Taobao Shopping Help

[RedheadedBeauty]

Hi all can someone please explain to me the easiest, best way to shop off of taobao. I saw a few things I'd like to have but the language is getting me stuck. Any help greatly appreciated.

[babystarz]

You'll need to shop through an agent site, I suggest taobaonow.com. They will do all the buying and communicating with the Chinese seller and have your items sent to them, then they will ship them to you

[kaoskat]

Never used them sorry but babystarz sounds like she knows what she's doing.

[Chi]

You'll need to shop through an agent site, I suggest taobaonow.com. They will do all the buying and communicating with the Chinese seller and have your items sent to them, then they will ship them to you

Pretty much this!
Sign up and make an account. Then look around for things you want, most things will at least have names in english such as "pink skirt" "my little pony" "mattel doll" etc etc. Paste the link of the item's page into "My shopping cart" type in the quantity and in the description box describe which one off the page you'd like. Sometimes there are more than one on a sales page so say something like "The red one with the orange balloon". You can add  as many items to your shopping cart as you'd like!
Then submit your order.
An agent will get back to you on the "Your orders" to let you know your orders have been submitted.  Be sure to press the little envelope button next to the agent's message to let them know you have read the message. In a day or so (sometimes the same day) they will send you a payment request form. You will have to use your credit/debit card, but you can also ask your agent to email you a Paypal if you'd feel safer using it or if your bank does not allow direct payments to China.
Once you pay, they will order the items, let you know if any are not available and receive what is available in their office. They'll check the items to make sure they're not damaged, weigh them and send you a shipping quote.
There are four options ranging from most expensive to cheapest, but the more expensive ones have less customs restrictions and are faster.
After you've paid shipping they'll be on your way to you. You can track the shipping depending on what method you use. For example if you use EMS they will be traceable on the EMS china website until they have left Guangzhou, China. Once they've left, they will be trackable on your country's postal service website, which in your case is USPS. It will at some point say it has arrived in ISC (which is customs) and usually a day or so after it has left, it will be at your door. Since it is an international parcel it may or may not come with your daily mail (sometime's it's a separate carrier) but you will need to sign for it.
If you need help calculating prices in USD (since on Taobao they are in Chinese Yuan) just Google "Chinese Yuan to USD" and you can convert it there.
Hope I helped! If you need more assistance I'll be glad to help and provide images if needed.

[Malancaiwen]

Above posters said it all!
You need an agent because buying on taobao is not like ebay and you get to talk to the seller ... in chinese of course!

My only extra advice if you're looking for clothes or anything is to pay close attention to the side ads, they are quite well made and you can often access to pages that offer better/cheaper things or more choice. Do not hesitate to click even if in the end your whole title turns chinese, that's how you'll find the best deals.
Also, if your research indicates hundreds of pages, surf at least 20 to 30 of them, the cheaper elements are hardly ever on the first page!

Good luck

[RedheadedBeauty]

Thank you all so much this has been a huge help and thanks so much for the agent suggestion. I figured I need one but I wasn't sure who to use there seem to be allot out there so it's nice to have a suggestion. I have another question if I do buy something like a pony that has already been released will it come in it's box like I would get at the store or in a bag? I've seen several in bags but they have all been unreleased ones.

[Bergamot]

If it's boxed, it will usually be photographed in a box, or there will be mention of it in the product description. Chinese-to-English translation isn't exactly seamless, however, so it can be tough to tell what you're looking at.

From what I understand, many products are sold without their boxes.

[RedheadedBeauty]

That's what I was worried about. I'm mainly looking at a FS Applejack and she's shown in box which is what I want since I have all the other ones MIB just can't get my hands on that one.

Would this mean it's in it's box? Hasbro original genuine, new packaging!

[Bergamot]

You may be able to communicate with the seller through your agent. If your agent service has an email address, I'd send the product link to them and ask them if they can tell you whether or not it's mint-in-box.

[RedheadedBeauty]

That's a great idea thank you so much!