It’s Taobao! Never heard of it? Then you’re missing out something big! Taobao is something like eBay but used widely in China. And the business does not simply end here. People ship, buys, shop, sell, and do loads more through Taobao. In fact, you can say it’s also one of the most favorite way to shop and earn. So what’s this all about? Let’s take a look:
1. What, why and where
Also popular as China’s eBay, Taobaois one of the most favorite online market in China where people buy and sell products. Operated and owned by Alibaba Group, today Taobao is also one of the top most visited sites in the world.
It’s the largest shopping website in Asia. The key difference between eBay and Taobao is that you can’t ‘bid’ or ‘auction’ on prices. You simply have to accept the stated price by the seller or merchant.
Though it might confuse you with something like Tmall, but they’re not the same. Taobao is completely a C2C (Consumer to Consumer) system. All the products available on Taobao are from individuals.
2. Why to shop atTaobao
On Taobao, you can find almost any product you can ever imagine to shop online. Right from cosmetics, hardware, crockery to apparels and smartphones. China itself produces loads of products and when you don’t know where to start from, just Taobao it!
Sometimes, it’s not easy to find that one thing in China just with few clicks. You need to dig deep and get it delivered to your doorstep. And for following this process, you can follow Taobao, simple!
3.It’s Chinese
Taobao is completely targeted for China. Hence, the website will be in Chinese. So if you don’t know heads and tails about Chinese, you might have a hard time(But thanks to Google Translate, it’s easy). Though few sellers would have mentioned keywords in English, still to Buy From Taobao, you have to struggle a bit!
4. The TaobaoSeller
It’s too important to pick the right seller on Taobao when you Buy From Taobao. When Shop At Taobao, always look for the number of transactions, successful deliveries, and reviews, especially when you require the Shipping From China to a foreign country.
Feedback and reviews are a great source to understand whether the seller is trustworthy as you don’t want to fall into scams.
5. Payment and Shipping from China
Taobaoaccepts only Chinese Yuan as the currency. People mostly use Alipayto Shop at Taobao, but for international users, Taobaoaccepts payment via online banking. When you Buy From Taobao, keep in mind the exchange rate, insurance fees, shipping fees (though it would be mentioned to you) as they can make your product ‘expensive’ dirt too.
Another important point to keep in mind when buying from Taobao is that majority of sellers on Taobao does not ship internationally. Hence, make sure you contact your seller regarding the delivery preference before making any payment.
The duration of shipment depends on the delivery option you selected. It may take anywhere between 5 days to 5 weeks. To solve you from this long and complicated process, there are many Taobaoagents like eTrove that act as a middleman between you and the seller.
