How to Buy from Taobao in Singapore for Those Who Don't Know How to Read Chinese

Taobao is THE shopping heaven - for those who understands Chinese, that is.

Why is that so? Now let's see the example for one particular item - the instant memory board that's similar to the one used in Shichida class for right-brain training:

If you get this locally in Singapore, you'll need to fork out about S$60 - S$75 for this. But how if you get exactly the same thing from Taobao?

Do you see what I see? You can get it at 1/3 of the price! (excluding shipping, of course).

However, having been brought up in Indonesia, Chinese was not a commonly used language at that time. As such, I didn't know a single word of Chinese 'til I came to Singapore more than 15 years ago. Now, I can understand basic Chinese conversation, but unfortunately, my Chinese reading skill is still close to zero.

But yet, this does't stop me from enjoying bargains at Taobao, though almost all of Taobao's listing are in Chinese. How, you might ask? I have quite a few friends asking me this question, and some of them are also interested to buy things at Taobao.

So my ways have been tested (many times), it may not be the best (or most cost-effective way), but it works for me as it's so easy!

What you need:

1. Account with Taobao Agent in Singapore (I use 65Daigou)
2. Web browser that can do auto-translate (I use Google Chrome)

Steps:

1. Open Google Translate and make sure to choose translating from "English" to "Chinese (Simplified)". Type the item that you're looking for in English, and copy the Chinese translation (highlight and press Ctrl+C).
   
   
2. Paste the Chinese character translation to Taobao and press Enter.


3. You can see the search result in this page. Select one that you're looking for. If the search result is not as expected, change your search criteria and repeat from Step 1. Be creative with the keywords! Now Taobao has a quite useful feature to look for similar items when you hover over a certain item, as shown here:
   
4. Once you see a product that you like, click on it, and you can see the product page:
   
5. If you scroll down, you'll be able to see the product details (that's hopefully auto-translated by the browser). Don't forget to check the reviews to make sure that the product is good:
   
6. If you're satisfied with what you found, copy the URL, and go to 65Daigou and paste it in the "Buy For Me" text box, and click the button.
   
7. The form that looks very similar to the listing in Taobao will be shown. Fill up the form with your chosen options, and click "Add to Cart".
   Note: You may need to translate this page back to Chinese first if you can't successfully add the listing to cart.
8. Continue to add all your items, and check-out at 65Daigou. They will help you purchase the item, and inform you when your items have arrived in Singapore!

Some tips:

• Try to purchase more items from the same seller to save on shipping cost.
• For shipping via air, going to Shanghai warehouse will be faster, whereas for shipping via sea, going to Guangzhou warehouse will be faster.

Hope my short tutorial is helpful for those who really wants to buy from Taobao but doesn't understand a single word of Chinese, and Happy Shopping!!