Comparison of Aliexpress and Taobao. Which is better taobao, aliexpress or ebay? Where is the best place to buy? On Tao or on Aliexpress? Which is better: Aliexpress or eBay online store? Aliexpress alibaba taobao which is better

Documentation

Ordering goods in online stores has long been not uncommon among users of the World Wide Web. Whether it's Ebay, Taobao or AliExpress, on each of the sites you can find anything you want: from small stationery items to furniture items.

Chinese online stores

But why do many people prefer goods from China, which have to wait for several months, over those that are within walking distance in any of the markets in their hometown? The answer is simple. Taobao and AliExpress allow you to purchase items directly from sellers, avoiding huge markups.

On these sites, the buyer can find the same product models, but in different color variations, and also keep track of sales and promotions. For example, Taobao or AliExpress organize global price reductions dedicated to the store’s birthday, holidays or Black Friday. During such periods, your favorite products can be purchased at a significant discount.

However, things are not so simple with Chinese online stores. Often, buyers come across unscrupulous sellers who send goods that do not match the description. To avoid such situations and understand which is better: Taobao or AliExpress, it is not necessary to learn from your own mistakes. It is enough to study the advantages and disadvantages of each of the platforms and remember a few rules when making a purchase.

Taobao or AliExpress?

The choice of goods on Chinese sites is incredibly wide. Thousands of sellers run promotions every day that allow you to purchase something at a reduced price. But where is it cheaper: on Taobao or AliExpress?

Both sites have the same structure. Products are divided into categories for easier searching on the site. The user can filter the suggested products by price, color, delivery method, size, and so on. But then, what is the difference between AliExpress and Taobao?

The main difference between these sites: delivery and price. If the buyer needs to purchase one product, for example, headphones, clothes, shoes, stationery, then it is better to place an order on AliExpress. Delivery here will be much cheaper.

But if the buyer has to purchase a whole list of goods in one day, then it is better to use the services of Taobao. A large order on this site will cost several times less than on AliExpress. Here everything is packed into one parcel and will be delivered as soon as possible. But this is far from the only difference between AliExpress and Taobao. Therefore, we continue to study this issue.

"Taobao"

Both online stores are Chinese sites, and it’s hard to immediately understand what the difference is. Taobao and AliExpress have a wide selection of products. But only Taobao is designed for the Chinese domestic market. Until recently, only the Chinese could make purchases on the site. International delivery simply did not exist on the site. To receive the goods, it was necessary to resort to the help of an intermediary, which significantly increased its cost.

Now it is possible to register as a foreign buyer and place orders directly. But adding international shipping did not change the site interface. All text is still presented only in Chinese, and automatic translation is very rarely helpful.

Advantages

Like AliExpress, Taobao offers customers a wide selection of products. Each category contains more than a thousand items. Users only have to choose the seller they like and place an order.

Taobao presents not only Chinese counterfeits, but also branded items. And, unlike AliExpress, they are not hidden on the site under other names.

Almost all products presented on Taobao correspond to the declared quality level. Undoubtedly, there are unscrupulous sellers here, but there are many fewer of them than in other Chinese online stores.

The lowest prices are presented on Taobao, and all because the site is focused on the domestic market, that is, the Chinese themselves. Sellers keep prices low for their customers.

Many users complain that pages with the selected product take a long time to load. But this is far from a disadvantage. The thing is that Taobao presents high-quality photographs, which significantly slows down the loading of all images.

Flaws

Due to the fact that Taobao is designed for the domestic market, the site interface is presented only in Chinese. There is no official translation into at least English, so external buyers have to resort to the help of translators. But the translation is not always clear, and sometimes it is completely wrong.

There is no final amount you will have to pay for the order on the product page. Delivery is arranged on a separate page, and the total cost can only be found out at the payment stage.

The buyer has virtually no protection from unscrupulous sellers. The money for the product immediately goes to the seller, and if the user receives a low-quality product, then it is almost impossible to return the money spent. The administration may offer to send the goods back to the seller, but delivery will cost such an amount that the whole idea becomes meaningless.

"AliExpress"

Unlike Taobao, AliExpress is designed for exporting goods. That is why the global page of the site is presented in English. You can also select your native language in the menu. Of course, the translation will be slightly inaccurate, but the general meaning will be clear.

"AliExpress" is intended for retail trade. On this site it is profitable to purchase goods in small quantities. Delivery in many cases is inexpensive and is included in the purchase price.

Advantages

One of the main advantages of the AliExpress website is a wide selection of products and purchasing directly from the seller. Also, the buyer can always contact the seller via private messages. This makes it easy to find out whether a product is in stock, clarify details and accurately find out information about the actual sizes of clothes and shoes.

