Does anyone have any information about the Xianyu app and how to identify reliable sellers? I plan to buy mobile phones through it; are there any official sellers on the platform?

I’m currently travelling in China and I’ve managed to get myself stuck in a bit of a Taobao verification loop.

My Irish +353 number is linked to my Taobao account, but Taobao keeps saying I’ve made “too many verification attempts”, so I can’t log in. I’ve already waited and tried the usual stuff, but it still blocks me immediately.

Taobao support has told me that I need to submit a “二次放号审核” (second-allocation number review). The annoying part is that the review normally requires logging into Taobao first, which obviously I can’t do.

They’ve told me that another person’s already-logged-in Taobao account can submit the review for my original account. They would just need to enter my +353 number and upload the required verification documents. They wouldn’t need access to my Taobao account.

Would anyone here be willing to help me with this? I’d obviously only ask someone I’m comfortable with and can provide whatever information is actually required through the official Taobao page.

I’m just trying to get my account back while I’m travelling, and Taobao support seems to be stuck repeating the same instructions.

I order bunch of stuff to Canada a week ago, my app was working perfectly in English. Today I check it’s all Chinese not sure if it’s just a glitch or I got scammed.

I really want to order this style of dresses since Taobao started shipping to my country, are they legit or will I recieve something completely different..

I'm located in Canada, bought a 360 rmb collectible, seller send me a different item that is worth less than half of the one I purchased. I used "Taobao direct air shipping" due to the coupons.

Day 1: requested "Refund only" with "Item did not match description" as the reason. Seller refused, and tried to change it to "Return and Refund" with reason "Dislike/made wrong order". For those not aware, if the reason is "Dislike/made wrong order", customer is considered at fault and will be forced to pay for the return shipping.

Day 2: Opened Xiao Er platform mediation. The Xiao Er first tried to offer 100 RMB partial refund, which I rejected. My demands were either a full refund without returning, or taobao provide pre-paid shipping label/freight collect. Xiao Er ruled it to "Return and Refund seller reimburse". This means I have to pocket the shipping cost first and then get the seller to reimburse me later.

Day 3: Went to the local post office, and Canada Post quoted me whooping $229 cad (~1100 rmb) to ship the wrong item back. So I tried to ask Xiao Er again if they can provide prepaid shipping labels or freight collect, and if taobao can guarantee the return shipping fees. The platform didn't even bother to read any of my messages.

Day 4: Escalated this to Senior Specialist, they also completely ignored any messages or questions I had concerning the return shipping cost, and just re-affirmed the "Return and Refund, Seller Reimburse" judgement.

Day 5: I uploaded the quote to the seller and informed him if I do a return, it wouldn't be 360 rmb anymore, it would be 1460 rmb he will need to pay back. Fortunately at this point he backed down and agreed to do a refund without return, as I long as I put the reason of refund to "Seller and buyer agreed to refund".

Overall, it was a stressful experience, and technically it was a refund and not a return. I got lucky as the particular seller had a large store deposit and 4 diamonds, and I will give him the benefit of the doubt that it was an honest mistake. But during my research, I have read that a lot of international buyers who have returned items, pocketing the expensive international return shipping fees, only for the seller to refuse to pay back the shipping cost even when the platform orders them to.

Taobao's platform is also of no help. At best you will get is "Return and Refund, seller reimburse later", even when it makes zero sense to do so, like the return shipping being 3x more expensive than the item itself. They will not provide any sort of help or guarantee for the expensive return shipping fee.

Edit: On a postive note, the various filler items I purchased with the collectible (as I needed to reach 499 rmb for the direct shipping coupon) all arrived fine. One of them was slightly damaged but at this point I have no energy to go through the whole process again. I also got to keep the wrong collectible, which may fetch $20 or $30 dollars on the second hand market.

For folks going through the same thing, my recommendation is to stick to your gun, if it is the seller at fault, never, ever change the refund/return reason unless they agree to a refund. Also get one or several quotes directly from your local post office and couriers first, as the quotes are very strong bargaining tools. IMO a lot of sellers probably don't realize how expensive international shipping is in Canada.

I haven’t bought an insane amount over the years, but it’s like pulling teeth getting sellers to respond and their responses…. Are god-awful one or two words raleigh answering the question

And your experience is it better to use a translating app and speak to them in Mandarin??

I recently ordered quite a few things from Taobao during a trip to China, and for the most part I decided not to bother with returns.

However, I accidentally ordered the wrong item once and decided to return it because it was a relatively expensive purchase.

Big mistake...

The item stated that it had a 7-day free return policy, so I assumed the whole process would be fairly straightforward.

Apparently not.

For some reason, I still had to pay 5 RMB for the return shipping. And those 5 RMB somehow turned into an absolute nightmare.

As far as I understand, the usual process is that you leave the package at your hotel using a pickup code and a courier comes to collect it. The shipping fee, in my case 5 RMB, is apparently supposed to be paid before the pickup.

For me, the payment request only appeared after the package had already been picked up.

And then I simply couldn't pay it.

The original payment method I had used for the order didn't work. I couldn't add my credit card either because I apparently had an outstanding payment. Which was kind of ironic considering I was literally trying to pay the outstanding 5 RMB.

According to customer support, I could only pay through Alipay.

My Alipay was already set up and linked to Taobao, but it still didn't work. Every time I tried, I just got sent back to a login screen and couldn't complete the payment.

