Both are shopping agents. Both buy from the same Chinese sellers, hold your items in a warehouse, photograph them and consolidate them into one parcel. Both have a link converter and English support. On paper they are close to indistinguishable, which is why most comparisons of them are padding — and why the ones that do commit to a number commit to the wrong one.
From the US or Canada, the service fee is the smallest line on the bill. Freight and the border are the two that decide whether an order was a good idea, and both of them are specific to your address.
The five things that actually differ
| What to compare | Why it decides anything | How to check it today |
|---|---|---|
| The freight quote to your address | Not 'to the US'. To your address. This is where the real money is and it moves by month and by state or province; service fees differ by a rounding error beside it. | Free accounts on both, the same realistic parcel in each, submit and read every line. Pay neither. |
| Which lines reach you at all | A cheap line you cannot use is not cheap, and line availability into Canada in particular is not the same as into the lower 48. | Count the lines on each quote list, not only the lowest price on it. |
| How the parcel is likely to clear | The line you choose decides whether an entry is filed formally, which decides whether you meet brokerage. That is a landed-cost difference, not a shipping one. | Check which carrier each line hands off to, then check that carrier's published brokerage terms for your country. |
| Clicks from a link to a cart | On one order it is a convenience. Across a year of ordering it is the thing you actually notice about an agent. | Convert the same item on both and count. That number is the whole argument. |
| Support, when something is wrong | You will care about this once, and when you do it is the only thing that matters. | Ask both the same specific pre-sales question in live chat before spending anything, and time the replies. |
The method, in about half an hour
- Register on both. Free, no card.
- Build the same realistic parcel in each — three or four items, one of them bulky.
- Submit each and read the full quote list for your own address. Do not pay.
- Add the border to each: the same duty position, but the carrier behind each line may charge different brokerage.
- Divide by the number of items. Compare those two numbers, and nothing else.
That last step is the one almost nobody does, and it is the only one that answers the question. The landed cost page walks it in full.
What does not separate them
The item, the seller, the quality, or whether anything is authentic — none of which any agent has a hand in. Both buy the exact listing you point them at, and nothing on this site is authenticated or inspected by us.
And the border does not care which agent shipped the parcel. That half is the same for both.
Questions
Which is better, USFans or Kakobuy?
Neither in general — only one of them for your address and your parcel. Both buy from the same Chinese sellers, both run a warehouse with QC photography, both convert links. The honest method is a free account on each and the same parcel quoted on both, compared landed rather than listed.
Why is there no fee comparison table?
Because it would be wrong within a season and would carry on ranking. Agents adjust service fees and renegotiate lines several times a year. Worse, a fee table compares the smallest line on the bill and ignores the two biggest, which are freight and your border.
Does it matter more which agent I use, or which line I pick?
The line, usually, and by some margin. Two agents quoting the same parcel to the same address will often differ less from each other than the cheapest and dearest line within either of them.
Can I use both?
Yes, and plenty of people do — one for heavy hauls, one for small parcels, depending on which quotes better to their address. The only thing you cannot do is split a single parcel across two warehouses, so compare before you order rather than after.
Do they have access to different items?
No. Both buy from the same Weidian, Taobao and 1688 sellers and neither has an exclusive on anything. The item is identical; the whole difference is the service around it and what it costs to land.
Are you neutral?
No, and you should assume so. This site earns a commission on USFans signups and nothing on Kakobuy. That is why every row above has a 'how to check it yourself' column — the method works whichever way the answer comes out.