On AliExpress it is convenient to calculate the final cost of the purchase. As a rule, the final price and shipping costs are indicated on the product page. And after selecting a color, size or quantity, the user will be presented with the total cost of the entire parcel.

It is very convenient to order small accessories, stationery and decorative items through AliExpress. The site provides free delivery, which will reduce costs and save money.

Another advantage of AliExpress is the buyer protection program. So, if the product did not arrive on time or its quality turned out to be lower than what was stated by the seller, the buyer can always open a dispute and return part or all of the money spent.

Discount coupons are often distributed on the site, which allows you to save significant amounts on large purchases.

Flaws

The main disadvantage of AliExpress is the quality of the goods. Many of the items presented on the site do not meet the stated requirements. The photos posted on AliExpress and the order received are strikingly different. To avoid such unpleasant situations, buyers need to choose the product very carefully. Particular attention should be paid to comments. Buyers often post real photos of the product.

The second drawback is unscrupulous sellers. Often, when receiving a parcel from AliExpress, you can find a small gift from the seller in the package: a ring, a keychain, aromatic bags. A small trinket lifts the mood and leaves a good impression on the seller. But there is a group of sellers on AliExpress that is engaged in fraud. They don't send the product or they send something completely different. The site administration is struggling with such cases. But all buyers need to remain vigilant and pay attention to the seller’s rating when placing an order.

Long delivery is something that everyone who has bought on AliExpress complains about. Delivery takes from fifteen to sixty days, and sometimes longer.

Oh, this is the age-old question. Which is better: Taobao or Aliexpress? Many lovers of Chinese goods ask themselves this question. In 2015, we already wrote where we compared which of the trading platforms had cheaper products. Then this topic caused a lot of discussion. There were both supporters of Taobao and Aliexpress. And after Aliexpress entered the Russian market, interest in this issue only intensified. We at OT Commerce decided to conduct new research and fully understand this exciting issue.

First of all, let us remind you that Aliexpress is the younger brother of Taobao. The creator of these trading platforms is the world famous company Alibaba. Only Aliexpress is focused on foreign markets and represents Chinese goods in other countries, while Taobao operates exclusively on the domestic Chinese market. Therefore, it is quite problematic for residents of other countries to make purchases on Taobao. However, Taobao products are very popular all over the world. To buy them, people turn to Taobao intermediaries.

At first glance, it may seem that Taobao and Aliexpress are one and the same. Therefore, why bother, you can order on Aliexpress, because Taobao is in Chinese. But this is only at first glance. Advanced users know how to save money when shopping on Taobao. We analyzed both platforms according to four parameters:

range of goods;
quality of goods;
price level;
delivery.

Toys on Taobao

Let's start with the fact that there is a much larger selection of goods on Taobao. You can find almost everything there: from a submarine to a lighter. If Aliexpress has about 54 million products, then Taobao has more than 800 million. The difference is colossal. If you are an avid shopper, then you have somewhere to roam. Moreover, on Taobao the emphasis is on the Asian population, so the products are somewhat different from those presented on Aliexpress. Aliexpress is aimed at the average European buyer, so the assortment can be called “boring” compared to Taobao. You can find something like this on Taobao.

Although, of course, this is not for everyone. As they say, there is no arguing about tastes. By the way, in addition to this, on Taobao you can get both branded items and counterfeits, unless, of course, customs lets you through.

Now let's see how things are with prices. The price level for Chinese goods is, of course, low on both sites. In addition, Aliexpress promises free delivery. But you can't fool smart buyers. Everyone knows that delivery of goods is already included in its price. A"free" it is only called and was until recently. Since 2017, Alibaba has canceled free shipping for goods over two dollars. Moreover, for Belarus and Ukraine it was completely canceled.

The price on Aliexpress is in dollars, although you can also see it in rubles. But it still depends directly on the dollar exchange rate. On Taobao all prices are in RMB. Therefore, the price on the Taobao intermediary website depends on the yuan exchange rate. It's more profitable. Practice shows that prices on Taobao are, on average, still lower than on Aliexpress. We have about this. Here's an example from this year.

One of my friends ordered carnival wigs on Taobao for the holiday.

Wig price on Taobao.

In the total joint purchase, the wig cost her 320 rubles. This price also includes delivery. While on Aliexpress a wig costs from 457 rubles.

Wig price on Aliexpress

A few words about delivery. Delivery from China to Russia on both Aliexpress and Taobao takes on average 14 to 45 days. Therefore, there are no differences here; you will still have to wait. If you estimate the distance from China to your region, then the waiting time is justified.

