If you are a shopaholic, you would have definitely heard of China’s biggest online shopping site, Taobao. It has over a billion products at attractive prices, and it caters to all the shopping needs of individuals and businesses. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that you can find everything from a pin to a plane on Taobao.com. You may wonder if you can buy directly from Taobao, because the website is fully in Chinese. It is not very compatible to shop from this site, especially if you are not from China, or don’t know Chinese. So, here are a few things you should be aware of to know if you can shop directly from Taobao.com.

Which countries does Taobao ship to?

If you are a foreigner, this is the first question you need an answer to. Does Taobao ship to your country? You can proceed to the following steps only if the answer to this question is “yes”. As per the latest data collected in 2022, Taobao is involved in international shipping and forwarding to 15 countries outside China. They are Australia, New Zealand, USA, Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Macau, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Cambodia and South Korea.

If you don’t belong to these countries, don’t worry. You can still enjoy shopping from the diverse range of products available on Taobao, but with the help of an agent like tbagents.com. Many agents buy from Taobao and sell the products on their site to customers who cannot shop from Taobao directly. So, you can choose one of these agents to cater to your online shopping requirements.

What are the sites or apps from where I can directly buy from Taobao?

Even if you are eligible to buy directly from Taobao, you may get confused at times at the time of shopping. This is because you will find quite a few websites on Taobao, and may know where exactly to shop from. Here are the most common types of shopping sites and apps of Taobao, and their various uses, to get rid of all ambiguity in your mind.

• www.taobao.com (Taobao App) – Used mainly by shoppers in China, and it is the main website of the online shopping giant
• https://world.taobao.com/ (Taobao Lite App) – Website exclusively for buyers outside Mainland China; however, some products or categories may be blocked for foreign shoppers
• www.tmall.com (Tmall App) – A smaller version of the main website, but contains the products of some of the biggest international brands/companies; most products you find here are quite expensive
• https://2.Taobao.com (Xianyu App) – You will find all cheap-priced products here, as this is a second-hand market; however, international shipping terms that apply to the above three Taobao sites don’t apply here. This website is entirely in Chinese.

How can I shop from Taobao when the website is in Chinese?

If you are from one of the above-mentioned 15 countries where shopping from Taobao directly is possible, you may wonder about navigating through the site as it is entirely in Chinese. All the products and their descriptions are in Chinese, so if you are not fluent in the language, shopping directly from Taobao would have been a tough challenge many years ago. However, thanks to the advent of technology, you will not face any hassles while shopping from Taobao today.

This is because you can make use of some effective tools like Google Translate and the automatic translation into English feature on the Google Chrome Browser to shop easily from Taobao. However, these translations may work well when you are browsing through the various products & categories. When you want to click on something, you may still be able to do it only on the original Chinese page.

Now that you know that you can shop from Taobao directly from your country, here are the steps you need to follow:

• Creating an account with Taobao

You have to create an account with Taobao for shopping from the site. Always provide the correct mobile number and other credentials while creating an account. Taobao will verify your number by sending you a notification. If the number you entered is incorrect, Taobao may block your number. It takes a long while to unlock your number, in that case. So, it is important to give valid credentials.

When it comes to shipping addresses, Taobao gives you the flexibility to save up to 20 addresses All the details you enter while creating your account should be accurate, and should be done before you order something.

• Choosing the right product

Go through the product categories in detail, and then choose the one that fits you perfectly. You can use relevant keywords to get the exact product you want, and avoid wasting time browsing through irrelevant products. Once you narrow down the product of your choice, you should check the ratings of the sellers before you place the orders. Always opt for products from reputed and branded sellers to get full value for the money.

• Ordering and choosing shipping options

You can then go ahead and confirm your order. Taobao will ask you to confirm your delivery address and shipping details when you place the order. The website will offer you various shipping solutions depending on the origin country of the order. Choose the right option, after going through the details.

• Payment

You need to have a registered AliPay account, when shopping directly from Taobao. You will be allowed to choose your payment mode (gift card, net banking, credit card, etc.). Please check the terms regarding the service fee that is applicable for credit cards, to avoid surprises later, at the time of payment.

• Tracking your order

Once you have made the payment, your order will appear under “purchased items” on the Taobao website. You can check this section regularly to track your order. For any queries or problems with your order, you can chat with the 24/7 customer support team. An important point to remember here is that refunds and returns may take a while to process. So, it would do you a lot of good to remain patient, once you have raised a request for the same.

We hope this broad overview would have given you enough clarity to shop directly from Taobao.com, and enjoy the latest and trending products at highly attractive prices.