A. Please use the shopping cart, it will tell you the break down of the calculation clearly. Shipping cannot be quoted without knowing the weight of package. Please refer to another question below regarding shipping charges.

Q. Can you tell me the shipping charges. Just an estimate please!

A. If you insist. Here is some info to help with calculation.  A pair of shoes weigh from 300g to 800g. Average 600g. A kids wear weighs around 100g to 150g, an adult t-shirt weighs 130g - 200g. The list can go on. Please estimate yourself and see the the question below regarding shipping rates.

Q. What is the shipping rate for Netherlands?

A. Check if it can be purchased locally. If you are thinking of getting cheap stuff from China, think twice. If you are not willing to pay for the international shipping, please don't order. I'm sorry if I seem rude. It is because we had an incident recently. A customer from Netherlands who ordered very cheap items. In our first response, we told her to read our FAQ regarding shipping to Netherlands before making payment. She paid for the order and we bought the stuff she requested. When the items arrived and we requested for the shipping fee, she refused to pay and filed a dispute with PayPal for the order's payment. In order to win the case, she told PayPal that she realized the trousers she ordered for 19 Yuan (item price) is a replica. Who in this world is so naive as to believe you can get authentic branded trousers for 19 Yuan? We have to write off over 300 Yuan as theft as a result of her irresponsible action.So please note, international shipping fee is in NO way relative to item cost. It is calculated by weight. If you are thinking of owhordering very cheap but heavy / bulky items, please see the shipping rates first. Making loss for some business transactions is normal part of any business. But this incident make me feel very sad.

A. EMS does not go to Netherlands. We provide DHL / Hong Kong Post Airmail as shipping methods. Here are the rates:

*DHL rates:

Standard DHL (No brands) = 210/55 (500g)
Special DHL (Brands OK) = 280/75 (500g)

*Please note that DHL measure weight using both actual weight and volume weight. They take the higher of the two as the shipping weight. Volume weight is calculated as (W x L x H) / 5000. Where width, length and height are in centimeter (cm).

HK Post Airmail rates:

HK Post Airmail (< 500g) = 22/2.2 (10g) + 13 tracking number + 50 service fee*
HK Post Airmail (> 500g) = 2.2 (10g) + 13 tracking number + 50 service fee*

*50 Yuan service fee is for transit from our office to handler in HK, as well as service fee for handler in HK.

Examples:
Standard DHL 1.5kg
500g = RMB 210
1000g = RMB 55 x 2 = RMB 110
Total shipping fee = RMB 210 + 110 = RMB 320

HK Post Airmail 300g
10g = RMB 22
290g = RMB 2.2 x 29 = RMB 63.8
Total shipping fee = RMB 22 + 63.8 + 13 + 50 = RMB 148.8

Q. Can you send by Registered Airmail?

A. Yes, the shipping rate is the same as the previous answer for almost all parts of the world.

Q. Can you (do something) for this item? Can you please (do something) for the order?

A. Please use the "Your Orders" page to note any special request in the remarks.

Q. Can you tell me the ordering process?

A. Here is the sequence of events from start to finish:

Part I

1. If you have not registered, please register for an account. It's free.

2. If you have never been to Taobao before, you can use our search bar to search for the desired items. The search bar is located at the top right corner of our website. Or you can use the Shopping Directory translated by us, located inside the Main Menu.

3. If you are very lost, go to TaobaoFieldGuide.com for detailed survival guide, or use our Live Support for assistance.

4. Go to Your Shopping Cart, located in the User Menu after you've logged on.

5. Paste the desired item URL in the URL text field. Type any other instruction (e.g. Red color, Size Small) in the remarks field.

6. Click "Add to Cart" button.

7. Repeat step 5 and 6 until you've added all your desired items.

8. Click Submit Order button.

Part II

1. We will look through your order to check if we can accept the order.

2. We will respond in your order with a PayPal button for your convenience.

3. We will place order with the sellers accordingly.

4. If clarification is required, we will respond next to the item in your order.

5. Items will arrived at our office (usually between 1 - 4 days).

6. When all items have arrived, we will package and weigh your order.

7. We will calculate the shipping fee according to the weight. Any excess / short from the difference between the amount paid and the finalized invoice amount will be added to the shipping fee. We will post another PayPal button for this amount.

8. Once 2nd payment is received, we will ship the package to you.

9. You will be given a Tracking number when we received it from freighter.

10. You receive your package at your doorstep.

Q. I want to buy from Taobao, but I don't know how?

A. If you are living in China, we highly recommend TaobaoFieldGuide.com for self help. You will be spreeing on Taobao in no time! If it is just simple stuff like asking the seller a few questions, and you can do the transaction yourself, we will be glad to help, for free, seriously

A. If you are NOT living in China, you have come to the right place! We can help you buy from Taobao.com, for a modest fee of 10% of your total purchase (including postage fee within China). You can also enjoy 40% off official EMS shipping rate, exclusive to our members.

Q. What is EMS?

A. EMS is Express Mail Service provided by China Post. Please visit http://www.ems.com.cn for more information. Our members can enjoy 40% off of the official shipping rate.

