Anyone Buy Bulky Item From Taobao?

[slowth 0]

We went looking around for vanity cabinets locally, but one small sized vanity already 4-500, before even buying the mirror, so thought that was abit crazy.

Now I know alot of people but auxilliary items like taps/lights etc.. But i'm seriously considering vanity cabinets too cos they're just so much more affordable.

A 1m long cabinet with mirror, sink, side cupboard tap etc in a nice design for like 200+ SGD.

All this i'll buy through an agent like 65daigou of course.

What I'm worried about is shipping cost. These items I think will be huge, I'm sure it'd be flatpacked to assemble ourselves here, but with all that material, i'm not sure if it's feasible?

Anyone been brave to ship back such items too? Can advise ballpark figure?

if not feasible, any more affordable local options?

Thanks all! If i can get some confidence I can order soon cos renovation already under way.

Appreciate any help guys!

[whatthe 0]

I order lights from Taobao. It came in two 1.5 metre by 1.5 metre boxes. That cost me $250 dollars to ship. But these items are not flat packed.

Separately I ordered two benches. The biggest one is about 1.5 metres long. But it was flat packed. The shipping for the 2 benches was $120.

Another order I made for 6 dining chairs which were Eames replica. These came un-assembled as well. Shipping was about $120 as well.

Basically, just make sure it comes flat packed. Else shipping will cost you a lot. Overall, I saved quite a substantial sum for everything I bought.

You should do a comparison between 65daigou and other agents. I found that Peeka's rate for large volume items are cheaper. If you find someone cheaper, do tell me!

Edited November 1, 2012 by whatthe

[slowth 0]

I order lights from Taobao. It came in two 1.5 metre by 1.5 metre boxes. That cost me $250 dollars to ship. But these items are not flat packed.

Separately I ordered two benches. The biggest one is about 1.5 metres long. But it was flat packed. The shipping for the 2 benches was $120.

Another order I made for 6 dining chairs which were Eames replica. These came assembled as well. Shipping was about $120 as well.

Basically, just make sure it comes flat packed. Else shipping will cost you a lot. Overall, I saved quite a substantial sum for everything I bought.

You should do a comparison between 65daigou and other agents. I found that Peeka's rate for large volume items are cheaper. If you find someone cheaper, do tell me!

PMed you!

[lovelove7078 0]

hi, i did used hoyoyo sg when buying from tao bao. so far this is the most cheapest that i can found in sg....may be ucan try.....

I also planning to buy those vanity / light / rang hook from tao bao.....

[slowth 0]

aiyo another agent... haha keep signing up for 1 agent, then someone suggest a cheaper agent haha

[kaylinpickles 1]

i've been considering between peeka & daigou but i went with daigou instead coz i heard peeka charges GST. so far i have not bought anything from taobao yet so i just bought small small items for a start to see how quality and service/shipping with daigou is like 1st before proceeding with large items hehe.

slowth - how do you ensure its flatpacked? do you ask agent or taobao to flatpack for you? i heard they actually charge either actual or volumetric weight, whichever is higher. so even if they flatpack for you but the item is heavy they will just charge you the weight of the item and not dimension of the box. so end up shipping will still be expensive, is it true? i'm worried about this as most agents don't provide you with the cost of shipping until the item reaches sg but peeka does?

Edited November 11, 2012 by kaylinpickles

[slowth 0]

i think any bulky wood carpentry will be flat packed auto. doesn't make sense to ship assembled, cos it's too difficult to pack it that way anyway.

it's always higher of the 2.. so for such items, actual weight will usually be cheaper.

[PinkTissue 0]

I bought bulky items from taobao - including over 200 pieces of tiles, a king size bed and a bed side cabinet. Arrived intact. Shipping for the tiles, bed and bedside table cost around $610. Arrived by ship and takes around 10 days.

[slowth 0]

Pink, you probably shipped via sea right? 10 days from your date of order, or from payment to agent to have it shipped out?

i'll bet it's still way cheaper than getting locally.

[PinkTissue 0]

I shipped via sea. 8-10 days from the day the goods arrived at the warehouse. So sometimes it is dependent on where your seller is located. The agent I used is based at Canton which is why I bought all my stuff at Canton. But then if the seller delay dispatching the item, there is nothing much the agent could do and may take as long as 2-3 weeks.

[kaylinpickles 1]

I shipped via sea. 8-10 days from the day the goods arrived at the warehouse. So sometimes it is dependent on where your seller is located. The agent I used is based at Canton which is why I bought all my stuff at Canton. But then if the seller delay dispatching the item, there is nothing much the agent could do and may take as long as 2-3 weeks.

omg $610! i wonder if it will be cheaper if we use a freightforwarder directly instead of going thru agent. freightforwarders don't charge by grams i think.

[PinkTissue 0]

Actually $610 is cheap. The tiles weighed almost half a ton. I am using a freight forwarder not an agent.

[nicolenorman 0]

I'm scouting for renovations and this thread looks interesting. I'm just wondering, if we do buy the bulky items from overseas in flat pack through an agent, would they be doing the assembling or we still have to do our own assembly. And i didn't know that freight forwarders will actually provide services for consumers like us! what would the procedure be like to engage them? i'm pretty worried about all the paper work.

[Batman 0]

U will have to assemble urself, just like Ikea. Hence tat is why I hesitated n eventually gave it a miss. Can u imagine ur furniture shipped with 1 plank or part less? Brrrrr....

[nisey 0]

Online purchases very risky leh, but the fun is the 'opening-of-package'......

What if you paid for it, but it came broken? o.o You'll have to pay for shipments back and forth just for exchange.

For such expensive items, I wouldn't dare to risk it! ><