What you can’t ship from China: batteries, liquids and more
Batteries, perfume and knives get flagged. Here’s why, how to check before you buy and what happens if you ship one.
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What you can’t ship from China depends on your shipping line (the delivery route you pick at your agent) and your country, but the same items cause trouble again and again: batteries and power banks, liquids, perfume, powders, magnets, knives, food, medicine, plants, seeds and anything flammable. Agents flag them at the warehouse, lines refuse them, and security checks send them back.
Check before you buy: one flagged item can limit the lines for your whole parcel.
What you can’t ship from China
Based on Superbuy’s list of items commonly sent back by security checks or customs, plus its mailing rules (checked October 2026):
- Electronics with batteries or motors: electronic devices, electrical products and electric toys.
- Power banks and loose batteries: Superbuy treats them as their own restriction types, separate from built in batteries.
- Liquids and sprays: lotions, toners, makeup remover, nail gel, even ballpoint pens.
- Perfume, nail polish and aerosols: including deodorant and hairspray.
- Powders and pastes: powder makeup, eye shadow, lipstick, mascara, soap and creams.
- Magnets: car phone holders, fridge magnets, compasses.
- Knives and weapons: including toys shaped like knives, swords or guns.
- Food, plants and wood: tea, instant noodles, plants, seeds, bamboo and wooden products.
- Medicine: all medicines and medical devices.
- Flammable items: candles, incense, dried flowers.
- Cigarettes, alcohol and drugs: Superbuy doesn’t accept them for shipping.
Why lines refuse them
It’s about safety on the plane and the law where your parcel lands. Most agent lines go by air. IATA, the airline industry body, calls batteries dangerous goods and says battery shipments pose potential risks to aircraft, passengers and crew. FedEx lists perfume, nail polish, aerosol sprays and lithium batteries, loose or inside devices, as dangerous goods.
Strong magnets can cause wrong compass readings on aircraft, so USPS limits them in mail. And Superbuy says air rules need proof that food, liquids, powders and gels aren’t dangerous goods, and it suggests not shipping them in quantity.
Every line has its own list
No single list covers every line. Superbuy’s Mailing Restrictions Enquiry lets you pick your country and a restriction, like built in battery, power bank, perfume, knife or a liquid by volume, and shows available and unavailable lines. Superbuy calls the result a reference only: its warehouse check decides, and carriers change line restrictions in real time to follow customs and airline rules.
Restrictions are also set on your actual items. Superbuy marks restricted items in your warehouse with a prohibited icon, and other items you submit in the same parcel can end up restricted too.
Your country’s rules come on top
A line that takes an item doesn’t mean your country lets it in. Customs checks parcels for banned and restricted goods, and the lists differ. Examples, checked October 2026:
- UK: GOV.UK bans offensive weapons like flick knives, self defence sprays like pepper spray, and personal imports of meat and dairy from most non EU countries.
- Canada: the border agency (CBSA) counts switchblades, gravity knives, brass knuckles and pepper spray as prohibited weapons, and replica guns as prohibited devices.
- US: most plants and seeds for planting need a permit, and you’re responsible as the importer (USDA APHIS).
- EU: customs enforces prohibitions and restrictions for reasons like public security, health, animals and plants, and intellectual property.
- Australia: the Australian Border Force can seize prohibited goods imported without the required permission.
Items with fake logos are prohibited imports too: they’re trademark infringement and customs can seize them (more in customs and taxes).
What happens if you ship one anyway
Superbuy’s own rules spell it out:
- At the warehouse: Superbuy’s user agreement, dated September 2019 and still on its site, says goods containing “essential oil, care solution, lubricant, battery and glue may be taken out” so your parcel can ship.
- Failed security check in China: the parcel comes back and the shipping fee goes back to your balance, but any return cost the carrier charges is yours.
- Confiscated or destroyed: no shipping refund and no compensation for the goods.
- Sent back from abroad: usually 1 to 3 months, no refund of the international shipping, and you pay again to reship.
Customs at home can seize the item, and in the UK you can also be fined or prosecuted. Insurance won’t save it: both agents’ insurance terms exclude prohibited or restricted items that authorities confiscate.
Quick check before you buy
- Does it contain a battery, magnet, liquid, powder or blade, or could it burn?
- Look it up in your agent’s restriction tool or the line details for your country.
- Check your country’s customs rules for that item.
- If no line takes it, skip it or buy it locally.
- Item flagged after it arrived? Ask your agent’s support what the restriction is before you pay for shipping.
Then compare the lines that take your parcel with shipping lines explained. Our shipping estimator gives prices by weight, but it can’t tell you whether a line takes restricted items.
Questions?
Can you ship batteries from China?
Only on lines that accept them. Superbuy treats built in batteries, loose batteries and power banks as separate restriction types, so check which lines take yours before you buy.
Can I ship perfume from China?
Often not. Carriers like FedEx class perfume as dangerous goods, and Superbuy lists it as its own restriction type, so check the lines for your country first.
What are Superbuy prohibited items?
Items Superbuy marks with a prohibited icon in your warehouse because of mail restrictions. Batteries, liquids, powders, magnets, knives, food and medicine are common ones, and its Mailing Restrictions Enquiry shows which lines take each type.
Can I ship makeup or liquids from China?
It depends on the amount and the line. Superbuy’s restriction lookup sorts liquids by volume, and makeup powders and pastes are on its list of items often sent back by security checks or customs.
What happens if my parcel has a prohibited item?
It can be taken out at the warehouse, sent back from a security check or seized by customs. If it’s confiscated, Superbuy doesn’t refund the shipping or pay for the goods.
Does shipping insurance cover confiscated items?
Not if the item breaks prohibition or restriction rules. Superbuy’s and JoyaGoo’s insurance terms both exclude restricted items that authorities confiscate.