Q. What payment do you accept?

A. Currently, we accept Paypal, which can process major credit cards like VISA and MasterCard. From April 01, 2009 to May 31, 2009 July 31, 2009 Sep 31, 2009,  we will absorb the 3.5% Paypal transaction fee as a limited time promotion.

Q. How do I start using your service?

A. If you have not register as a member, please do so! It's free! Then, login to our system, and you shall find the Shopping Cart in the User Menu. This is the juice of our website!

Q. I have submitted the order form, but where do I enter my credit card details?

A. You don't! Once you have submitted, we will contact the sellers of your ordered items. We will check with them regarding availability, colors, sizes, types etc, as requested in the item remarks you have entered. Once all items availability has been confirmed, we will send you an invoice with a Paypal button. Only then you will need to enter payment information securely on PayPal's official website. We do not store any payment information at our website, so your information will be safe.

Q. I went to EMS website, but I still don't know how shipping is calculated.

A. For example, if you are in Singapore, then official EMS shipping rate is RMB190 for the first 0.5kg, and then RMB45 for each subsequent 0.5kg. Let's say your item is 1.8kg, the shipping rate will be calculated as RMB190 + ( 3 x RMB45 ) = RMB325. But remember, you can enjoy 40% off! That is RMB325 x ( 100% - 40% ) = RMB195. A whopping RMB130 saving to get even more stuff on Taobao!

Q. I have submitted my order, but I couldn't stop myself from shopping! Can I add more items to that order?

A. Generally, yes, you can. But if you have already paid for the first order, the additional items will still have minimum order fee requirement. To combine orders, please contact us as soon as possible.

Q. When we made payment thru paypal, is their any transaction fees ? What currency are we using? SGD or CNY?  What are the exchange rates? Refer to your shopping cart, we can convert the CNY to SGD? Does that means that's the amount that we are paying in SGD?

A. The amount in the invoice is the amount you pay in SGD. No other hidden fees. Yes, the exchange rate for the currencies can be derived there. We are aware that the exchange rate is not as good as those money changers in Chinatown. But PayPal's exchange rate sucks and we have to cover currency fluctuation risk. If you are very concerned with the exchange rate, you can choose to settle the exact RMB amount by paying with Western Union.

Q. When I want placed the order, how would I know whether the sellers are reliable? based on quality of goods, no fake goods.... Will you advise me on that?

A. If you do not note in the remarks that you wish us to advise on quality, we will just do the ordering on behalf. We do not give advice unless requested, because that is regarded as being rude. However, if you do require our advise, please understand that even when we say that item should be OK, we do not provide any guarantee. Generally, a rule of thumb regarding quality / fake, is if that item is way too cheap, then beware. If you are only looking at the top when you sort by price, do not keep your hopes too high. Believing in the pictures they show in their shops are the actual items is the main pitfall of many new Taobao adventurer. When you see something that sells for less than RMB 30, but the product pictures are better than magazine photos, look like being shot by professional photographers, and beautiful angel faced models posing with the product, common sense tells you that the seller is selling copies of the item that is shown in those beautifully done images. When searching, throw in these words "????", which may help a little. Also beware of items that say "??", which doesn't really mean Korean version, but instead, mean knock-off copies of original Korean products. Basically, if you are looking at cheap stuff, cheap quality is almost assured, which is like E = MC(sqr), a rule that applies to the whole universe.


Q. Is it possible that I can keep track of the total shipment weight before I made a request to ship back to Sin? e.g. When I hit 20 kg, I'll give you instruction to ship back to Sin.

A. You can request to know how much your total items of that order weigh, and we will tell you so. Like when all the items in the first order have arrived, we will tell you how much it weighs, and so on for each order. But you will have to keep track of the total, we cannot promise to keep reminding you that your orders are over 20kg.

Q. Do we need to buy Insurance? e.g. goods damaged when arrived Sin, mishandling or missing? or is it covered? How much? May I know who is responsible if goods damaged when arrived into Sin?

A. You can opt to purchase insurance on the shipment. However, please know that buying insurance means declaring all contents in the package and their value. This may become a custom problem for you. BTW, if you are planning to purchase very fragile items, we will try our best to protect against damage, but please be aware that we cannot guarantee the safety of the item. Also, we do check items for damage upon arrival at our office, if return is required, we will do so on your behalf. But once the package left our office, any future after sales service will incurr 10% of the item's value as service charge, with a minimum of RMB 50, and all shipping charges will be bore by customer. If you are concerned with warranty of digital/electronic products, please purchase locally.

You may feel that we sound harsh with these terms. However, please know that for the service charge we are asking, we are not going to provide unlimited service. That is simply unrealistic. What you do get is our expertise on Taobao, extremely convenient ordering system and huge savings on combined shipment in additon to the very attractive discount we give for international shipment. Many of our existing customers saves more instead of paying more from using our service because of these added values we provide.

Q. Can I ....?

A. Email us! The email button is in Live Support menu.