Taobao English Guide
Step 1. Get to know Taobao: Homepage, search functions, Taobao main navigation
Step 2. Search an item on Taobao: translation, Taobao.com search, search results
Step 3. Item page: Taobao.com item description, detailsTaobao shopping
It is important to make the right choice for items you want to buy. Please consider some of the tips below to help you find the right product.
•Searching in English will give you less results and often higher prices than average. It is better to use the translation tools provided as found on Tools to Translate Taobao into English. Please remember to select Simplified Chinese.
• Take your time to discover and compare products, don’t buy the first item you see.
• It is important to check the seller’s feedback and product selling history.
• It is better to choose the items with a detailed and clear description.
• Be wary of items with a price from ￥1 to 10 RMB as well as of domestic shipping charging more than ￥40 RMB. Unless you are buying a very small item, such prices are put for advertisement purposes to attract buyers. It usually is not a real price. Often the above item is not available and the seller would suggest another product for higher price.
• Many Taobao shops are copies of the real (original) shops. Probably the only difference in products is the price. We suggest you to try search for keywords from product description in Chinese and check the results.
• If you buy clothing from Taobao, you should check carefully the product description: if the clothes are not of standard size, often the sellers will state that it is actually bigger or smaller than usual compared to international size. It is a good idea to use the Size charts as a guide.
