Taobao Forwarding Agent - DEX-I 递壹时 (Missing Parcel)

For some reason, this is a belated post. I am reviewing one of Taobao's forwarding agent, DEX-I, which I used during the 2015 double-11 Taobao sale. It was my fourth time buying from Taobao using their forwarding agent, and my second time using DEX-I. The first two times I had used 4PX which was the cheapest at that time.

The first time I used DEX-I, it was non-peak season and there were no issues with them. They got my stuff delivered to me in good condition and relatively fast. However, maybe this time round it was the busiest day in the entire year, so one of my item actually went missing! This particular item also happened to be the most expensive of all my purchase (about S$40).

After placing my order, I will check on the status of the items I bought almost every day. This item was one of the first few to arrive at DEX-I warehouse. The item's status was updated to 'arrived at the warehouse' on 14 Nov. When the status showed that, it usually means you can start to cart your item to be delivered to you i.e. international shipping. However, I waited for a few days but the option to cart did not appear and it still show 'pending arrival at the warehouse' on the 'items I bought' page.

I went to message DEX-I and they told me they will inform their warehouse team to search for it. I waited for a few days, no reply from them and my item still showed up as 'pending arrival'. I decided to cart the rest of my purchases and have it delivered to me first since they have a policy of having to pay for items storage at their warehouse after 20 days.

I decided to message them a second time. They told me they did not receive the item and asked me to obtain a proof of receipt from the courier. I asked the seller of the item for help and she wanted to call me but I said I am using a forwarding agent so I am unable to answer any queries regarding the receipt of the item. Instead, I asked her to help me with getting the information from the courier. She did so, but the image quality of the receipt was bad. DEX-I said the image is too blur to make out anything. I told DEX-I to get whatever information they need from the courier themselves and they said ok. Having heard no news from them for a few days, I asked about the progress and they showed me the conversation they had with the courier and courier said they will check.

A few weeks had passed and I had already given up hope of getting my item. I went to Taobao to do my usual surfing and happened to go to the 'items I bought' page and to my surprise, the missing item had the 'ready for international shipping' status. Wow! They actually found my parcel and secretly change the status. They did not inform me that they have found my parcel and if I had not went in, I won't even know my parcel's there. Luckily there was still 4 days left before the end of the 20 days free storage if not I might have to pay more to have the item sent to me.

Moral of the story, if they say your item is missing;
1) Check with them on the discrepancy between the statuses on the item page and the 'items i bought' page
2) Identify the local courier used and the tracking code. Go to the courier website, key in the tracking code, and they usually will have a copy of the proof of receipt. If you are not sure how to do this, ask the seller to provide you with the receipt.
3) Show DEX-I the proof of receipt and ask them to check with their warehouse
4) Check back on the 'items i bought' page every now and then.

2015 Taobao Double11 (双11) Bargains!

Come midnight, more than half of China's population will be stalking out at Taobao for their annual big sale. The Double11 (11 Nov) sale. This is the time where things on Taobao are sold at remarkably low prices. Let's examine some of the bargains, and see if it is really worth the effort and the shipping cost.

1. Etude House Eyebrow Pencil + 2 pc Mask set (RMB 19 = S$4.30 before shipping)
Etude house has several set offers but this seemed to be the star item of the year. The offer was being prominently placed on Etude House's Taobao site. I compared with the prices on Qoo10 as well as Etude House official SG site, this set is definitely cheaper. However, as much as I like the eyebrow pencil, I don't really fancy the mask... so it's like buying something which I don't need just because it is cheaper. It is still worth buying if you needed the mask, because the cheapest I have seen on local sites is $4.90 for the pencil only (including shipping).

2. Uniqlo Unisex Sneakers (RMB 149 = S$33 before shipping)
I included this item because it is great for pairing with various outfits and not available in local uniqlo stores. Although it is just a dollar cheaper than if you buy it in Japan, but for those who won't be traveling to Japan any time soon, this is a deal. The only other consideration is the shipping, because shoes aren't the lightest of items, but Taobao's shipping deal to Singapore will probably only cost you an additional S$5.

3. Kate Trap Impact Eyes Eyeshadow (RMB 74 = S$16.50)
I was looking to get a simple eyeshadow palette this Double11 and chanced upon this Japanese brand with good reviews. It is about the same price as you would buy in Japan. The brand has some lovely tutorials on how to apply this eyeshadow here.

4. Staccato Shoes
This is a Chinese brand so for sure it will be cheaper than any where else unless you are from Chian, Hong Kong or Macao. They have a wide variety of ankle boots (cos it's the winter season now) priced at around S$130 during this sale period. Heels and stilettos are in the S$90 range. Good deal considering the quality and comfort of their products.

You will notice that I mainly lists down Asian brands. Reason being they are more likely to be significantly cheaper in China than anywhere else because of the geographical proximity. There are some good deals, especially for clothings, for American and European brands, but you will need to surf through it yourself to see if it suits you.