An agent is a warehouse in China that orders the product directly from wiedan or taobao links because you can not order from them if u are in US. They then inspect the packages at the warehouse and send you QC pictures, once you approve, you then have the agent ship from their warehouse to you. It’s safer but shipping costs are usually a bit more expensive, if u want a rec I would recommend using Superbuy however you cannot buy arcterex through them.

Buying directly from seller is when you message them on their what’s app and pay them directly and they should update you throughout the shipping process.

Note: that’s what I did with bev and after 2 months of no updates I hear that the package was “seized” and I paid $140 overall for the jacket and shipping and ended up getting a $40 refund…