Perhaps you’re in China and you feel limited by what you can’t buy or find.  Do you know that there’s a huge web-site that sells a bit of everything.  It’s sort of like a Chinese e-bay, but perhaps safer, better and cheaper!  It’s called Taobao.

After about two weeks in China there were a few things I missed: real coffee, flavored coffee creamer and an oven (among other things!).  My friends had a small toaster oven and I wanted one a bit bigger.  I didn’t see one at Carefour and wondered if there was a way to buy a BIGGER oven.   So I started looking and recklessly (I spoke no Chinese, had no idea what I should or shouldn’t do on Taobao) found an oven, thought it was big, paid for it (without “chatting with the seller” or asking a Chinese friend to help!) and ordered it.  This is the link.  It seemed big.  I had no idea how they were going to deliver it and then one day, it just arrived at my door.  It was huge.  It works great (it’s electric).  At first I was a bit embarrassed at how big it was and wondered WHERE I’d put it and how much electricity it was going to use! But now we just enjoy using it and have it stationed on our counter.  I make bread, cakes, casseroles, cookies and cheese on toast in my oven:) Love it!

I’ve bought everything from: clothes, sports balls, cones, equipment, cookie mix, birthday candles, cheese, toys, diapers, ipod speakers, Christmas and birthday presents a curling iron and tons more on Taobao.It’s easy to use once you have an account set up.  But in order to set it up, you will have to have a few things:

• You will either need to either read Chinese or use google translator to help you navigate through the website. For some reason, it seems that Internet Explorer is the best search engine to use.  I can’t get Taobao to fully work if I’m on Google Crome or Mozilla Firefox.  I find that when I use Internet Explorer, it automatically translates my pages into English. Try going here to download it.
  
• You will need to open a Chinese bank account.  So have your name, phone number and address (in Chinese) ready along with your passport when you go to the bank.  The China Bank of Construction has been wonderful to me.  I’ve spent hours with Dai Hong working out all sorts of account details (no exaggeration).  The Bank of Communications employees in Shijiazhuang have also been great.  The important thing is to find a bank employer who is willing to help you and who isn’t in a rush.  (It was painful helping me open an account when I had NO Chinese).
• You will need a bank account that can be linked to your taobao account.  The bank should either give you a special debit card or a small USB security tool. 
• Those will come in handy real soon!

1. Let’s begin by setting up a taobao account.  Go to www.taobao.com and on the top left of your screen is a place for you to click to open a new account.

2. Choose a username, password and fill in the verification code.3. The next page will ask you for your email account. Once you fill in your email, you will get a confirmation screen.  You’ll need to check into your email account to confirm your taobao account.

4. And now fire away… Enter into the search bar what you’re looking for.  You can type it in English or Chinese characters.

5. Browse and click on the item you want.

6. You can look at what you’re buying and if you have any questions, you can directly “chat” with the seller (see that little blue face, you can click on it and ask the seller questions.”  Google translate unfortunately doesn’t work too well here.  They don’t accurately translate the English to Chinese so the seller often doesn’t know what you mean!  But you can type in Chinese and ask him questions. You can also just buy it and hope everything will be alright.  And just like amazon and ebay, you can look at the customer’s reviews and feedback (look at how many stars they have, read reviews, etc.)

7. If you want to buy it, click on the red bar. Then also click on the next screen’s orange bar.  They will include shipping and will deliver it to your door.  You will be asked for your Chinese address and phone number (the first time you buy something – after that it will be saved in your account).  So get a friend to help if need be.

8.  Pay for it with internet banking (with the bank account that you’ve set up).  Choose the bank that you bank with and fill in your account number (usually your passport number) your password and their confirmation code. I usually have to go to the “additional” banks on the second menu and then I find the Construction Bank:)

9. You should get a confirmed receipt and your good should arrive in about 2-5 days (depending on where the seller is located and what type of shipping you pay for).  Once you get the goods, it’s common practice to confirm your purchase. This releases the money to the seller immediately (since a third party keeps it until you confirm that it arrived or they automatically give it to the seller after about 2 weeks).  So try not to keep your sellers waiting too long for their money.  You can then write comments, etc.  (I’ll write more about that later:)

Enjoy internet shopping in China!  Fast and easy and a great way to get all sorts of things delivered right to your door-step.

Let me know if you need any more directions and what interesting things (and good deals) you find!