Tutorial: How to Buy From Taobao
Taobao is my absolute favorite online marketplace. Whether I am in search of some doll items, cosplay props, or Lolita accessories, Taobao is always the first stop on my search!
Unless you live in China, you are not able to purchase from Taobao shops directly. Thankfully, there are third party shopping services that are happy to assist you with this small obstacle. There are many services that you can choose from. I have personally used TaobaoRing, but TaobaoSpree also comes highly recommended. Here is my tutorial on how to order from Taobao!
I have used TaobaoRing ever since I began shopping on Taobao! I find TaobaoRing extremely easy to use. Not only is it easy to purchase my desired items from TaobaoRing, but the staff has excellent communication, the transaction rates are inexpensive, and my items always arrive at my doorstep safely (and with international tracking). There are many shopping services, but I prefer TaobaoRing.
How Does TaobaoRing Work?
TaobaoRing is a company that purchases the items you desire from Taobao on your behalf. Once your items arrive, they ship them to you! TaobaoRing makes a small commission off of your purchase price for their involvement as a middleman. I have seen this rate be as high as 11% and as low as 5%.
Choose Your Items
Simply paste the URL of the item that you would like into the shopping service of your choice. There is usually a place for notes, so that you are able to choose a certain size and input your desired color.
2. Confirm Your Items
Once you submit your desired items to your shopping service, they will contact the sellers to ensure that the items are in stock. If the items are unavailable, your shopping service will keep you informed.
3. Complete Your First Payment
After the shopping service confirms that the items that you would like to buy are in stock, they will calculate the cost to purchase the items plus the shipping from the seller to their location. Once this calculation is complete, you will receive your first invoice for the cost and pay it through PayPal.
4. Purchase Items - Check - Photos of the Order
With your first invoice payment, your shopping service will order your purchases. Once all of your items arrive, the shopping service will take photographs of your order to confirm it is accurate.
5. Complete Your Second Payment
The second invoice that you will receive will be the cost to ship your order to you from the shopping service location, plus the service fee. The service fee is for the service that the shopping service has provided by acting as the middleman between you and the Taobao seller. The % service rate varies from shopping service to shopping service. Many times, the shopping service will have % sales!
6. Your Order Ships
Once your 2nd payment has been made, your shopping service will ship your order to you!
1. Choose Your Items
Now for the fun part! To get started, you get to choose the items that you want to purchase from the Taobao marketplace. There are hundreds of results for all sorts of interests! The search for Lolita alone produces over 100 pages of results. You are bound to find something to pique your interest!
When searching for items on Taobao, you may find it useful to use the browser Google Chrome. Google Chrome has an easy translation option that will translate Chinese into the desired language of your choice in mere seconds! To do this, simply go to any one of your Taobao pages. At the very top of the web page, next to the URL online address, you will see a black box with a kanji symbol and the letter 'a'. It is to the left of the favorite URL star. This is Google Chrome's complete translation tool.
Once you click on this button, the box will prompt the phrase, "Would you like to translate this page?" Select translate to activate it and, tada! The page will be translated into your chosen language.
This will help you choose the correct color, size and another choice necessities in regards to your order. This is also, often times, where a store will state if their item is in stock, for pre-order, or the length of time it will take them to create the item. For example, the product shown above is for pre-order and will be completed within 30-50 days after payment has been received. It is handy to have an idea of how long items will take to make so that you can plan accordingly. For my recent purchase, I split my orders up into two separate transactions to get my ready to go items quickly.
2. Add Your Items to TaobaoRing
Once you have found an item that you are interested in purchasing, go to TaobaoRing.com. Login to your TaobaoRing account in order to start the order process. If you have not created a TaobaoRing account, you may do so now. Be sure to accurately enter your name, address, and any other required information. Once you have logged into your account, select the 'Quick Order' button to begin. The quick order button on TaobaoRing is located near the upper right-hand corner of your screen. It is the red button to the left of the blue 'Orders List' button, and below the website tabs.
Once you have done this, the item that you selected from Taobao will appear on this page.
Select your desired size, color, and any other details from the original Taobao page. If the Chinese yuan is not displaying the proper amount, you can use the discount tool to subtract the difference from the Taobao display price. In the remarks section, you can reiterate any details that you would like the staff of TaobaoRing to know. I usually reexplain about the color and the size, just in case!
3. Submit Your Order
Before you submit your order, you can input a message. For this order, I expressed that I understood that there would be a wait for a few of the items in my order. The staff is always sure to respond to any of your order remarks, which is always reassuring. Select 'Save Changes' to submit your order!
4. Product Confirmation
Now that your order has been submitted, the TaobaoRing staff will contact the sellers of the products you would like to purchase. Not only do the staff want to make sure that all of the items you wish to buy are in stock, they will also access other important attributes about the items in your order.
After the staff contact the sellers, they can communicate the particulars about the items you selected. As you can see, they left me messages about the color of an item, the length of time needed in order to create many of the items I selected, if the seller does not sell to an agent and their shop is therefore not available to international buyers, and if the seller is not recommended.
This gives you the chance to edit your order. You can add additional items, remove items from your order, or split your items into two separate orders. I elected to do this for this particular order since some of the items required an extended period of time to create. It is very easy to customize!
Once your items have been confirmed, TaobaoRing will send you an invoice for your order. Your 1st Payment Invoice will include the following aspects:
The cost of your items
Shipping costs from the seller to TaobaoRing
The service fee to TaobaoRing
Total amount due
Once your invoice is paid, TaobaoRing will order the items on your behalf!
6. Track Your Progress
Using the 'Orders List' button, you are able to see the active orders that you have on ToabaoRing. As your items arrive at the TaobaoRing warehouse, your bar will increase to show your progress bar.
7. Confirm Your Order
When the progress bar is complete, all of your items arrived at their domestic location safely! Once your items arrive, the TaobaoRing staff will photograph your order to make sure the items appear to be correct. These photos will be included in an email for you. You can accept by logging into your TaobaoRing account. I typically receive three images of my order. All three are included in the email.
Here’s a proof photo of a past order:
8. Pay Your 2nd Invoice
Once your order has been verified by photograph, the TaobaoRing staff will send you your second invoice. This invoice is the cost to ship the items from the TaobaoRing warehouse to your doorstep! You are welcome to choose any of the main worldwide shipping methods that you'd like. Usually, the less time that your order will take to reach you usually means the cost of the shipment will increase.
9. Track Your Order
With many of the tracking and shipment options that TaobaoRing provides, most of them include tracking. With this tracking or ID number, you can trace your parcel's journey as it migrates from China to your country's destination. I love to track the progress of my Taobao finds as they get closer!
10. Enjoy Your Items!
Congratulations! Take photos of your purchases, create an unboxing video, or just enjoy the splendor of your Taobao finds! Now, you can purchase whatever items you wish from Taobao with ease!
What are some of the items you are looking at on Taobao? If you have ordered from Taobao before, what are some of your favorite Taobao finds and brands? I would love to see some of your discoveries!
Stay Frilly~
“SOOOOOO HELPFUL YOU HAVE SAVED MY LIFE!!!”