I have a little secret which I would like to share today. The secret, is a revelation as to where I usually get my clothes from ;) Well, it's from Taobao 淘宝!!!! I AM A TAOBAO ADDICT because clothes, shoes, bags are so ridiculously cheap and value for money!
I discovered Taobao about 3-4 years ago, my brother introduced it to me and we have been using 65daigou as the agent for years (even before it rebranded to ezbuy.com). I know it's difficult to shop at Taobao due to the language being Chinese but trust me, it is not as hard as it seems to be! Besides, there's translation now! Before the rebranding to ezbuy, I had to manually search for clothes I want with Chinese keywords on Taobao (so it was definitely harder back then) however you guys are in luck as ezbuy has nicely categorized its products for its users. AND TODAY, I'm gna share with you guys some of my little tips on how to hack the system further and find even value for money clothes :)
Since ezbuy is such an established agent in Singapore, I would say it is the BEST PLATFORM for anyone to leverage on if you are new to Taobao and wants to give it a try! :)
1. Visit ezbuy.com and search for the item you like over at the search box
As you scroll further down the website, you'll see that ezbuy has made its website very user-friendly by classifying clothes under different categories such as Female, Male. Furthermore, when you click on it they are further curated based on topics/themes/collections such as Supermodel style, Athleisure, High Order (for female clothing).
Just navigate around the website and I'm sure you'll find something you like!
2. When you found something you like, click on "View original site" which will lead you to the original taobao site
Say for example you fell in love at first sight with the crotchet halter crop top :)
3. Copy the whole Chinese title into the search box
Alternatively, you can choose KEY Chinese characters to search for e.g. 镂空花边拼接螺纹针织露脐短款小吊带 which means Crotchet Crop Spaghetti Top.
4. Hover over your favorite items and click on both the 找同款 (items alike)/ 找相似 (similar items) buttons
To look for the most value for money item, you can categories the products based on price from lowest to highest by clicking on the 价格 button.
The good thing about the 找相似 and 价格 button is that it helps you discover other products that might interest you at LOWER prices :) E.g. A RMB11.99 top is only approximately SGD$2.50 before shipping and agent fee which is DAMN CHEAP RIGHT!!!
Another tip will be to look at the 销量 aka sales volume (next to the price) so that you can have a rough gauge on the product quality/sales. The high numbers will thereby translate to more people buying. The numbers act like a guarantee as those products are also popular and bought by many others too :)
Also, when you look at the clothes in its individual webpage, you can also read the reviews 累计评论 to know how the clothes look like by other buyers :)
5. After you've found the items you would like to purchase, simply copy the url and paste it into ezbuy.com search box
There's many other ways to shop Taobao but I chose ezbuy.com due to its efficient and convenient services. Their delivery services are super convenient with lots of neighborhood/MRT collection point! I have one near my house and one near my office which is extremely convenient for me to collect my parcels when they arrive without having to incur extra charges :)
My last tip will be to always look out for Free Agent Promo or Shipping Discounts of which you would be notified if you have their mobile app or had signed up to their mailing list! Hurray to more savings! :DDDD
Also, sharing come of my favorite shops with you guys (mostly American styled clothes):
- 奈丝NICE优质外贸女装
- 好多衣服饰专营店
- 凡衣优品外贸
- MISS LUCY女装快时尚
- 小熙外贸性价比店
And viola, that's all for my mini guide to shopping at Taobao!!!! I hope it has helped you guys saved some money and find some gems! Why spend so much on retail shops when you can look the same or in fact, better? By spending smarter, you can use the savings to buy more clothes or spend it on other stuff you like :) It's all about stretching the dollar so have fun and get shopping! *Psst... Don't get addicted :P*
Top, Boots and Shades - Ezbuy.com
Jeans and Bag- H&M
Love,
Jasmine
