Exciting updates! Now it is easier than ever to buy stuff from Taobao.
There is a FIFTH method to getting things from taobao and I have already tried it twice.
I must say I am very happy with this method!
This method is similar to the 4th method I mentioned previously, only this time instead of a friend, you look for a official forwarder. What you get is a warehouse in China where you can ship all your items to, and the forwarder will pack them together and ship them to Singapore for you. I like this method because I receive my shipment faster (3 days!), I get to earn points through taobao, I don’t need to pay service fee to a third party and I get to charge it to my own credit card for points.
The first time I tried it, I ordered some wedding stuff. The forwarder I used was 4PX. Go to this link to learn how to use their in-house forwarder (国际转运).
It is pretty simple though; you type in your normal SG address in taobao and during the checkout process you choose the option of 国际转运. Taobao sellers will ship the items in a warehouse in China and once all your items have arrived, you consolidate them into one package and ship it to SG!
Update (5th May 2014) Tracking can be done on a third party website as the automated on taobao will stop updating once the items arrived in Singapore. 4PX ties in with two delivery companies in Singapore: Airpak Express or TGX Asia /TCK Express (TGX actually gets TCK to deliver items from taobao so check with the latter when you have questions about the delivery of your item). If your tracking number starts with 8100, it will be delivered by Airpak; if it starts with 2009, it will be delivered by TCK.
I spent around $20 for shipping and bought the following stuff (plus a scarf). 4PX charges by actual weight, my items weigh about 3.3kg, rounded up to 3.5kg.
I didn’t really like the way they packaged my items, plus the 快递 amount was always wonky as they capture the item as going to 海外 and not the warehouse in China. Also, certain 套餐 items cannot be bought conveniently.
The second time I tried with another forwarder, trading one.
This time round, you use the address of their warehouse in China during checkout. After you have bought all your items, complete and send an order form so that the people in the warehouse can pick out your items. Once all your items have arrived, you inform them to package it and ship it to SG!
I spend $19 for shipping this time round. My items weigh 3.3kg but was rounded up to 4kg. So I lugi abit, but that was also cos’ I can’t think of anything to buy anymore! I could actually add more items to make the shipment more worth it.
I like the way they packaged my items and the shipping is slightly cheaper than 4PX. However, they charge by volumetric OR actual weight, depending on which is heavier.
So there you go! A new way to shop at taobao 🙂
absolute honesty 
hi, thanks for sharing your shopping experience! so which of the forwarders you mentioned is better? i’ve been using agent for the past 2 years and felt it was time i buy straight so i can enjoy the benefits taobao SEA sometimes have with DBS. i also dont like paying volumetric weight nor agent fee so i thought of giving 4px a try. but all these forwarders dont inspect your items so if the seller sends wrong/faulty items you wont know until you receive them? by then if you need to bring back to exchange or refund you’ll need to fork out the shipping fees yourself? plus i read that 4px dont call before delivering to your place so if no one is at home you’ll have to collect them on your own as they dont do re-delivery. quite a dilemma! dont know whether i should just stick with agent or not.
Hi hi 🙂
I think it really depends on yourself. For me, I don’t use agents anymore. Agents give you a sense of security and that’s why you gotta pay more. But I feel tt agents don’t really help you check items very well. Besides, most of the time the sellers pack fragile items fairly well.
I have been using 4px for quite a while already, don’t really see any difference in quality of the items received. I haven’t received any faulty items so far and I really think it depends on the seller and not who you choose to ship it over for you.
I suggest you can try with something like clothes and gauge the experience 🙂
hi huiley, thanks for your prompt reply.
so far i’ve been using 65daigou and they’ve been doing an okay job with the inspection. there were actually quite a few times the seller sent the wrong items (either wrong size or wrong color) and had to be sent back for an exchange so that got settled before coming to sg. also when the agent themselves placed the wrong order or did not check properly i was given the choice of either returning the items to them and get a full refund or keep the item and get a 40% compensation. so yes basically paying more for a peace of mind.
but yea will see how. just paid 4px and waiting for the stuff to be shipped over. anyway 4px’s max limit is 30kg, so when it comes to shipping bulky items like furniture cannot use them also.
For bulky items I used amcon. You can look at the recent post for review 🙂
Hi,
I got the SMS from taobao saying that my items were ready to be delivered by a certain timing and that I’d receive a notice with collection instructions if I missed the delivery. So far, I’ve missed the delivery and the instructions never arrived either 😦 do you have any idea what I should do next?
Hi sorry, I have no idea which method of shipping you chose so I can’t help with that. If it is Singpost and they didn’t manage to deliver it to you they will leave a note.