Learn how to ship from Taobao directly as an international buyer without agents in this Taobao English guide!
The Complete Guide to Taobao Shopping
Part 1: How to Buy From Taobao
Part 2: How to Navigate Taobao Keywords
Part 3: How to Ship From Taobao
Part 4: How to Refund on Taobao
Part 5: How to Reverse Image Search on Taobao
Part 6: How to Checkout Taobao in CNY with YouTrip
Part 7: How to CBM Bulky Ship From Taobao
Part 8: How to Earn Cashback From ShopBack Taobao
Part 9: How to Use Taobao Free Shipping Zone
1. Understand Shipping Methods
| Taobao Shipping Methods | |
| 官方集运 – 空运 (Consolidated Shipping – Air Freight) | All your items will be sent to Taobao’s warehouse in China to be registered, consolidated and repacked for optimal shipping, and then sent to you via air freight. You’ll only know the shipping fee after the items arrive at the Taobao warehouse. Price first 0.5kg: From ¥22 (S$4.40) Price next 0.5kg: From ¥15 (S$3) |
| 官方集运 – 海运 (Consolidated Shipping – Sea Freight) | All your items will be sent to Taobao’s warehouse in China to be registered, consolidated and repacked for optimal shipping, and then sent to you via sea freight. You’ll only know the shipping fee after the items arrive at the Taobao warehouse. Price first 1kg: From ¥22 (S$4.40) Price next 1kg: From ¥7.4 (S$1.50) |
| 官方直送 (Direct Shipping) | All your items will be sent to Taobao’s warehouse in China to be registered, and then immediately sent to you directly as individual packages. You’ll pay for the shipping fee together with the item. Price first 0.5kg: From ¥24 (S$4.80) Price next 0.5kg: From ¥14.50 (S$2.90) |
| 自行联系卖家寄送 (Seller’s Shipping) | You have to negotiate with the seller directly for them to ship directly to Singapore. This option is troublesome and you need to converse fluently in Mandarin. Plus, there are some sellers who will refuse to personally ship overseas. Price per kg: Depends on seller |
Which is the Best Shipping Method?
Both “官方集运 – 空运” (Consolidated Shipping – Air Freight) and “官方集运 – 海运” (Consolidated Shipping – Sea Freight) are the best methods, because it’s always better to consolidate everything into one package for optimal shipping. Consolidated shipping is also slightly cheaper than direct shipping.
However, you’ll have an extra step to do, as you need to manually consolidate your items and pay for shipping separately. Read on to understand how to consolidate and pay for your shipping.
| Shipping Method | One-time Payment | Two-time Payment | Cost-Effective |
| Direct | ✔️ | ||
| Consolidated | ✔️ | ✔️ |
2. Track & Consolidate
After you’ve made your Taobao purchase, tap on the profile logo “我的淘宝” (Account) and select “查看全部订单” (My Orders). You’ll be able to see all your orders and track their shipping progress. When you track your order, you may see that the final shipping address is in China. Don’t fret, that’s just Taobao’s warehouse, and your items will be shipped to Singapore upon arrival and consolidation.
Whenever an item arrives in Taobao’s warehouse in China, you’ll also receive a SMS notification from Taobao. If you’ve ordered five items, you’ll receive five SMSes notifying you that your items have arrived in Taobao’s consolidation warehouse and you’re required to make consolidated shipping payment.
So once you’ve received all the SMSes, it’s time to login to Taobao to consolidate your items and make payment. Just like logging into Taobao Desktop to pay for your purchases in CNY, you can also do the same to pay in CNY for consolidation and shipping.
Go to www.taobao.com and tap on “登录” (Login) to generate a QR code for login.
Open your Taobao mobile app and tap on the Camera function at the top most left corner. Once your camera opens up, point it to the QR code on your Taobao desktop. Tap on the orange bar “确认登录” (Confirm Login) on your Taobao mobile to login. Once logged in, click on “我的淘宝” (Account) to access all your orders.
Click on “待收货” (Items Not Received) to see all your items that’s already sitting in Taobao’s consolidation warehouse. Then, click on any one of the orange buttons that say “合并转运” (Consolidate).
Click on “全选” (Select All) to select all your items in Taobao’s consolidation warehouse, and then “一键合包结算” (Confirm Consolidate) at the bottom of the list.
On the shipping delivery page, you’ll see four options:
- Doorstep Delivery
- Self Pick-Up
- Locker Collection
- Self-Driving Collection
The simplest option is Doorstep Delivery, where the consolidated package will be delivered to your address directly. If no one’s home, you can also choose Locker Collection, where your package will be delivered to a POPStation of your choice.
Frankly, I’m not sure how Self Pick-Up and Self-Driving Collection works – but they sound really complicated. If you’ve tried it before, lemme know!
Your address should already be saved when you purchased your Taobao items previously, but in any case there’s no saved address or you need to change the delivery address, just click on “添加新地址” (Add New Address). Remember to click on “切换” (Change Country) and select “新加坡” (Singapore), otherwise the default would always be China.
The shipping delivery address form is fairly straightforward, just fill it up accordingly and click on the blue “保存” (Save). You can also scroll down to take a look at the price and weight breakdown of each single item.
3. Payment
If everything looks great, click on “提交并支付” (Submit & Pay) and you’ll be directed to Alipay’s english website to process the payment.
Again, your YouTrip card details should be saved here if you’ve used it to purchase your Taobao items previously. Input your card details accordingly and click on Confirm to complete the transaction. You’ll then be redirected back to Taobao’s Payment Successful page. Now sit back and wait for your parcel to arrive!
Master the Taobao guides to open up a whole new world of unbeatable bargains! Did we miss out any Taobao tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments below or buzz us at content@you.co!
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