Online shopping on Taobao South East Asia – Shopping & a Taobao giveaway to my readers!

UPDATE: 6TH JAN 2014

Winners of the Taobao Giveaway on my blog:
1. Ferian – luggage bag & good pair of walking shoes for mum
2. Jonathan – CNY decorative accessories
3. May – Targeting Vera Wang wedding dress (wah this one damn crazy! If u buy, I’ll like to buy one to test it out – is the quality is as good as the original!)

Congrats people! Happy 2014 & I hope this gave you guys a good start to the year! *muaks!*

Email me at [email protected]! 🙂

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Anytime is a good shopping time agree? 😀

I do online shop occasionally. And I’m the sort who would only buy from reliable sites. Other than Lazada, eBay, Amazon, ASOS and Groupon I had been wary of trying other sites.

Taobao is a China based online site, and is probably one of the biggest consumer-to-consumer shopping site in the world. Previously only popular with the Chinese educated crowd, things looks set to change with the South East Asia site – www.sea.taobao.com.

over 800 million product listings,

Well, hurray for us! Here’s another site to explore! And to shop! 😀

Shop___Add_to_cart_-_Taobao

As usual, to start you would need a Taobao account. Registration is easy enough. For language, just diligently select English each time the page loads.
For guidance, do refer to this link –> Create an account (registration guide: http://goo.gl/VhAPCH)

Create an account - Taobao

For someone who appreciates orderliness and clean designs, the SEA Taobao site can be a bit confusing. My advice?
Just focus on the sheer amazing amount of choices to shop!
The site reportedly have over 800 million product listings and support payments from from banks like RHB, Maybank and CIMB, and well, major credit cards.

Finally, the marketplace also supports consolidated shipping, which means a buyer’s goods gets transported as a package instead of individually. Obviously, this method cuts down on shipping costs which translates to savings for the customers (us!).

I’m a very fashion oriented person and frankly, I seldom buy electronics online. Thus, it was the women’s section for me!

Taobao SEA.png-006.png

Browse for the items you like and add to cart.
For myself I’m in dire need of new sports shoes so I browsed for Nike. I decided to try a pair of Skechers as well since they had launched their sports line.
Lastly was a chic, elegant dark coat which would be useful for my travels next year. 🙂

Taobao SEA.png

A few of my blogger friends had different experiences while making their purchases on sea.taobao.com but I was lucky that I didn’t have much of that complaint. Maybe it’s cos I only bought 3 items? I know one friend who bought 48 items!
What you need to do here is to keep an eagle eye on your cart and make sure all items are successfully added. Refresh the page if the situations calls for it.

Once you’re done, check on all your items before confirming your purchases.

Taobao_SEA.png-001

When you’re ready, select the International forwarder. There’s a few to select from but I selected 4PX based on feedback from a few friends who had shopped here.
How it works for Taobao here is that once you have paid for your purchases (this is direct to the sellers), you would have to wait for the seller to send the items to the parcel forwarding service you have selected (in my case it is 4PX).
Thus for your order, do allow some time for the seller to send the items to the Parcel Forwarder.
*You may then choose to consolidate or have your items sent to you individually & pay your shopping fees (using your Alipay Purchase card or Credit cards) to the Parcel Forwarder to have your parcel shipped to your address.
You can check on the Forwarding Agent & Fees from here –> http://bit.ly/1dcCK6J

Taobao_SEA.png-002

Done with the freight forwarders, it’s payment next. For us Malaysians, credit card or one of the local banks are your best bet.
I however, had some credit in my AliPay (China’s Paypal) account so I used that.

SeaTaobaoOnline

Next you’ll see the below that states that you’ve paid.
To monitor your purchases, you can log-in to your account and check on its statuses.

Taobao SEA.png-005

After which is this message that you’ll want to see.

