As you might know, I'm a huge fan of Chinese online stores. When you order a product through a Chinese site, it's shipped by China Post, Hong Kong Post or Singapore Post All these post services, are offered for free. Yes, worldwide free shipping. Of course, the shipping costs are included in the product price but Chinese shipping is so cheap that you don't even notice that. Singapore Post is the fastest one, it takes 15-20 days to get to your house. If you want a faster shipping, you can choose Ems service but you have to pay extra for it. What do you guys think about this? Worldwide free shipping, isn't it fantastic?
I am fan of Chinese sites, too so I use it all the time. You are right! China Post and Hong Kong Post are the best. Fast and so so cheap shipping. I just wonder how is it possible? I know the shipping costs are included in the product price but some of the products cost $1 or $2, so why is it so cheap? But if you want tracking number you have to pay a little bit more but it's better that way. It's so easy to track your order
China's economy is mostly based on exportation so the government subsidizes postal services (at least that's my theory), making international shipping cheaper than in most other countries. Also, big stores like FocalPrice or DealExtreme have 'agreements' with both China Post and HK Post to they pay a lot less than regular people do. As for cheap product prices, it's because China works that way. Too many people and not that many places for them to work, so they work in very poor conditions for smaller salaries. Sad but true.
I agree with what you said about the shipping costs, it's true the government subsidizes postal services. However, I disagree with you about cheap product prices. China is able to offer so cheap prices mainly because of its economy and its currency. It is not true (not at all) that Chinese people work in such horrible conditions, of course it might happen sometimes but not always. Do you know what I mean?
These guys beg to differ. And have you ever heard of suicide nets in factories? These are the ones found in Foxconn's factory, the one that makes iPhones in China. Their conditions are not even near to most of the ones found in America. They have very limited breaks, work under a lot of pressure and get paid very, very little for their work. It's sad, but it's the way most Chinese workers live.
I didn't know about that! I thought lower prices are because of the lower quality! I watched documental movie about chinese people. That they live in small apartments and kids are at school all day and then come home and do homework till 10-11 p.m.!!! And the most important thing is to study and have a good job. I thought that they have good salaries. I've heard about the suicides but I thought that these people are big bosses that lost money because of the economic crisis!
Interesting to know about the free shipping. I have been looking at a couple of online Chinese stores for some time with a view to promoting their products on my sites. I think I will look into their ToS again to check on this free shipping thing.
Well, actually, I think I exaggerated a little with the images above. I recently watched a few videos on YouTube a guy made about some electronics factories (he went as a tourist to Shenzhen and filmed everything). I was shocked to see CEOs and managers saying he could actually film the people inside a factory. To be honest, they had very good working conditions. An open, ventilated space with good lighting, just like it would be in any other part of the world. That was for a laptops factory. Now I heard there are huge differences between electronics and textile factories, which have poor working conditions and extremely low salaries. Most people that work on them come from villages around the Northern part of China and do it for their families. Some others immigrate. I'm not trying to set a stereotype, but Asians are usually the ones that try the hardest at school. Not just in China, but also in the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, etc. They care about their studies because they know they have to work hard to get a good job in the future. Unfortunately, due to very high levels of population, not all of them can succeed Chinese people have a very nice, interesting culture I believe is mistakenly seen thanks to their communist government and bad advertising. For example, in here, most people think Chinese people are closed-minded and that those who own supermarkets offer very low quality products and unplug their freezers at night to save electricity. I recently read an article in which a Chinese person who spoke fluent English say that it's not that they're shy and closed-minded, it's because they don't generally speak any other language rather than Mandarin/Cantonese. The other ones are just myths.
I agree with what you said, totally. Chinese culture is so interesting, eastern culture in general is very interesting. We should learn from them a couple of things, for example the great interest they have for studies. I have heard there are factories in China which seem to be cities, because people who work there also live there and go to school there too.
I love the cheap price, and free shipping, but I cannot help but wonder why things are so cheap, when things being sent from places closer cost even more! I do shop online from China a lot, and I suppose I prefer buying direct from China than going through a middle man in US.
