DHgate ships to you, so LitBuy is not the route
DHgate is an online marketplace where sellers list goods and send them abroad themselves. That is the opposite of how LitBuy works. LitBuy buys from Chinese domestic marketplaces on your behalf, stores items in its Xiamen warehouse and sends one combined parcel; it states that it cannot purchase from cross-border shopping platforms. A DHgate link therefore has no LitBuy code and no Fill & Buy detour that makes sense. You order on DHgate, pay DHgate, and a parcel arrives from the seller.
That changes what a "spreadsheet" is for. A LitBuy sheet exists to turn a marketplace item into a LitBuy row and a shared parcel. A DHgate sheet only needs to tell you which listing to open and what you paid. If the same product also appears on Taobao or Weidian, those links do enter LitBuy; see the Taobao page for the format.
Be wary of sheets that show a DHgate item beside a LitBuy link as if they were the same row. A matching photo does not make two listings the same product, and LitBuy cannot buy the DHgate one. If you want to test a twin, open the Taobao or Weidian listing in LitBuy and compare price, stock and weight yourself before you drop the DHgate order.
DHgate rows are bought on DHgate; only a Taobao or Weidian twin can go into LitBuy.
The biggest marketplace search, and what it tells you
In the keyword file we use, "DHgate spreadsheet" has about 17,300 global monthly searches. That is more than five times any other marketplace term in the file. We do not know who types it or why, so treat the figure as interest, not purchases.
| Platform | Searches | Reaches LitBuy as |
|---|---|---|
| DHgate | 17,300 | Not at all: buy direct |
| Hacoo | 3,200 | Not at all: app-only retailer |
| Taobao | 3,200 | Code 1 |
| AliExpress | 1,000 | Not at all: buy direct |
| Weidian | 650 | Code 2 |
| Yupoo | 270 | Shop behind it, or Fill & Buy |
| 1688 | 160 | Code 0 |
The pattern is plain: the platforms that need no agent draw the most searches. Our marketplace hub sorts all of them by route.
That also explains why so many DHgate sheets are short: a buyer who can click through to a checkout has little reason to maintain a conversion column. The sheet that helps is the one that records delivered cost and delivery dates, so you can judge the seller after the fact.
Search interest follows convenience, not the cheapest route.
What a DHgate spreadsheet usually contains
Most files carrying the name are finds lists, with seller names, item links and a price column, or personal trackers for orders. The best of them record a shipping cost, which is the number that decides whether a cheap item is cheap. If you keep your own sheet, these ten columns answer the questions that matter:
- listing link and seller name
- item price and quantity
- shipping cost and method as shown at checkout
- order date and expected delivery window
- tracking number
- returns note: what the seller or platform offers, and until when
Our LitBuy spreadsheet template shows the same structure with weights and a landed-cost formula; delete the LitBuy-specific columns for a retailer sheet.
A retailer sheet earns its keep by recording delivered cost, not item price.
Direct or a shared LitBuy parcel: what can be compared
We have no DHgate shipping prices, so we compare only what is sourced. The item price below is hypothetical: four items at €14 each, assumed 0.25 kg each, 1 kg in total. If they were Chinese-only listings bought through LitBuy, the freight is real: LitBuy's estimator gave €24.12 ($27.10) as the cost of a 1,000 g parcel to Germany via LIT-Economy-DHL-DE (19 October 2026 reading), and parcels submitted after 25 October 2026 add a €2 handling fee.
