As a shopaholic, do you know any tips which can help you save money in China Taobao Shopping? Buy same item with less cost is really a joyful experience, isn’t it? With over 5 years’ taobao agent experience, 42agent is familiar with every detail of Taobao shopping. We provide the following tips to help you save money in your China Taobao buy.
1. Pay attention to Taobao sellers’sale price. Many Taobao stores offer discount from time to time. Especially sellers who sell women clothing, men’s clothing, shoes, bags, baby care items, shoes, toys are more likely to discount their products.
2.Shop on Big Sale day. Usually taobao sellers will have sales promotion on various China festivals or celebration day. They include New Year’s Day (January 1st), May Day (May 1st), Duanwu Festival (lunar calendar May 5th), Children’s Day (June 1st), 6.18 Big Sale Day (June 18th), Mid-autumn Festival (lunar calendar August 15th), National Day (October 1st), 11.11 Day (November 11th), 12.12 Day (December 12th), Spring Festival (lunar calendar December 30th). The biggest sale day on Taobao is 11.11 Day, as almost all sellers will join this big sale, so do not miss it.
3.Try to buy several items from one sellers, rather than buy each one from different sellers. If you buy from one seller, you pay one domestic fee. If you buy from 3 stores, you pay 3 delivery fee.
4.Consolidate orders for international shipping. 42agent provides feature service of combine different orders for shipping. It will help you save a lot. This is because many shipping methods calculate shipping fee based on every first 500g or 1KG, then each extra 500g. The fee for the 1st 500g is much higher than rest extra 500g. If you ship in several parcels, you will pay several first 500g fee. When you submit order, you can leave us a message for combination, like below.
5.Choose appropriate international shipping methods. Honestly, it’s not correct to say that airmail is definitely cheaper than EMS. Under some weight scale, EMS can be even cheaper. For example, with a 2500g parcel to Australia, EMS fee is higher than airmail. However, when the package is over 3000g, EMS fee is even cheaper than airmail. Each time you receive shipping invoice from us, you can use the parcel weight to compare fees for different methods in our shipping calculator. If you find a cheaper method than the one you chose, you can message or email us to change it. You are at will to change shipping methods any time before the order is shipped. Really convenient and flexible, isn’t it?
6.Pay attention to the item category you buy. It’s better to buy light items than heavy items from overseas. Believe it or not, international shipping for heavy items can make you cry. As you know, international shipping fee is based on parcel weight and destination country. Though the heavy items’price may be more competitive than that in your country, total cost may be higher when taking shipping into consideration. Clothes, shoes, cosplay, wigs, BJD dolls are all good to buy. However, furniture, lights, household appliances are too heavy and not good to buy.
7.Get familiar with your customs tax. Each country has different customs rules. Some products will be taxed higher than others, so pay attention to these items before you buy.
8.Be careful with Taobao Agent’s service fee trap. Most Taobao Agents charge service fee at 8% or 10%. Some may tell they charge lower, even 5%, but this can be a trap. Be careful when you see the commission rate, as some shopping agents will add international shipping fee part to calculate commission. They may charge service fee based on items cost, delivery fee as well as international shipping cost. Then even the commission rate is lower, but international shipping fee is usually high, so their total service fee will be much higher. Choose those agents who calculate service fee on only items cost and domestic delivery fee.
Hope the above tips will be a help when you buy from China Taobao. Enjoy your shopping.