$5 off Every $100 Purchase When You Use ChinaBuy to Order Anything on Chinese Online Stores

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• 

  tonyyang on 17/11/2013 - 20:19

  +2

  I don't think ozbargainers can read Chinese website such as taobao.com

  • 

    Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 20:26

    Thanks Tony, yes language barrier would probably be the most important problem.

    However you can use the free translation tool that comes with Google Chrome.
    Right click anywhere on a Chinese webpage and you will see "Translate to English."

    Here is a more detailed guide on how to search for something on Taobao:
    http://www.chinabuy.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7

• 

  May4th on 17/11/2013 - 20:33

  +2

  cosno shipping quote is given until the item is posted to you? that's not very reassuring

  When our partner get your item, we'll work out the exact price for international shipping. You then pay for international shipping. Items will be on their way!

  • 

    Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 20:44

    Thanks mate, yes I am looking into that order and will be in contact shortly.

    Yes the quoted part that sounds bit dodgy. We will update the wording but what we're trying to say basically is weight for items are hard to be estimated accurately before our Chinese partners have them in hand.

    For those items we've handled before we'll be able to give you a fixed price quote as we know exactly how much it weighs.

    Ultimately when you receive your order you can verify the weight of the parcel. :)

    • 

      voteoften on 17/11/2013 - 21:03

      So, do buyers have to commit to the purchase and submit credit card details before they know how much shipping is going to be? Just because the weight can be verified doesn't mean that some undisclosed shipping cost is going to be fair.

      • 

        realwecan on 17/11/2013 - 22:24

        Yes same question here…

      • 

        Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 22:36

        @voteoften Thanks for your question. Shipping costs are listed on the websites and are fixed. The only uncertainty here is the weight for items, which can be verified upon receipt.

        Although we can only estimate before items actually arrive, we'll try our best to be as accurate as possible. :D

        Here are some estimations if you are looking at anything specific:
        http://www.chinabuy.com.au/weight-estimation

• 

  huntress_love on 17/11/2013 - 20:39

  +1

  how do you make money?

  • 

    May4th on 17/11/2013 - 20:42

    +1

    they combine shipments to get bulk shipping rates

    and the rather cheap shipping rates is offset by the hideous exchange rate (5.29 vs 5.7) which will make a big difference as they don't offer direct purchase of goods, so all orders has to go through them, meaning they get an extra 10% of your purchase price in the exchange rate difference.

  • 

    Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 20:54

    +2

    @xbai is correct. We have shipping partners in China and when we ship in bulk, we get discounted rates.

    atm however we're not really making money as we don't have like at least 20 orders a day to get lower shipping rates. But hopefully when our business grow we can be able to secure lower shipping rates.

    In any case since we're not charging a service fee the profit margin is really tight. What we hope is that we can get more orders in and see which items are popular, etc. and then bulk buy from China and that will really help making some healthy profit.

• 

  gij100 on 17/11/2013 - 20:44

  Todays exchange rate of 1AUD = 5.7RMB (which you can easily get in china or at a money exchanger here).
  The Commonwealth Bank rate (as you guys use) is at 5.45 for international money transfers, so less 3% makes your rate 1AUD = 5.2865RMB. For every $100 we spend you're making 42RMB (maybe less) which = $7.36 AUD. Less $5 with the voucher, and that becomes $2.36.

  I'm sure you have to pay your agent in China, webhosting fees and so on.
  You guys must run on a really tight margin. Either that or you make a killing jacking up the shipping fees

  • 

    May4th on 17/11/2013 - 20:45

    no one uses CBA rates.. they get paid in aud which they can exchange easily for close to the market rate. their margin is bigger than people think

    • 

      gij100 on 17/11/2013 - 20:49

      ahh so their websites a lie! gotcha! Those sneaky hokchews!