Four hypothetical €14 items, 1 kg, shared parcel to Germany
Four items at €14 each (hypothetical)€56.00
1 kg quote, LIT-Economy-DHL-DE, list price€24.12 ($27.10)
EU per-parcel handling fee, 25 October 2026 onward€2.00
Shared freight and fee per item€6.53
Total, before coupons€82.12
The €6.53 per item is the number to hold against DHgate's checkout: if the retailer's delivered shipping per item is higher, a shared parcel would win on freight, provided the items could be bought through LitBuy at all; if it is lower, buying direct wins. German VAT of 19% on €56 of goods would be €10.64, which a direct checkout may already include. Read the LitBuy shipping cost page for the quotes at other weights.
| Direct on DHgate | LitBuy parcel | |
|---|---|---|
| Possible for DHgate rows | Yes | No |
| Shipping price | Shown at DHgate's checkout; not read by us | €24.12 for 1 kg to Germany, list |
| Parcels for four sellers | Often one per seller | One combined parcel |
| Photos before dispatch | Seller's decision | 3–6 routine photos per item |
| VAT and duty | Check checkout and invoice | Paid by LitBuy on tax-free lines |
Hold €6.53 per item against DHgate's delivered shipping and let the lower figure win.
Taxes and customs for a direct order to Germany
The border does not care which route a parcel took. Germany applies 19% import VAT from the first euro, and since 1 July 2026 a temporary flat €3 customs duty applies per tariff category for consignments using IOSS worth up to €150. Four items in four categories would face €12 under that rule, while LitBuy's own tax-free EU lines charge a flat €3 per parcel regardless. On a direct order, check what the retailer collects at checkout and what the carrier asks at the door.
Customs can also detain goods it suspects of infringing a trademark, under EU Regulation 608/2013, and rights holders can request destruction; this applies to any parcel from any seller. If German customs holds a parcel you get a notice, the Benachrichtigung, asking you to present documents or collect it. Keep the invoice. Our customs page explains the process.
Duty and VAT rules are the same for direct and agent parcels; only the payer changes.
When an agent still matters
Two situations bring a LitBuy parcel back into play. The first is a Chinese-only seller on Taobao, Weidian or 1688 that does not ship abroad. The second is a sheet that mixes retailer rows with agent rows, where you want the agent items consolidated into one parcel. For the first, read the Weidian page and use the link converter. For the second, remember that LitBuy's rehearsal parcel, a fixed ¥20, tells you the packed weight before you pay for shipping. For other agents and their status, see the agent hub.
Keep retailer rows and agent rows in separate columns so each gets the right comparison.
DHgate questions from LitBuy buyers
Can I paste a DHgate link into LitBuy?
No. LitBuy's how-to guide says it cannot purchase items from cross-border shopping platforms, and DHgate is a retailer that already ships to Germany, France, the US and the UK itself. Order on DHgate directly. If a product also exists on Taobao or Weidian, the Taobao or Weidian link goes into LitBuy as code 1 or 2.
Why is DHgate spreadsheet searched so much more than Taobao spreadsheet?
Our keyword file shows about 17,300 global monthly searches for DHgate spreadsheet, against 3,200 for Taobao and 650 for Weidian. A DHgate shopper can order without an agent, so more people look for a finds list and fewer need a link converter. We cannot say who the searchers are; the file gives volumes, not intent.
What columns should a DHgate sheet have?
Item link, seller name, item price, quantity, the shipping cost shown at checkout, shipping method, order date, expected delivery window, tracking number and notes for returns. These ten columns answer what a retailer sheet must answer: what you paid, when it should arrive and what to do if it does not. Our template page shows the same idea for LitBuy rows.
Is a LitBuy parcel cheaper than DHgate shipping?
We cannot say, because we did not read DHgate's shipping prices and will not invent them. LitBuy's estimator gave €24.12 ($27.10) as the cost of a 1,000 g parcel to Germany on 19 October 2026, plus a €2 fee after 25 October. Compare that with the delivered price at DHgate's own checkout for the same weight, per parcel and per item.
Will customs treat a direct DHgate parcel differently from a LitBuy one?
The EU rules are the same for both: import VAT in Germany is 19% and applies from the first euro; for consignments using IOSS worth up to €150, a temporary flat duty of €3 per tariff category has been charged from the start of July 2026. What differs is who pays. On LitBuy's tax-free lines LitBuy pays; on a direct order check whether the checkout already collected VAT, and keep the invoice.