I have always wanted to try ordering from Taobao since many of my students said that the prices of the things I buy here in PH are a lot cheaper if I buy from there. So today, after having a class with Lily, I asked her if I was doing it right.
I had already registered an account and also found some things I have always wanted to buy, but think so expensive so I don't.
For example, the Wu Xian and Lan Zhan dolls here are being sold on shopee for almost 2900 pesos. Like, why would I buy a doll that expensive? 😒 But it is so cute, I really want it.
So today, I looked for a similar doll I wanted. WWX and LWJ dolls are both priced at 75rmb or yuan + the clothes set 58rmb (wwx) and 60rmb (LWJ) respectively.
So if you will convert these, one doll set will cost you less than a thousand pesos. That's like almost 190% savings! You'll probably ask me about international shipping.
There are already a lot of forwarding companies that offer cheaper sf prices provided that it is within the weight limit.
Recently, I used buyandship to send my Day6 album haul. But, I realized that since Korean albums are a lot heavier because of the photobooks and pob posters, they will be expensive. I bought 9 albums and got a special package box too as a pob and of course 9 posters. It weighed about 12 pounds.
I was panicking because 1 pound in buyandship DDU rate is 350 pesos. So that's 4200 pesos. If I sent it from a different forwarding company, it would only be half of that. So ideally, buyandship is for nonbusiness individuals and small items so it wouldn't be costly, or items that are valuables like luxury goods, laptops, or iPads because they have the DDP. It costs you 600 pesos per pound. It's almost twice the amount of DDU. What's the difference between the two? DDU is for 10k and below worth of items with no tax to pay. DDP is for items that are taxable. So that's 10k above worth. The rate for DDP is higher because you won't need to pay for customs duty.
For this order in Taobao, I still used buyandship because I don't think it will exceed 1kg so the sf will probably just be 350 pesos. And that's a already door-to-door delivery. Amazing right?
So all in all, I will pay the total amount I bought from Taobao plus 350 pesos and that's it! Haha I was so ecstatic!~
I also found posters of CQL Lao Wen and Ah Xu. They were only sold for 19rmb each. 😁 The drawings are so pretty! I'll probably put it on my shelf for some time. And when I get tired of them, I will sell them again. 😅
If you noticed, there are highlighted orange parts below the description of the item. I asked my student Wendy what that means. I kind of guessed the first part is June 24 and that probably is the shipping due date. But I was hesitant about the next number 24. So I asked her, "Wendy, does that second 24 mean the year it'll be sent??? Like it'll be sent on the 24th of June year 2024?!" 😱😱😱
And she was like, "No teacher!!! Hahahahaha It's the time! 24th hour of the 24th of June. Hahahahaha."
"Oh good! As long as it is not the year 2024, I can wait!" I replied. That was so funny.
She also mentioned she's going to have a competition on Monday. At first, she inquired if I was free on Sunday. I answered, "Of course, I am always free for you!~" haha She wanted me to check her written piece, maybe add some details, correct grammar, etc.
I asked if it is the same contest she told me about some time ago, and it definitely is!~
"Ahhh, teacher yesss. I told you about this a long time ago. But I forgot about it! I was only reminded when the teacher in charge of the competition sent all contestants the reminder that it is already on Monday. She reminded us only today! I haven't written anything yet! So tomorrow in your free time, could you please check my work and maybe add something to make it better? Then you have to send it back to me again right away because I have to memorize the details, too!"
I was laughing so hard because if I remember it correctly, she told me about this contest two or three months ago, during the Spring Festival Holidays (Chinese New Year). It was so bizarre because most of the time, my students who joined a competition prepared for them for at least two weeks to up to 1 month. It is very unusual that they forget about the contests and have one day of preparation time. Hahaha
