I noticed alot of 3rd party toys seem ALOT cheaper at Taobao. Why don't US fans buy all their 3rd party toys from there? I Googled how to make a purchase, and Taobao Focus is the agent I found with the lowest fees: 10%. Has anyone used Taobao Focus before, and would they recommend them?
You take a chance when using a service like this, if you have an issue with the item your pretty much SOL. I bought my hercules from taobao and saved a bunch of money, I use taobaotrends for my purchases and have not had a single issue with them.
Don't forget about shipping rates to boot. Taobao really isn't used much in the West, so that'd be why
What keywords do you guys use when searching with Taobao focus? I tried Transformers and it gave me electrical transformers. Then Fansproject and it came back with nothing.
Don't search from Taobao Focus. Search Taobao directly, and you'll get plenty of hits for "Fansproject".
Your probably better off getting google chrome and translating the pages. Pretty sure it will translate your english words to fit the search engine.
Go to taobao.com, type "Fansproject" into the search box, and press Enter. It's okay if you can't read text, because you'll see the prices (most are Buy Now) in Chinese Yuan. Convert that to US dollars using an online convertor, estimate shipping, add 10-15% for agent fees... and that's your total price. To read the details, you can download a browser add-on. Firefox has great translators: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?q=translator&appver=8.0&platform=windows
Okay, this is an old thread, but I thought it was on topic to what I wanted to post about. I just ordered from Taobaoring as an experiment to see how good they were and to test Taobao. Ordered 2 hobby magazines, a set of labels and a KO PCC (Steamhammer in Roadbuster colors!) I paid about $25 for everything. They used they money to purchase my items and have them shipped to their address in China. They would then get the items and send me a bill to ship the items to me in Michigan. They informed me the labels were out of stock and offered to apply the money I sent for them against my shipping payment. I asked if they could switch the labels order to another hobby magazine that cost a little more. They said yes and they said they would add the (less then a dollar) cost to the shipping so I could get the third magazine. They just sent me a (slightly blurry) picture of my items and asked me to pay $60 shipping for fast shipping. I informed them I didn't want to fast and expensive shipping method they choose, and after about two days I got another shipping invoice for only $25 and change to ship SAE, which can take about 2 months on a boat. So I will be sending them my $25. So my 4 items will come to just about $13 each. Not a super deal, but I'm happy if they show up in 2 months.
Just got my order from taibaoring. The shipping took 3 months, because I went with the cheap option, but I got it! Making another order.
It's true since most 3p company and hasbro contract Chinese factories. Here in China we get most releases first hand... And cheaper, plus the KO's and factory leaked products are all up for grabs for cheaper prices. Intl. shipping could be a pain in the ass though. If anyone's interested (combined shipping perhaps), I'm happy to hook up. PM me for more info!