After operating taobao sprees for awhile, finally some scams are surfacing again...
I won't consider it a scam totally, but those "Gimmicks" are out again.
The Story
Shopper Sees:
ADVERTISEMENT: Start shopping in Taobao, Low Freight Charges from SGDx.00
Shopper Feels & Thinks:
OMG, this is cheap! Let's shop now!
Shopper Confirms:
2nd payment _% of Agent Fee + Weight charges base on gross or volumetric weight (whichever is higher).
What happened?
After a couple of days, shopper receives status of her items and happily waited at home for her shipment arrival notice.
Shopper Shocked:
WHY so Expensive!?
This shopper bought a few different items including clothing, soft toys, etc.
For every piece of the item, she weighed them individually and realize every piece of the item is charged more than 1.15 times (this is the formula for gross weight) the net weight of the items. This is not all, her worst horror is a soft toy which weighs only 800 over grams has been charged the volumetric weight of 6kg!
Why Gimmicks?
From my experience for coming near 2 years, i've never been charged gross or volumetric weight before, although it was claimed to be the industry practice.
Advice to Spree-ers or Shoppers
Best to seek organizers or agents who calculate shipping by net weight so you won't have a shock when receiving your freight bills.
Showing posts with label Taobao Shopping Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taobao Shopping Tips. Show all posts
Taobao Scammers
1. I'm from China, xxx.....
2. My TaoBao member level is 2 DIAMOND with 100% good rates, xxx....
3. I’m VIP of taobao, enjoy VIP discount in many shops, xxx....
4. My friend is working at EMS China, I can get discount price, xxx....
5. No agent fee, No handling fee, No other hidden charges, xxx....
Does the above sounds familiar to you and rings a bell in your mind?
Seen something similar to this?
Fishy?
Definitely... Another scam.. The above is too good to be true, if the spree organizer doesn't profit from conducting sprees, then why are they still doing such work?
-Point 1: You will be dealing with someone not local..
-Point 2: Taobao member with good record, (but they hide their buying username..)
-Point 3: VIP discount to attract you to spree with them..
-Point 4: Friend working in EMS China, (EMS is a postal service like Singapore's speedpost, you think anyone working with speedpost will get staff discount? So far I've only heard of corporate discount, if they are enjoying corporate discount rates, then why are they still operating in blogspot? They should be operating under .com)
-Point 5: No fees charged at all for such service (You believe?)
** Before you spree with any organizer, please check the date that their blog was established through their posts dates. As organizers always collect payment from spree-ers prior to any ordering, spree-ers are exposed to risks of being scammed if the more points mentioned above are present. **
2. My TaoBao member level is 2 DIAMOND with 100% good rates, xxx....
3. I’m VIP of taobao, enjoy VIP discount in many shops, xxx....
4. My friend is working at EMS China, I can get discount price, xxx....
5. No agent fee, No handling fee, No other hidden charges, xxx....
Does the above sounds familiar to you and rings a bell in your mind?
Seen something similar to this?
Fishy?
Definitely... Another scam.. The above is too good to be true, if the spree organizer doesn't profit from conducting sprees, then why are they still doing such work?
-Point 1: You will be dealing with someone not local..
-Point 2: Taobao member with good record, (but they hide their buying username..)
-Point 3: VIP discount to attract you to spree with them..
-Point 4: Friend working in EMS China, (EMS is a postal service like Singapore's speedpost, you think anyone working with speedpost will get staff discount? So far I've only heard of corporate discount, if they are enjoying corporate discount rates, then why are they still operating in blogspot? They should be operating under .com)
-Point 5: No fees charged at all for such service (You believe?)
** Before you spree with any organizer, please check the date that their blog was established through their posts dates. As organizers always collect payment from spree-ers prior to any ordering, spree-ers are exposed to risks of being scammed if the more points mentioned above are present. **
Taobao Shopping Tips
Ever encounter buying from taobao and ended up paying very expensive EMS freight costs in the end for your single purchase? Look here for tips and tricks to buy from taobao that helps you to mend the hole in your pocket!
Tip 1
Always try to buy more than 1 item as you are paying a fixed cost for the 1st 500g. E.g 7 person in a spree, you are already paying RMB190/7 = RMB27.14 = S$6.24
If you buy 1 item at 200g, your share for remaining weight charges est to be S$4.00. Your total payable is S$10.24
If you buy 5 items maybe 1kg in total and your share for the remaining weight est S$20.00. Your total payable is S$26.24
You see the calculation? The more you buy, the cheaper it is...
Tip 2
Buy items that are not too heavy to ship unless you are willing to bear the freight charges.. You can be buying a canvas material bag that weighs approx 300g and a rubber material bag that weighs you approx 800g - 1kg.
Take into consideration of your items weight and work out roughly how much your items will cost you.
Tip 3
More spree-ers means lower cost for the share of your items. Make sure your spree organizer shows you how many spree-ers there are, do not be tricked by those who do not reveal the contacts of the fellow spree-ers. Some organizers put up fake contacts and orders to attract more participants, however when they bought the items, they claim to spree-ers that they only have 3 person's order out of 5.. Then you are at the risk of being tricked to pay higher freight costs as each of you guys will be bearing a higher portion of the 1st 500g charges.
Participate with popular spree organizers who are transparent with the no. of spree-ers they have.
Tip 4
Note that by EMS, ignoring the 1st 500g charges, subsequent 500g charges is only at RMB45 approx S$10.35 and 1kg would cost only $20.70
Some organizers claim that they charge at a fixed rate of $24/kg.
Don't participate in sprees who charge more than this amount if they charge base on a fixed rate.
With these 4 handy tips in hand, I hope spree-ers have a happier time spreeing from taobao.
Tip 1
Always try to buy more than 1 item as you are paying a fixed cost for the 1st 500g. E.g 7 person in a spree, you are already paying RMB190/7 = RMB27.14 = S$6.24
If you buy 1 item at 200g, your share for remaining weight charges est to be S$4.00. Your total payable is S$10.24
If you buy 5 items maybe 1kg in total and your share for the remaining weight est S$20.00. Your total payable is S$26.24
You see the calculation? The more you buy, the cheaper it is...
Tip 2
Buy items that are not too heavy to ship unless you are willing to bear the freight charges.. You can be buying a canvas material bag that weighs approx 300g and a rubber material bag that weighs you approx 800g - 1kg.
Take into consideration of your items weight and work out roughly how much your items will cost you.
Tip 3
More spree-ers means lower cost for the share of your items. Make sure your spree organizer shows you how many spree-ers there are, do not be tricked by those who do not reveal the contacts of the fellow spree-ers. Some organizers put up fake contacts and orders to attract more participants, however when they bought the items, they claim to spree-ers that they only have 3 person's order out of 5.. Then you are at the risk of being tricked to pay higher freight costs as each of you guys will be bearing a higher portion of the 1st 500g charges.
Participate with popular spree organizers who are transparent with the no. of spree-ers they have.
Tip 4
Note that by EMS, ignoring the 1st 500g charges, subsequent 500g charges is only at RMB45 approx S$10.35 and 1kg would cost only $20.70
Some organizers claim that they charge at a fixed rate of $24/kg.
Don't participate in sprees who charge more than this amount if they charge base on a fixed rate.
With these 4 handy tips in hand, I hope spree-ers have a happier time spreeing from taobao.
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