CNFans Spreadsheet After the Shutdown: Rescue the Links or Buy on AliExpress

When did CNFans shut down, exactly?

The end came in two steps, which is why people still argue about when CNFans closed.

The website may still load. Loading is not the same as accepting orders.

For a long time CNFans was one of the biggest names in the space, with 13,294 Trustpilot reviews and a 4.1/5 average. Size didn't protect it. Weidian is where most community spreadsheet listings live, so losing Weidian in January took away the thing most buyers used it for, and the August closure finished the job.

Verdict: Don't top up a CNFans balance or pay for a CNFans order. If money is still inside, contact support in writing and keep every reply.

How do you rescue a row from a CNFans spreadsheet?

Every CNFans product link is a wrapper around a marketplace item. The two parameters you need are shop_type (weidian, taobao or ali_1688) and id. From them you can rebuild the original listing:

Doing that by hand for a 300-row sheet is tedious, so paste the whole column into the link converter. It reads CNFans links along with every other agent format, returns the original listing link for each row, and flags anything it can't read. Put the results in a new column rather than overwriting the old one; if a listing has gone, the old CNFans link is sometimes the only clue to what the item was.

Then check each rebuilt link. Sellers delete and relist, and a row that worked in 2025 may now open an empty page. That's not a CNFans problem and no converter can fix it; searching the shop for the product name usually turns up the new listing.

Verdict: Keep original listing links in your own sheets from now on. Agents close; marketplace item IDs don't change.

Which CNFans rows can you simply buy on AliExpress?

Some CNFans rows don't need an agent at all. If the item is a generic product — a phone case, a belt, a plain hoodie — a similar version is often on AliExpress, where you get buyer protection and free returns within 15 days on eligible items. Search by the product's name or use AliExpress's image search with the listing photo.

Where AliExpress won't help is the part of a CNFans sheet built on specific Weidian shops, which is usually most of it. Those sellers don't list on AliExpress, and a lookalike there is a different product from a different maker. For those rows, the agent route is the only one.

Verdict: Split the old sheet: generic rows to AliExpress, named-shop rows to a working agent.

Picking a replacement agent after CNFans

Which agent to move to depends on what you used CNFans for. A few pointers from the pages on this site:

• Speed: KakoBuy has a measured one-day median from payment to dispatch.
• Seeing weight early: Oopbuy photographs each item on a scale.
• A long track record: Superbuy has traded since 2012.
• Avoid for now: ACBuy and MuleBuy have conflicting signals; AllChinaBuy is offline.

Whichever you pick, start with a small order and a small balance. CNFans' closure is a reminder that money parked in an agent wallet is only as safe as the agent. The status board is the quickest check before you top up.