This raises a question, but Taobao is all in Chinese, go figure. How then can you buy on Taobao, taking advantage of all its advantages?

How to buy on Taobao?

To order on Taobao, you need an intermediary who sells Taobao products. It is the intermediary who buys goods on Taobao, checks them and delivers them to buyers. Now there are many good sites that resell products from Taobao. Many of them run on the OT Commerce platform. Therefore, it is more reasonable to compare Aliexpress with online stores of Taobao intermediaries, since they work for the foreign market, unlike Taobao, which is focused only on China.

When choosing an online store for a buyer, in addition to the assortment and prices, a good catalog, convenient search and filters, delivery conditions and the availability of a support service are important. Let's look at Aliexpress and the work of Taobao intermediary online stores from the buyer's perspective.

Example of translation from Chinese

A common problem with online stores selling Chinese goods is automatic translation from Chinese. Both Aliexpress and Taobao intermediary sites have a good translation of the catalog. It is basically impossible to do this with product descriptions. Why? Let's explain. It is unrealistic to manually translate such a number of products, and they are constantly updated. That is, today you will make a translation to describe a product, and tomorrow it will no longer be available. Time wasted. Therefore, everyone has long been accustomed to the funny names of Chinese goods.

The Taobao catalog and the Aliexpress catalog are very different. First of all, some product categories on Aliexpress are hidden. For example, these include products for adults, products for home and garden, and some categories of clothing. On Aliexpress, such products can only be found through a search. Moreover, searching for Russian words does not work well. The search will certainly return simple queries like “dress” or “high heels”, but more complex queries are already problematic.

For example, when you search for “colored contact lenses,” Aliexpress provides cases for lenses or colored lenses for glasses.

We cannot judge the convenience of all Taobao intermediary sites. But we can tell you how the search and catalog work for intermediaries working on the basis of Box OT. All products and data about them are taken directly from Taobao. There are many more product categories in the catalog than on Aliexpress. The search is adapted to the Russian language, and when creating our system, Chinese characters were checked by many people, so the accuracy of queries is higher.

Search for “colored contact lenses” on the OT Box demo site.

In our opinion, the biggest advantage is due to the fact that there are a lot of Taobao intermediaries; over 200 agents from different countries work on the OT platform alone. They all have different working conditions. Therefore, the buyer has a large choice and can find an intermediary with the most favorable conditions for himself. For example, you can choose an intermediary from a certain region, where delivery conditions for a particular buyer will be more favorable. There is no such advantage on Aliexpress; it is a single platform with the same conditions for everyone.

Another important advantage is related to the work of the Taobao intermediary. It provides reliability. When you order goods from a Russian online store that sells Chinese goods, you can talk to the agent himself. If any problems arise, the agent solves them. On Aliexpress you need to write to the seller himself, and all communication is exclusively in English. To decide on the size, you need to sift through a bunch of reviews, because the sizing chart is not convenient and is made for the Chinese. In the online store of the Taobao intermediary, everything is done for the convenience of customers. The size can be checked with managers in Russian. Intermediaries who have been working in the market for a long time know their product and can always suggest what is best to buy.

Intermediaries also check the goods for defects. There is no need to open a dispute and wait for the seller to answer you. Here the risk of receiving the wrong product is minimized. Again, the intermediary will tell you whether it is worth ordering the goods from this seller, or whether he is not trustworthy. In addition, you can always request a photo of the product when it has just been received from the seller at the warehouse in China.

It is very important to know that you will receive exactly the product you ordered. And if any difficulties arise, then there is someone to solve them with in the shortest possible time. There are much more risks on Aliexpress. But there are a large number of discounts and promotions, which lures buyers. This is a big plus for Aliexpress. Taobao intermediaries also have discounts and promotions, but not all of them. Here again, it all depends on your choice of an online store with Taobao goods.

Let's summarize. If you need to order one cheap case for your phone, then you don’t have to go to Taobao for it. And the savings will be doubtful. To do this, it is better to order on Aliexpress. But if you are a fan of online shopping and order boxes online, then Taobao is for you. Again, you don’t have to run to the post office every time to buy goods. With Taobao everything comes in one package. And it is possible to order courier delivery to your home for an additional fee.

When writing this article, various Internet resources were used, as well as information received from regular customers of Aliexpress and Taobao products. We are not trying to convince anyone, but simply advise you to try it in practice and make your choice :)

And if you want to become a Taobao intermediary yourself, then contact the operator on our website //box.otcommerce.com/

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with the participation of Irina Balakanova, a long-time user of Taobao and Aliexpress

Full or partial use of the text is possible only with an indication of the author, a link to OT Commerce and preservation of all links within the text.