I order all of my iPhone gadgets from China because the prices are cheap and the shipping is free. I have never had a problem with the products. The only problem I have ever had is that my email address ends up on fake sports jersey email lists. All of that being said I suspect most stuff you buy from China is fake. I watched a 60 Minutes episode that featured golf clubs. They bought a pair and took them to Calloway golf headquarters in the US and they were made of a cheap metal and even their robot that they test clubs with could not hit a straight shot with them. You always see them in ebay, a $500 golf club selling for $150. I have a fake Nike putter I bought from China, the person got booted for selling fake items. I don't care about little gadgets or toys but I wouldn't put my faith in anything expensive or that you have to really count on.
Lots of Chinese factories (mostly textile ones) make knockoffs and fake items but they never promote them as original unless you see the word "Genuine" in the product's page. They can actually have their PayPal accounts disabled for selling fake items and listing them as original.
I was going to say the same thing. In fact, Chinese stores always edit their products' pictures so they can avoid to be banned by Paypal. They NEVER show brands or logos in those pics although they actually have them.
Is it really 100% free shipping for any item when you use those 3 post service companies? I bought a cellphone in Ebay and it charged me $10 for shipping. It was shipped through Hongkong Post. I was only given a tracking number, and they did not say that my phone was insured or something.
Not all Chinese stores (especially not sellers) offer free shipping. If you buy things in TaoBao, through an agent, they charge you depending on how much the package weighs. I was once charged $25 or something for a 1.5kg package to be sent to my location. $10 sounds about right for a cellphone. The tracking number works as the insurance itself. That way, if it gets stolen, lost, replaced, etc., you can always take it to eBay to get your money back.
That's a great deal i never really visited any chinese sites but that's still a great deal for people who like them and order from them on a regular basis
I see, so a 1.5 kg package normally costs $25, I'll keep that info in mind so that I won't be scammed in the future. I stumbled upon the TaoBao website before, but it's purely in Chinese, and Chrome always failed to translate the page, so I just browsed their site in Ebay. They charge $15 shipping for a cellphone, while other sellers only charge $10, so I guess that it depends on the seller too. Speaking of tracking numbers, have you ever bought something cheap at Ebay and the seller was nice enough to even provide you with a tracking number? Tracking numbers have additional charges for the seller right? I bought something worth $0.85 and I was also given a tracking number. The seller used China post. I also bought some stuff ranging from $10 - $20 but I wasn't given a tracking number, so I think that it also depends on the seller if he wants to "insure" your item.
I forgot to mention that was the price for shipping to my location (South America). I believe shipping fares to North America, assuming you live there, are cheaper. You can always checkLog In to see if what you're paying is fair depending on the weight (don't mind the 'volume' field, just leave that blank) is fair or not TaoBao is the largest Chinese stores that only has Chinese sellers on it. So if you want to buy there (with such cheap prices and many sellers that are very reliable and have products of good quality, especially clothes, it's very tempting), you need an agent/intermediary. They basically buy the product you want from the TaoBao seller and then ship it to you, charging a commission, usually 10% or so. One of the cheapest yet best intermediaries is MisterTao - the only downside is that they don't accept PayPal. Buying in TaoBao is a lot easier than it sounds, though; I've bought clothes and electronics and never had a bad experience. Regarding the tracking number, yep, they do have to pay more to add tracking numbers to the package they're shipping. I doubt any Chinese seller would give out a tracking number for free - not trying to be xenophobic here, it's just from experience; they surely can't afford to give out things for free. What does the tracking number look like? Should be something like RA#########CN. The first 2 letters could be different (RC, RT...) but that makes no difference. Also, China Post is by far the worst and slowest shipping method there is. When buying from someone in China, I suggest you try Hong Kong Post or Singapore Post if available. Did you make sure the seller is offering "Registered Airmail" and not "Airmail" or "Economy Int'l Shipping"? Only registered orders have tracking numbers, the rest don't. Good luck!
Free worldwide shipping is great, not many online shops offer that. However, I am wary of Chinese shops online because I have heard some bad stories and I gather many of the products shipped out of China are fake.
Yup, I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone who hasn't bought from China before to buy an original, branded item there. You can, however, always detect fake items based on the price. If it's too low, then it's a knockoff. As simple as it sounds, many people don't seem to get that
