If you’re not heard of TaoBao then you are really living in stone age! It is the largest e-commerce website in China and it . is famous for its low price tags.
The only problem with the website is it is all in Chinese. This might be a major pain in the bum for those who can’t read the language and making a purchase on Taobao is a headache
Even though Taobao has partnered with local popular online shops, such as Lazada, being able to purchase directly allows you access to its extensive shopping categories.
Since we are all about helping you to saving money and helping you on the journey of hunt for a good bargain, we are going to guide you through Taobao, so you don’t have to miss out any longer.
1. Homepage overview
Once you land on Taobao website, the homepage is the first thing you will see. In order to make this easier, we have created a diagram to indicate the main buttons for your shopping ease.
* Make sure you choose the right country in the top left corner of the page, so that the prices will be reflected in RM on the product pages.
2. Register & Login
Good news here is that they have an English option on the right side of the page. If you can’t find it, you can refer to the screenshot below. All you need to do is just click on that and fill up the blanks as you normally would with any other website.
Take note that the registration will requires your phone number, as a verification code will be sent to you via SMS to complete your registration.
After that, you should be automatically logged in but if you aren’t, just click on the login button as indicated on the homepage overview above.
3. Browsing The Website
You are now all set to go after your registration. It’s time to check out what you want to buy. All you need to do to browse around is Just click on categories and there will a dropdown menu of categories for you to explore.
Sadly, all the selection will appear in Chinese text and we can’t translate the whole website for you, but there is always Google Chrome to the rescue. You just need to download and install Google Chrome (if you haven’t already), and head over to the Taobao page. After picking your category, just simply right click anywhere on the page and select “translate to English”. Or you can simply click on this icon on your Google Chrome address bar.
If you know what you’re looking for, you can also type the English name of the item in the search bar and the website will detect it.
Aside from that, you can also search via image. If you have the picture of item that you are looking for then you can try to upload as below and look it up
Another trick is that when you hover around the product, you will also able to find similar product (as below). By clicking on this will bring you to a list to sellers with the same or similar item where you have more choice for the lowest price for your item!
But not too worried as once you have the translated version of a product page once you’ve clicked on an item, it’s rather easy to understand to proceed next. Though the English may not be perfect but it’s understandable. You can proceed with the next step to add to cart and proceed with the purchase (as below)
One quick note: Add items you are contemplating on buying into your shopping cart. You can always remove them from your shopping cart at checkout if you decided not to purchase them. This will avoid the hassle of having to scour through the website again to find that one item you wanted.
4. Checking out your items
Once you have decided on what you want to purchase, then the next is just to do a check out to complete your purchase. Ti be honest, the process is rather straightforward and just like any other online e-commerce website
Set your shipping address
It’s would be a best practice for you to set your shipping address on the account management page before you check out, as you can translate the shipping form there.
To do this, click on your username in the left-hand corner of the homepage, translate the page and go to account settings, where you can click on shipping address.
Tick your item(s)
Next step you would need to do is to go to your shopping cart and tick the items you wish to purchase. Next, click the orange button, which should be “settlement” if you’ve translated the page).
Confirm your address and select shipping method
You will be asked to confirm the shipping address, which you’ve set prior to checking out, once you click the orange button. Just double check your shipping address and modify it if there’s any error.
Next is for you to choose your desired shipping method. Usually, there will be two shipping options – direct shipping and global consolidate shipping. However, this will vary from item to item as some sellers may not offer direct shipping.
Prior to that, in order for you to understand the difference, we made a simple point and it’s explained below
Direct shipping – Your package will be delivered directly to you from the warehouse in China. The full payment including the shipping fee will be reflected in your payment upon checkout as a one-time transaction. This is recommended if you are purchasing from one seller.
Global consolidate shipping – All your items will be sent to a warehouse in China and weighed as one parcel. However, you must pay a second fee once your package is packed and weighed for international shipping. As you can see from the screenshot above, the price per weight will be reflected. In this case, it is CNY25 (RM15.34) every 1kg and onwards. This is recommended for when you purchase from more than one seller on Taobao, as you pay shipping fees for one bundle rather than separately
Make your payment
This would be almost to the final step and it’s time to prepare all your banking information. If you’re a first-timer, you will be asked to set a password for an Alipay account, which is a China third-party mobile and online payment platform.
Next, you have a choice of using your debit/credit card or you can also opt to pay via online transfer. There will be a 1.5% service fee when using online transfer via revPAY.
Below is an example of the revPAY page, which you will be directed to if you have chosen online transfer. This will list the local banks and indicate the converted amount you will be charged.
Once the payment has been made, you’re all good to go
But here is some additional things that you should know if you’re planning to buy from a seller. This are some extra caution move to ensure that the seller is trusted
Check the seller ratings
All shops are being rated by their customer after their purchase. Customers can rate their experience with a seller where these ratings will be compiled and reflected from one to five. If you’re looking for reliable seller, here are some tips. The seller is also rated based on yellow crowns (highest), followed by blue crowns, diamonds and hearts (lowest) – as circled on the right-hand side of the page above next to “credit”. The seller above has gained one blue crown. These crowns are indicators of the seller’s products, service and logistics.
Shop on Tmall Instead
Tmall is a business-to-consumer trade site on Taobao and is much more secure because the sellers have been filtered by Taobao. Those on Tmall are mostly registered brands, organisation and manufacturer.
So there you have it. You are now a master and even you don’t know chinese you will still be able to purchase from TaoBao!