Clothing a Zaoll- In Progress

Zaoll are very tiny and a bit oddly sized. Here's a few things I've been learning about what they can and can't wear:

Shoes:

• Most SD13 shoes, especially heels, are too narrow for their feet. 
• SD16 heels all seem to fit, including these ones from Snake Eye BJD.

#3, the Snake Eye shoes fit, so most of these should fit pretty similarly since Moe also has wide feet.

Taobao Agent Review: Final Notes

I absolutely cannot recomend Taobao Ring enough. They are my agent of choice from now on. My order arrived quickly (as quickly as possible once the USPS got ahold of it anyway) and shipped quickly from China. Everything was accurate, or as much as I cared.

There was one mistake: the rose leggings were supposed to be 1/3 but the seller sent 1.6. It wasn't worth arguing, as I'll just do it again for the larger size too because they're that cute.

When your order arrives, there is an option to click "arrived" and move the order to your past orders list. They also immediately ask you to provide feedback on the order, which I did.

Taobao Agent Review: Taobao Ring, Part 3

Okay, here is Part 3 of my experience with Taobao Ring. I'm being detailed with this and doing so many posts on this because ordering from Taobao can be stressful, and so can be finding a new, trustworthy agent. Feel free to ask any questions I haven't answered so far.

Note: This post was done by checking out their mobile site, so things might look slightly different on desktop.
Additional Note: Taobao Ring will not knowingly purchase fake or bootleg goods on your behalf. This applies to recast dolls, parts, and replica Lolita items, among other things.

A few things seem to be missing from my order, and I'll update when these get fixed! They're very friendly and accommodating, so I'm honestly not too worried at this point.

First, they updated me to let me know via email that they'd ordered my items. When I check on my account screen, I see this cool notification:

You can click on multple orders to see their status and to see which items they're still waiting on.

Taobao Agent Review: Taobao Ring Part 2

Holy crap, that's all I have to say. They've already confirmed my order so I sent my first payment. Here are a few more screenshots of their process with some commentary. Basically, I LOVE their system. You can view each item in your cart, and it will show you a "yes" or "no" that the item is in stock and then when it ships. Each item also has an estimated shipping time. So far, so good.

They do charge paypal fees, which I don't recall Taobao Trends doing, but to me this is like when you send money for a group order- they're doing you a favor, a service, and making very little in the way of actual profit in my opinion, so I'm not bothered by it.


Taobao Agent Review: Taobao Ring Part 1 here .

So first up, here's an example of the email they send with a status update. This one was letting me know the boots won't ship until next week to them. 

Taobao Agent Review: Taobao Ring

With Taobao Trends now asking for Western Union and having repeated issues with their shopping cart system, I decided to be brave and try a new company. I placed an order for about $122 worth of stuff. Unlike Taobao Trends, they do not calculate their commission, nor domestic shipping in the total.

Their process is pretty much the same.

You input the items you want in the cart, select any options, confirm your address, choose your shipping option, and then submit your order.

They will confirm if the items are in stock, allow you to make any substitutions if not, and then ask you to send the payment for the items plus domestic shipping.

Once everything arrives, you'll receive a second charge for overseas shipping to you.

Retro Review, Alice's Collections: not the place to go for hard-to-clothe slim minis

In this review, I want to go over some of the many items I've purchased from Alice's Collections.

Speed: 4/5; my previous orders from them were all very quick, maybe a week or two at most. Unsure of current shipping times.
Communication: 5/5
Quality: 3/5 (most items don't fit well, but are sewn well from decent fabrics)
Ease of payment: Super easy.

Overview:

I'm very particular about the clothing my dolls wear these days. I would rather pay more, sometimes a lot more, for an item that looks like a miniature version of the things I would wear than pay less for something that doesn't quite achieve that. A lot of doll clothes don't quite achieve the level of realism I prefer. Some things are realistic, some aren't exactly perfect. Many of the clothes that came from this store have over-sized, out of scale buttons and cheaper cuts. Not all of them are this way, however.

I don't mean to insult anyone, and if you like Alice's Collections clothes that is all that matters.


There are quite a few things I can't wait to try on my dolls, since they weren't available when I placed my first orders a couple years ago. However, I'll be getting most of those items on taobao to save money. This brings me to the next important point....

