Taobao is one of the leading international online shopping platforms globally; it serves millions of clients from different parts of the world. Taobao can handle all these clients thanks to its Taobao agents. In this post, we explore the concept and works of a Taobao agent.
Who is a Taobao Agent?
A Taobao agent is a middleman between the Taobao sellers and international buyers. They take orders from Taobao international buyers then get the products from the sellers on behalf of the buyers. Taobao agents will not only buy the items on behalf of the buyers, but they will also handle all the negotiating and quality assessment tasks on their behalf. After doing this, the agent will package and ship the products to Taobao International buyers using third party shipping agencies. In simpler terms, Taobao agents are sourcing agents working specifically for Taobao.
Why do English or International clients need to use Taobao agents?
Taobao is a Chinese company. Therefore, all its suppliers or sellers are from China. Additionally, its interface is Chinese-only. Therefore, while you can use Google translate to help you navigate your language platform, it would be hard to handle all the logistics internationally. It is also worth noting that Taobao is neither a manufacturer of a producer. The platform only sells products from other Chinese suppliers.
This is where the agents come in. An agent will act as a go-between between you and the Chinese suppliers so that you can make orders, pay for them, then sit back and wait. In addition to this, a Taobao agent makes things easier for international clients by;
- Providing Englis website and customer service support
- Creating a convenient payment method
- Allowing you to preview the items before they are shipped to you
The best Taobao Agents
As mentioned earlier, Taobao is a large company with thousands of clients. Therefore, it uses numerous agents. Below are the top five Taobao agents working with international clients;
- BaseTao- this agent charges a service fee of between 5-0 percent and allows payment through methods like Giropay. POLi, iDeal, and eNets.
- CssBuy- this agent charges a service fee of between 6-3 percent and allows payments through methods like PayPal, Credit cards, Alipay, and bitcoin.
- Superbuy- this agent does not charge any service fee and allows clients to pay through Paypal, credit cards, and Giropay. However, it charges for expert services.
- TaoPal also does not charge for its services and receives payments through bitcoin, iDeal, and credit or debit cards.
- Taobaotrends- it offers a service fee of 6 percent and allows payments through Paypal and Credit card.
Take note
You will notice that different agents accept varying payment methods. This is designed to allow international buyers to use the payment methods available in their country.
Conclusion
Taobao agents are typically paid a percentage of the amount the buyers spend on products. When looking for the best Taobao agent, you should consider elements like the amount of service fee they charge, their customer support, available services, and their website interface. It would also help if you checked the agent’s reputation through online reviews on trusted platforms like Reddit and Trustpilot.
