[review] My Taobao Experience III

12:28 PM
Update:
Taobao Experience I on Lequgou
Taobao Experience II on PRouter
Taobao Experience IV on Skycart
65daigou and feedback section

taobao china shopping

In my previous post, I talked about my experience with PRouter and I mentioned I will talk about Peeka and 65daigou. I understand that 65daigou has previously asked bloggers to promote them, I am declaring here now (after the Xiaxue and Gushcloud dispute lol) that this is not an advertorial for Peeka or 65DG. 

For Peeka and 65DG I have chosen to use sea shipping. 
Peeka provides express Air shipping which is shit expensive and 65DG also provides normal and special air shipping, but I didn't use that. 

There are a couple of reasons why people will opt for sea shipping:
  1. They can afford to wait. Sea shipping will take approximately ONE MONTH to reach Singapore. So for people who are epic impatient DO NOT choose sea shipping otherwise your friends will go deaf from your whining and complains.
  2. Because of the long wait, sea shipping is much cheaper than air shipping
  3. There are special goods/ sensitive goods that cannot be shipped via air. Another forwarder, Oops have provided an explanation for special goods:


By the way I have not used Oops before because there's a need to fill 1cbm of stuff before I can ship stuff out and I don't have so many things to buy, so I doubt I will be using them any time soon.

Moving on!

Take note that both Peeka and 65DG have buy-for-you service ie. they are acting as agent to buy the stuff for you online. This is good for lazy people because as I have mentioned previously, Taobao accepts Singapore cards already. So if you are too lazy to make your own payment or add details to either 65DG or Peeka portal, then choose that option. Please note that they charge agent fee for that. A plus point with this agent service is that they will check your goods before sending it out. Not sure how stringent the checks are as I have seen complaints that Peeka doesn't check the goods properly.

I did not use this service. Instead I use the 'ship-for-me' service. 65DG does provide screenshots of the goods $1 for 3 photos I think, if you want them to do so. So in a way you still can 'check' your goods with Ship-for-me service with 65dg.

Below is the screenshot of my orders I have with Peeka. As you can see I have several sensitive items: leg massager, pen ink refills and watch. Yes, even the batteries for the watch are considered as sensitive items.

peeka singapore taobao shipping order invoice

It took about three weeks to reach Singapore, within the expected date of arrival provided by Peeka. Peeka also sent an SMS saying that the courier guy will be coming on Nov 6 before 6pm and I remembered it was raining very heavily on the day of delivery. Despite this, the courier guy came on time! 
peeka singapore taoabo shipping status

Below is a screenshot of my orders with 65DG. There were no electronic goods per se, but I have sought advice from PRouter and LQG. Both stated that my paper binding machine is a sensitive good, so I decided to ship it with 65DG. Shipping with 65DG was slower by a week (i.e. 1 month exactly), the goods came within the expected date stated by 65DG and they notify me via SMS as well to collect my goods. 65DG also provides a 30% discount if your goods do not arrive in time which is a nice offer.


The reason why I chose 65DG this time round is because Peeka has a base charge of $10 and a 7% GST. I didn't want to pay that again. As you can see 5.2kg with Peeka cost $35.92 but 7.29kg with 65DG cost $28.90 (before discount). The reason why I used Peeka before was due to the leg massager. Peeka calculates shipment cost via weight for its ship-for-me service while 65DG uses weight or volumetric weight (whichever is heaviest), for the leg massager, the volumetric weight was much 'heavier' than its actual weight, so using Peeka was more cost-effective.

Take note that 65DG only deliver to your house for an additional $5 or $8 depending on your parcel weight, I picked neighbourhood pickup instead since that's free.
65daigou taobao sea shipping invoice order

For ship-for-me services by Peeka and 65DG, it is up to the customer to fill up the details of the items they are shipping from China on their respective portal. Both Peeka and 65DG will update the system if your items have reached their warehouse (pretty much like Vpost) but sometimes they may miss out, so it is up to the customer to do their own checks and see if all items are declared and are in the warehouses. Some details you will need to fill in include: item description, courier company name, tracking number, cost of goods. Because of the hassle, that's why some people will opt for their 'agent' service.

Delays

As with air shipments, sea shipments are subjected to delays as well and I was lucky not to 'kena' them. Note that NONE of the forwarders be it 65DG, Peeka, Oops etc can control which sea container to place your parcels in. If you have seen our Singapore ports, you will know how big these sea containers are. So if there is one bugger who ordered prohibitive stuff like drugs, everyone's parcels within that container will be subjected to stringent customs check and this will result in delays. I have seen people who complained about these delays blaming the forwarders, and as a spree- organiser who has to explain the reasons for delay to my spree-er, I can tell you this is very frustrating.

In conclusion, after my experience with both Peeka and 65DG, I am more likely to use 65DG if my items are small (both in vol weight and actual weight), if my items are light but has a higher vol weight then I will use Peeka.