Taobao SEA.png-004

I can’t wait for my shoes! As you know I’m taking up personal training lessons in Celebrity Fitness and I had doubled my workout sessions lately so extra pairs of shoes would come in handy. Besides, I need to rotate my running shoes so my feet won’t hurt so much.

Celebrity Fitness - PT 1

Here’s away to earn some Taobao credits so you can shop for Christmas, new year, etc. Heck who needs an excuse to shop anyways? 😀

Here’s how it’s going to work. I do always run giveaways on my blog, Instagram, FB page and FB. So if you’re not following me on those social platforms you should! 😀

Taobao & Rebecca Saw ‘Gifts’ Back – Its the festive season and I would like to reward YOU – my friends and readers by “buying” you your Xmas/New Year/birthday or well, anything you can find on Taobao!
So here’s what you need to do, leave a comment here on this post on WHAT you would buy from the SEA Taobao site and for WHO.

That’s it. THREE winners will EACH stand a chance to win 500RMB credit (RM270)! Winners’ name will be announced at Midnight Jan 5, 2014 (GMT+8).
Note: Winners must provide their Taobao ID & mobile number for them to receive their top up.

This Post Has 36 Comments

  1. Cindy Tong

    i am so broke i dont even have cash to shop this xmas..it will be great if you can give me some credit to buy all the stylish bags from taobao….they are all so pretty yet affordable!!

  2. Kevin Tan

    For me, I’d like to use the credits to buy some DIY handicraft kits for a housemate of mine. She likes doing all kinds of handicrafts.

  3. Henry

    I will buy a running shoe for my girlfriend to encourage her to live a healthy lifestyle with me and be happily ever after 😉

  4. Nicholas

    I will buy cute clothe and shoe for my 1 year old niece because we can get very good quality and design with cheap price at taobao. I think taobao is a great shopping heaven and you can find anything in there 🙂

  5. Cammy Lim

    I would like to buy Fujifilm FP-3000B (peel apart instant films) for my analog photography lover husband because this film is almost impossible to find in Malaysia!

  6. Jonathan

    I’d like to buy CNY decorative accessories for my loved ones from SEA Taobao site as the choices and varieties are VAST. I can find almost any kind of CNY/festive themed item on the site just by browsing through the special sections or using keywords in the search bar.

    So make my CNY an ideal one! Gong Xi Fa Cai! 😀

  7. Kujie

    Kak Jie pernah nampak Rebecca beli luggage online dulu, sejak hari tu selalu berangan-angan nak ada luggage femine macam tu.

    Tadi buka web Taobao, ada banyak pilihan luggage – merah, pink, cream yang sesuai untuk perempuan.

    Boleh tak Kak Jie dapat credit RM 270 untuk beli luggage cantik tu?

    Please say YES!

  8. Kenx Leong

    I would like to buy winter clothing for my sister who is going to study in Taiwan soon. She definitely needs some jackets as it’s going to be very cold there!

  9. lim wei zi

    I would like to get a Totoro jacket for my toddler niece 😀
    Must influence her to Miyazaki awesomeness before getting brainwashed by mainstream Hello Kitty~!! \(^o^)/

  10. Alex

    Whoa…that’s a big ass kettlebell 😀 Haven’t heard of tao bao, now I know! 😛

  11. LauraLeia

    There are so many good deals on Taobao that even browsing through the items is a form of relaxation some days. I’d love to get some nice bags from Taobao for CNY, not only for myself but also my mum and aunts. 😀

  12. kristen

    Would love some credit to shop for lovely handbags and dresses for the coming new year. With great prices on the site, i would be able to shop for my girls as well.

  13. I would like to buy the Venum head gear to my boyfriend. He need it for sparring to protect his head. I would like to motivate him as he aim to be MMA fighter in 2014.

