What's a normal warranty length for a Chinese robot?

Twelve months is the common baseline for robots and major components, with consumables (batteries, wear items) excluded or shorter. Length matters less than scope and the RMA path — a well-defined 12-month international RMA beats a vague "2-year warranty" that only works inside China.

Who usually pays return freight?

Default assumption without a clause is: you pay everything, both directions, including re-import duties. Negotiate that the supplier covers inbound freight on confirmed defects and, ideally, ships the replacement outbound at their cost. Get it on the PI or price the logistics into your landed cost.

Can I get advance replacement so I'm not down for weeks?

Sometimes, from the larger exporters, often against a deposit or card hold on the replacement. It's worth asking for on production-critical units. Smaller makers rarely offer it — which is the strongest argument for stocking your own spares of the cheap, high-failure parts.

Should I stock spare parts or rely on RMA?

For low-cost, field-replaceable parts (actuators, fingertips, batteries), stock spares up front — they're inexpensive at MOQ 1 with short lead times, and it eliminates the cross-border RMA loop entirely. Reserve RMA for expensive factory-return assemblies.

How do I check a supplier's RMA is real before buying?

Ask for their written RMA procedure, a regional return address, and a reference customer in your region who has actually run a claim. Vague answers or a personal-account return address mean the international path doesn't really exist yet.

Is a manufacturer-reported spec on a spare part reliable?

Treat manufacturer-reported figures (marked † on this site) as a starting point to verify against your own acceptance test, not as a guarantee. The same discipline applies to warranty claims: file them in writing with video evidence, and keep the original crate — RMA shipping needs it.

Warranty, Spare Parts & RMA When Buying Chinese Robots

Why this is the part buyers skip

Specs get scrutinised; after-sales terms get a nod. Then a fingertip sensor dies in month three, and the buyer discovers the "one-year warranty" meant one year of the supplier mailing parts to a Shenzhen address, with return freight, duties and re-import on the buyer. The hardware was never the problem — the paperwork was.

Chinese robotics makers span a wide range here. The top exporters (Unitree-class) run real overseas RMA processes; a long tail of makers has excellent hardware and no international after-sales at all. Your job before payment is to find out which one you're dealing with, and to convert whatever they promise into contract lines. See the broader path in How to Buy Robots from China; this guide zooms in on the after-sales column.

Our bias throughout: modest promises, kept. A supplier who offers 12 months, factory-return only, and states it plainly is more trustworthy than one who waves "lifetime support" and ships to a personal WeChat account.

The warranty terms to demand

Put every row below on the proforma invoice (PI). If a term isn't on the PI, treat it as not existing — the same rule that governs specs governs after-sales.

Term	What to demand	Why it bites if you skip it
Warranty length	Stated in months from delivery (not ship date), per unit, on the PI	"One year" from ship date can burn 4–8 weeks in transit and customs
Coverage scope	Parts and labour; list explicit exclusions (wear items, batteries, misuse)	Batteries and tactile skins are often excluded — know before, not after
Return freight	Who pays each leg, plus duties/taxes on the return and re-import	Cross-border return freight + re-import can exceed a small part's value
RMA turnaround	Days from fault report to dispatch of fix/replacement	Silence here means open-ended downtime
Diagnosis method	Remote-first (logs/video) before any physical return	Avoids shipping a unit that a firmware push would have fixed
Spare-parts list	Priced, with lead time, for the parts that actually fail	Un-priced spares get quoted at ransom rates when you're down
Field-replaceable set	Which parts you may swap without voiding warranty	Voided warranty from a legitimate field swap is a common trap
Support channel + hours	Named contact, English, with a response-time SLA and time-zone note	"24/7 support" across a 12-hour offset means next-day in practice
SDK / firmware term	Version at delivery + how long updates and API support last	Abandoned SDKs strand a working robot within a year
DOA window	Days to report dead-on-arrival for full replacement at supplier cost	Without it, a DOA unit becomes a normal warranty claim you part-fund

Domestic-China warranty vs an international RMA path

These are not the same product, and suppliers will quote the cheaper one by default.

