A Visual Guide to Taobao

Originally, this was meant to be posted on the Haven site, but with the situation as it is I'm not sure what's happening with it so it'll be posted here. (Hopefully that doesn't cause drama or offend anyone. Oi.)

There is an excellent set of documents floating around various places on the internet to find terms and such to search for. Some people are still having difficulty, even with the Haven's helpful materials, so I thought I'd pitch in and make a tutorial using screen shots of one of my taobao orders. 

Brief overview: Taobao uses Chinese yuan, not yen. I usually use google or paypal's currency converter while I'm browsing.$1 USD is about 6.25 yuan (or 1 yuan is .16 $). As you're shopping, taobao trends will provide the CNY cost, their agent fees, and the USD value of what you're buying, all at the bottom of your cart.

I don't use a browser that automatically translates, as things just start to seem weird. If I need to know what the text says on a particular listing, I copy that text into google translate to get the gist of what's going on. Options are often weird. Some are intuitive: "coffee" usually refers to light brown color, but others make zero sense. There are lots of amusing taobao translations out there. XD

On this blog, under the reviews tab, you will find lots of my favorite taobao stores, so I'm not going to do a separate post just for those.

Alright, onto the tutorial!

First, go to google translate and type in what you're looking for. I used "coffee" for this particular screenshot. Never use plurals. I keep google translate open in a separate tab for easy browsing.

Click translate.

1. basic Chinese character 2. alternative characters/synonyms

See all these characters? I just copy and paste them until I get a search I can work with.

Or, grab one of the Chinese words I've put together in this document here.

Go to Taobao.

Type "BJD [chinese characters]" and hit enter.

You can also add other things like 1/3 or 1/4 to narrow down sizes.

Items marked at prices like this are usually sold out. They aren't actually
that expensive.

Next, open up your favorite taobao agent. I like taobaotrends. Log into an existing account or make one if you don't have one.

 Go to submit orders.

Copy and paste the web address of the item you want to buy....

 

 ...into the submit box.

Put in the options you want, using google translate for characters you can't identify.

Either click continue (which takes  you back to the submit box) or go to cart (which takes you to your cart). Items in your cart stay in your cart until you remove them.

Continue to do this until you have all the items you want.

When you are done putting things in your cart and want to pay, click checkout. DO NOT click this if you are not ready to pay. You do not actually pay until you get the email from Taobao Trends. They have to check to make sure everything is in stock. They will ask you if you want to change items, put the cost of the item towards the shipping, or change options on items. Watch your email.

Wait for the email from taobao trends to confirm your order.When you receive the email, log into your account, go to your order histories, and view the order. Scroll to the bottom and click the paypal button. Pay. You will not pay the shipping until Taobao Trends emails you with a picture of your order and tells  you to pay.

When your items arrive to their office, they will email you again. A new link will appear on your order page that lets you pay shipping. It will be grayed out until it is time to pay for the shipping.

Wait for your stuff to come to your house, and track it if you want. You can view a post on how to track EMS packages here.
I hope this helps! Be sure to ask questions in the comments if you need to. ^_^ Thanks for reading and happy collecting!