BJD Scale Handbags, Backpacks, and Where to Find Them

For some reason, purses and handbags have always been hard for to find on taobao, at least ones that are good scale and look realistic. So, I went on the hunt for you. I thought I'd share a few links I found. I'll update this when I find more good, realistic ones. I swear, I had a ton more links and such from searching the other day, but of course can't find ANY of those today. Got a good link? Want to share the wealth? Comment below!

These are for purses MSD size and bigger. It's easy to find Blythe and other tiny doll purses, not so much for MSDs.

Oh, and I'm too lazy to bother with pics and direct links. Blame Calculus. It's eaten my brain this summer. T______T

Here are a few terms I used:

bjd 手提包- This also seems to pull up a lot of bags for carrying the dolls themselves in.
bjd 书包- This pulls up lots of backpacks (I didn't link them all, just search and check it out)
Bjd 提包- Pulls up different, but fewer purses

Little backpack/shoulder bags:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.113.aBsrm2&id=9897561669

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.1.GyChy1&id=36920210367

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.60.WrbGSc&id=18916618857

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.11.FzqAOJ&id=1922842719

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.51.FzqAOJ&id=20529123689

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w4004-2358164779.11.Tqz7b9&id=36393345746

Small little handbags
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w5003-4891841838.3.UqBGn9&id=18069471976&scene=taobao_shop

Sunny's World (unable to order with using an agent)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.123.aBsrm2&id=36993379274

Time Castle
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.139.aBsrm2&id=21985979571

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-4357951441.82.vuGBQb&id=20390856600

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-4357951441.16.L3gLFQ&id=26992988074

Really cute purse, sold out on this link but I've found it elsewhere on taobao before.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=25282716528&spm=2014.12001318.0.0

Brief Case (not really sure how I found this):

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.286.CktY1C&id=23751992383


Thanks for reading and happy taobao hunting!

Endless BJD Store Review

Site: http://endlessbjd.taobao.com/

Style: Casual/mori girl, with some things for boys

Size Range: yo-sd to SD

Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment: n/a (use an agent)

Snake Eye BJD Store Review

Jill modeling Snake Eye Heels

Site: snake-eye.taobao.com/‎

Style: No specific style, very random

Size Range: Yo to SD (most options for SD13 girls)



Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment:  n/a (use an agent)


Overview:

I have ordered several items from Snake Eye, and I've been satisfied with everything.

The items have all been perfect scale and perfectly executed. I own two pairs of Snake Eyes heels, a pair of glasses, and an MP3 player. The only downside to Snake Eye is that they don't restock often and they don't have a wide variety of items.

A Latiyellow-Sized Taobao Order!!

My latest Taobao order arrived. I thinned out my collection some more and used the funds to spoil my favorite dolls. :3 As always I like to share the wealth, so here's the info! (The first part is all stuff from the same shop. The second half will show where I got the other things in my order.) I also ordered a few lati-sized things off etsy. I'll add those to this post when they get here instead of doing an entirely different post. XD Enjoy!

Most of this stuff can be found on these three sites (links to specific items will follow below):

Taobao store: http://shop34137741.taobao.com
Etsy store (waaaaaay overpriced): (Can't find it of course, now that I'm looking so link is forthcoming)
English Site (more expensive than taobao): http://www.clear-lan.com/

Shipping time: A little over a month. Everything in the shop is made to order. They don't keep things in stock. Add a few extra days to the expected wait time if you're using the Taobao site and an agent. Taobao Trends declared the full value on my package as requested.

Quality: 5/5 everything is sewn amazingly well, velcro is thin and doesn't look cheesy. The fit is spot on and everything exactly like the pictures.

Style: Cutesy, Mori girl type stuff (not much for boys)

Size Range: lati yellow, pukifee, blythe

Ease of payment: 5/5, easy, used paypal with Taobao Trends like usual.

Communication: Communication with Taobao Trends went perfect as usual, so 5/5 for that.

MVS Store Review

Roselynn modeling MVS Tights

Site: http://abbanadph.taobao.com/

Style: Mostly Casual/Mori Girl

Size Range: Yo to SD (most options for SD13 girls)

Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment:  n/a (use an agent)

Some Taobao Terms

There are TONS of places to find taobao search terms, but I put together some random terms anyway. I believe the Resin Haven on Facebook still has the files available with these key words. Den of Demons also had (?) an amazing list of taobao terms.

