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Anyone here have any experience opening/running a taobao store? What’s the process and overall experience like?
It’s not very dissimilar from eBay, from what I know. Pretty easy to setup, very difficult to make much money unless:
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– You have access to items for cheaper than your competitors
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– You sell something very rare and desirable, or with high margins
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– You have an existing and loyal community that is willing to buy from you
Otherwise it’s similar to Amazon in that there are countless vendors selling the same items, all competing with each other on price.
In the last year or so I’ve scoured Taobao inside out and upside down, and it still amazes me how many vendors appear to be doing no business whatsoever. You can view detailed information on each vendors activity and feedback, all vital when trying to source legit product. A large number of Taobao stores are operated by vendors who also have a physical store, even if it’s a clothing vendor operating out of a hole in the wall. These are the stores that tend to do very little business, if any at all.
The most successful stores are either selling a unique/niche product (denim stores for example), are brand based, or have a wide selection of products within a specific market (kitchenware for example).
Stores like THIS do big business on Taobao. It’s a low priced accessory product that doesn’t require long decision making to purchase, & lends itself perfectly to the ‘browsing to buy’ demographic. It’s also easy to operate logistically thanks to the small product size.
Quote:Pretty easy to setup, very difficult to make much moneyCan’t agree more. You can easily access it if you have some knowledge about making websites. But the problem is that you need to seek a cheap way to purchase items. Maybe from He Hua Chi.
Quote:Anyone here have any experience opening/running a taobao store? What’s the process and overall experience like?So the step are :
1. open the website of Taobao. then Register in as a member.
2. log in with your registered acc.(maybe your email add).Find Alipay management ,and to active it.
3. real name the authentication
Do I need to be a Chinese citizen (have a 身份证)? I’m not necessarily trying to start a business on taobao, but rather just sell a few items here or there.
Also, does anyone know if there is a popular site for people to exchange second hand goods (ala craigslist)?
Quote:YES.of course.but maybe you can try to use your own 身份证。But maybe you can use your Chinese friend 身份证 to open a store.And as far as i can see, there is a overseas layout.BUT not sure.
guess we cant sell things together since i’m trying to sell bottled clean air while u selling used …… lol
think there are a few flee markets online somewhere ……
you do need 身份证，because they need your 身份证 number, they will ask you take test first, this test is about rules of 淘宝，which is very easy, you can search answer by baidu, you also need send digital photos to website, picture need like hold your 身份证 stand in front of white wall ,you need two pictures, one is you hold front side of id card, second is you hold back side of id card. this is show website you are that person on the ID card(身份证)。
now the website need you put 1000rmb to 支付宝(like paypal). when you close store you can call Customer Service, they will give you money back.
They have sencond hand section, but if you don’t have 1000 pre-pay Compensation in 支付宝, the buyer even can’t find out your goods, this rule get lot’s complains from small vendors, because some people only willing sell few small things, don’t want to put 1000 yuan here. i think 淘宝 is smart, think about how many vendors at 淘宝， for some Franchise stores （专营店） is 150,000RMB pre-pay Compensation , 淘宝 can use this huge amout of money do other business. even put in the bank this interest is huge too.
also if you want your store looks ok, i mean just ok, not very fancy, you need to pay website to buy some design page look.(网页版面）if you don’t want to pay? then your store is looks very plain.
if you can get a friend id card, also put 1000 yuan in 支付宝，then you can have a store. Easy!
🙂
Quote:how silly of me to hope for something to be simple in China…Yes,things in China is not easy.esp for business. But for this matters,I think you’d better to find a Chinese frined to help you to deal with all Id card matters and etc. After that,You just pay the money and manage this store. For beautify the store,you can just pay more money to buy a more beutiful website.if you have some basic knowledge of C#,I think it is not a problem. The most importantthing is that you should Accumulate credit of your online store.Then customer will trust you. So maybe you can ask your friend just place order but no need to pay.Then Taobao Administrator will enhance your credibility in a short time.Goodluck.
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