Taobao is China’s giant online marketplace filled with almost any products at unbeatable prices. Buying from overseas will present some challenges related to payment, international shipping and consolidation, especially when you need to make purchases from different sellers.
3 ways of purchasing goods on Taobao for overseas clients:
undefinedOption A: Buy as if you’re a Chinese-local client requires you to provide a Chinese address for receiving and making the payment inside China. Once the item arrives in China, you will need to forward the parcel to your overseas address.
undefinedOption B: Taobao official international shipping: You have 2 choices: delivery as you order (one time payment, most convenient) or consolidation delivery (two times payment, economical if you have many items)
undefinedOption C: Hire a Taobao agent: Recommended for all international buyers or business owners, the Taobao agent would help you buying the items for you, check the quality, consolidate and ship to your place.
How to buy on Taobao: step by step buying workflow:
- Register Account: You need to register on the platform with your mobile number or via SMS, preferably to use your oversea phone number to register the account, as well as prepare for an Alipay account if you would like to make payment via Alipay.
- Set Region / International Mode: Depending on your location and how it supports international shopping with China, you have to select International Mode or set your country as origin/destination, as well as determine if you’d like direct or consolidation delivery.
- Browse and Choose Products & Sellers: Pay attention to the rating and picture on each product. The picture is of great importance, which may show you the detailed outlook of the item. Besides, check on how many transactions they have made and the recent comment as well as if the product’s specification match your need precisely.
- Select shipping option:undefinedDirect mail: The price for goods and cross border shipping is charged at once, this option is most convenient but may be a bit pricey compared to consolidation delivery.
- undefinedConsolidation delivery: It’s an option of two times payment. You must pay the shipping fee of goods first and the domestic shipping to the designated international warehouse. And later you pay the fee for international shipping after all parcels reached the international warehouse. This option would be better if you have many items from one seller and the seller ships to the same designated international warehouse.
- Make payment: Alipay is the primary method of payment accepted for international buyers. If your Alipay payment is repeatedly declined for various reason, you can hire a Taobao agent to make the purchase for you in China, and then you get billed by the agent directly.
- Track Domestic Shipping: For consolidation delivery, the seller needs to dispatch goods to official warehouse in China, it must reach the international warehouse before you can consolidate and dispatch internationally, keep tracking on it till arrived the warehouse.
- Consolidate and Pay International Shipping: Choose the right shipping method from the listed international shipping lines depending on your destination and urgency, eg Air / Sea freight. It’s necessary to provide a realistic declared value for the goods as well as the accurate chargeable weight after consolidation and possibly repackaging service to avoid much expensive volumetric weight especially with Cainiao, where volume has greater weight in cost.
- Receive and Customs Check: Every country has different customs regulations. Generally, it’s recommended to put a realistic declared value on the parcel and avoid any sensitive item like battery, liquid or designer imitation.
Money Saving Tips when using Cainiao consolidation service:
undefinedThe more items you put into one shipment, the cheaper it will be.
undefinedIf the parcel itself is too big compared to the items, it is recommended to request for repackaging service to lower down the volumetric weight.
undefinedTry to avoid ordering items that have huge volume but very little weight (volumetric weight is expensive on Cainiao especially on this issue)
undefinedChoose shipping method (Air / Sea) according to your budget and urgency
undefinedMake payment for international shipping on time to avoid storage fees
Why choose Taobao agent?
undefinedWhen the payment becomes the main obstacle.
undefinedWhen you are purchasing from a lot of different sellers.
undefined When you need to request a Quality Control (QC) photo inspection of your products
undefinedWhen you want to do reselling / business based on Taobao purchase
undefinedWhen you would like everything to be consolidated perfectly, shipped efficiently with maximized shipping fee, and without hassle.
undefinedRemember to confirm any fees, photo inspection, repackaging services, as well as international shipping rates calculation before hiring any Taobao agent.
Safety Checklist:
undefinedCompare the price and goods details from various retailers.
undefinedUse messenger to ask about the exact specification and features with seller.
undefinedPrioritize photograph comment over written comment.
undefinedDo a realistic calculation for chargeable weight and shipping fee.
undefinedTry an initial test order.
undefinedCompletely avoid designer imitations.
Conclusion:
Whether to use Taobao’s official consolidation service or to hire a Taobao agent should be the safest and most reasonable way to purchase online for international clients. What type of service to use depends on whether the order is more of an easy shopping order or multi-store purchase foretelling and business, just remember to begin your shopping by placing one test order to work out all the kinks.