Hope this review helps you in deciding which forwarder to use and happy Taobao-ing ~
if you find my posts informative, please click on the ads, it doesn't cost you anything, but it will help me so much, thank you ^^

43 comments:

  1. taobao is the biggest and most famous online shop in China,right?
    www.tomntins.blogspot.kr

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  2. Interesting read. Almost like a consumer report! Thx for sharing. gig love

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  3. Never heard of it :o
    Maybe should try to open the site when I am going to China someday xD
    Thanks for sharing ^^

    VISIT MY BLOG❤

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  4. I don't feel safe buying big quantity thru online. Too much risk to bear.

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  5. i never heard of that online shop at my country.
    not really familiar..
    btw nice review :)

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  6. Such an experience with taobao... I heard many ppl bought cheap stuffs from taobao but yet to experience my own shopping experience there..

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  7. Cool post, I try to never order items internationally as I worry unless it is cheap and on trusted sites like eBay.
    GIG LOVE | The Life of Leeshastarr

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  8. nice! i never ever shopped from taobao because i have no idea on how to buy things from there! thanks for sharing this, i can start finding my way around taobao to grab some cheap deals now. :)

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  9. Nice Post you have! Love your blog too!

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  10. thanks for such a detailed review -xox Francy @ http://www.fancy-francy.com

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  11. love your style of writing! even though I don't really know what you were talking about, I still enjoyed reading the post :) giglove

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  12. It's very risky to buy from Taobao site.I get an offer to promote this website but I refuse.
    Miss Ika's Blog

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  13. thanks for sharing! will definitely take into consideration when purchasing online

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  14. Never attempted see or air shipping before, hence this is a good information for me if I ever do this in the future.......... GigLove

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  15. Sounds cool! But I rarely do my taobao shopping together with my friend. And she does the work! =D Now I gain some knowledge =) Thanks

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  16. ive never used taobao. i don't feel safe ordering from there :S

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  17. I have never heard of it before. Interesting post.

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  18. I've never heard of these services, but thank you for sharing your experience with us! <3 GIGLove

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  19. Seems like a great website, but not sure if they would ship to my country! Would love to shop if so!

    GIG Love
    xoxo Chaicy - Style.. A Pastiche!
    SAP on Facebook

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  20. This is a very interesting article, and actually very useful! I've not experienced either but if I did decide to at least I know more as well, thanks! :) x
    | Life as a Petite || Fashion, Crafts & Lifestyle Blog |

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  21. i have not buy any taobao before because of the language and it's really troublesome!

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  22. Great reviews. Never heard of them before so thanks for sharing :)

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  23. I've never heard of them before, I may have to look into it :) Thanks for sharing x

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  24. I used to buy Taobao myself. And i have my own partnered shipping agent who is at China. So, for me it is till cheaper to buy myself. However, the currency of Malaysia dropped so much, which make the conversion isn't as cheap as it was.

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  25. very informative post thanks for all the inormation

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  26. I've never heard of Taobao before, thanks for sharing this wonderful information! Don't know that batteries can be considered as sensitive items :O

    GIGLove

    Love,
    Pudding Monster

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  27. Hi, Thanks for sharing.
    Would you recommend to buy vanity tops and storage cabinet mirror from taobao and ship by either peeka or 65daigou?

    Also, think of buying dinning table and chairs. What's your recommendation from Buy4you point of view?

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    Replies
    1. I think you should find those which calculate shipping fee by cubic metre (CBM) like Liuxing or EK-Link
      I have not tried buying big items like yours so I cannot comment on the process >.< Have fun furnishing your house :)

      Delete
  28. Hi,

    I am using my mobile to see your blog. Can your leg massager that you bought from China be use in Singapore? The electrical voltage and plug is ok?

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    Replies
    1. Hello!
      we just used a normal converter and it is working fine :)

      Delete
  29. This 65daigou is a scam! My friend's item is only very small, but she got charged 250 grams volumetric weight and 150 actual weight.

    Unfortunately for 65daigou, my friend check with the taobao merchant and confirm the item is only 50grams! We confronted 65daigou and insisted to re-weigh the item before collection.

    Suddenly, the actual weight miraculously drop from 250g (150g) to 60g! This Agnes gave excuse say it's because they help to remove packaging. Ya right! The taobao merchant give bullet proof packaging is it? Weigh 100g, double the item weight itself!

    After getting caught red-handed, she still have the cheek to say don't trust us go and use our competitors without even apologising.

    Typical china company, cheat if can, shirk responsibility if get caught. Singapore is a small country but the people here are not stupid, wouldn't be long until public learns of your dirty methods.

    Be careful of these 15% off marketing tricks. Give you 15% off here, sneakily weight add another 500% net net you still lose. Insist on weigh measurement check and don't get cheated by this Agnes and this China company which act as if no big deal and never apologise after this incident.

