How to Start Your Taobao Dropshipping Business

Dropshipping is a great business idea for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own business.

The dropshipping industry is growing tremendously. An increase in Ecommerce business has led to the rise in demand for the dropshipping.

Taobao dropshipping gives you a platform to get contact with millions of active users daily and offer them your products from China.

If you are interested in selling high-quality goods at the lowest prices, Taobao dropshipping is going to be a good option for you.

Here the basic guideline for the Taobao dropshipping has been providing. Continue reading to learn more about the TaoBao dropshipping.

What is Taobao?

Taobao is the most popular consumer to consumer and business to consumer market place. The company started its working in 2003, as a marketplace where individuals or small companies c sell their products online via their stores.

Taobao is referred to be the Amazon or eBay of China, but in actual it far surpasses them. It is the largest e-commerce website, and one of the leading visited sites in the world.

It is China’s biggest website, with more than 600 million monthly active users. 60% of e-commerce sales happen here. Most of the users are either Chinese or Asians.

With more than 1 billion product listings, the company appears as the largest online marketplace in China. Here you can easily find a wide range of products from cosmetics to dead mosquitoes at an economical price.

Taobao is made up of virtual stores, which are owned by individuals or companies. The sellers place the product in their Taobao store.

The sellers list the products to sell them at fixed prices or through auctions. The buyers can check the review or ratings of the products; it will help them to get the best products.

Taobao Dropshipping VS AliExpress Dropshipping VS 1688 Dropshipping

Chine is known as the world’s factory, and Chinese suppliers are the top choice for most of the dropshippers. AliExpress, Taobao and 1688, are three independent stations of the Alibaba. These sites are the platforms for the vendors to sell the products. And all of them are quite different from each other.

The following are the important pros and cons of using the sites.

·  Taobao Dropshipping

Taobao is a well-renowned e-commerce platform in Asia. The company has strict policies for the sellers and offers millions of products to its users from all over the globe. Some of the sellers cooperate with the factory to get the products, but most of them have no inventory.

The company offers products and services at the lowest prices. But the sellers are not the manufacturers. Therefore the amount available is for the consumers but not for the wholesalers and dropshippers.

Pros

1. Taobao is quite cheaper
2. It gives a wide range of goods
3. You will find many suppliers there who will provide the same product. It will help you to find the best product at the lowest price
4. Here you will get a real sale

Cons

1. Language is the major issue that you will face here
2. You can dropship from the Taobao, but most of the sellers are inexperienced
3. The quality of the product may vary from the description
4. The payment options are limited

·  AliExpress Dropshipping

AliExpress provides multi-language versions and ship products all over the world. Most of the dropshippers prefer AliExpress, as it is quite simple to source and buy the products from AliExpress.

But it has its drawbacks too. For instance, the company will not fulfill all of your orders directly until you do not use different types of apps. Furthermore, you will have to pay more shipping costs if you are going to dropship the products.

Pros

1. You will never face issue related to communication or language, as there are more than 16 language experts
2. At this platform, you do not have to pay any fee or starting cost or any additional charges to dropship
3. There is no need to store the products, once you got the order; directly drop ship the products to the customers
4. The platform provides excellent customer services which give additional value and help to build the reputation and trust among your customers
5. The company used to update the hot sales products regularly based on the platform data in the different countries

Cons

1. With no inventory and low investments, you will find many competitors doing the same task
2. If the supplier does not ship the product son the time, the consumer will scream at you
3. You will face many issues related to the packaging and shipping
4. All the product that you buy from AliExpress comes from China. Therefore it becomes a real problem to return the products to the original sellers; if there is any quality issue

Suggested reading:AliExpress Dropshipping Guide

·  1688 Dropshipping

1688 is well known to source the best products at low prices. You can import the products from the website very quickly.

It is a platform for the local Chinese and international businesses to sell the products to consumers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau.

Pros

1. You can get the product in 1688 at the lowest prices, as compared to the AliExpress or Taobao
2. 1688 has more than ten more significant goods inventory than AliExpress so that you can have more choices for your store
3. The company offers you a better user experience ad customizable branding strategy.
4. While dropshipping with 1688, the company will handle all the issues related to the fulfillment of orders or shipment of goods. The only important thing you will have to do is to focus on marketing so that you can easily increase the traffic in your store

Cons

1. They have minimum order requirements. Therefore you may face a few difficulties
2. You may face language, payment, and shipment issues while dropshipping from 1688. Therefore dropshipping fulfillment services will cost you extra money
3. The customers will have wait for a long time to get their orders, as to deliver takes a long time at 1688

Suggested reading:1688 Dropshipping: Ultimate Guide

Taobao vs. Tmall

China is every growing power, and most importantly, the buying power of its middle class is growing. And Tmall and Taobao are the two most important platforms for online business.

