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I use Taobao weekly as well. It's not nearly as bad as you're saying. I've never run into any of those issues. That said, the shipping times definitely aren't

by atr_gz 7y ago

I use Taobao weekly as well. It's not nearly as bad as you're saying. I've never run into any of those issues. That said, the shipping times definitely aren't as consistent as Amazon (although I've only used Amazon in Seattle). I'm not in a Tier 1, but I am in a provincial capital. I'd estimate about 50% of my orders take 3 days, 30% take 2 days, 10% take 1 day, and 10% greater than 3 days. With Amazon it was like 80% 2 days, 20% 1 day, and hardly ever more than 2 days using prime. This isn't a totally fair comparison, I guess. I don't pay a yearly fee to Taobao and I rarely get express shipping, I just use the default. But really Taobao is fine. It's not as amazing as some people on here say, but it's not crap either.

briandon 7y ago
I am not complaining about delivery times (i.e. the time from logistics service pickup to delivery). I know that China is a developing country and logistics operations in China have a ways to go. Once an order gets moving, it will arrive in a few days. What's aggravating are the delays in shipping (the time that passes after you pay and before the seller hands off the order to a logistics service provider) and the excuse-making. Usually, after a couple of days have passed (depending on that seller's "ships within [time]" promise), and I get on WangWang and ask them what's holding things up, it's due to nonexistent inventory. China's many long festivals and holidays can be an issue because enough people stop working earlier pre-holiday and resume working later post-holiday than promised to cause delays. Buying stuff, having to hop onto WangWang to tell the sellers that, yes, the address they got from Taobao is the address they're to ship to and then having to keep an eye on it and periodically load AliWangWang to see if a seller has sent me some emoji-laden sob story to explain lack of inventory, and then deal with that. It's not fun. On Amazon, we buy, pay through the nose for shipping, and then don't have to give the order a second thought. Amazon for us just works, painlessly.
- atr_gz 7y ago
  Yeah, weird that you have so many problems. I've never experienced any of that. Those delivery times I gave above are from the time I ordered the product. I've never spoken with any seller.
  - briandon 7y ago
    Frankly, I envy you. Here are two recent examples of my having to interact w/sellers on WangWang. Top half of screencap: have to confirm address or they won't ship. Bottom half of screencap: other seller waits two days to tell me that the stuff I bought was out of stock and I should apply for a refund (the items are still for sale on that shop btw). https://twitter.com/briandonovan/status/1125353433110700032 https://twitter.com/briandonovan/status/1125353433110700032

by atr_gz 7y ago

briandon 7y ago

I am not complaining about delivery times (i.e. the time from logistics service pickup to delivery). I know that China is a developing country and logistics operations in China have a ways to go. Once an order gets moving, it will arrive in a few days. What's aggravating are the delays in shipping (the time that passes after you pay and before the seller hands off the order to a logistics service provider) and the excuse-making. Usually, after a couple of days have passed (depending on that seller's "ships within [time]" promise), and I get on WangWang and ask them what's holding things up, it's due to nonexistent inventory. China's many long festivals and holidays can be an issue because enough people stop working earlier pre-holiday and resume working later post-holiday than promised to cause delays. Buying stuff, having to hop onto WangWang to tell the sellers that, yes, the address they got from Taobao is the address they're to ship to and then having to keep an eye on it and periodically load AliWangWang to see if a seller has sent me some emoji-laden sob story to explain lack of inventory, and then deal with that. It's not fun. On Amazon, we buy, pay through the nose for shipping, and then don't have to give the order a second thought. Amazon for us just works, painlessly.

atr_gz 7y ago
Yeah, weird that you have so many problems. I've never experienced any of that. Those delivery times I gave above are from the time I ordered the product. I've never spoken with any seller.
- briandon 7y ago
  Frankly, I envy you. Here are two recent examples of my having to interact w/sellers on WangWang. Top half of screencap: have to confirm address or they won't ship. Bottom half of screencap: other seller waits two days to tell me that the stuff I bought was out of stock and I should apply for a refund (the items are still for sale on that shop btw). https://twitter.com/briandonovan/status/1125353433110700032 https://twitter.com/briandonovan/status/1125353433110700032