☆☆TaobaoSpree Review (Cosplay Haul!)

Hello, everyone!
It's been a long time since I wrote a post on my blog, right?
I apologize for it, I have been busy with the university orientation and the English exam but now these are over. I will try to be active and get new photoshoots done until 15th, that's when my classes will start.
BUT! I managed to pass the English exam, which means I will be able to skip one year and start my classes right away. It's been really tiring but it was worth it.
At the university orientation I was able to meet my professors and see the studios we are going to study in and it was A-MA-ZING!
I really can't wait to start the year.
I hope I won't regret saying this when the projects start piling up, hahaha-
For now, I'm busy with many reviews and photoshoots and I can hardly find time for anything, but I will do my best to get them done as soon as possible, sorry for making you wait!

Okay, now let's move onto today's review.
It's a little bit different from my usual reviews. This time, instead of reviewing the products, I'm going to review a Taobao service. I will try to be informative about it, but feel free to ask me in the comments, if I missed about something.

What is Taobao?

Taobao can be considered as China's eBay. It's the most common place for people to buy things online, usually at a very cheap price. There are many independent sellers, just like in eBay, and when you pay for the products, they will be shipped to you directly. But it doesn't have a auction choice, every price is fixed for a "Buy it now" price.
However, Taobao sellers do not ship internationally, which means, you will have to use a shopping service which is located in China.

Why use Taobao?

Well, there are many reasons to use Taobao.
First of all, it is cheap. Most sellers you see on Aliexpress and eBay are Taobao sellers who open their shops on these sites, but they usually sell their products at a higher price to the international customers.
The other reason is, you will find unique products which you won't be able to find on eBay, Amazon and Aliexpress. Because not all Taobao sellers have shops on international sites.
And competition.
At Taobao, one search will show you all the price options next to each other, so the sellers have to compete much more clearly for their customers. The domestic shipping is very cheap as well.
IMPORTANT
If you buy 1-2 items, it might not be logical, because of the commission, so I recommend you to save some money and do a haul order. That way you will be able to save more.

How to buy from Taobao?
Now, as you know, Taobao only ships to China, so you won't be able to order any product from this site by yourself.

You will have to use a Taobao shopping service to get the items you want.
A shopping service will order the products you want, check their quality when they arrive at their warehouse, pack them together in a parcel and ship the to your door, in return of a very little commission price.
And that's where TaobaoSpree come in. 

TaobaoSpree

How do TaobaoSpree team work?

You can learn how to use it in their site, but I will try to explain it very quick.

First of all, you need to download the Excel order form to fill in your information, the products links and their prices. You can find the links here.

Don't worry if you can't get it right at the first time.
When you send the file to the agent, they will check and correct it for you. (For example, you might not get the domestic shipping right at your first time.)
If you need any help translating Chinese, you can use Google Translator. But we know it sucks, so if you still need help, don't hesitate to mail and ask the help of your agent.

Back to the order form. At the top left box, you will be able to see the price you need to pay for your first payment. This is the price you need to pay for your agent to buy the products you want+the commission. Taobaospree  After that you won't need to pay any price other than shipping to your country.
You can ask your seller to send you an invoice on Paypal or you can send the money they confirmed directly to them. You will need to let them know about your Paypal e-mail for it.

After paying for the products, the agent will buy the items you want. In 3 to 7 days(depending on the item processing time) your items should arrive. When all the items arrive, your agent will inform you and send you the products photos. They will also inform you about the weight of the parcel and the shipping options. For example SAL, EMS or DHL.

SAL will be the cheapest but slowest option. It can take 1 month to 3 months.

EMS is faster, it should take around 5-7 days to arrive. 

I'm not sure about DHL though, but it should take around 5 days too, depending on your country.
You will be able to choose the option you want, and pay for the shipping, just like you did for the first payment. 

And after that your parcel will be shipped out an the agent will inform you about the tracking number.

I've been using TaobaoSpree since I started buying from Taobao. They were the first agent I chose, and the last. Because I was always satisfied with their service, I never searched for another agent.

Why Taobaospree?

☆Their service fee. Taobaospree's commission price is the %10 of your item price+domestic shipping price.
If the total price is below 500 RMB the service fee is 50 RMB only.
☆Offers 40% off the standard shipping rates for EMS.

☆Responsive and responsible team.

☆Agents are fluent in both English and Chinese.

Alright! Let me write about my recent experience with Taobaospree.
I saved a lot of money for some of my recent cosplays, so I decided to get them from Taobao altogether, that way I could save some money.
I browsed through Taobao with some keywords(I used Google Translate for them) and found all the items I wanted. After filling in the form, I messaged TBS and the next day my agent, Ray, replied to me. Some of the items I wanted weren't available, so I had to give up on them. I also needed to give my measurements for the costumes, so the sellers could start working on them. 

I paid for the first payment and Ray ordered my items.

ITEMS

☆Kofuku Ebisu set. This costume wasn't custom-made, so I had to choose a size according to my measurements. The set included the wig, white shirt, yellow sweater, a tie and a skirt. 

☆Brown school shoes. I didn't have a pair of shoes I could use for my Kofuku cosplay, so I got them with this order as well. I only needed to measure my feet to find the right size. I told the measurement to Ray and they chose the right size for me.

☆Himari Wig (Mawaru Penguindrum)
☆Himari Costume. This item was custom made, so I gave my measurements.

☆Kanba Wig (Mawaru Penguindrum) I got this wig for Edniz, so I can force her to cosplay Kanba with me.
☆Nonon Jakuzure Shoes. (I still need to take care of the costume, but at least the shoes are ready.)

I paid for the first payment on 17 July.

All the items except the Nonon shoes and Himari costume have arrived in a few days, but the shoes and the costume took some time to arrive, because they were both custom made. Ray had already told me that I had to wait for these items, so I was okay with it.

On 28 July, Ray messaged me again. They told me the Himari costumes shoulder width was smaller than the measurements I wanted. But the seller told Taobaospree that if they made it with my shoulder measurements, the bust would be too big for me to wear, so they fixed it like that.

I told Ray I was okay with it, so they calculated the shipping price for me by weighing the items.

Same day, Ray informed me about the shipping options and sent me the photos of my products.

The items weighed 3.47 kgs, so the EMS cost was too expensive for me to pay. I decided to choose the slowest but cheapest shipping option and paid for it on the same day.
Ray told me they will ship it the next day and told me to wait for the tracking number.
They got the tracking number on 8 August and informed me about it and after that I only had to wait.

I received the items on 6 September, which means it took about a month to arrive.

That was understandable, considering the cheaper price I paid for the shipping.

The parcel was surprisingly small, because TBS did an awesome job packing everything in a small box! 

Fortunately, nothing was harmed. 

Kofuku Set

Himari Wig&Himari Costume&Kanba Wig

 

Kofuku Shoes

Nonon Jakuzure Boots

Though, the Nonon Jakuzure boots' wings were bent a little bit.

I will try to fix them on my own.

I also tried on the clothes, wigs and the shoes and everything fit me nicely, I will upload photos of me wearing them soon.

Thank you Ray for helping me choose the right sizes and taking care of my order!

TaobaoSpree
Please stay tuned for my upcoming cosplays and bye bye~!