How to buy on Taobao? [FULL GUIDE]

Have you ever heard of Taobao? As a native Chinese, I must tell you some truths about it. Back in 2005, not many people are using this app. People prefer to go to bricks and mortar stores because they can feel and touch the stuff they want to purchase. The price in Taobao, say, a shirt, is like 5-10 euros, so cheap right? When you get the goods shipped from the seller, it's always not what you have imagined - either of bad quality or of a different appearance. However, after 15 years passed, there are huge differences. Most people tend to go shopping online, especially in China, Taobao APP is like WeChat, people use it from daytime to bedtime. Now follow us to view Taobao 2020, such a big surprise for everyone!

What is Taobao? (C2C Platform)

Taobao, founded in 2003, is an online shopping platform for consumer-to-consumer retail. It belongs to Jack Ma's Alibaba Group which connects consumers from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

According to iResearch, in 2013, Taobao was the largest online shopping destination in China. Besides, from 2012-2014, Mobile Taobao App was the most favored mobile app in China.

Now let's skip those official comments, Taobao is nowadays a place you can buy various goods at the most cost-efficient price, and of course, with nice quality if you have your purchase in control. You can see the videos and the pictures and also the comments of pictures from who have ever bought the same products, so the chance of getting scammed is lowered greatly than before.

2 ways to access Taobao

Find the website in Google
As always, it has an official website. Open it and it's all Chinese. You can just click the right button "translate to English", or you can add a google chrome extension named "Google translation extension"

Download the app on a smartphone
We have already mentioned in the first place, that, app Taobao is famous as well. So you can download Taobao App on your phone and use it. However, you might need to remember some words for your purchasing process. Follow our guide for the registration in Taobao App.

How to register in Taobao?

Now, download Taobao App, the first popup on your smartphone should be showing you the New Privacy Policy which guarantees your privacy will be protected as the photo is shown below. Then it will ask you to grant the app permission to have access to your camera and location.

Step 1: Enter the app, there is a cute icon that looks like a cat on the right top of your phone as I circled in blue, just click it. The popup of the right picture will show up immediately, so you just click the orange one “立即注册” which means register now.

Step 2: Taobao needs everyone to log in with their phone number, so here you have to use your phone number to log in.

Step 3: Type your phone number and then put the verification code you just received, then congratulation, you have an account in Taobao now!

How to buy a specific product on Taobao APP?

Tip 1: Use translation tools to translate what you want to purchase, then copy-paste it. Here we will take earphones as an example. The Chinese for earphones is "耳机", so we will search this in Taobao. You can see the picture and the price there. There are various products from different brands. So we choose the first one from HUAWEI, you can click the yellow one "Purchase Now" and then buy it.

Tip 2: This is a really perfect function in Taobao App, you can take a picture of what you want to purchase and then upload, or you can even get the desirable picture of the products from your client then upload. It's really fast and convenient since it saved you lots of time. See here we upload the picture of Electric Toothbrushes and within 2 seconds you get the results of the same products.

How to place an order on the Taobao website?

Step 1: Search the product's name: 耳机 (earphone), then click the one you are interested in.

Step 2: Our suggestion for you is to check the cumulative evaluation first because it can reveal a lot of things. Kindly check the reviews with pictures first. If you do this step on a mobile phone, you actually have the chance to see the video review.

Step 3: Click "Buy now", there will be a popup like a requirement of your address, which should be very complete.

Step 4: Once you finished your address filling, here is the shipment choice you can go with if you are in a certain area.

What if I want to refund for my products?

To be honest, returning the products is a really difficult process. In China, you just simply send it back to the seller and at most cost 2 euros, however, for foreigners it's actually kind of out of question considering the distance, delivery time, and the expensive shipping fees.

However, you have the right to get a refund if you get defective products or it's just not what you thought. You can submit a refund request directly to Taobao, and don't forget to record a video when you open the products to demonstrate as an example once your products are broken or damaged. Normally, the seller will have to respond to your request within 48 hours, if not, Taobao will refund you if you provide enough evidence.

Double 11-Singles Day

November 11, Singles Day or Double 11, which refers to the annual online sales day on November 11, originated from the online sales event held by Taobao Mall (Tmall) on November 11, 2009. It's a Chinese shopping carnival to celebrate single people. Double 11 has become an annual event in China's e-commerce field. It has gradually influenced the international e-commerce industry since the sales each year surpasses the combination of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

On November 11, 2020, the 2020 Double Eleven shopping carnival began. from November 1 to 11 at 00:30, the real-time turnover of the 2020 Tmall Double Eleven Global Carnival exceeded $74 billion.

Double 12-Couples Day

December 12, known as Double 12 or Couples Day, was first for the retailers who have not to participate in the Double 11 or might have missed it. In 2011, then it became the third-largest shopping carnival in China. Around the month of October, people start to get ready for shopping on Double 11 and Double 12, and the seller will prepare accordingly about the sales and coupons and gifts, etc.