      • 

        May4th on 17/11/2013 - 20:54

        not so much a lie, just business. they do ok with shipping and servicing cost (touting no servicing cost always draws a laugh)- it is on par with their bigger competitors like panli.. a bit more expensive after factoring in the exchange rate, . but the process is a lot more convoluted and less attractive

      • 

        voteoften on 17/11/2013 - 21:09

        Xbai. Which company is more convoluted than the other. Thanks

      • 

        Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 21:15

        +1

        @gij100 We're sorry you felt that using CBA rate inappropriate. We will make changes to our website to make sure our exchange rate will be clear for everyone.

        To be very honest at this early stage we're barely making any profit as I said in the previous reply, in particular if you factor in the Australian-based service. And of course we need to pay for our Chinese partners, and things like web hosting, etc.

        I remain confident that our exchange rate is competitive in the market, as our customers pay in AUD. Most agents out there only accept either USD or HKD. This means you have to be very careful when you use Australian cards. I am not exactly sure though as I don't have a 28 degree card, do they charge anything for paying in USD and at what rate?

        Also other agents charge a service fee on top of everything. For panli the service fee is 10%. So I am sure our service will eventually work out a bit cheaper if not significantly cheaper.

      • 

        May4th on 17/11/2013 - 21:42

        your exchange rate margin works out to be about 10%. will you offer self-purchases in the future posted to your warehouse? panli has this option which means there is no 10% on the purchase price. i would be interested in that case

      • 

        May4th on 17/11/2013 - 21:45

        @voteoften: cant say i had too much experience with them. i dont like proxy buying so that leaves you only with big companies like panli or dotdotbuy. both are fairly expensive in terms of fees, panli is a bit cheaper and offer cheap rates if you pick up from their office.

      • 

        Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 22:34

        @xbai Thanks — that's a great idea! We definitely will look into self-purchases when we get up and running for a little while. It's probably just too much for a small team right now. :D

        Just a side note, our exchange rate is set so that we can offer a fixed rate for the life of the order to our customers, which makes things much easier. We do not receive the best rate when forwarding your payment to China, and we also must pay international money transfer fees.

• 

  Kamsi on 17/11/2013 - 21:24

  Interesting, I wonder what is the normal estimate delivery time. Currently purchasing from Ebay took about 2-3 weeks to arrive in Australia from China, it would be awesome if the delivery time is shortened.

  • 

    Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 21:36

    +1

    @Kamsi Thanks mate the delivery time comprise of two parts:

    • Delivery in China
    • International delivery to Australia

    For the first part it usually takes 2 to 5 days. Most domestic Chinese couriers deliver on weekends so this includes Saturdays and Sundays.

    For international shipping currently we have three options. Airmail is cheap and slow, roughly 2-3 weeks, same as most ebay sellers as it is essentially the same thing. We also offer Economy (delivered by AP) and Express shipping (EMS or DHL) which both take around just one week for delivery. For Economy you can ship stuff up to 5kg and for Express up to 30kg.

    To our knowledge these are the fastest way to get things from China to Australia so far as we've talked to 10+ logistic agents in China and they all use the same service basically.

• 

  rambokid on 17/11/2013 - 22:15

  -6

  just thinking aloud

  shouldnt we be supporting aussie products on ozbargain…? we have nearly killed every domestic industry with inccessant outsourcing… why give the chinese the jobs, when we should be giving aussies the jobs…

  think again!

  • 

    May4th on 17/11/2013 - 22:44

    +3

    different countries have differently structured economies.. australia isnt exactly an industry/manufacturing oriented economy. if you want to pay more for a product that is fine but it is a bit of a stretch to say you are 'doing the country a favour' and sermonize from that perspective

    • 

      rambokid on 18/11/2013 - 00:02

      -3

      if you try to follow "American" so-called free-market policies (which are designed for 450 million people) in a country of 23 million, this is bound to happen.

      it is stupid to follow such policies without tariff barriers. Who told you that Australia isnt manufacturing oriented economy. you just made it up? Australia is a very competent manufacturing economy, if you decide to believe in it.

      and think again, by outsourcing, you are supporting a country with one of the most horrendous human rights record, which believes in persecuting its own people, which did not think for a second whilst running army tanks over its own students..