    Regret not comparing before using their service. Simple google will show many forum complaints about their underhand methods. Their facebook also has several complaints that will appear for a day or two, then suddenly disappear after their admin delete. Buyer got to beware.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for alerting me (us) about this!! Hopefully your comment will be helpful to people who come to this page. I have heard of cases (with 65dg) like this as well, some of them unfortunately did not get anything, so I am glad that your friend did! It is quite sad that they have grew to be such a big company allowing them to cheat :( Let us know which are your recommended agents and forwarders as well, it would be really helpful!

      Merry Christmas :)

      Delete
  30. Hi, I wanted to let you guys know as well about 65daigou.

    I order a lot of stuff from taobao, especially my home lights during my renovation. I found that taobao focus while a little more expensive is much more reliable. Part of their process is taking pictures of the item once it arrives at their china warehouse for the customer to approve before shipping out to the customer.

    I recently ordered a table from taobao but this time I thought to use Daigou65. I have since regretted doing this. I have to say, their customer service has been faultless (but I did not check if the weight they quoted me was correct, so this is a doubt now in my mind) but the item came with a major defect with a wheel of the table almost sawed off and other minor defects like chipped wood. No pictures were sent to me for confirmation from their china warehouse and I have to take their word for me that a basic inspection was done. Accordingly, they said they could only compensate my S$60 for the defect. I find that insulting so I told them to keep their compensation. Taking this as a lesson learnt.

    But yea, really make sure your international forwarders are responsible and reliable. don’t just go for the cheapest option.

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  31. No responsibility agent

    1) If you have problem with the service "CASETRUST" cannot help you.

    2) They will ask you to email the customer service for any complaint even the goods already have problem during collection. They suppose to reply in 3day but normally will take 1 week.

    3) 65daigou job is to collect and past it to you. That mean they don't be bother to check whether the goods is in correct order even is off the spec. Below is a reply I got.

    we have checked with the seller on the issue who informed us that the chair is made by hands, so the difference at 1~3cm (Actually is 2-3cm for all side of the chair. They just less off 1 cm for the sponge protection) is a challenge to be avoided. And there is also measurements error due to different measuring methods as per seller, but he confirmed that the items you recieved is correct.

    Clearly the overall spec already have problem just by a look. Do you still want to trust them

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    Replies
    1. I do believe 65dg website did put that they do surface checks https://www.65daigou.com/FAQ#Inspection#Inspection-2
      so I suggest you do a proper read of their FAQ etc before placing order with them.

      In this case, without having much information I would agree that 65dg is not at fault but the seller instead. I do not use 65dg buy for me service largely because I do not think this add on "free" service will benefit much. So yes, for people who are buying small and few items, I still think 65dg is the way to go until a more decent competitor comes along.

      Delete
  32. They did promise to check on size on their web site but they just push it to seller problem . The overall scale is very much smaller just because of 2-3cm reduction. I can provide photo as prove to my word.

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  33. The all measurement was clearly stated on the web site.

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  34. Thank you for your very interesting info,

    4.4Do you inspect the measurement of the item?

    No, we do not inspect the measurement of the item. But we check the label on the items received against the size indicated in your order remark. (For example: S, M, L or XL). If there's no label on the items or the size is measured in a different way, we will assume it's correct.

    4.6Do you check the functions of electronic device?

    No, functionality checks are not covered during inspection. Basic power on test could be done upon request.

    Basically they just collect and ship away. With this kind of unfair policy, do you think 65daigou bother to inspect your item?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,
      can i confirm if you mean 2-3cm difference or 2-3 inches difference because I don't see how a 2-3cm difference can cause a huge change unless it is for clothes. I am not trying to support 65dg here but they probably have many orders coming in each day, it is impossible from a manpower perspective to check everything. Some clothes has size S followed by the measurement of the clothes, should the company measure each and every clothing?

      The fact that you pasted point 4 of their FAQ shows that they do check, just that the checks are surface checks. Is this really that unfair? I personally do not think so. However if you ask me if it is worth you spending that additional % on service fee, then I would say it is not worth it, since it is just surface checks. This is the reason why I opt for ship-for-me. Just bear in mind that for buy-for-me in addition to surface inspection, the service fee paid is also to avoid the hassles of tracking each and every time you buy.

      I do sympathise with your experience because I do have experiences where seller send wrong size and even the wrong shade of stuff (and even told me my monitor has problem and ignored me thereafter). I do wish that 65dg has treated you better in terms of service as well but the fact is we are just one of the tiny customers they have =( However, I do hope that you have found a way to solve the problems with your order. Btw your comments have inspired me to come up with an entry for people to talk about their shipping woes, thank you for this as well :)

      Delete
  35. Hi so do you recommend us to buy from 65daigou or directly from taobao?

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    Replies
    1. if you have very few items or small stuff like e.g. 1 piece of clothes or 10 pieces of stickers then use 65daigou ship for me. I don't recommend people to use the buy for me service unless you are really afraid that the seller send wrong size/color/damaged goods. But with the price range, usually people will forget about pursuing. if you have tons of things to buy (think: 10-20kg) or bulkier stuff, then directly from taobao :)

      of course if you need to buy some prohibited items e.g. power bank, those can only go by sea shipping, so 65dg

      Delete

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