Step-By-Step Guide (In English) To Shopping On Taobao In Singapore

This article was written in collaboration with Taobao Singapore. All views expressed in this article are the independent opinion of DollarsAndSense.sg based on our research. DollarsAndSense.sg is not liable for any financial losses that may arise from any transactions and readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence. You can view our full editorial policy here.

Even though Taobao is based in China, it has become synonymous with online shopping in Singapore. Its e-commerce platforms serve not only a huge domestic Chinese market, but have become a bridge for international consumers to directly access a massive pool of Chinese retailers.

When shopping online on Taobao or even other e-commerce platforms, we can also pay attention to popular sales events at specific dates. These include 11.11, or Singles Day on 11 November, and the 12.12 year-end sale each year. Coming up, there’s also the 3.8 Sale on 4- 8 March 2022.

Even though many of us already associate competitive pricing and wide variety with Taobao when shopping online, we may not be using it directly. The reason is simple, because like me, many of us may not be able to read even basic Chinese.

However, a colleague of mine convinced me that I don’t have to be a woman or even understand basic Chinese to sniff out great deals on the upcoming 3.8 Sale. This could be a timely (and pocket-friendly) way to purchase a present for my younger son’s birthday.

To help me (and you) overcome the language barrier and understand the quality of the products we’re buying, I roped in my colleague to help me to put together this comprehensive guide to shop on Taobao (in English). Now, we can easily bypass middlemen or resellers, to buy directly from the Taobao mobile app (available in App Store and Google Play) or through their website.

How To Register For A Taobao Account?

To get started, you need to register for a Taobao account. This is a 3-step process: simply click on the orange button at the bottom right “注册/ 登录” (English translation: Register or log in).

You can register for your account using your mobile phone number or email address. An OTP will be sent to your device or email within minutes. Enter the one-time password (OTP) and you are done with registration.

If what you’re seeing on the screen looks unfamiliar, just follow our screenshots in order.

Left: input your mobile phone number

Right: input the OTP

Ensure that your location is set as Singapore (新加坡) under 地区 at the top left hand corner of the main page before you start shopping on Taobao app.

Location setting

How To Search For A Product On Taobao

Fortunately, you can search for products you want to buy either with keywords or doing a photo search to get the closest match to the item. For me, the photo search feature was exceptionally useful since I’m not exactly proficient in Chinese, but I can easily get screenshots of the product I need to buy!

I (and when I say “I”, I really mean “my wife and I”) have been looking to purchase a mini claw machine as a gift for my son, who will be nearly three years old. All I had to do was search for what I wanted on Google, and take a screengrab for the exact product I wanted. Automatically, the app will detect the product in my screengrab, and gave me a mind-boggling number of search results. Suffice to say, I was pretty amazed with the AI technology at my fingertips!

If, for some reason, you cannot find what you want, there are also multiple Facebook groups run by Taobao enthusiasts, as well as, official Facebook and Instagram accounts run by Taobao that provide useful native keywords and photo inspirations to help search for items.

Source: Taobao Singapore’s Instagram account

How To Read Reviews And Check The Seller’s Ratings

The next obvious problem, with so many search results offering the same product, is how to narrow down the retailer I should buy from.

Like investing in stocks, it is important to do your due diligence. Check out the sellers’ reviews and ratings before making any purchases on the app. Firstly, you can see how many people have purchased the product from the seller before you even dig into any reviews. This is a good indication of how popular the seller is.

With online purchases, I think we all should take extra precaution, especially if the seller is outside the country or not really known to us. To check if the product is as good as it says in the photos and descriptions, we can select the reviews tab ‘评价’ (English translation: Reviews), and click “视频/图片”  (English translation: Videos/ photo reviews) – this allows us to view footage taken by actual buyers. It’s quite fascinating (to me at least) that such a function exists, but it definitely helps me better gauge product quality.