Taobao is a great platform for individual or small businesses, while Tmall is for medium or large companies. Alibaba operates both of these websites.

Both of these apps are linked with each other, and there it can be a little bit confusing to distinct them at first. Here Taobao vs. Tmall or a comparison of both sides is described below:

·  Taobao Shop

It is the biggest Ecommerce platform based in China and is owned by Alibaba. The company was launched in 2003. Taobao is the largest marketplace; it is considered to be China’s largest consumer to the consumer shopping destination.

The sellers at the site are mostly individuals or small businesses. And there you can find more than 10 million sellers.

You can find anything else that you need here. Still, you may face issues in communication, as the app is available in Chinese only. You can get a long list of products like clothes, accessories, gadgets, computer hardware and many more at the lowest price. You can also get the pets and second-hand items there.

There are more than 800 million products and above 189 million daily active users. You can create the seller’s account there quite easily.

·  Tmall

Tmall is another successful platform of Alibaba for the online business. The key difference between Tmall and Taobao is that Tmall is business to consumer platform. At the same time, Taobao is the consumer of the consumer marketplace.

The company was set up because consumers can buy the goods more comfortably directly from the company rather than buying from individuals.

The company offers small brands to manage their sales, product offerings, and branding. There are many vital differences between Tmall and other western online marketplaces.

Difficulties of Sourcing from Taobao

Everyone loves to buy amazing products from Taobao, but there are also many downsides that you may worry about:

·  Language Barrier

The language can be a little bit challenging, especially when the wholesale market is in Chinese. For this purpose, Google Translate will help you to read the conversation and website.

The customers face many difficulties in conversation, as most of the time, sellers cannot speak English. And therefore, it becomes challenging to negotiate the prices.

·  Less To Zero Experience In International Logistics

Most of the Chinese vendors take advantage of foreign buyers and charge the high cost. The Taobao sellers are not familiar with international shipping and do not accept international buyers.

There are many reports about the scams on this platform. You will have to pay attention while making the transactions. You should make sure that the sellers are legitimate and can be trusted before you make the orders.

Furthermore, you can also check the reputation of the shop’s reputation, customer’s feedback, and the number of successful transactions as reference.

·  The Difficulty Of Finding Dropshipping Suppliers

In Taobao drop shipping, you may face many difficulties, and one of them is finding a reliable supplier.

It is always advisable to select a seller who is experienced and reliable. To get a reputable seller, you can check how many transactions they have made. Furthermore, you can also check the ranking of the sellers.

The scammers can be anywhere; therefore, you need to be very conscious while connecting with suppliers. Taobao world is a reliable place to shop at, but some scammers are so tricky that they will never let you what is going to happen with you.

Suggested reading:Top Free Dropshipping Suppliers

 

How to Find Products on Taobao?

Before you start searching for the products, you need to know the following:

1. You cannot purchase the goods directly as you have to make the payments through RMB or Alipay.
2. Shipping is not available at the international level, as they do not have any experience with the international proceedings
3. You cannot be able to ask any questions from them in English, as more than 90% of the vendors there speak only Mandarin.
4. You will have to get a Chinese source and will have to ask the agent to buy it for you.

You can use the CJ Google Chrome extension, and it will help you to get the products from Taobao while Taobao dropshipping.

·  Select China Mainland Site

The company focuses on the Chinese market only, which is the biggest consumer to consumer platform. Moreover, it also plays an important part in importing the products from a different region of the world to China.

There are many different site categories that a foreigner may experience whenever he visits the site. Dropshippers are planning to target the Chinese market, and Taobao dropshipping is the best way to get into the market.

·  Switch Site Language From Chinese To English

You can switch from the Chinese language to English or your preferred language. After switching the language, and always translate it into your preferred style.

Most of the dropshippers face difficulties while communicating with the suppliers or finding the products. It is the best way to minimize this issue.

·  Create a TaoBao Account

It can be beneficial if you create an account on the site. You can create the account very easily by using your email or mobile number. The process of Taobao drop shipping will become very smooth if you have an account on the Taobao world.

·  Search By Product Keywords

To get the best products is to search it properly. You can search the products by using the product keywords; it will give you a range of products offered by different suppliers.

You can also search for on-demand products. While searching for the products, you can use Google translate. It will help you a lot.

·  View By Product Category

Besides using the keywords, you can also search the goods by category. It will help you to filter the results according to your requirements.

When you use the broader keywords while searching the products, the company gives you product categories and subcategories related to your keywords. This will help you to trip your search result.