According to Alipay statistics, on December 10, 2016, a total of 49 million people participated in the offline carnival. Entity businesses are increasingly realizing that the significance of "Double 12" is not in turnover but in popularity and publicity.

If the "Double 11" is the entity merchants watching the e-commerce to make profits, then the "Double 12" is to popularize the entity merchants using the Internet to earn money. Alipay said that many merchants have used the Internet as a tool to significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Electronic Scooter/Ebikes

As you might notice, in recent years, the needs for Electronic Scooters and Ebikes have increased largely especially after this global pandemic. Why? It's far more economical and at the same time environmental. Apparently, if you compare it with automobiles, it's not that fast, however, it's convenient to carry around even when you are in the condition of severe traffic congestion. In addition, it can save you the distress to find a parking lot when you are in a hurry. The purchase of an Electronic Scooter will totally be a good choice for you!

Smart Devices

There are thousands of suppliers in Taobao that you can get various smartphone products either from Huawei or Xiaomi. Why importing smart devices from China? There are extraordinary edges regarding pricing and technology in recent years of Chinese smartphone, the more the suppliers, the competitive this market is, thus cheaper than other markets. And with the huge targeted market segments of china’s smartphones worldwide, you don't need to worry about the sales volume of your commodities.

Regulations in the EU

One thing you ought to have if you want to import to the EU is "Conformité Européene" short for CE. This is the symbol of quality, and without which, your products might be considered not safe and will be hard to enter EU markets. Industries required the CE marking:

• Electrical Equipment and Electronics (EEE): RoHS/LVD/EMC Directive
• Children’s toys: Toy Safety Directive
• Machinery: Machinery Directive

If you are not very clear about the regulations when you are going to import goods on Taobao, just don’t hesitate to contact us, we can make it clear about all the documents and regulations you might need.

How can Docshipper help you?

You just need to provide the following specifications for us to help you with: Photo and/or reference link (AliExpress, Amazon ...) / Purchase quantity (MOQ) by reference / The target price by reference. Then we can start search according to your needs: We will sort out a shortlist of several suppliers in line with your expectations: quality, compliance, customization, price, and MOQ (Minimum order quantity). Then, our experts will help you to control the conformity of products and suppliers and check the various directives related to your products (CE marking, RoHS standard, EEC, ISO, etc.) Once we find the best supplier, we will undertake friendly negotiations with the suppliers selected for your business. Don't worry about this because we have native Chinese/French/English speakers. And then, after approval of the supplier quotation, and you made a deal with it. You can pay a deposit, generally 30% of production and then the rest before delivery. Guess what! What you don’t need to worry about is shipping! Our transport department takes care of all your logistical needs from departure to arrival, you will get a door to door offer made by DocShipper. More information on our dedicated page: Logistics services

FAQs about how to buy on Taobao

🧐 What is the difference between Taobao and Tmall?

Both of them belongs to Alibaba Group. However, Tmall is different from Taobao, as the difference between Amazon and Ebay. Shop owners in Tmall should hand in all legal documentations to confirm their credibility so that it would be a guarantee for the buyers in Tmall. If you want to purchase authentic products, our suggestion for you is to buy on Tmall.

🙅🏻 What is Double 11?

On November 11, 2020, just happened 1 week ago, the 2020 Double Eleven shopping carnival began, from November 1 to 11 at 00:30, the real-time turnover of the 2020 Tmall Double Eleven Global Carnival exceeded $74 billion. November 11, Singles Day or Double 11, which refers to the annual online sales day on November 11, is a Chinese shopping carnival to celebrate single people. It has gradually influenced the international e-commerce industry since the sales each year supasses the combination of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

🤷🏻‍♂️ What's the difference among 618, Double 11 and Double 12?

Double 11 and Double 12 are both serving for Alibaba Group which 618 is a shopping carnival majorly for JingDong.com and not as that influenced as Double 11 does. And Double 11 is for the online sellers while Double 12 is for both online and offline sellers. The sellers always joined Double 12 for improving the reputation for their stores.

🥇 What are the pros and cons of Taobao?

Pros: It offers the lowest price among the same industry and widest choices of products, and it holds Super Events like Double 11 and Double 12 which saved you a lot of money. Cons: There are huge Language barrier since most of the sellers don't speak English. And unsecured shipment service increasing the chance of getting scammed. However, these cons all can be solved by Docshipper with experts in sourcing to help you with the quality control, negotiation with sellers - native speakers in Chinese/French/English, and own branch offering door to door service in logistics.

DocShipper Advise : We help you with the entire sourcing process so don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!

Having trouble finding the appropriate product? Enjoy our sourcing services, we directly find the right suppliers for you!
You don't trust your supplier? Ask our experts to do quality control to guarantee the condition of your goods!
Do you need help with the logistics? Our international freight department supports you with door to door services!
You don't want to handle distribution? Our 3PL department will handle the storage, order fulfillment, and last-mile delivery!

Nº1 in Asia

Answer within 24h

Logistics & Sourcing