  14. puanbee

    saya dah buka website taobao , berkenan dengan stroller baby ( European style high landscape stroller bassinets can sit reclining umbrella stroller baby stroller two-way )

    dah bookmark link , jika dapat kredit .. boleh lah membeli stroller tu untuk baby baru saya …
    psst : harga nya lebih mrah dr di malaysia .. dah survey .. best lah taobao

  15. jane

    I would love to have a new training/running shoes! I’ve been going to the gym and exercise regularly, I guess I deserve a new Running shoes this 2014!! This shoes http://bit.ly/1cy5BVh or this http://bit.ly/1fR8znp would be awesome! Yay! for this giveaway rebecca! happy New year! =) x0 Jane

  16. Seok Ping

    I would like to buy a affordable yet functional backpack for my bestie who’d be backpacking in Korea next year. I hope she’ll have a pleasant and hassle-free trip with the backpack

  17. Dolphy

    My parents’ wedding anniversary today.
    They love shopping but not online. Great opportunity for them not only get to pick their gift but to experience how easy & convenient shopping online is specially with Taobao having such a wide range of items. My 70 yrs old parents will be trilled 🙂

  18. hafez

    wow i just shopped first time..thanks to ur post..lol..i want to shop again yo!

  19. Ferian

    Taobao sure have plenty of great deals. Would love to give my mum the credits for her to get a luggage bag & good pair of walking shoes. Sending her off for a vacation soon which she has waited for a long time.

  20. Christian

    I saw they have good & reasonable price HDD. Need one badly. Lost my WD recently to thief & another back up just died on me. It’s painful loosing the data specially pictures. 🙁

  21. Constance Ant

    Taobao is super addictive. i can just slump in front of lappie and browse through Taobao for the whole freaking day!

    lately i’m so into stationery. i would like to purchase some uberly cute and decorative Japanese and Taiwanese masking tapes, for myself. pretty purleeese!! 😀

  22. Mabel

    Thanks for the tips. Just passing by! 😀 Cheers ^^v

    1. Rebecca Saw

      hi Mabel, thanks for leaving a comment 🙂
      Happy New Year ya!

  23. May

    Many brides dream of wearing a dress made by one of these most sought-after and top designers on their big day. Targeting Vera Wang wedding dress, with Sea Taobao, I can look sensational on my wedding day truly doesn’t have to empty the bank account.

    I fell in love with a few dresses and final going to pick this. The Only Reason I’d Get Married Would Be to Wear This… thanks!!!

    Links:
    http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w1270367-2200797502.2.mUWUvz&id=35709927569

  24. Hey Rebecca,
    I would love to have a chance to win for my mom. Her birthday is coming up. Never gotten her anything grande/big/exquisite before since I am still a student. No cash flow coming in. haha
    It be really sweet to get something for her for a chance, since all mothers deserve it.
    and maybe something extra for myself as well.

    Cheers~~ <3

  25. Hui Ling

    With the prices of everything going up, my family and I need to tighten our belt a little more. We have been packing our lunch to work in our lunch boxes and it would be great if I could get my mom one of those electric lunch box from Taobao so that she can have a hot meal instead of a cold one.

  26. Kerrie

    Oh my god, this site is terrible! Google translate hardly works!

  27. Wahyu

    Hi sis. I have just read your tips and it was really helpful. Thank you for writing this article. But, I have one question, do we need to set up China Mainland address in our “default address” before we select the forwarders agent? or we can just set our Malaysia address at that section and after that just select the forwarders agent?

  28. Cynthia

    Hi! I just wanna ask if it is ok to buy branded stuffs from taobao? Have you had the experience of it? As I have seen alot of R&R saying that it is not allowed to ship authentic items to Malaysia.

    1. Rebecca Saw

      Hi Cynthia!
      I bought a pair of Nikes and Skechers – both lasted til today and no signs of extreme tear though I used them all the time.
      so yeah, i think they are genuine 😀 But I can’t guarantee.

      1. Cynthia

        Thank you Rebecca! 🙂 Now I can only hope that my parcel comes safely asap hah! Have a good day! xx

      2. Rebecca Saw

        Ohh i hope so too!
        Keep me updated! 😀

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