What a rehearsal parcel is and what ¥20 buys
A rehearsal parcel is LitBuy's pre-pack: the warehouse packs your stored items as if for shipping and reports the real weight and size before you pay for the international line. It costs a fixed ¥20 per rehearsal plus material fees, about €2.40 for the ¥20 at ¥1 ≈ €0.12. The help article, updated 30 June 2026, calls the benefit "accurate shipping cost estimation" and says it avoids unexpected extra charges.
| Package Rehearsal | Package Estimation | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay up front | A fixed fee, ¥20 plus materials | The estimated shipping fee |
| Pay after packing | The actual shipping cost | Shortfall only; overpayment is refunded |
| Result | Real weight and size, nothing shipped | A parcel that ships once packed and confirmed |
| To ship for real | Click "Create Parcel" next to the rehearsal | Confirm the packed parcel |
The interface is explicit that a rehearsal does not ship anything. It only pre-packs, and to send a real parcel you click "Create Parcel" next to it. The estimator quotes on the shipping-cost page assume only weight; a rehearsal replaces that assumption with measured numbers.
Rehearsal buys certainty, not a lower price: ¥20 to see the real kilos and centimetres.
How to start a rehearsal: four screens
- Open My Warehouse and select the stored order or orders you want to pack together.
- Click "Rehearsal Parcel" and enter your delivery address.
- Pay the ¥20 fee (a membership benefit can waive it).
- Open Rehearsal Parcel, then View Result, and either confirm and submit or walk away.
The help centre says a rehearsal is "usually completed within 24 hours". After submitting, you wait for packing before paying the actual shipping again, and you only select the line once packing is done. Items must already be stored: the warehouse page explains how long they stay free. Allow a day on top of the delivery timeline.
Plan one extra day; the result appears under Rehearsal Parcel, not under Parcels.
Fees, coupons, membership and cancelling
| Question | What LitBuy states |
|---|---|
| Fee | ¥20 per rehearsal, plus material fees (about €2.40 for the ¥20 at ¥1 ≈ €0.12) |
| Time | Usually completed within 24 hours |
| Coupons | Not accepted on the rehearsal fee; a shipping coupon can still be used on the final shipping payment |
| Membership | The ¥20 can be waived for members; used material credits are still non-refundable once packed |
| Refund | Both fees are non-refundable once packing is complete, unless the platform caused the issue |
| Cancelling a packed parcel | Materials fee non-refundable and an operational fee of ¥20 per parcel, unless the platform is at fault |
Note the tension in LitBuy's own wording: the help article lists "easy cancellation with no worries" as a benefit, while the interface says fees are non-refundable once packing is complete. We read that as: cancel before packing starts and you are fine, cancel after and you pay. The coupon page explains why a shipping coupon belongs on the final payment, and the fees page lists the other extras.
Use the coupon on final shipping, never expect it on the ¥20.
When a rehearsal pays off: a volumetric example
The estimated weight on the submission page is the sum of inbound item weights, so it ignores how the items are boxed. Chargeable weight is the greater of actual weight and L × W × H ÷ divisor. Soft goods packed loosely can swell past their actual weight, and a weight step is where that hurts.
Where a rehearsal earns its keep (all weights and the box are assumed for this example)
Items stored: hoodie, jeans, trainersassume 1.4 kg actual
Packed box36 × 26 × 16 cm = 14,976 cm³
Volumetric weight on divisor 800014,976 ÷ 8,000 = 1.872 kg
Price at the 1.4 kg estimate, interpolated (LIT-Economy-DHL-DE)about €29.97
Price at 1.872 kg chargeable, interpolatedabout €36.88
Surprise on the shipping billabout €6.91
You still pay the €6.91 either way, because LitBuy recalculates after packing and charges a shortfall. What the rehearsal changes is when you learn it. With 1.872 kg in hand you can drop the bulkiest item, pick a different parcel split or accept the cost knowingly. On a divisor-6000 line such as HF-EMS-DE the same box would be 2.496 kg, beyond the 2 kg quote we took. The break-even is simple: €2.40 divided by €14.63 per extra kilo on LIT-Economy-DHL-DE is about 164 g, so a rehearsal fee is smaller than the surprise whenever the chargeable weight may exceed the estimate by more than that.
A pre-pack pays when the box is bulky enough to add more than about 164 g.
What to do with the result: three moves
A rehearsal result is only useful if it changes a decision. Three decisions are on the table once you hold a real weight and size.
