from the listing he only has 1 piece...

 

They tried the private listing but Taobao still wouldn't let me purchase. In other news, my Hydra should be delivered today

 

I have my mother load showing up today..  

Have it redirected to my ups store since this one needs signature and roughly $260 worth of toys!

I may take a pic of my wife's face when I walk through the door with a giant package all for myself 

One question for anyone that has used SF that goes through UPS. It says my package weight is only 1lb exactly but this shipment is close to 9kg. Do the international forwarders use a fake number or did someone just lose a shit ton of my packages and come out at exactly 1lb lol

 

My previous experiences with SF express/UPS all come with close enough weights compared to what I shipped. The only time the weights don't match is when they forgot to include two items. But 9kg to 1lb seems more like a typo to me.

 

I guess I'll just have to wait and see, thanks.

 

ChromeMagnus you've posted some immensely helpful info on this board. I'm just getting into Taobao. How did you get up-to-speed before your first order? Was there a post/site that helped?

 

Since I have read a fair bit.

He asked a boat load of questions. Read the first 20 or so pages. A lot of this is trial and error in the beginning if you don't follow the basics.

If you have a question, ask. There are about 10 things off top of my head I could tell you but don't want to be overbearing.

It's not difficult, it's just scary at first dropping your money in a black hole of uncertainty, welcome and goodluck

 

Thanks so much! Overbear away! I'm all ear as to suggestions on getting started.   Thanks!

 

Here ya go let me know if it clears up some things:

1. Use Google chrome to go to the website it should automatically translate.
2. Use Google translate when communicating to send either from Chinese to English and then when reading you can translate their Chinese to English. Sometimes it's funky, speak like a caveman with basic sentences. Use smile emojis because we come off as rude due to the language barrier.
3. Download Google translate on your phone so you can use your camera to translate words that don't translate.
4. Register for taobao, I believe you add your address during the registration.( I had some really weird issues and I was banned on my first registration, let me know if you have any problems and I'll help you work through them).
5. If you can logon to taobao you are half way there.
6. You need alipay(taobaos equivelant to paypal) but I did not have to setup an account like you normally would with PayPal, when you create taobao account they create alipay also.
7. You need to download aliwangwang that is for chatting through the little blue tear drop next to the sellers names typically.
8. So when you are in taobao you need to setup an address. That should've been done upon registration if I remember correctly.
9. When you find your item and you want to buy, click your choice and add to cart..if it does not work remove the translation on that page and click again. There is some weird bug that makes you mash on the cart button like 50 times otherwise.
10. If it gives you an error saying this item can not be shipped international it means they are using some sort of banned term such as Hasbro, transformers or the name of the toy etc. You will need to chat with the seller and either buy a similar priced item and they ship the one you want, or have them create a custom listing without any of the banned terms.
11. Once it is added to cart and you want to pay, you must choose your warehouse this is where the seller will send your stuff, it's basically a warehouse. Make sure it doesn't have batteries or is to big. In the USA most of us use EMS.
12. If that all goes smoothly. It will ask you to pay. You pay with credit card only. If you have an issue here your card company blocked you and they will either call you or you call them ONLY do this during your banks normal business hours.
13. After you pay they will ship to your warehouse typically using a courier service, this service is not the warehouse.
14. It has to be accepted at warehouse, there are strict size limits, weight limits and categories. Be very careful ex. No batteries, liquids, weapons, guns.
15. If it is accepted they will weigh it and tell you your current charge for the items based on weight. You now have 20 days to add whatever you want to your little consolidation zone. As far as I can tell right now the incoming and outgoing restrictions are different. Most important incoming can't be larger than 80cm or 130cm unilaterally. But after when they mash everything together it just can't weigh more than 30kg.

Info: they (seller)don't get your money until your product is in hand and you confirm receipt, you are charged for the items , the shipping to warehouse the shipping from warehouse any insurance a taobao fee and a conversion fee from your bank typically. Also the people selling and warehouses are all at our night time so most of your stuff will be after 8pm eat

Let me know if that helps. I have only shipped one thing and next order on way but I learned a bunch

 

This seems pretty much how it all works. Maybe this needs to be added to the first couple pages? Seems simple when u read it like this.

 

I ordered FT-29 Quietus from Taobao before Christmas. The figure came in 5 days and 2 days before Dec. 25.

 

I agree, it has been fun enduring the trial and error when I began though LOL. I'd also add some tips and tricks:

* Try find a 0% no annual fee credit card to save on FX charges. It amounts to a lot annually and especially with big ticket items
* Set your Taobao country to mainland China (top left of the website) otherwise search filters are applied to country specific Taobao websites
* Search works best with item alphanumeric codes as names don't translate literally. For example 'FT-24' and 'Fanstoys' as a search will yield better results than 'Fanstoys''and 'Rouge'
* Image search is also a great feature
* Anything that is listed as used or has licensed products in the description (Hasbro, Lego, Disney, Marvel, Nikon, Canon etc) will be blocked for purchase as your country likely has its own local distribution. It's to get around grey / parallel importing. Transformers being banned as a word is likely another reason why Taobao prevents purchases and we have to communicate with the seller
* Check the first page of this thread for English sellers so there's minimised issues with language barriers
* Best to check if there's stock first mostly as few sellers keep live inventory levels. You may purchase something and wonder why it hasn't shipped and then you have to initiate a refund. For new things this is less of an issue but for say FT Sovereign or MMC Magna which got recent reissue / releases I wouldn't trust stock levels necessarily
* Some people stick to sellers with a minimum of 4 diamonds in ratings. New stores go from. 1 to 4 hearts in ratings before progressing to 1 diamond and so on. 1 crown comes after 4 diamonds. This would be a measure of reliability and peace of mind for you the buyer

That's all I can think of

 

Thanks so much for this info guys!

 

superbuy arrived today, YAY! that cloud 9 is next level stuff. my initial inspection was just brief. Im off today and need to go cut the grass and do other chores, so ill get back to it. however, i think i prefer the KBB starscream over the TT KO. This figure needs a lil future or small cuts of paper in at least two spots. Man big spring is big in hand. pics never do bots justice and idk y im always surprised when i get them in hand.

 

Anyone planning to get Zeta Silver Arrow from Taobao? It is in the range of $160 on Ebay ($136 after 15% off during flash sale) but on taobao it is like 600 yuan. Assume it weights 4kg(?!), it costs 600+215+3% yuan ~= 120 USD and it is 25% off Ebay. Should I?

 

I am! My Zeta Onslaught weighed just under 4KG so I'm expecting the same for Silver arrow. The one thing I'd consider is any QC issues, you'll have to go through Taobao for any issues, which usually means buying something else form the seller so they can slot any parts you need in with that item so shipping is covered by Taobao. Otherwise it's cost prohibitive for the seller to privately ship it to you.

There's generally good QC with Zeta though. I've only had one issue and getting a replacement part was fine; it was a flap from fire flight's oblique.

 

Thank you for the information. I have heard it is even slightly bigger than Zeta Onslaught but 4kg should be enough to cover it.

 

This guy has it at 585 yuan with free shipping to warehouse and he says it will arrive in a few days.

Zeta Toys ZB-03 飞行太保 大无畏 组合体 银剑 盒装 预售-淘宝网

 

I've just paid the balance for mine. 550 with free shipping. So a discount of only 35 yuan for pre ordering.

 

My MS-01 reached the warehouse last evening. It weighs only 1.11 kg. I'm surprised. It is lighter/smaller than I expected. Even FT-29 Quietus weighs 1.40 kg.