I have just collected my second round of shipment through 86OF parcel forwarding, and generally speaking, you could say it turned out just fine.
Here are some details of note during the course of engagement with 86OF for the shipment. Continue reading 86OF second review
For two months probably, Taobao went missing on Shopback. Apparently, they were revamping the mechanism for tracking Taobao purchases through Shopback.
Previously, you had to search for the item you wanted to purchase through the search bar in Shopback’s Taobao page. The obvious disadvantages of this approach were you would not be able to filter nor sort the search results like you could on Taobao website. For example, you wouldn’t be able to find the seller with the highest sales volume, and you normally want to do that. Continue reading Taobao is back on Shopback
Owing to Ming’s comments about having to decipher 86OF’s website, I felt I could help some readers out there who may be confused 86OF’s workflow and website. As of now, 86OF’s website is still a mix of English and Chinese, and the terminology they have adopted can be incomprehensible to even novice users of ezbuy.
I don’t know what is it is with the Chinese, that they love to use numbers in their branding. Ezbuy was 65daigou previously, and they had to undertake a labourious re-branding exercize. Now we have 86OF, also a parcel forwarding company. In case you’re interested, here are some articles that explain why the Chinese love to use numbers in their URLs and branding. By the way, 65 is the phone number country code for Singapore, and 86 is for China. Sorry for the sarcasm, but how creative is that!
Moving on to 86OF, i’ve been wanting to give them a go, and i finally did. The main attraction is the price. Typically, ocean freight shipment requires that you take up at least 1 cubic metre (CBM) of volume each time, which is hard to achieve for retail consumers, unless a few people pool together to do the shipping. Enter 86OF. They let you ship a minimum of 0.1 CBM, which is a lot easier to attain for retail customers. 0.1 CBM of volume is roughly equivalent to 5 rice cookers. The price for shipping 0.1 CBM is S$11.50, which is a lot cheaper than what it will cost if you used ezbuy (it will cost you S$120 and ezbuy no longer does sea freight). Update: price for 0.1 CBM is now increased to S$13, still cheap.
Continue reading Review of 86OF – Ocean freight to Singapore for Taobao and China goods
I hope you will not be receiving another mug for Christmas this year. Don’t be the one giving one either. Here are some gift ideas that will probably count as being at least marginally useful and having enough novelty to avoid ending up in the trash can. They’re pretty cheap too.
Newton’s cradle
I used to dream of owning one of these as a kid. A good way to de-stress, and usually look nice on any office desk. Costs only 9.90 Yuan (S$2.05) for the smallest one. Continue reading Taobao under S$5 Christmas gifts for adults
I had to buy a new set of chopper knife and chopping board recently. I didn’t bother to shop for these in any of the local stores, as i’m pretty sure the prices on Taobao is overwhelmingly cheaper.
There are basically three types of chopping board – wood, bamboo and plastic. There are many articles on the pros and cons of each, and i think this one is quite balanced. It is however, as usual, written with a slant towards protecting the knife, which i guess is a big deal for professional chefs. I’m not bothered about how a bamboo board might dull my knife easily, as i will just buy a new one as and when necessary. Knives, as with many stainless steel products, are even cheaper from Taobao. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – chopper knife and chopping board
Woke up this morning to slightly hazy weather, and i was just thinking we might be spared the haze this year. Most people would remember that the haze experienced last year was particularly bad.
Air purifiers fly off the shelves every time the haze comes, as people panic that their health would be affected by PM2.5 particles. Though i was tempted, i have resisted the urge to buy an air purifier, until now. And no, it is not in response to the haze. It is because we (my family) have been hit by flu which lasted an extended period, and i felt using an air purifier in our air-conditioned bedroom would help. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – replacement air filter
As with the Airfryer, this was a product that took a bit of deliberation before a decision was made to buy. Not that it is expensive, but I wouldn’t buy something I don’t need just because it’s cheap. And it is actually quite cheap for what it is, setting me back by 118 Yuan (S$24). This was the cheapest price i found on Taobao, from this seller. I also bought pouches for vacuum sealing from the same seller. Continue reading Taobao product recommendation – vacumm food sealer
You can buy just about anything but love from Taobao. I had no doubt i could find a replacement for the torn and tattered sieve on my Coffee plunger, which i use daily for making Kopi. The keyword to search is “咖啡滤网片”, and i managed to find this seller.
I guess the sizes of plungers must be pretty standard, as one of the three sizes available for the sieve was a perfect fit. The diameter of the sieve has to be slightly bigger than the actual diameter of the plunger flask, since it curves upwards at the outer edge. At 3.8 Yuan (S$0.80) per piece, it is dirt cheap. With the availability of this sieve from Taobao, i can imagine my plunger will last me forever.
This is my maiden attempt at using Taobao Global Direct Shipping. Yes, it’s almost just for the sake of trying out Global Direct Shipping that i did it, and with this, i have tried all modes of shipping goods from Taobao, namely, Global Direct Shipping, Global Consolidate and Shipping as well as third party (including cubic metre sea freight).
The shipping was truly fuss free – check out on Taobao and you’re done. It took only 8 days from the day i placed the order (with 3 different sellers) to the day i received the goods. The actual international shipping and customs clearance took 5 days.