- Drop or swap the bulky row. A puffer jacket or a boxed pair of trainers moves volumetric weight far more than a T-shirt does. Taking it out before you pay is cheaper than learning its weight afterwards.
- Keep one parcel rather than two. On LIT-Economy-DHL-DE one 2 kg parcel is €38.75 and two 1 kg parcels are €48.24, so splitting costs €9.49 more, and €11.49 more once the €2 fee is charged twice (€52.24 against €40.75).
- Check the size limit. The cheapest Germany line accepts 60 × 50 × 40 cm; a measured box tells you at once whether you are close.
LitBuy's interface adds that no more items can be added once a parcel is submitted, so decide before you confirm.
Use the numbers to remove a row or merge parcels, not to admire the result.
When it does not pay off, and how to check LitBuy weight otherwise
For compact, dense parcels the fee is larger than the surprise.
Where it does not (assumed 0.9 kg trainers repacked into 30 × 20 × 15 cm)
Volumetric weight9,000 ÷ 8,000 = 1.125 kg
1 kg quote€24.12
Interpolated for 1.125 kgabout €25.95
Rehearsal fee, ¥20about €2.40
Surprise on the billabout €1.83
Here the rehearsal costs more than the €1.83 it would reveal. Skip it for one or two small items, and for any parcel where a few hundred grams do not change a line choice. LitBuy does not publish the billing increment in the pages we read, so the interpolated prices are estimates. For a free check, work out the number yourself in the shipping calculator or the haul planner CSV.
That raises the question of how to check LitBuy weight at all:
| Method | What you see | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Submission page | Estimated weight: the sum of each item's weight measured when it was stored | Free |
| Estimator route label | "Weigh by volume" or "Weighing is based on the actual weight of the goods" | Free |
| Rehearsal parcel | Packed weight and size before you commit | ¥20 plus materials |
| Parcel photo after packing | Actual weight, shown in the parcel photo | Free, but you have already paid |
If the final chargeable weight is below the estimate by more than one billing increment, LitBuy refunds the difference to your LitBuy wallet within 72 hours of shipping; if above, the parcel shows "Waiting for Confirmation" and you pay the gap. Pay each parcel when you submit it rather than leaving money in advance, and keep an eye on the weights in your LitBuy spreadsheet rows.
Skip the rehearsal for small dense parcels; use it for bulky soft goods.
Rehearsal and weight questions buyers ask
How much does a LitBuy rehearsal parcel cost?
LitBuy's fixed rehearsal fee is ¥20 per rehearsal plus material fees, about €2.40 for the ¥20 at ¥1 ≈ €0.12. Membership can waive the ¥20, but used material credits are still non-refundable once packing is complete. Coupons do not work on the rehearsal fee, though a shipping coupon can be applied to the final shipping payment.
How long does a LitBuy rehearsal take?
LitBuy's help centre says a rehearsal is usually completed within 24 hours. The result appears under Rehearsal Parcel, then View Result, where you confirm and submit. Because shipping is paid after packing, add that day to your delivery plan. LitBuy's interface separately says normal parcels are packed and weighed within 12 hours after submission.
Can I cancel a rehearsal parcel and get the ¥20 back?
Not once packing is complete. LitBuy's interface says both the service fee and the material fees are then non-refundable, with a full refund only if the issue is caused by the platform. Cancelling a packed parcel also adds an operational fee of ¥20 per parcel plus materials. Cancel before packing starts if you change your mind.
When is a LitBuy rehearsal parcel worth the ¥20?
When the box is bulky. In our assumed example, a 1.4 kg hoodie, jeans and trainers packed into 36 × 26 × 16 cm becomes 1.872 kg at divisor 8000, about €6.91 above the estimate on LIT-Economy-DHL-DE. For a compact 0.9 kg box the surprise was only about €1.83, less than the fee.
How do I check LitBuy weight before paying for shipping?
The parcel submission page shows an estimated weight, the sum of each item's weight measured when it was stored. The estimator labels each route by volume or actual weight. A rehearsal gives measured weight and size for ¥20 plus materials. After packing, the parcel photo shows the actual weight and any shortfall must be paid.
Does a rehearsal parcel lower my shipping price?
No. It reports the real weight and size, and the shipping price follows the chargeable weight, the greater of actual and volumetric. Its value is knowing the figure before you pay, so you can remove a bulky item or split the parcel. LitBuy still recalculates after packing: overpayments go back to the wallet within 72 hours.