Remember, Google Translate is amazingly helpful. Just put in random English words for things and see what pops up. Copy and paste the Chinese characters into taoabo and see what you find.

A Few Useful Shops (not mentioned in my reviews I don't think)
 http://licht-bjdwig.taobao.com/

http://formydoll.taobao.com 

http://yymao.taobao.com

http://idollzoo.taobao.com/

http://miyawork.taobao.com/

http://sunflowerdoll.taobao.com/?spm=a1z10.3.0.27.y32Eqh

http://shop34088410.taobao.com/

http://m3bjd.taobao.com/

http://shop33606846.taobao.com/

http://m7doll.taobao.com/?spm=2013.1.1000126.3.GxxSiP

Start EVERY search with BJD. You can refine the search by adding the words for male or female, or different sizes. Here are a few random, common search terms. You can use google translate to find your own search terms.

女 = Girl

男 = Boy

3分 = 1/3 SD (or just type 1/3)

4分 = 1/4 MSD (or just type 1/4)

6分 = 1/6 Yo-SD (or just type 1/6)

Lati = lati yellow stuff (you can also type 1/8 or 1/12 to find things)

鞋 = Shoes

假发 = Wig

外套 = coat

夹克 = jacket

裙子 = skirt

制服 = uniform

耳机 = headphone       

连衣裙 = dress

裤子 = pants

眼 = eye
背景  = really cool backdrops

咖啡 = coffee and coffee colored things XD

手机 = cute cellphones

拉面 = cute noodle bowls and stuff

头带 = hair bands and hair accessories (there's a seller on esty selling some of these for double what they are on taobao)

           

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!

Taobao Order Box Opening

This is my third taobao order. I thought I would show you some pictures of what I ordered and give reviews of the items and the shops. My total for this order was: US $117.80 (699.49 CNY), and that's with agent fees. The shipping cost for this order from them to me was an additional $30. Only mentioning this so you can estimate shipping for yourself.

Also, I will post pictures of the items with/on the dolls when I get around to unpacking them. I'm still moving so the only doll I have on hand is Hugin, and he refuses to model purses….

*Edit: I went and pulled Jack out of his box, so he's going model the purses, whether he wants to or not. Pics of the wigs on a doll to follow.*

First a review of taobao trends:

Taobao trends is really nice, and really great about communication. They aren't so great about paying attention to sizes though. Often I have received wrong sized items, but it's usually not too big a deal, and it's usually only like one or two things out of every order. In this order, it's the shoes and the blue Happy Chamille wig.

I may try a different agent next time, just to see what the differences are in terms of service, agent fees, shipping, etc. Taobao trends isn't bad, by any means. You just have to be really specific.

60 cm Shoe Review!

60 cm Shoe Review! (For dolls such as SD16/SDgr heeled feet, SDgr flat feet, and Feeple 60)

I adore shoes. I love them in my size, and I love them miniature. I'm especially a sucker for adorable heels. I'm making a list of different shoes and brands that SDgr girl flat feet, Feeple 60 girls, and SDgr heeled feet. I will note where I got them and what I thought of them. I will update this as I get more shoes to review. Hey, I need an excuse to buy more right? Check back for updates.

A Rambling: My Taobao Experience

Taobao order review

Hi there! I have made a couple orders from Taobao and I've decided to review the shops I purchased from and the items for their quality, etc. The agent I use is Taobao Trends, and I could not be happier with them.

A bunch of stuff I ordered ended up not being in stock, which was really sad. Don't get your hopes up when you order, as a lot of stuff appears to be in stock but actually isn't.

I ordered two wigs from this shop: whp092029
I ordered 1/4 wigs. These were snug even on minifee with their smallish 7-8 heads. The fibers were soft, but the wigs were thin. This wig looks NOTHING like it's picture, even after styling.

Though the wigs are cheap, and not bad quality for the price, I would rather pay more for a better quality wig. I will avoid in the future.

I ordered several things from honeyshin including a cellphone, some little cakes, and some cat cellphone charms. The site is very difficult to navigate and it is difficult to tell the quantity of things you order. The little cakes were the wrong size (I requested the smaller ones and received the larger) but were very cute. I ordered a little present and some shopping bags (the description said 6 but I received 2 and the present was unwrapped and just crumpled up when I got it). The little items were sent in a small, cute tea tin.

I would order again in the future.