How paid work
actually works.

Last updated: August 2026. LifeShenzhen is an independent site and one-person business operated by Giovanni, based in Shenzhen, China. Questions about anything on this page: [email protected].

These terms apply to service requests and paid work. They exist so that both of us know what was agreed before money moves. Nothing here replaces a specific written quote — where the two differ, the quote wins.

Request, quote and confirmation

1. Request. You create an account and send a booking request through the dashboard. A request tells me what you need; it is not yet a booking or paid engagement.
2. Review. I review the request and may ask for more information. If I am not the right person for it, I will say so rather than take the job.
3. Written quote. I send a written scope with the price or rate, exclusions, expected timing, any third-party costs, and payment or cancellation terms that apply.
4. Confirmation. The engagement is confirmed only after you accept that quote in writing and I confirm the booking. Work starts only after confirmation and any payment specifically required by the accepted quote.

There is no charge, payment authorisation or obligation to proceed when you submit a request.

Fees

• Relocation help — from ¥1,500 per day, or a retainer from ¥3,500 per month for continuing access.
• Purchase agent — a flat 5% of the order value, the same rate quoted on the Buy pages. If I buy below the quoted price, you pay the lower price and my fee falls with it.
• Translation and interpreting — documents from ¥350 per 1,000 words; interpreting from ¥400 per hour.

Shipping, courier insurance, government fees, taxes and any import duty at your end are separate and quoted before you commit. Import duty is always yours.

Payment

The dashboard does not take payment, and a request carries no charge. Once an engagement is confirmed, payment is made through PayPal, Wise or Alipay as set out in the accepted quote. For purchases you pay the goods cost first, against the official listing; I buy the same day through the official channel and send you the receipt and serial numbers. My fee and shipping settle at dispatch, with tracking. Payments go only to an account in my own name — if anyone asks you to pay a different name on my behalf, stop and contact me directly.

Cancellation and changes

You can withdraw an unconfirmed request without charge. After confirmation, cancel before I have bought anything or begun a scheduled day and you owe nothing unless the accepted quote clearly identifies a committed third-party cost or a different cancellation term. Once goods have been purchased on your behalf they are yours, and once a booked day or interpreting session has started it is chargeable. Scope can change mid-engagement — I re-quote rather than quietly adding to the bill.

What I am responsible for

I am responsible for doing the agreed work with reasonable skill and care, buying from legitimate channels, checking goods before dispatch, and reporting honestly what I find. I will not misrepresent a product or a supplier to close a sale.

What I am not responsible for

Manufacturer defects and warranty claims, which sit with the seller or brand; loss or damage in transit beyond the insurance purchased; customs decisions, duty, or seizure at your border; regulatory outcomes such as whether a device may be imported or used where you live; and delays caused by third parties — couriers, banks, landlords, schools or government offices. Where something goes wrong in one of these, I will help you pursue it, but I cannot guarantee the outcome.

I do not give legal, immigration, tax or financial advice. I help you deal with institutions; I do not stand in for a professional adviser.

Confidentiality

What you tell me in the course of an engagement stays between us. I will not name you publicly, or write up your job as a case study, without asking you first.

Disputes

Tell me. Most problems are a misunderstanding about scope and are solved in one conversation. If something cannot be resolved, my liability is limited to the fees you have paid me for the work concerned.