Taobao - Ordering Questions

[Kirahfaye]

I just discovered that a SD dress I've been coveting for months on Ebay is for sale through Taobao for significantly less money (if my yen converter is correct). On Ebay this dress goes for $115.00 but on Taobao it is 456 yen or about $55.00 US. However, because it's all in Chinese (I'm assuming) I have no idea what I'm doing or if shipping would end up adding so much it wouldn't make it worthwhile.

So has anyone here bought from them and could give me some advise? I looked for a GO on DOA but the only one I found seems to be having issues. I'm not in a hurry (my doll is still on pre-order) so if anyone would be interested in hosting a GO here in the not too distant future, I'd be all in for this dress.

Here's the link btw - http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=2013.1.0.153.28tlC0&scm=1007.77.0.0&id=14321908850&ad_id=&am_id=&cm_id=&pm_id=

[katana803]

i don't know a lot about taoba, but here is what i do know. you need to have a contact person. you then tell the contact person the item you want. that individual then orders the item and lets you know the price of the item, the cost of the shipping plus your contact person recieves a small commission for assisting you. the item is then shipped to the contact person who in turn ships it too you. i hope i got it all. skookum on here was looking into for us to order so you can shoot her a message and she can give you some more info

[Lon]

I used Taobao Spree once. http://taobaospree.com/ Their fee is 10% of the item + shipping in China total.

[Kirahfaye]

Okay, then so far it seems like the best thing to do is wait for a GO either on DOA or here.

[kiki-chan78]

http://dolliehsanctuary.com/sanctuary/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6671&p=76226

Dirili talked about ordering from Taobao. ^.~

[Dirili]

No no! You don't have to wait and joining a GO will probably just add an extra fee.

I know it's a bit daunting because I wrote a LOT of information in it, but I wrote a tutorial about buying on Taobao. The title used to be about buying brocades from china, but I just changed the name:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6671

I use Taobao Focus because their fee is 10% of the item cost, not on top of the shipping like a lot of other agents do.

I'll post again in a few minutes after I do some figuring... Just thought I'd post that for now so you could see some information about buying from Taobao.

EDIT:
lol, Kiki beat me to it

[Dirili]

Some quick and dirty information. It's better to read the tutorial so you get all the information, but here's the basics about ordering just that specific outfit.

All prices on Taobao are listed in Chinese Yuan which is the same sign as Yen for some reason...you'd think they would be different so people don't get confused. Sometimes it will get translated as a dollar sign in certain browsers though. 456.00 CNY = 73.1408 USD

Looking at Focus's estimate calculator page the first payment would be $85.49 and then once they receive the outfit, they will take a picture, you approve it, then you pay for the shipping from China to you. I don't know how much it weighs, I estimated .2kg but not sure if I'm close or not, but if you have it shipped by airmail it's about $7.

It looks like air mail has been getting cheaper lately. That method used to be more expensive than EMS or DHL at higher weights, but now it is cheaper.

So if you're just buying that one dress you're still saving a fair bit. Plus it's nice to see the item before it gets shipped overseas so the agent can deal with it for you at that point first if there's any problems.

Most of the time the high overseas shipping makes the total cost nearly equal, so it's usually only worth it if you're buying a bunch of stuff of things and/or things that weigh very little.

[zirconmermaid]

I found a wig I really would love to have for Hazel...

[Kirahfaye]

Ah, that explains my confusion over the prices being in yen when it's supposed to be a Chinese company! I'll take a look at the link after I take my daughter to her co-op. Naturally, it's pricier than I had hoped. I might have to wait until after the holidays. I came across the site because someone on the MP has the gray/black version of the dress available for $75.00.

[Dirili]

Ah, sorry it's not as good a deal as it initially seemed But it's still a better deal than $115! XD

zirconmermaid, is that the only thing you want to buy is just one wig? I have an order that I wouldn't mind letting you tag onto, but I probably won't be receiving it till near the end of January because I ordered a body from Ringdoll and it's going to take a while.

If I had bought it through an English representative it would have cost me $584 cheapest scenario for the body + shipping (although right now jeeryama has it on sale...). But buying semi-directly from Ringdoll through Taobao, body + shipping is about $479. So saving nearly $100.