If you have been buying gadgets and appliances from Taobao, you invariably run into the problem that i do – you keep running out of plug adaptors.
China’s power plug configuration is usually the same two pin type used in the US, but sometimes they also use the 3 pin type used in Australia. For either case, the universal to UK 3 pin plug adaptor pictured below will work. Most of us will intuitively buy such an adaptor from the typical neighbourhood homeware shop, since it usually doesn’t cost much (probably S$2 to $3 per piece). However, if you need lots of them (and you do if you’re a frequent Taobao shopper), you might as well buy them from Taobao. Buy lots, one shot.
After looking around, i settled on this seller, which sells the adaptor at only 1.90 Yuan (S$0.40). I got it for only 1.60 Yuan or S$0.35 by the way. At this pricing, the neighbourhood homeware shop is ridiculously expensive, no? There are two versions of the adaptor, one with lower power rating 普通版英标 (10A) and the higher power rating 升级版英标 (13A) which sells for 3.20 Yuan (S$0.67). Anyway, i bought these because i had spare sea freight capacity, as in, it wouldn’t cost me a single cent more to ship these stuff because my shipment was close to 0.5 CBM, and i would have had to pay for 0.5 CBM anyway.
If you happen to have gadgets or appliances bought from the US, then you should source for your power transformer from Taobao also. There are plenty of choices, and the price is naturally proportionate to the power rating. I got this 50W transformer for only 18 Yuan (S$3.75). The compact size is nice, but sadly, you need yet another power plug adaptor to use it.
A 500W transformer isn’t that expensive either, and i got this one for 60 Yuan (S$12.50). You’ll have to ship it via sea freight though, as it is bulky and very heavy.