The vast majority of Russians are literally addicted to shopping on Aliexpress. This Chinese site has become the most popular place to shop, despite the terrible design of the products. Photos on Aliexpress are often of low quality, and it’s better not to talk about texts. It is difficult to imagine more illiterate texts; this applies to both the Russian and English versions.

All shortcomings are compensated by a fantastic range of products and competitive prices. Once you make a purchase on Aliexpress, it’s not easy to stop!

People tend to have different habits, including the habit of shopping in the same stores. Only in our time everything is changing quickly. Therefore, if you want to make the most profitable purchases and save money, you need to periodically compare prices and service conditions in different stores.

I also like shopping in online stores, but unlike most people, for me it is not only a necessity and an exciting pastime, but also work. Therefore, I automatically remember the prices of a great variety of goods, and based on the example of several dozen purchases over the past months, I conclude that it is now more profitable to buy on ebay.com.

1. Delivery speed. All purchases made on ebay.com were shipped within 2 days, less often within 3-4 days. Such purchases on Aliexpress take much longer to ship. Sometimes we have to wait 7 days or even 14 days for the seller to process the order and send our purchases.

3. Better quality photos. Ebay.com sellers are much more likely to display large, high-quality photographs of their items. I make purchases exclusively from a desktop computer with a huge monitor, this gives me the opportunity to study the product in more detail.

4. Prices. When comparing prices on ebay.com and Aliexpress, I often see better deals on ebay.com. There are sellers from all over the world, including sellers from Aliexpress, but on ebay.com they are more attentive to buyers and sometimes offer prices 10-20 percent lower!

This applies to a variety of products: clothing and accessories, clothing and household goods, special equipment, electronics and gadgets. For example, I was able to buy a 256 GB Kingston flash drive on ebay.com for almost 20% cheaper than the best offer on Aliexpress.

Naturally, not all profitable offers are on the surface; sometimes you have to look very hard for goods, using all the intricacies of searching on these trading platforms, but without this, even within the framework of Aliexpress alone, you can constantly overpay to cunning sellers.

Other ratios may vary for other items, but in any case, ebay.com offers faster service. All parcels from ebay arrive faster. Perhaps in the future the situation will change and sellers on Aliexpress will begin to work better, but for now my answer is clear - buying on ebay.com is more profitable and enjoyable than on Aliexpress.

In this article we will talk about which site is better - Taobao or Aliexpress.

Chinese trading platforms have long been especially popular among Internet users. But which one is better? Where should you buy and why? It’s difficult to give a definite answer here, since each store is good in its own way. Let's look at two sites - Aliexpress And Taobao. How are they different and which one is better for shopping?

Which is better - Aliexpress or Taobao?

Every buyer who has visited both sites wonders which one is better. Many people look for reviews on the Internet and encounter contradictions. Some say that shopping in Chinese stores is a pleasure, while others advise not to bother at all. This is due to the fact that some customers judge by just one purchase, which could have turned out to be unsuccessful.

Accordingly, inexperienced buyers may believe that there is no need to contact such stores and will pass by. But in doing so, they will miss out on a lot of benefits. Therefore, one should never judge Taobao And Aliexpress just one good or bad review. Let’s take a closer look at what’s good about both sites and the features of their work.

When and by whom were Aliexpress and Taobao founded?

Let's start by understanding how and when these two online stores appeared.

Here, buyers always see the full cost of the product.
Often the shipping cost is included in the price of the product, and next to the purchase it will be indicated that delivery is free.
Orders are made directly from the seller without any intermediaries.
You won’t have to spend extra money on processing parcels, unless you exceed customs limits. Then you will have to pay customs duties.

Concerning Taobao, then their pricing policy has the following characteristics:

The bulk of purchases are made through intermediaries, and their services cost up to 20% of the price of the goods
All prices are indicated in Chinese currency, that is, in yuan, so you will have to calculate the final cost yourself
If your item is sent using a paid method, its cost must be added to the price.

As you may have noticed, the policies of both companies in terms of product prices are different. Therefore, if you decide to find out where to buy more profitably, it is better to first calculate the total cost of identical goods so that you do not have to overpay.

When choosing a suitable trading platform for shopping, all buyers take into account various points that suit them - convenience, assortment, prices, and so on.

Despite all the nuances, both sites are ideal for shopping, especially since their creators are constantly improving them to make it more convenient for customers to place orders. Therefore, you should first familiarize yourself with Aliexpress And Taobao and only then draw a conclusion - what exactly is convenient for you.

