In a recent report, ezbuy has a ton of backlogged and unfulfilled orders for its buy-for-me service. These orders were placed by customers for items on TaoBao, the Chinese mega fashion outlet.
Reports say that TaoBao has used the term “scalper” for ezbuy’s thousands of accounts that source from the Chinese website. Since they consider ezbuy accounts scalpers, they have started to refuse processing orders.
ezbuy has refuted TaoBao, saying that they aren’t scalpers since the goods that they buy for customers are not limited in quantity. Reports have said that ezbuy insists that they only buy items when people have actually initiated an order–and they do not buy out stock.
The matter is still unresolved as of publishing.
So what do we do now?
While ezbuy is one of the most popular platforms for buying goods from TaoBao, it’s not the only one out there. There are some websites and services that cater to Chinese customers, but there are quite a few English websites too.
Here are the alternatives you can use while ezbuy is unavailable for TaoBao shoppers.
Peeka and other shopping services
Peeka is a website that is great for people who don’t speak Chinese but want to order from TaoBao. You get to choose your mode of shipping between air and sea cargo. There are other websites like Peeka that offer the same services.
You basically have to fill out an order form that includes the URLs of your items on TaoBao. You make a first payment which includes Chinese local shipping to the Peeka warehouse. Once the items have been delivered, they’re checked and then you have to make a second payment, which sends your items from China to Singapore.
Other services have similar processes, depending on how they handle your item. This method is basically asking someone in China to order through their own account for you.
Since you don’t need an account with TaoBao for this, you don’t get the discounts that the Chinese shopping site offers–but Peeka employees can help you talk with sellers to know more about the item.
Use an official forwarder
TaoBao also offers official forwarders for people who want to buy from their website but live in Singapore. Keep in mind that some shops also do not ship with a forwarder.
You have to create a TaoBao account and an Alipay account so you can buy directly. You can top up your Alipay account at AXS Stations.
Once you’ve loaded your account, you can then shop on TaoBao as if it were a local shopping website. You add the items to your cart then you choose an official forwarder.
Take note that the items are always shipped by air so shipping is more expensive than when you use a service like Peeka. But you definitely get the items in mere days compared to weeks that it would take with ship cargo. Not all sellers on TaoBao let you forward items, though, so make sure you check all the items you’re ordering.
- Put the items you want to order in your cart.
- Checkout with international forwarding as selected shipping option and pay for your items.
- Wait for the packages to get to the forwarder’s warehouse.
- Combine the parcels.
- Pay the forwarding fee.
- The package arrives at your location 4-6 days from arrival at the forwarder’s warehouse.
Take note that a forwarder doesn’t check your parcels or communicate with the seller. They just combine and ship it to Singapore.
These are the most popular ways to order from TaoBao. Have you tried any of these methods? What other ways have you used to order from the mega shopping site?
