Updated 2017.12.10:
I've tried to solve the problem of losing things; it's quite complicated, so I wrote a separate article about it: What should I do if my items get lost during Taobao's consolidated shipping service to the US? 》
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This article is specifically designed to criticize Taobao's consolidated shipping service.
I bought two "Taiko no Tatsujin" bundles (with a drum and a box weighing about 3KG) during the Double Eleven shopping festival on November 16th. They arrived via SF Express on the 22nd, but Taobao's consolidated shipping only delivered them today. Not only were they a week late, but the package was also opened, and the most expensive game disc inside was missing.
I originally planned to buy just one, but when I went to checkout, I saw the Taobao consolidated shipping option and impulsively decided to buy two to compare. Let me first explain Taobao consolidated shipping. First, not all stores support it. You need to open Taobao in the US (overseas) and select the international version (this is the default; you can switch back to the mainland version). Most of the results found in the international version support Taobao consolidated shipping. There are currently three Taobao consolidated shipping options, and I checked all three online; they almost all had negative reviews. This time, I chose Jiacheng-USPS.
I've had many purchases from Taobao shipped directly to me by SF Express before, and I've always been very satisfied. This time was no exception. Not only was the item tracking very detailed, but each step was completed incredibly quickly. You can see for yourself:
When it comes to Taobao's consolidated shipping, although the goods are sent from the merchant to the consolidated shipping location and then sent out, there will be a few days' delay in between, which is unavoidable. However, what I found interesting was that Taobao's consolidated shipping was officially sent to the United States on November 16th, while SF Express had already arrived in the United States on November 16th and started customs clearance the next day.
The situation after the package was shipped via Taobao's consolidated shipping service was particularly worrying. First, customs clearance took 3 days! Initially, it kept showing a clearance status until it arrived, only to find out that it was actually shipped to Canada and then from Canada to the US! Then, even more bizarrely, my package, which clearly arrived in VA, was sent to MD, and then returned, going back and forth several times. At first, I suspected the address label wasn't written correctly, but that wasn't the issue after receiving it. I strongly suspect they weren't using USPS, but rather a small local courier company. I've never encountered this problem with USPS (my home is right next to a USPS office), and the overseas tracking number provided by Jiacheng USPS couldn't be found on USPS's website! Specific package details are as follows:
This isn't the end of it. When I excitedly opened the box, I found it had been opened, the contents had been moved, and most importantly, the game disc was missing! Did I just buy a game box? Now the question is, should I contact the seller and claim they sent less than what I requested? Or should I contact USPS and say they took my item? Or should I assume the courier took it during the consolidation process? Or did the consolidation center take it during shipping? Should I contact customs to confirm? I'm completely confused… I'll try various channels to appeal this, and I'll update everyone if necessary.
This was my first time using Taobao's consolidated shipping service to send goods to the US, and I never expected to encounter such a bizarre situation. I imagine this must happen quite often, otherwise I'd be incredibly lucky. I've used SF Express many times before, and it's always been smooth sailing; not only does it arrive in 5 days, but the items are always in excellent condition. You might be wondering about the price. This time, for my 3KG items, consolidated shipping cost 144 + 15 (domestic express delivery), while SF Express cost 199, so the price difference isn't significant.
However, looking back, we can't really blame Taobao. Taobao's logistics service is actually just a few small courier service providers. Taobao, out of good intentions (to boost sales), integrated this service for us. But the courier companies that were integrated have been heavily criticized online... Doesn't Taobao care about that?
This websiteOriginal articleAll follow "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)Please retain the following annotations when sharing or adapting:
Original author:Jake Tao,source:"A Comparison of Delivery Services for Taobao Shopping in the US: Taobao's Terrible Consolidation Service vs. SF Express's Superb Service"
Comment list (12 comments)
This courier service is a scam, never use them!
I bought a car tracking GPS a few years ago for over 600 RMB, but Jiacheng Logistics still hasn't delivered it to me. I've paid for nothing.
@Andy：What did their customer service say?
How do I ship items I bought on Taobao via SF Express?
@RedSpider226 ：Have the store ship it directly.
After reading your article, I immediately switched to SF Express for my Taobao purchase, but the seller said that SF Express wouldn't ship it because the outer packaging didn't have a country of origin label and they were worried it wouldn't clear customs. They wanted me to use consolidated shipping instead. Has the author encountered a similar problem?
@txxz ：Things have become much stricter recently. US-China relations are not good.
Jiacheng Logistics is extremely poor. They interpret the prohibited import/export list, which includes "newspapers, books, pictures, propaganda materials, audio-visual products, computer disks and CDs containing reactionary, obscene, morally offensive, or Falun Gong-related content," as meaning all CDs are prohibited from export. Therefore, they remove any CDs from the list. This is utterly absurd.
@d：This is the user experience, and the user isn't even notified. They aren't informed beforehand that this will be handled this way.
Okay, thank you.
I found this article while searching for reviews of Taobao's overseas consolidation and courier services. I almost cried; I really should have searched for reviews before sending my package.
I just received Jiacheng's package after waiting for three weeks, and something was missing! Although it's not valuable, I needed it right away, and I'm so angry!
I've digressed. Sorry, my main question was whether SF Express offers consolidated shipping? I checked their official website but couldn't find it. I only found "overseas shopping," which seems to be for domestic online shopping from overseas.
@ryotama ：Right? And if something is missing, neither Taobao nor Jiacheng cares, so nobody listens.
SF Express offers direct shipping, not consolidated shipping. Tell the seller to use SF International; they can call you to ask about the price. I remember it costing around 200 RMB, but it's incredibly fast, arriving in 3-5 days via direct flight.