Taobao vs Alibaba.

[m4ttch4tt]

Hello peoples,

I've tried using Alibaba in the past with no great deal of luck (being tucked up and all) and I'm wondering whether or not Taobao would be better for importing.
I've seen agents who will help buy from Taobao but I'm not too sure whether or not it's dealing with manufacturers direct or resellers in china, I'm mainly looking at importing electronic consumer goods along the lines of HD/3DTV's, iPhones, games consoles and all the other must have gadgets and gizmos in the current market.
Any help will do.

Thanks,
M.

 

[liyuanmiracle]

Hi ,

I think you can try Taobao.

Actually you can get many good items with good price in it. But you should find someone to collect those goods for you as most supplier in taobao don't do international business(don't accept USD$) so you'd better find a agent in China firstly.

Good luck

 

[little princess]

I work as a freight forwarder in China.

It couldn't be 100% ensured that you deal with a manufacturer either you use Alibaba or TAOBAO.Actually, most manufatuers are not willing to do it for you if it is only a small order. So now Aliexpress is professional for small business。And it is safe to pay.

As for taobao, most are personnal resellers.But www dot tmall dot com may be better,because only a company or manufacturer can get a register.

And if you have other questions, I am glad to help.

 

[xisally]

if you buy big order, do not buy from taobao. as there are retailers. in fact, if your supplier is a trade company or factory is not important, the important thing is the price and quality. sometime you think the factory will have cheaper price for you. that's incorrect. some times trade compay can even more cheaper price. they can give you price than the factory. as factory do not want to do business with foreigners. no time,no abillity. they even more like to do with chinese trade company.

 

[smalltao]

Yes, you can buy from Taobao directly. But I perfer you contact with a Taobao agent - smalltao.com. It is the biggest Taobao agent and it offer more than 5,000,000 products to Russian, UK, United States as well as other countries. If you are a seller, you can make order from smalltao.com and become a VIP member. The more products you ordered, the more discounts you will get.

 

[MOIC]

Hi Guys

Alibaba are slowly cleaning up their act, but there are still 'companies' that can scam you.

Taobao are not as regulated as Alibaba as most of their business is done in China. Consequently you will need to use due dilligence more often than not when using them.

There are many stories...................with a bad ending.

Good luck with what you 'buy'

Ron
MYOFFICEINCHINA

 

[yfenke]

Alibaba is international, taobao is domestic.

 

[Sophia Myles]

If you need large amount of goods, don't use Taobao. Many sellers on it are small-size retailers who purchase from manufactures and then sell to final customers. However, some of them are able to handle medium-size orders, electronic products in your case, with an amount of one hundred or two in RMB. Anyway, I think you could contact some sellers to consult.

 

[Sophia Myles]

Thank you guys. This thread is informative. Can I summarize as follows:

Taobao: sellers are individuals who are not registered; sell small order to end users. normally domestic users. Int'l order needs go through agent

Alibaba: medium/large order. domestic and international?

Tmall: sellers are registered retailing companies; sell small/medium order to domestic users

correct me if i am mistaken.

I think you just got it!

 

[franklee628]

Thank you guys. This thread is informative. Can I summarize as follows:

Taobao: sellers are individuals who are not registered; sell small order to end users. normally domestic users. Int'l order needs go through agent

Alibaba: medium/large order. domestic and international?

Tmall: sellers are registered retailing companies; sell small/medium order to domestic users

correct me if i am mistaken.

Just to add a few things:

Taobao: Some of the seller might be able to send you via couriers like fedex or dhl, even in small quantities. They normally do retail business.

Tmall: Only registered companies can sell within tmall but that doesn't necessarily means they selling good products. Better quality in average than taobao, but they are running under one company.

Alibaba: You are right.

 

[findnewland]

I thinks Taobao is better than Alibaba for small trader.

 

[mark2012]

Taobao is more B2C and C2C

majority sellers in Ali are companies, and focusing on B2B

 

[taobaoseek]

To be honest,if you want to buy small amount,you can make a try on taobao or taobao mall.In all,the products are cheaper,the quality is the same,because they are all made in China.But one thing,you may not buy from taobao directly,so you should look for professional taobao agent help you,just like taobaoseek.com may help you great.

 

[MOIC]

To be honest,if you want to buy small amount,you can make a try on taobao or taobao mall.In all,the products are cheaper,the quality is the same,because they are all made in China.But one thing,you may not buy from taobao directly,so you should look for professional taobao agent help you,just like taobaoseek.com may help you great.

Yeah.............and watch out for all the scams...............which there are many !

 

[Furnitures]

Yeah.............and watch out for all the scams...............which there are many !

Totally agreed.

 

[hopin2012]

alibaba is for factory/trading company showing their products, taobao/tmall is proparlly factory or wholesalers selling their stuff on which.

Another b2c international is aliexpress.com, also run by alibaba company. You can buy by small orders, single piece, or bigger orders as you want.

check it out and wish you a luck.

 

[Anglepp]

if you need to buy one item with a large quantity, go Alibaba, if you will buy all kinds of items. you can go taobao.

 

[sjforever1880]

Old thread. I’d like to add two responses:

1. Taobao focuses on the retail business, and sellers at Taobao are friendly and quick while Alibaba focuses on the wholesale business, the more you order the cheaper, and guarantee in after service;
2. After years of development, the service offered by the China shopping/shipping agents has changed from deceitful and irresponsible to mature and complete.

 

[SmithJones2016]

Both are same.

 

[YIVA Digital]

Alibaba - whole sellers; International.

Taobao - resellers/retailers; for domestic.

Tmall - brand owners/big retailers/authorised companies/; better avg. quality than Taobao; for domestic.

Aliexpress - resellers/retailers/manufacturer; very similar to Amazon, more for small orders; international.

 

[FreebieBoy34]

Hello peoples,

I've tried using Alibaba in the past with no great deal of luck (being tucked up and all) and I'm wondering whether or not Taobao would be better for importing.
I've seen agents who will help buy from Taobao but I'm not too sure whether or not it's dealing with manufacturers direct or resellers in china, I'm mainly looking at importing electronic consumer goods along the lines of HD/3DTV's, iPhones, games consoles and all the other must have gadgets and gizmos in the current market.
Any help will do.

Thanks,
M.

Hi there! I think Taobao is a reputable company. I have tried purchasing some personal items from them and the transaction went well. But if you're looking for bulk purchases to import for your business, then I'd still go for Alibaba...

 

[brianlee1982]

I bought items from Aliexpress before coz it is only a small quantity. to me, aliexpress and taobao nearly the same as they are B2C platform. Only difference is that, small manufacturer oso can sell in aliexpress. Need to be really alert when dealing in taobao/aliexpress/alibaba, as there are counterfeit items in it. Now alibaba is cleaning the act.

While Alibaba is a B2B platform where they have Minimum Order Quantity. I did deal with them before. There are documents to view if u import huge items out (tax purpose) . Good luck.