FINANCE - Living Abroad in Beijing - page 295

Not all shopping sites need you to have online banking set up. Many, such as Amazon
and JD.com, will accept cash on delivery, so there's basically no risk. Beijing's couriers
( kuàidì ) are fantastic and will usually call before or when they arrive to check if you're
in. If you're not, they can come back at a better time or day. The only problem is that it's
highly unlikely they'll speak English, so if you don't speak Chinese, it's probably best to
have your goods delivered to a workplace.
Online Shopping
Taobao
Taobao ( www.taobao.com ) is the hero online shopping site in China, something akin to
eBay, but without the bidding. All manner of sellers, fantastic and terrible, are doing busi-
ness here, and there's almost nothing you can't get. When you think you need to add a per-
sonal haul to the suitcase of an incoming friend, stop and look here first. Your mystery item
could well be here. While the majority of Taobao sellers are good, there is a risk of buying
fake goods or being scammed, so familiarize yourself with how to check a seller's reliabil-
ity.
Taobao can seem a little overwhelming at first, but there is no shortage of English-lan-
guage guides out there on the Internet for how to use it: http://taobaofieldguide.com and
www.taobao.com/go/act/global/teach , for example, are great places to start. If you still feel
a little unsure, however, you can use a Taobao agent, who will help you source what you
want and even help you make the payment by using such methods as your home country's
Paypal account. They add on a small commission for the service. Perhaps the most standard
method for making payments on Taobao is via Zhifubao, but you can also use Lakala or a
JiaoFeiYi machine, or add money to your Taobao account at the post office.
AMAZON
Don't default to getting books sent from the States and paying the possibly US$50-plus
shipping charge. Amazon China ( www.amazon.cn ) might just have the topic here, which
will be delivered to your door within one or two days, without any shipping costs for pur-
chases over just RMB29. You can use online payment systems or pay cash or swipe your
Chinese bank card on delivery.
JD.COM
This site ( http://jd.com ) works almost identically to Amazon but has a stronger focus on
electronics. It accepts online payment systems, or pay cash or swipe your Chinese bank card
on delivery.