Taobao.com is essentially the Chinese Ebay and it's even
cheaper than Ebay. However, most sellers don't ship overseas, so many of us ~gaijin are left to rely on middleman services, like TaobaoSpree and TaobaoNow. After reading and watching reviews on the more popular services, I decided to use TaobaoNow for their convenient cart feature and ease of use.
Here's how everything went:
JUL18: Placed order.
JUL20: Invoiced for all the items (22 total)
JUL21: Invoice paid.
JUL25: 2 items unavailable, 1 item cancelled.
JUL30: Ask about delayed item (1 week late).
AUG01: Last item arrives, invoice for shipping is sent.
AUG02: Shipping invoice paid.
AUG03: Package sent through EMS.
AUG10: Package arrives.
This is my first time ordering from Taobao, and it went pretty smoothly, despite the time it took for my last item to arrive. Regardless, TaobaoNow was very accommodating; the staff was
very helpful and answered all my questions thoroughly. I know English is an issue with a lot of middleman services, but their English was perfect. And yep, as I expected them to, they called me "dear" a lot. LOL Anyway, I highly recommend TaobaoNow as a Taobao middleman service. It can be a bit expensive, and they're not the cheapest service around, but they're reliable.
Also, the outstanding balance from the cancelled/unavailable items rolled over to the second shipping cost, so shipping was almost halved.
Now, Taobao's notorious for being a hit or miss. But I guess the rest of my review will speak for itself.
The Unveiling
Ignore Charles, he wouldn't move from my shot, lol. Anyway, the box was mildly beaten up and decently taped up. Not as bad as the tape monsters some people end up with. Within the box, everything was in a giant trash bag and taped over.
So I ordered two pillows with stuffing. The two white piles of fluff are actually vacuum sealed pillow stuffing. Saves a lot of space. The jewelry was inside the crossbones bag.
Everything was nice, safe, and undamaged from shipping. TaobaoNow did a pretty good job with the packaging.
Left picture is the source picture, right picture is personal photo. Click for larger view.| Source | Review | Personal |
 | H&M Basic Stud Set 10/10
I guess they're actually from H&M... I picked these out because I lost all my other basic stud earrings. Good quality, satisfied. |  |
 | ASOS Silver Spiked+Dangle Ear Cuff 8/10
The cuff itself is sturdy and of decent quality. The spike dangles... not so much. They seem to be hollow? I took off 2 points for this reason. I realize having a bunch of really heavy metal dangling from your ear doesn't exactly feel nice, but it still could have been better quality. |  |
 | Vivienne Westwood Pearl Orb 10/10
Love this so much. I can't afford to buy real Vivienne Westwood necklaces because I'm pretty reckless with my jewelry, so this is a pretty good alternative. It does indeed come with the little Vivienne Westwood jewelry box and the necklace itself was wrapped in plastic as well. |  |
 | Vivienne Westwood Gunmetal Orb Earrings 10/10
These are awesome. They're a little bigger than I thought they would be, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. |  |
 | Vivienne Westwood Orb Necklace 5/10
It's crooked. My first replica orb necklace was purchased on Ebay (also from China) and it was perfect. It broke, so I decided to get a replacement. Sad how crooked this one is... |  |
 | Galaxy Skull Hi-Lo Top 9/10
It's pretty nice. I knew it would be long, but not this long? It's pretty long. Suits 5'7" and taller. The print is slightly blurry, but the material is really soft and it's a cool shirt overall. |  |
 | Double Cross Dangle Earrings 9/10
I like it. I pretty much bought it only for the black cross in the back... because it'd be cool to mix and match studs with this. |  |
 | Crown Cross Earrings 8/10
The crosses look kind of funky, but they're nice enough. More of an impulse buy than anything. They're pretty nice, but on hindsight, I probably should've bought something else. |  |
 | ASOS Silver Spiked+Dangle Ear Cuff #2 9/10
Same as the other one; weird hollow spike. Still pretty nice and more casual than the other spike. |  |
 | ASOS Gunmetal Dangle Ear Cuff 10/10
This one doesn't have hollow spikes! It's decently heavy, but it still feels pretty comfortable, not at all overwhelming. I like it. |  |
 | Spiked Hair Tie 10/10
Pretty decent quality, the elastic doesn't seem like it'd just die if I tugged it a little too hard. Spikes are adjustable as well. |  |
 | Asymmetrical Galaxy Skirt 10/10
Damn, another impulse buy. But I like it a lot. It's really soft, surprisingly, and the print isn't too blurry thankfully. |  |
 | Vivienne Westwood Flat Pearl Orb 5/10
A lot smaller than expected... also, it's crooked too. Ugh. Regret buying this... thankfully, it was somewhat cheap. Not really. Whatever. |  |
 | Layered Chains with Cross 4/10
The chain links keep coming loose, so I'm constantly putting the chain(s) back together. Annoying. The cross looks pretty beaten up too. Regret this. |  |
 | Eiffel Tower & Union Jack Pillows 10/10
These are awesome. I expected them to be ugly, deflated, and small, but was pleasantly surprised. The material is decently soft and the prints are pretty clear. Love them. Thinking about getting more from them. |  |
 | Vivienne Westwood Diamante Horn Tiara 20/10
Saved the best for last. THESE ARE AWESOME. Beyond awesome. I don't even know where to begin. They look awesome, they feel great, and they're very me. Absolutely love them. Funny enough, these were the ones that took a week longer to arrive at TaobaoNow's office. So glad I ordered these. May order a second one as back-up. |  |
Overall, my haul was a success. A few ~meh~ items only, I'm pretty happy with what I got. I left out some items that didn't belong to me, but anyway. Yep. Going to DIY some jeans soon, and I'll blog about my Ebay "haul" later.