To you can search for the brand or material; also, well, it all depends on the category. You can also search for the hot products to sell. The company shows a sales history of 30 days.

·  Use The Most Powerful Tool: The CAMERA Button

You will find this tool very useful while Taobao dropshipping, especially if you have a product’s name but do not know the Chinese name.

It works just like 1688; both of them have the same features of search by images. You will have to submit the photos, and it will give you a list of products with a brief description. Alibaba has a lot of data, and they know very well what your pictures are talking about.

Top Taobao Dropshipping Stores

Dropshipping is a fulfillment method, where you can sell the products without storing the inventory or stock.

Taobao offers you a great marketplace to open your store and start selling the Chinese goods at affordable prices.

The following are the top Taobao shops from different categories, such as clothing, pets, or household items.

• Children Clothing Stores

If you are searching for comfortable stuff for your kids, visit one of the following stores.
a) hhlp99.taobao.com
Hhlp99 is the best place to get clothes for your kids. The store offers clothes for kids of all ages at low prices. The staff and quality of clothes are quite unusual here, which is quite suitable for your babies.
b) shop103396461.taobao.com
It is one of the best Taobao shops to get dresses for girls. The store gives you unique, new, and trendy clothe for girls of all ages, especially for girls of five years to ten years.
c) kuozaizai.taobao.com
The store provides you a wide range of kids’ clothes, furniture and many more. You can visit and buy from here if you want to get comfortable stuff for your kids.

• Women Clothing

Everyone knows that women love to have the most amazing and trending clothes, so you can visit any of the following Taobao shops to find the required outfits.
a) mgxxjia.taobao.com
You can get clothes from all the seasons. The store is specialized in providing quality from Chine to all over the world. And women love to shop here.
b) dreamy.taobao.com
Dreamy at Taobao offers the best clothes for the women. The store gives you clothes at the factory prices, with a 100% refund.
c) misskkl.taobao.com
You can order any type of wearing from Misskkl. And they will ship your orders within a few days. Here you can get a brief description of the clothes with their images, which helps the buyers to select their required product.

• Men Clothing

For the most demanding men’s wear, you need to visit any one of the following stores.
a) shop149667618.taobao.com
You can visit this shop if you want to buy the men wearing them. You can get the whole variety of men’s wear at the store.
b) shop141206214.taobao.com
it is the best place to get clothes for boys and men. You can visit the store if you want to buy high-quality clothes at low prices.
c) padiwangzi.taobao.com
The store offers you one of the easiest ways to find the men’s wear direct from the Chine. You can visit the onlind store too if you are interested in cheap clothes.

• Pet Items

If you have pets and searching for the place to get food or other items for them, visit any of the following stores.
a) qpet.taobao.com
It is one of the best pet stores which you will find at Taobao. Here you can get a wide range of cat and dog food at the low prices.
b) dogcaptain.taobao.com
The store provides a long list of dog food. You can get the best meat and other varieties of dog foods for your dos.
c) hoopet.taobao.com
This store offers you a great platform to get the pet items. You can hairbrushes food for your pets, toys, and many other items for your pets.

• Household Items

If you want to purchase cheap, trending, and unique household products, you can find them at Taobao. And the following are the best stores to get them directly from China.
a) xikd.taobao.com
The store gives you the best range of household items at the lowest possible prices. Your order from any region of the world and get these fantastic items within no time at your door.
b) dageyaosha.taobao.com
You can get all types of household items, direct from China through Taobao at your door. The store provides all the products at economical prices.
c) xxxlll.jiyoujia.com
The store is considered to be the one-stop shopping, as the store offers you a wide range of goods direct from China at the lowest possible prices.

How To Find The Best Taobao Dropshipping Suppliers?

A reliable and trustworthy supplier can make your business a success story. The best ways to get a legitimate supplier are given below.

·  Leeline Sourcing

The company is considered to be the place to get one of the best suppliers for your business.

Leeline sourcing provides you a list of the best suppliers from all over the world; you can contact them to get the products for your store.

The company also visits the factory, just to make sure the quality of products.

·  Search Online

You can also search online, like through Google, to get the supplier for Taobao dropshipping. Buy it may not be a reliable source. There can be many scammers who will present you as the most trustworthy supplier.

Before you choose the supplier, you need to visit its profile, where you can check the review and comments of the suppliers. It will give you knowledge about the wholesaler.

·  Use Dropshipping Tools

Many dropshipping tools can facilitate your search. You can use the dropshipping tools to find the best supplier for your store.

Once successfully get a reliable supplier, try to develop a good relationship with them, as they are going to assure you of the success of your business.