For the reviews in words, it may seem a little inconvenient to get it translated on the mobile app, so one way around is to use the Google Translate app to translate the reviews into English. It won’t be an exact translation, but we can at least discern if it is a good or bad review.

Screenshot of review (1)

Screenshot of review (2)

How To Checkout Your Taobao Cart

Once you are happy with the product – having narrowed down the item you want, watched buyers’ videos and read their reviews – we can buy the product. Select the quantity, colour and design – the tiny thumbnails did help me a little when selecting the correct product. Select ‘加入购物车’(English translation: Add to cart) and you should be able to locate the item in the Taobao cart.

In the Taobao cart, select the items you are buying and double check the quantities and prices. Proceed to checkout by clicking the checkout button on the bottom right “领劵结算” (English translation: Coupons and settlements).

You will be directed to the ‘Confirmation of Order’ page where you will need to add in your mailing address and mobile number. On the second panel, it states the various shipping methods.

In my case, I simply chose the cheapest shipping option, ‘Consolidated shipping by air’ – since there’s no rush for me to get hold of the items. The final cost, for the first round of shipping to the consolidation warehouse, will be added at the bottom and once you have checked the details, you can now proceed to “去支付”(English translation: Proceed to payment). Do note that the ‘Consolidated shipping by air’ option will require another round of payment to consolidate and ship your items back to Singapore.

Shipping Options Available To Deliver Your Items In Singapore

At the checkout phase, you will be prompted to choose the shipping option. Here’s a quick translation of the shipping options available for delivery in Singapore. The direct delivery options require just a one-time fee when you checkout your Taobao cart, whereas the consolidated option requires another round of shipping fee after your items are packed together in the warehouse to be shipped to Singapore.

If you are ordering large and bulky items, like beds or sofas, the seller may advise you to opt for the sea freight option to avoid having issues delivering items to Singapore.

Source: Taobao

For an even better deal, do check out Taobao’s ¥299 Free Shipping Zone while browsing the app. You may save some money with the free shipping even if the items are slightly costlier than the other seller who’s offering the same product at a cheaper price.

Currently, the items under Taobao’s ¥299 Free Shipping Zone allow users to shop and enjoy free cross-border shipping from China to Singapore with no consolidation or forwarder service needed. To enjoy free shipping, we have to shop within the Free Shipping Zone and spend a minimum of ¥299, excluding any discounts added. Shop Taobao’s ¥299 Free Shipping Zone here.

Shop Taobao’s 3.8 Sale On 4-8 March With A Series of Promotion For In-app Users

From 27 February 2022 to 8 March 2022, shoppers can snatch sitewide Hongbaos worth up to RMB88 in-app. We will have to use these Hongbao from 4 March 2022, 20:00 to 8 March 2022, 23:59.

From 8pm on 4 March 2022 to 8 March 2022, we can also enjoy RMB10 off with every RMB150 spent – or a 6.7% discount – when we shop at participating Taobao stores and RMB20 off with every RMB200 spent – or 10% discount – when we shop at participating Tmall shops.

During this time, we can also get up to SG$12 in bank promotions, when using specific cards to pay for our purchases:

Source: Taobao

DollarsAndSense readers can also stack another RMB50 off when you spend a minimum of RMB599 – over 8% discount – when you use the code TB38DS. This Taobao promocode is valid from 8pm on 4 March 2022 to 11.59pm on 8 March 2022. Terms and conditions apply, and you can check out details on Taobao’s 3.8 sale here!

If you are new on Taobao, use code 2022NEW to get RMB20 off minimum spend of RMB21. This is roughly $4.50 in SGD. The promotion is valid from now till 31 March 2022. Certain Terms and conditions apply, including limited redemptions and for first time purchases on Taobao app only.

Another good news is that all cross-shop discounts, shop vouchers, promo code and Hongbao are stackable, so don’t forget to apply them all when checking out your Taobao cart.

Check out Taobao’s Facebook, Instagram and Telegram for more information!