*Upgraded Version* Online Shopping at Taobao (淘宝)!

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 🙂

WARNING: Check your Starhub Bill CAREFULLY!

Hello everyone,

This is a reminder to all starhub members to ALWAYS check your starhub bill.
This happened to be as I recently recontracted my mobile plan.

As you know, Starhub’s billing cycle is from 14th to 13th of each month, and you pay for your next month’s bill in your previous bill.
For example, in my case, I paid $36.30 for my 14th July to 13th Aug bill in the July statement for my Smartsurf 100.

I recontracted to another higher tier plan (Smartsurf value) in 29th July.
So this is what Starhub did.
Return me excess subscription charges from 29th July to 13th Aug (ard half of what I paid in July).
Charge me subscription fee of my new plan from 29th July to 13th Aug.
Charge me subscription fee of next month plan from 14th Aug to 13 Sep.

But that was not all.
They also billed me for the SMS, phone call, DATA usage that I used from 14th July to 29th July.
It came up to around 30 dollars.
But hold it, didn’t I pay for this usage during July statement? I was only reimbursed half of the subscription fee, not the full amount, so why am I being charged for using well within my limits of my subscription?

I called Starhub 1637 since 8.20am today. I only managed to get and answer at 1030am. And I had to argue and reason so that my point could be understood: STARHUB CSO DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE ANYTHING WRONG WHEN THEY LOOKED AT THE BILL.
So to all starhub users, check through your bill thoroughly. Especially when the amount looks weird.
They wanted to charge me $98, when I am only supposed to pay 68 dollars. It is not a big amount. But it just shows how much you can trust them.

Which Credit Card?

I got sick and tired of looking at all the different replies and speculations about which credit card gives you the best exchange rate overseas. So I decided to do my own research; I just trust myself better.

When you pay for something in a foreign country using a credit card and in their currency, you will be charged extra. It doesn’t get reflected as an extra fee in your statement, it just shows up as ‘lousier exchange rate’.

Different banks also administer different fees on top of the fee that the credit card companies (Mastercard/Visa/AMEX) will charge.

Mastercard: 1%
Visa: imposes an ISA fee on banks, therefore the banks will determine the overall admin fee
AMEX: 1~2%

Citibank
Mastercard – 1.5% + 1%
VISA – 1.5% + 1%

Maybank
Mastercard: 1.75% + 1%
VISA: 1.5% + 1%

POSB/DBS
Mastercard: 1.5% + 1%
VISA: 1.5% + 1%

CIMB
Mastercard: 1.5% + 1%
VISA: 1.5% + 1%

UOB
Mastercard: 1.5% + 1%
VISA: 1.5% + 1%

SCB
Mastercard: 2.5% + 1%
VISA: 2.5% + 1%

OCBC (Super lousy, couldn’t find anything about this on their website. It was not stated in their credit card terms and condition either. The rates shown here were found on HWZ)
Mastercard: 1.8% + 1%
VISA: 1.8% + 1%

ANZ
Mastercard: 1.25% + 1%
VISA: 1.25% + 1%

I gathered this information from the websites of the different banks. It is a little confusing because according to VISA, the ISA is levied not for the sake of currency conversion but for the sake of banks using their facilities. However, certain banks still state that VISA charges the USER but in fact, VISA charges the BANK and the BANK in turn, charges US.

In general, do not use AMEX cards overseas. AMEX cards are for rich people to use, therefore they have high admin fees. I added the 1% to all the VISA charges as many banks still insist that ‘Visa charges you’ and they do not indicate whether their admin fee is inclusive or exclusive of the ISA. So we see that, with the exception of Maybank, VISA and Mastercard admin fees are about the same.

So which card should you bring overseas?

ANZ, followed by Citibank/DBS/POSB/UOB/CIMB/Maybank VISA, then OCBC/Maybank Mastercard, and lastly SCB.

But I am only factoring the admin fees this time round. Certain cards include perks like cashback, rebates, miles. So it is really up to you which one suits you better. Other than SCB, the rest of the banks have pretty comparable rates.
SCB can be used for certain online transactions as it has promotions every now and then.
CIMB is still the best card for Malaysia as it has many great offers and it also has 1% cashback.
I usually bring my POSB everyday card as it doubles up an ATM at the airport.
Now I might apply for an ANZ card so that I can bring it overseas 🙂

Something I learnt.

No matter how nice your financial advisor is, you should never allow him/her to completely take charge of your investment. Ultimately, they are still trying to earn something from you.. they first try to get your trust, then after that, your money.

I know this cos’ I thought I could just take a very backseat approach to my own so-called investment in unit trust. But when I saw I was losing money for some time already, I had to probe. The first time I asked he said, you should buy more when it is low and sell when high. That’s true. But what if it doesn’t become high at all? And you are buying a depreciating item HOPING that it will appreciate? Now that is just pure stupidity.

So I asked again and he said, it will earn in the long run. Seriously, how many ‘o’s are there in your looooooong run? To me it doesn’t make sense that 20-30 years later I make a 1% profit. So I decided, after speaking to my parents, that I was being somewhat scammed.

When I questioned more about my investments, he then told me that when we were doing the annual report, they realized that two of my investments are constantly depreciating and the other was just side-stepping. NOW. That should be information that should be let known to me right? But it wasn’t.

Maybe cos’ if I continue investing, he gets more commission. Maybe he was too busy with his wedding. I don’t know. But frankly speaking, having him as a financial advisor, the only ‘goody’ I got was a pair of movie tickets. It has been 3-4 years already? Maybe because I was not able to recommend any more customers to him.

So it’s a lesson learnt. Never allow someone else to invest your money.