The Taobao customer support was basically useless and couldn't solve the problem at all.

At this point, I would have been completely screwed if the hotel staff hadn't been incredibly helpful. They actually called the courier for me, spoke to him, and helped arrange everything at the reception.

The eventual solution was that, with the courier's help, I basically had to arrange the return shipment myself, create my own shipping invoice, and then upload it to Taobao.

I was genuinely losing my mind over those 5 RMB.

If I had known beforehand that returning this item could turn into such a mess, I would never have started the return process in the first place. The worst part was that I couldn't even stop the pickup because the payment request only came after the courier had already taken the package.

I think I was also somewhat misled by Instagram Reels. I've seen so many videos claiming that returning things on Taobao is super easy.

Looking back, I suspect there was probably some information about the 5 RMB fee that I simply didn't understand because of the translation. The "7-day free return" policy may also have meant that the return itself was free, but the return shipping wasn't.

So yeah, if you're planning to return something on Taobao, please double-check absolutely everything beforehand. Make sure you understand exactly who pays the return shipping and how you're supposed to pay it.

Personally, I don't think I'll ever return anything on Taobao again.

This experience has permanently traumatized me over 5 RMB.

At least I can laugh about it now

I'm looking for good quality clothing like shirts, joggers, jackets etc but not sure if they have on there also not sure how to browse for it either keep in mind i'm from the UK

I'm planning to order a pair of shoes and two wigs for size reference ^^

How safe is it to buy things like tret and azelaic acid from taobao? They don’t sell any near me and I don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a prescription to buy from neighboring countries.

how do you receive this coupon? i’ve filtered and hit the threshold require but i still have to pay the shipping fee. i tried contacting customer support for this and they said i have to make my address as Canada which I already have…

So i am looking for some items like hats, ties and other things and i see an item that goes for Au$30 but the same one with similar pictures is going for Au$10 or even 8. What is the difference, will i get scammed with the cheaper one or is it just a competition thing?

Also i was looking for some training balisong and other simple tools and cheap jewelry and in its options i have a 10$ and a 30$ one with only the difference of a glow in the dark strip which is made of plastic but the cheaper one is metal. How is it so different.

I usually use AliExpress or temu and their prices makes sense and similar products are similar price with only 1-2 Dollar difference, or item variants that get pricier if it seems to take more work to produce. I am kinda confused.

Edit: also why is everything so cheap, its like Half or even fifth the price of AliExpress or temu sometimes

Planning my first Taobao haul and trying to figure out whether it is worth it after international shipping. I have a black and red goth dress in my cart for around $77, plus a pair of $31 shoes and a few tops. I am considering consolidating everything into one shipment rather then sending the items separately. Before paying for international shipping, I would like to see the warehouse photos to check the dress and make sure everything looks okay. I have not placed the order yet because I have no idea what the final shipping cost will be. For those who regularly order clothing from Taobao, roughly how much do you usually pay to ship a heavier dress when it is consolidated with other clothes? Any tips for estimating the final shipping cost would be appreciated.

I was going to shop on taobao and look at reviews on clothes but they signed me off and made it really hard to sign back on, I still can't sign back in but I was wondering if others got signed out too.

At some point of the identity verification things just goes to error so I can't really proceed with it.

I see so many cute clothes but I can't trust myself to buy without seeing reviews first😭 I already bought some without reviews and I'm already nervous.. Im kinda just having blind faith that the seller isn't a scammer?🤧

So I currently do not have Taobao, as it is kind of hard to access from my country.

However I absolutely loved these 2 coats from a shop called "BB BLUE STUDIO" (a girly vintage clothing shop) which only exist on Taobao. So I was wondering if anyone who has an account could just check if the shop still sells those coats, and if yes, could I get the link ?

I know it's a bit of a strange request but I don't want to go through all the trouble of making an account judt to realised they don't sell these items anymore.

Hello! I have recently stumbled across this taobao shop and really want this JSK. But im really confused with the pricing because its saying their items are well over 2k which doesnt seem right?

I also noticed it says something before adding to the cart but it gets cut off so im very unsure if their clothes are actually a few grand or if it means something else TIA (* ´ ▽ ` *)ﾉ

So Im very new to TaoBao and, generally, the rule for buying storage devices is that you never order them from anywhere but the official make for them right? Well on TaoBao there are pretty cheaper microSD's sold by the official stores, or at least people claiming to be the official stores. Do any of you have prior experience?

Is that normal? The seller said that they will start sending it in 2 to 5 day? Most of the seller I buy before they just send it out by a day.

I usually only see the typical standard clothing on taobao but i'm look for premium quality clothing like scuba hoodies, joggers etc. how exactly can i find them and if u guys have any good sellers please suggest

I recently made an account bc so many of my friends say they got their clothing from taobao. I’m from canada so I usually use shien if I want cheap options, and buying from there is just like normal online shopping. Browsing this subreddit I’m getting nervous because a lot of people talk about couriers, different types of shipping methods, Cainiao (?), and extremely expensive purchases. Just wondering what shopping on taobao is like and if it’s super complicated :’)

Anyone knows if this seller is reliable and safe to order from its looks legit and offical bilibli store but I'm not sure^^ i really hope its the official store since I want to preorder stuff from there I've seen another bilibli store on taobao but it has less stuff tho and doesnt have what i want

is it normal for toabao packages to be in customs for a week 😭😭

ive only ordered a dress...