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Using Alibaba?

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  1. #21

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    6,181

    I think you need to differentiate a little. If you look for any branded item either Taobao, Alibaba or Aliexpress will disappoint you. Not just for LV or Gucci stuff, also expect brands such as Kingston etc. to be fake.

    I rarely use Alibaba, and wouldn't use it for consumer products, but I use sometimes Taobao for some RC and electronics stuff. I have a friend a Shenzhen buy it for me, but I plan to get Alipay and then want to order from Hong Kong, with delivery to HK. I bought a few well over RMB1000 items there and so far no bad luck.

    There is Yahoo Actions in HK, but their product range is maybe 0.01% of that on Taobao.


  2. #22

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    7,441

    Taobao have cleaned up their act of recent and have put in place a 60,000 RMB deposit scheme for an online shop. I am not sure the full details how it works (and someone might outline better than I) but you can get 2 types of shops, the consumer shop and the business shop. The consumer shop is free to setup and doesn't include the guarantees that the business shop have such as 7-30 day return policy, guaranteed vetting of the business etc. I don't know how the differences is played out online to determine the differences between these two shops but it must be there somewhere.

    Also from personal experience the last year purchasing on Taobao on the mainland, out of the 100 items we purchased one was fake which we duely returned and received a refund. We have even purchased two items that we weren't sure of to compare and then reviewed and sent back the one that we didn't like.

    For those that say that it's full of scammers is either they haven't used (or used it once and was not happy) or just read bad reports online. Sure you can get scammed anywhere but it's pretty easy to vet an online company on Taobao on how it's presented, the communication and feedback and the ratings that you can review.


  3. #23

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    7,441

    Taobao have cleaned up their act of recent and have put in place a 60,000 RMB deposit scheme for an online shop. I am not sure the full details how it works (and someone might outline better than I) but you can get 2 types of shops, the consumer shop and the business shop. The consumer shop is free to setup and doesn't include the guarantees that the business shop have such as 7-30 day return policy, guaranteed vetting of the business etc. I don't know how the differences is played out online to determine the differences between these two shops but it must be there somewhere.

    Also from personal experience the last year purchasing on Taobao on the mainland, out of the 100 items we purchased one was fake which we duely returned and received a refund. We have even purchased two items that we weren't sure of to compare and then reviewed and sent back the one that we didn't like.

    For those that say that it's full of scammers is either they haven't used (or used it once and was not happy) or just read bad reports online. Sure you can get scammed anywhere but it's pretty easy to vet an online company on Taobao on how it's presented, the communication and feedback and the ratings that you can review.


  4. #24

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    2,879

    As far as I know, Taobao or their payment processors keep the money for a while like an escrow, and only once you confirm the goods are well and in order they release payment. Not sure if this is a recent change and what the details are, I only know this because I overheard my wife talking about it.


  5. #25

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    768
    Quote Originally Posted by 100LL:
    As far as I know, Taobao or their payment processors keep the money for a while like an escrow, and only once you confirm the goods are well and in order they release payment. Not sure if this is a recent change and what the details are, I only know this because I overheard my wife talking about it.
    Would that be before or after the fake make-up permanently blackens your face? HK is also a separate legal jurisdiction, so you are on your own if you order to Hong Kong, unless Taobao really is not taking bribes for "gold star" status anymore.

  6. #26

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    2,879

    Who in the right mind would order make-up on Taobao or Alibaba?