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Taobao Global Direct Shipping review

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.

The shipping fee came up to RMB 58 (S$12), including RMB 8 (S$1.63) for domestic shipment – i don’t know why i had to pay this on top of the shipping-inclusive prices at check-out on Taobao.

The parcel that arrived weighed 1.3kg, with dimensions 24cm x 36cm x 5cm. The volumetric weight would have been 0.72kg, using ezbuy’s formula. This means i would have been charged 1.3 X 1.1 = 1.43kg (additional 10% applied on volumetric/actual weight) if i shipped via ezbuy, which would have cost me only S$5.07 before coupon code discount.

If i shipped via Global Consolidate and Shipping, it would have cost me RMB 37 – 55 (S$7.70 – 11.40), which isn’t a lot cheaper.

I guess the bottom line is, Taobao Global Direct Shipping is likely to cost you more than double compared to using a third party service. Nevertheless, don’t just write Global Direct off. Maybe, just maybe, it can be cheaper once in a blue moon.

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Comments

16 responses to “Taobao Global Direct Shipping review”

  1. LIM Avatar
    LIM

    I guess the bottom line is, Taobao Global Direct Shipping is likely to cost you more than double compared to using a third party service? For Ezbuy you just paste the URL on their website and the price of the product became higher by $4 and above, i think their currency rate is higher. Ezbuy ans SGshop are the same.

    Reply
    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi LIM, thanks for sharing your insights. I’m not sure how much more Taobao Global Direct Shipping costs than a third party parcel forwarder, but I’m pretty sure it is more expensive. Also, I’ve not used Ezbuy buy-for-me before, so I don’t know about their currency exchange rate. Anyway, even if you buy yourself and pay by Credit Card, the exchange rate is likely to be higher than what you see quoted on the Taobao page, because of fees and higher exchange rate charged by the bank. Again, I’ve not used sgshop before, but now that you mention it, I think you’re right. The terminology used and the shipping rates are identical. Sgshop was probably acquired by ezbuy at some point in time. It appears that ezbuy is using sgshop to offer sea freight shipping which they have discontinued themselves.

      Reply
  2. LIMKP Avatar
    LIMKP

    Hi Yenkai, thanks for sharing your knowledge. You are very helpful. Now i understood. By the way, you have not use Ezbuy and sgshop, what do you use? is it cheaper to use Ship for me? Thanks

    Reply
    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi LIMKP, i do use ezbuy ship-for-me for shipping small Taobao items and stuff from the US that I cannot get free AmazonGlobal shipping.

      I presume you are comparing buy-for-me and ship-for-me? When using ship-for-me, you don’t need to pay agent fee that ezbuy or sgshop charges for helping you make the purchase. Since I have no problem with buying anything on Taobao myself, I don’t need anyone to do it for me, and I’m quite sure it is cheaper this way. Sometimes ezbuy will have “no agent fee” promo, but even then I would guess that it is still cheaper to do the purchase yourself (i.e. use ship-for-me).

      These days I use 86of more, because I can ship just about anything without worrying about paying a lot for shipping (which can happen with ezbuy ship-for-me). Please read my reviews on 86of, you might want to give them a try.

      Reply
  3. Lim Avatar
    Lim

    Hi Mr Yenkai, thanks for the info and sharing your experiences with us. Is very helpful. Very kind of you. Really appreciate! Thanks again.

    Reply
    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      You’re welcome 🙂

      Reply
  4. KPLIM Avatar
    KPLIM

    Hi Mr Yenkai

    Recently, i tried buying direct from Taobao and when i cancelled my items before the seller post out, it was approved. My bank account was deducted $33 and they returned to my bank account after a few days, the amount is only $25. Why i lost so much ?

    Reply
    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi KPLIM, firstly, you lost 3% transaction fee. Maybe there was a fee for the fund reversal. Finally and the most significant loss is in the double loss in exchange rate converting to Yuan and back. You should be happy that you got your refund really.

      Reply
      1. KPLIM Avatar
        KPLIM

        Thanks for the reply.

        Reply
  5. xinhong Avatar
    xinhong

    how long does item under taobao direct shipping takes to arrive in Singapore? do i have to do anything else after making payment?

    Reply
    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi Xinhong, it takes about a week or slightly more to receive the item after you have placed the order (2 days for domestic shipping and 5 for the international part). No, you don’t have to do anything after making payment when you use taobao direct. You may not get any notification on the day of the deliver though, so you may want to monitor the parcel status.

      Reply
      1. Sharon Avatar
        Sharon

        Hi Yenkai, I’m trying to monitor the parcel status to sg. Currently it is listed as “【跨境】送关” aka crossed the border out from china. What will be the next steps listed when the item reaches sg?

        Reply
        1. yenkai Avatar
          yenkai

          Hi Sharon, i checked my past delivery record and it says 07:11:07【跨境】Arrived Depot 08:24:39【跨境】Out for Delivery 11:34:43【跨境】Delivered

          Reply
          1. Sharon Avatar
            Sharon

            Hi Yenkai, thanks!! Will keep a look out.

  6. Adeline Avatar
    Adeline

    Hi Yenkai

    Do you received the purchase from Taobao Global Direct Shipment faster than Consolidate shipment?

    Reply
    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi Adeline, I’m afraid i did the shipment so long ago that I can’t remember. And Taobao also changes the way they operate, like the recent removal of all the other forwarders. Now there is only the official (官方） shipping handled by Taobao themselves.

      If you are shipping a single item only, then I would guesstimate that Taobao direct may be just a little bit faster. Otherwise, I would think they’re about the same.

      Reply

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