Video: What is the difference between Taobao and Aliexpress?

1.4 / 5 ( 137 votes)

Many online shopaholics often ask the question: “Where is it better to shop on Ebay or?” You can answer this question unequivocally solely based on your needs. If you need a simple and inexpensive product or a copy of a famous brand, you will undoubtedly find it on Aliexpress. If you need a higher quality and more expensive product or are looking for products from popular and well-known brands, then it is better to use Ebay. On Ebay you can also purchase used goods, while on Aliexpress they only sell new goods.

The main idea of both trading platforms is to provide sellers with an online platform to sell any product. The companies themselves only act as an intermediary in concluding a purchase and sale agreement between the seller and the buyer. Both , and Ebay have long been known for their quality, guarantees and ease of ordering. In order to be able to give more objective arguments on the topic of Ebay or Aliexpress, we will consider in detail the advantages and disadvantages of each company separately.

Ebay or Aliexpress

The first thing worth highlighting when comparing Ebay and Ebay trading platforms is that sales on Ebay are carried out by independent sellers, individual people who, after completing a transaction, forget about this site forever. Aliexpress has many stores and sales offices that often offer discounts to their regular customers.

If we compare the scale of work and the size of the sites, Aliexpress is, of course, the leader here, since Alibaba Group serves more countries and uses more forces to process orders. But in terms of the number of sellers and breadth of assortment, it is definitely superior to Ebay, because sellers from all over the world sell there (USA, UK, China, Canada, France, Russia, Germany, etc.) while Aliexpress sells only to China.

Aliexpress has a large selection of Chinese products and the prices here are quite low, however, the open sale of goods from well-known world brands is prohibited.

Ease of payment on Aliexpress and Ebay

You can pay for your order on Aliexpress using any of the methods offered on the website:

Webmoney;
QIWI;
Bank cards VISA, MasterCard or Maestro;
Yandex money;
Western Union, etc

A wide selection of payment systems can be confidently called one of the important advantages.

There are only 3 payment methods allowed on eBay:

PayPal;
QIWI Wallet;
Visa and Mastercart bank cards.

In the vast majority of cases, payments on eBay are made through the PayPal payment system. In their advertisement, sellers indicate payment methods acceptable to them. Thus, the buyer sometimes has no options when choosing a payment method.

As for the terms of payment for the order, they are 20 days from the date of placing the order. In this case, the goods you ordered will be reserved until you pay for the order. If after the specified time the buyer does not make payment, the order will be automatically canceled.

On Ebay, you have no more than 4 days to pay for your order, however, if you have not made payment within two days, the seller may open a dispute about an unpaid item. If the buyer has not made a payment and has not reached an agreement with the seller, eBay reserves the right to add a note about the unpaid item to your account. An excessive number of such notes in a customer's account may result in restrictions or loss of purchase privileges.

Buyer protection on Aliexpress and Ebay

Aliexpress buyers are protected. According to Escrow regulations, the maximum protection period is 60 calendar days. If necessary, the seller may extend the specified period. If the buyer has not received his goods or is not satisfied with its condition, he can before the expiration of the protection period. possible at any stage of the dispute. In order to win a dispute, you must provide some evidence that you are right. These could be screenshots of correspondence with the seller, photographs of defective goods, etc. If there are 5 days left before the order protection period expires, Aliexpress notifies the buyer about this by sending him an email.

All items sold on Ebay are covered by PayPal Buyer Protection for the full purchase price, including original shipping costs. To qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection, you must pay the entire price of the item in one payment using PayPal. Lots purchased over multiple payments are not protected. The maximum period of protection is 180 calendar days after payment of the order. A dispute can be converted into a claim within 20 days after the dispute is opened.

Delivery from Aliexpress and Ebay

Delivery from Ebay, as well as from Ebay, is carried out to any city in the Russian Federation, and in both cases it can be free. But in most cases on ebay you will have to pay for shipping the goods. Free shipping is usually offered by Chinese sellers on ebay. Answering the question: “Where is delivery cheaper?” is quite difficult. It all depends on the delivery method, the size of the product and its weight. In both cases there is the possibility of choosing one of several delivery options.

Which site to choose for shopping - aliexpress or ebay?

Comparing Ebay and Aliexpress, we can say that these trading platforms have significant differences, but despite this, the principle of placing an order and its payment, as well as buyer protection, are very similar. It is impossible to clearly say that one of the trading platforms is better or worse than another. The determining factor in the choice is, of course, the preference and habit of the buyer.