Importing from China Taobao..

stefanm

I buy a fair amount of stuff from China, since AliExpress is more or less not an option anymore I usually use eBay, but prices are high on eBay and I can't find all the stuff I need either. Enter Taobao, man that site is awesome! But we can't order directly from there, so we have to use an agent.

Now, a recommended agent has EMS as it's cheapest option before UPS/DHL, as far as I understand EMS sucks as far as customs go, duty and fines etc.

Anyone have experience with Taobao agents or EMS as a shipping method? If so, please chime in.

lockhrt999

I also wanted to check stuff on that website but it's not letting me log in using Indian mobile number. I also couldn't reuse my ali credentials to login on that website. So I finally gave up.

stefanm

lockhrt999 said:
I also wanted to check stuff on that website but it's not letting me log in using Indian mobile number. I also couldn't reuse my ali credentials to login on that website. So I finally gave up.

That's strange, I made an account for just searching. It did work, but I get confused logging in, lol. I search in Mandarin via Google to find what I need.

Incinere

I have used Superbuy agent to get the products from China. I have used EMS shipping method and had to pay Customs on my orders. I have ordered lot of things at a time (3-4kg )to save on shipping. It took around 10 -15 days for the product to reach India.

buzz88

lockhrt999 said:
I also wanted to check stuff on that website but it's not letting me log in using Indian mobile number. I also couldn't reuse my ali credentials to login on that website. So I finally gave up.

I have the same issue. The site refuses to let me login. Created two accounts using two different numbers, but the same issue persists. Anyone has idea how to resolve this?

stefanm

Incinere said:
I have used Superbuy agent to get the products from China. I have used EMS shipping method and had to pay Customs on my orders. I have ordered lot of things at a time (3-4kg )to save on shipping. It took around 10 -15 days for the product to reach India.

So, was that just import duty and no fine?

buzz88 said:
I have the same issue. The site refuses to let me login. Created two accounts using two different numbers, but the same issue persists. Anyone has idea how to resolve this?

Try using opera and it's VPN.

nRiTeCh

Incinere said:
I have ordered lot of things at a time (3-4kg )to save on shipping.

Pay customs on these 3-4kg orders or pay even for 10gram item?

Incinere · 2023-03-07T22:56:24+0530

There was only import duty around 25% of the total items cost .

stefanm said:
So, was that just import duty and no fine?

Why there would be fine?

nRiTeCh said:
Pay customs on these 3-4kg orders or pay even for 10gram item?

Generally You pay customs based on the invoice amount. But sometimes value can swing from 20 % to 80 %

blr_p

buzz88 said:
I have the same issue. The site refuses to let me login. Created two accounts using two different numbers, but the same issue persists. Anyone has idea how to resolve this?

Whether its the number that is the issue or not using a VPN that shows you live elsewhere ?

stefanm

blr_p said:
Whether its the number that is the issue or not using a VPN that shows you live elsewhere ?

I'm not sure, I know that you have to constantly refresh for images to show up, this is due to firewalls from the Chinese government. I tutor Chinese people English almost everyday and we discuss these topics quite often.

blr_p

stefanm said:
I'm not sure, I know that you have to constantly refresh for images to show up, this is due to firewalls from the Chinese government.

From what you've said i think they are just checking IP by location and not the phone numbers

stefanm said:
I tutor Chinese people English almost everyday and we discuss these topics quite often.

What do they say ? I know they use VPNs. Apparently unregistered VPN's are illegal but there's no way to check that.

stefanm

blr_p said:
From what you've said i think they are just checking IP by location and not the phone numbers

What do they say ? I know they use VPNs. Apparently unregistered VPN's are illegal but there's no way to check that.

The government turns a blind eye to the minority that uses VPN's as long as they don't say anything against the government on foreign social media.

blr_p

stefanm said:
The government turns a blind eye to the minority that uses VPN's as long as they don't say anything against the government on foreign social media.

What I've learnt is generally they turn a blind eye to most things except when there is a party meeting coming up. That is when the dissent needs to be tamped down.

stefanm

blr_p said:
What I've learnt is generally they turn a blind eye to most things except when there is a party meeting coming up. That is when the dissent needs to be tamped down.

Deja Vu, same $ h 1 t here....

Importing from China Taobao..

Not a Fan.