Taobao SEA Freight Forwarding : How-To Get It To Your Doorsteps

If you have been following the blog, you would know that I've placed purchases with the Taobao website via South East Asia Taobao of www.sea.taobao.com. If you want to learn how to buy things from Taobao.com and get it sent to you straight (as most seller only deal with addresses in China, HK or Macao only), click here to read more : TriStupe Guide To Tarpow at Taobao SEA.
The last update in the blog on this purchase was that the items has been placed and will be sent to me via the designated forwarder. 

I have also highlighted about the "International" tab where you will see the items you have placed for delivery, and how it can be consolidated into one freight to save on the cost.

First thing to do is to click on the (translated) EXPRESS tab and that will put your item into "Pending Merger Courier". As you can see above, I've clicked on the Black Diamond, hence the "express" tab has disappear. One of the other feature is that the forwarder typically allow up to 20 days of "free storage" (noted as "warehouse rent-free) before shipping out. This meant you have the X-day to keep buying and to consolidate the freight to you to maximise on the weight ruling. Makes sense as the items above (3 items) combined weight is less than 1kg and I will only be charged at Yuan38 (RMB38)

As you can see, both items added and I am lucky 0.8kg! ;-) Pressing the "Combined" button, it leads me to the next page where it will note down all the important items - like your delivery address (which I've blacked out) and your phone number (also blacked out). Estimation of time taken to deliver is also noted there.

Next is to proceed with payment. As I have about RMB8 left inside the Alipay Purchase Card, that is used to nett off the payment first. Leaving me to "top up" additional RMB30.

Again, right-click and "translate to English" if you are not sure - or just follow the "orange to confirm" tab in Taobao. Seems that is the magic color if the translate did not show up. As you can see, the above has been paid and thus the "orange" has turned grey.

You can also pay via Malaysian banking/direct debit. I tested it out and press "Next" (again, the orange button at the bottom) and I am brought to the next page, with the RMB30 (balance) converted to MYR16.94 (to pay)

There is a 9-minute period to enter all details...and I had to cancel this because I have none of the payment portal above. However, as noted, more Malaysian banks will be included soon, which will make banking and payment a breeze. Direct payment incur no additional charges (unlike Credit Card) as it has been built into the bank's transfer fee. With only one choice for me, I used the Credit Card payment option.

In my hurry to set the payment, I forgot to offset the payment from the Alipay Purchase card and ended up paying the full RMB38 instead of RMB30. The amount calculated RMB39.14 is inclusive of the 3% credit card charges. My own fault for not being careful. So, if you have balance in your Alipay Purchase card, remember to use it first to offset!

Payment via credit card is secured as the security code or the One Time Password (OTP) is specific to your credit card bank and is sent to the phone number that you register during payment. Again, payment portal requires a different set of password in Taobao and Alipay. Once everything is done, you will be routed back to the page and the transaction will be seen as successful.

Clicking on the "View International Transport" brings you to the page where the items tracking will be seen. In this case, it is "Subject to the library" (bad translation), which meant it is marked for delivery.

Next : To wait for my New Year's Gift for myself!
If you still have not joined the contest in my blog to win RMB500 (or MYR260), do so now. Details in my original blog entry on Taobao here : WIN RMB500 to Shop at Taobao SEA!

If you want to try more luck, Taobao is currently having 10 rounds of competition at their Facebook Page here : http://www.facebook.com/taobaosea Join and stand to win more Alipay credit to shop for the things you want.