How to choose a jastiper you can trust

When you order through a jastiper, you are trusting a person to spend time and money on your behalf, in another country, and then carry the result home. Choosing well is most of what makes jastip go smoothly. Here is what to look at, roughly in order of importance.

1. Their track record

The most useful signal is what has already happened. On SEENTIP, a jastiper's profile shows:

• Their rating, averaged from customer reviews. Only a customer with a completed order can leave a review, once per order, so every rating comes from a real delivery.
• How many orders they have completed. A 4.8 rating across forty orders tells you more than a 5.0 across two.
• How often they respond to orders. This appears once a jastiper has received enough orders for the number to mean something. Until then, it is simply not shown, rather than shown as a flattering 100%.

Read a few reviews rather than only the average. Comments about receipts, packing and how delays were handled tell you how the person behaves when something does not go to plan.

2. New is not the same as risky

Every jastiper starts with no history. On SEENTIP, a jastiper without a completed order is marked as new, not hidden and not given a score they have not earned.

A new jastiper can be a perfectly good choice, especially for an inexpensive item, or when they are the only one going where you need. With someone new, lean more on the other signals below: how clearly they describe their trip, what they say they will buy, and how they answer your questions.

3. Whether the timing works

A trip has three dates that matter:

• When they leave — they cannot buy anything before this.
• The last day to order — after this, they need the remaining time to shop.
• When they come back — the earliest your item can arrive.

If you need something by a particular date, check that the return date leaves room for delivery afterwards. If the trip is already under way, the jastiper may be shopping right now, which is the best time to ask about an item that is not listed.

4. Whether they have space

Jastipers can only carry so much. Each trip on SEENTIP shows how many item slots are left. A trip with plenty of space is under less pressure; one with a single slot left may fill before your order is confirmed.

Bulky items — boxed shoes, large plush toys, anything fragile — take more than their share of a suitcase. It is fair to ask the jastiper first whether they are comfortable carrying it.

5. How specifically they describe things

Good listings are precise: the store they will buy from, what the price covers, whether the box is included, what happens if the item is sold out. Vague listings lead to the wrong colour, the wrong size or the wrong version.

The same goes for their messages. A jastiper who asks which colourway and which size before buying is protecting both of you.

6. That payment goes through the platform

On SEENTIP, you pay through the order itself, and the jastiper starts shopping once that payment is confirmed. Every order shows the item price, the jastip fee and the platform fee separately before you pay — see how much jastip costs for how those are calculated.

Be cautious of anyone who asks you to move the conversation, or the payment, somewhere else. Keeping the order on the platform is what keeps its timeline, its price breakdown and its review attached to it.

Putting it together

For a cheap, common item, almost any jastiper going to the right city on the right dates will do. For something expensive, rare or size-sensitive, choose someone with a solid record of completed orders, ask your questions before you order, and make sure the details — variant, size, store — are written into the order.

You can compare everyone currently traveling on the jastipers page, with their ratings, completed orders and upcoming trips side by side.