	Domestic-China warranty	International RMA path
Return address	A city in China; you arrange export	Regional hub, or supplier-paid inbound freight
Freight & duties	Usually all on you, both directions	Negotiated; often supplier pays outbound replacement
Diagnosis	Assumes you can drop the unit off	Remote-first via logs and video, by necessity
Turnaround clock	Starts when the unit lands in China	Starts at fault report; replacement may ship in parallel
Language	Chinese-first	English support in scope
Realistic downtime	Weeks (two international legs + repair)	Days-to-weeks, if advance-replacement is agreed

If a supplier can only offer the left column, that can still be workable for cheap, field-replaceable components — but price the return logistics into your landed cost and keep a spare on the shelf. For anything you can't afford to have down, get the right column in writing or buy from someone who offers it.

Field-replaceable vs factory-return by design

Downtime is decided at the design stage, not the RMA stage. Ask, per part, whether it's a swap-in-the-field module or a factory return — and get the answer before you commit.

Joint modules / actuators are typically the most field-friendly parts. Quasi-direct-drive joints on a CAN or RS-485 bus (T-MOTOR AK80-9, MyActuator RMD-X, Damiao DM-J4310, Robstride CyberGear-class) are commonly sold as single units at MOQ 1 with 1–3 week† lead times — cheap enough (roughly $70–600† single-unit, as of 2026) to stock a spare rather than RMA the whole robot. Full range in Actuators & Joint Modules.
Dexterous-hand fingertips and tactile skins are the classic wear-and-tear failure. Confirm whether a damaged fingertip or sensor pad is a customer-replaceable cartridge or forces a full-hand factory return — the answer changes your downtime from hours to weeks. See Dexterous Hands.
Batteries are almost always warranty-excluded as consumables and are the hardest part to ship after the fact (they move under stricter dangerous-goods rules than an installed pack). Buy spares with the robot; details in the shipping guide.
Compute, IMU, LiDAR and PCBs are usually factory-return. For a perception unit like a solid-state LiDAR, a swap-module design beats a soldered one for uptime.

The buying rule: for low-cost, high-failure, field-replaceable parts, stock spares up front and skip the RMA loop entirely. Reserve the international RMA path for expensive factory-return assemblies.

Remote support and SDK terms — the quiet warranty

Most robot faults you'll actually hit are software, configuration or firmware — not a dead motor. That makes the support and SDK terms as load-bearing as the hardware warranty.

Remote-first diagnosis. A good supplier will read your logs or watch a video and push a firmware fix before anyone ships anything. Get the support channel, the language, and a response-time commitment on the PI, with a note on the time-zone offset so "same day" is honest.
SDK longevity. Nail down the SDK/API version at delivery and how long updates and documentation support continue. An abandoned SDK can strand a mechanically perfect robot within a year. Confirm English documentation exists before payment — verifying it after is too late.
Tier matters. On some platforms the SDK, compute and support you get are decided by the purchase tier (for example, EDU versus base configurations on quadrupeds like the Unitree Go2). Buy the tier that unlocks the support and access you need, not just the hardware.

Putting it on the proforma invoice

The PI is where promises become obligations. Alongside model, configuration and serial-number commitment, your after-sales block should read as concrete lines, not adjectives:

Warranty: N months from delivery date, parts and labour, exclusions listed.
RMA: fault reported to support@…; remote diagnosis within X business hours; if physical return needed, RMA authorised within Y days; replacement dispatched within Z days.
Return freight: supplier pays inbound on confirmed defects; buyer pays return of no-fault units. State duties/taxes responsibility for both legs.
Spares: itemised, priced, with lead times (quote currency, as of 2026).
Field-replaceable parts listed; swapping them does not void warranty.
SDK version at delivery; update and support term stated.
DOA window: D days from delivery for full replacement at supplier cost.

If a supplier won't commit these to the PI, that reluctance is your answer. A maker confident in their after-sales will write down modest, specific numbers without a fight. When you're ready to compare suppliers on these terms rather than sticker price, send the model and destination through the RFQ form.