Suggested reading:How to find the best dropshipping tool?

Some Tips To Help You Succeed In Taobao Dropshipping

The following are the most useful tips that you need to follow while Taobao dropshipping:

• Bring something innovative and new to the party. In the early days of the Taobao, the online suppliers made their businesses a success story. They used to purchase the everyday’ products from china and made them available online.
• Taobao hosts more than 800 million products online. To stand out, you will have to offer something unique.
• You can hire great contractors. You will have to hire the experts, who will help you in the packaging and delivery of the products. It is great to get the attention of the audience. So, if you choose the contractors carefully, it will enhance the chances of Taobao dropshipping.
• Do not plan to make money, and you need to wait and develop a good relationship with customers. You will find an endless number of reliable customers at Taobao. If you successfully convince them to shop with you, it’s going to benefit your store.
• There could be no issue or problem if you tell your friends or family that you are going to start your business.
• Customer is significant for the success of your business. A customer may not always be right, but you cannot ignore them.
• If you successfully build a brand, your product will be copied. So, the key to success is to differentiate you from others.
• To make your Taobao dropshipping successful, put away the childish things.
• You can make mistakes. You can get the perfectness with practice, so be patient whenever you made a mistake and learn from it.
• The most successful traders are not going to make money only; they used to help the society too.
• There are things that a right Taobao entrepreneur should do. You should be in the right place, at the right time and with the right people.
• Above all, you need to focus on the marketing of your business. There are many platforms that you can use to make your business a success story like social media, trade shows, and many more.
• Most of the time, to attract the customers, the seller may create different types of incredible offers like sales, discounts and can attract the buyers this way.
• Keep the price of your products quite economical so that anyone can buy them.
• By using different apps, you can automate most of your tasks while Taobao dropshipping, like stocking the products.
• You must have an attractive, presentable, and appealing website. So you can catch the attention of the consumers.
• You need to create a niche store. For that purpose, you need to research in the market and have to find the trending goods for the store and sell them to get the profit.
• Offer exceptional customer services to the buyers; make them feel special and happy so that they can shop with you again and again. You should provide them the same services every time.
• Try to update the product listings and product availability daily.
• Keep remaining available 24/7, so you can communicate with the buyers and answer their questions.
• Get benefit from the holidays or festivals like Christmas. You can generate a lead for your store by giving attracts to the customers.

FAQ about Taobao Dropshipping

The following are the common questions which most people as while Taobao dropshipping.

·  How to Contact the Store Owner?

If you have any query about your product or want to ask something, you can contact the shop owner from the product page.

At the product page, you will get an option “contact support,” it is the way to get contact with the supplier.

·  How to use Reverse Image Search on Taobao?

You can search the products at the TaoBao easily by using the image search option. Taboo’s search by image options uses an algorithm according to similar colors, patterns, shapes, and to match the uploaded image to the product images quickly listed by Taobao.

Follow the given steps to use the reverse image:

1. Tap the camera icon at the homepage
2. Crop and re-crop the image.
3. Upload the image from the gallery.
4. Compare the image research results

·   Does Taobao have free shipping?

The company its self-do does not provide the delivery services. It is the sellers on Taobao who can provide these services.

Mostly, the suppliers can offer you free delivery for a wide range of locations, as long as your shipping address is not in the remote areas.

·  Is Taobao shipping expensive?

The company ships the products directly to the customers and do not ask for any additional cost. But in some cases, it may exceed the expected shipping charges.

·  How do I import items from Taobao to my Shopify store?

For this reason, you can visit the Taobao website, find the products which you would like to import, and then visit the products page.

Click the Add button at the top left of your browser. Then, edit the product information like title/ description, etc. and then scroll down and click add the product to import the items to your store.

Suggested reading:Shopify Dropshipping :Ultimate Guide

How Leeline Sourcing Help You Find The Best Dropship Suppliers On Taobao

To run a successful dropshipping business, you will need a reliable dropshipping supplier. The suppliers should coordinate and deliver production time.

Finding a reliable dropshipping supplier is essential for the success of the dropshipping business. The suppliers manage and stock the inventory. Therefore you have to find someone who is trustworthy and ensure you a constant supply of goods.

The company gives you a list of more reliable suppliers from China so that you can supply high-quality goods all over the globe.

Suggested reading:Dropshipping Business: Beginner’s Guide

Final thoughts on Taobao dropshipping

Dropshipping is a trendy business model and offers an excellent platform for entrepreneurs to earn a considerable profit margin.

Here you do not need to stock or handle the products, and you can start a dropshipping business with limited funds.

Taobao dropshipping offers a great marketplace to display and sell your products to a large number of buyers.