25-day coupon.
The field name suggests a validity limit, and the text beside it reads like a waiting period: both say a claim opens the day after the number. Where the estimator and the table agree, that is a useful cross-check. Where they disagree, as on the sea line, neither text explains which one governs, so the checker shows both.
| Cover type in the estimator | invalidDays | Text, abridged | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated route | 45 | “You need 46 days after the parcel is sent out before you can apply” | 3% |
| Express and EMS/ETK | 30 | “can be applied after 31 days of the parcel is dispatched” | 3% |
| Sea and rail (EMS - Sea Line) | 100 | “needs to be applied 101 days after the parcel is sent out” | 5% |
A second definition of late in the claims rules
The claims rules page, published the same day as the table, opens its delay section with a different test:
If the actual delivery time of the package exceeds the specified time frame for the route (calculated from the shipment date), you may apply for delay compensation.
“The specified time frame for the route” is not defined there. It could mean the estimator’s quoted window, the help centre’s 2025 transit table or the table’s fixed day counts. The policy notice of the same week adds a 25-calendar-day figure “for selected routes”, and the table puts numbers on every class. This site uses the table’s numbers and shows the estimator window only for comparison.
The 25-day line existed before the new table
On 18 March 2026, before the new table took effect, iTaoBuy apologised for February parcels delayed by flight cancellations during the Spring Festival holiday, “with a few orders taking more than 25 days to arrive”. Its offer: contact customer service once the parcel is delivered and, after checking, receive “a special coupon that can be used to offset the corresponding shipping cost on your next shipment”.
That notice did not state an amount. It shows the same 25-day mark and the same coupon form in use a month before the table formalised them, and it is the one case in the notice list where iTaoBuy paid out for an event it also described as “uncontrollable”. The delay notices page has the full text in context.