Oopbuy Spreadsheet restricted items and mixed boxes
Each route keeps a list of item types it will carry. In a shared box the lists intersect, so one battery or one bottle decides the route for everything else.
One restricted item restricts the whole selection
The help centre answers the question shoppers ask most often, why items in the warehouse cannot be submitted together, in two lines. First: if some items are subject to shipping restrictions, those restrictions apply when you select all items to submit together. Second: items marked individually packaged cannot ship with anything else.
The first rule is the quiet one. Nothing stops you from selecting a hoodie, a pair of earbuds and a perfume together. The route list simply shrinks to the routes that list all three types as shippable. On the US list on October 10, 2026 that was one route, DDX-HH-US-1. Send the perfume separately and the hoodie and earbuds share 10 battery-capable routes.
So the decision is never only what is cheapest for this box. It is which item, moved out, gives the rest a better route list, and whether the moved item can travel cheaply on its own.
The box split check runs this intersection and names the item to move.
Batteries: where the route list collapses
The estimator splits batteries into several types, and they behave differently. Electronics with a built-in battery or magnet, such as earbuds, speakers and smart watches, are accepted by 10 of 23 US routes, 6 of 16 UK routes and 7 of 15 German routes.
Loose batteries and power banks are much harder: 1 route in the US list, 1 in the UK and 2 in Germany. A watch with a battery inside is listed by 1, 2 and 2 routes.
The official packing advice treats this as a cost problem: routes that allow batteries are usually pricier, so keep battery items with small, light things and split parcels so you are not paying battery rates on a large box of clothes.
Perfume, small liquids and tea
Perfume under 100 ml is its own category in the estimator. On October 10, 2026 it was accepted by 2 US routes, 3 UK routes and 3 German routes. Liquid cosmetics under 10 ml matched those counts. Larger liquids and perfume over 100 ml are separate categories again, with fewer routes still.
Several route descriptions go further and ban liquids, powders and pastes outright, the low-cost US GOFO line among them. The shopping guidelines add that medicines, liquids, pastes and cosmetic powders are subject to China customs export restrictions, and ask you to contact customer service before ordering them.
Tea is listed by 1 US route, 3 UK routes and 2 German routes. Food in general sits under its own category group with similar limits.
If a box holds one bottle and ten pieces of clothing, the bottle is usually the item to ship separately.
Fragile pieces, tall figures and phones
Ceramics and other fragile items are better served: 16 US routes, 14 UK and 15 German routes list ceramics. Garage kits and figures taller than 30 cm have their own category, accepted by 21 US routes. Mobile phones are the narrow one again: 1 US route, 2 UK and 3 German.
Fragile items raise a second issue: packing. The warehouse inspection notes say fragile and easily damaged goods stay in their original boxes instead of self-sealing bags, and bubble wrap and stretch film are the budget protection in the packaging advice. Both add volume.
A tall figure in its display box is also a size question. A 35 cm box with a rigid insert may push the carton past the 35 cm height limit of the cheapest US lines.
See the size limits before you buy display pieces.
Prohibited outright: not a routing question
Some goods are not a matter of finding the right route. The shopping guidelines refuse tobacco, alcohol and contraband for shipment, and the contraband list is longer than most people expect: Swiss Army knives, full kitchen knife sets, cleavers, letter openers, garden knives, scissors and saws, seam rippers, pure fruit juice, gas lighters, wine, putty knives, Western-style cheese, mitten crabs, bamboo and wooden swords, multi-tool cards, skate blades, magnetic components, seeds and more.
Behind that sits the long statutory list: narcotics, explosives and hazardous chemicals, firearms and ammunition, medical devices, and the People's Republic of China lists of prohibited and restricted entry and exit articles.
These items should not be in your cart. If one arrives anyway, it will not leave the warehouse on any route.
Counterfeit goods are destroyed, not returned
One line in the shopping guidelines deserves its own heading. Counterfeit, shoddy and IP-infringing copycat goods are prohibited, and the platform reserves the right to destroy such goods directly in the warehouse. Shipment and refunds will not be granted.
That is stricter than a route restriction. A restricted item can still ship on the right line, or alone. A counterfeit item is not a split decision at all: it can end in the warehouse, with the money spent.
The same guidelines say obvious IP-infringing goods are handled when found during warehouse quality inspection, and that trademark owners can report listings to customer service. This guide does not list, rate or route counterfeit goods.
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