      • 

        SonGHosT on 18/11/2013 - 07:14

        Human rights record is made up by "Americans". What you think, even what you see (with media and technology) isn't necessarily true. Maybe we should have a record of discrimination. Australia will rank better without someone like you

        And think again, China, Chinese tourists, Chinese students are contributing greatly to Australian economy. How come you want to grab whatever you like (benefits) but slap others' face? Well, you may hate Chinese immigrators as well. Remember a truth: Australia did not belong to Westerners decades ago; almost every resident here is an immigrator. Everyone is making a contribution to its development.

        Finally, a suggestion: if you are backboned, you can resist anything made in China, just like a disgruntled kid.

        Cheers.

      • 

        May4th on 18/11/2013 - 08:21

        high end yes, consumer and industry, not so much. as for causes, high labour costs for one. your moral outrage at the suggestion 'straya' is 'less good' in certain industries is quite amusing. so i'm not going to go into economy as it's clear it will fall on deaf ears

        as for human rights record, not that it is relevant to the subject, but what developing economy has not had challenges in its transformation? 'straya' hasnt always had a stellar record. america massacred its native population and had the KKK. closer to home, does the stolen generation and the myall creek massacre ring a bell?

        if you want to put up tariff walls and practice protectionism then you should be prepared for your standard of living to drop significantly. unfortunately for you we are living in the 21st century

  • 

    Store Repchinabuy @ ChinaBuy on 17/11/2013 - 22:49

    @rambokid Thanks — that's a good point! Actually we're a bit worried for this particular reason when we decide to start. For myself if something aussie costs 20% or even 30% more I'd still go for the aussie product. And for most people, getting something from overseas is just too complicated and doesn't worth the effort. :D

    We're trying to help when you need something but can't find them here. Personally I find online stores in China such as taobao have a much wider range of products. Again for most people including me we're not really going to buy everything with an agent from overseas.

• 

  rambokid on 18/11/2013 - 15:37

  NJ8842, You probably havent understood what I meant. this isnt about immigrants. I am against unfettered imports, which destroy local industry. And I am certainly against the totalitarian regime in china, and their persecution of their own people.

  XBAI - by your account, we should not do anything in Australia, because anything that we do here, can be done cheaper in China or other developing nation. Protectionism isnt such a bad word, even the mightly US has tariff barriers. And do you even know that China is highly protectionist, itself. My point is that free trade should also be Fair Trade..

  as of now, any trade with China is not fair. And by the way, the high standard of living is not due to unfettered imports, it is due to the extreme hard work put in by people here. A cheap takeaway container does little to improve your standard of living, but a decent local job goes a long way to do that..

  • 

    May4th on 18/11/2013 - 15:59

    i'm saying you play to someone's strength. just like how a person can't be good at everything you get them to do jobs in areas which they are good at. there's no point getting someone who is hopeless at maths to be an actuary. it's like you raising a child who loves to read and is an excellent writer, but telling him there's no reason why my kid can't be an actuary when he hates and can't do maths. then you get all outraged and defensive when people say he has other and better career path he should follow

    for australia, the economy isn't geared for low-end manufacturing due to high cost of logistics and labour- we'll never compete. that's why a large chunk of the economy is service oriented and export tourism and education

    of course certain industries that are crucial to our survival like agriculture and defence must be protected to a degree, but the general trend is towards lowering protectionism - this is what globalisation is all about - specialising in what you are good at and interdependence. and yes, protectionalism IS a dirty word precisely because of what you are saying

    you are kidding yourself if you think our living standard won't be affected if we don't import goods and services from countries like china, SE asia and india, and it's all our 'hard-work'. you can live in that bubble if you want but the rest of the world will move on

  • 

    May4th on 18/11/2013 - 20:06

    oh yes comparative advantage that's it.. i haven't heard that term in almost decade..

  • 

    May4th on 18/11/2013 - 21:25

    i'm not sure what point that is making. fair doesn't come into economics - consumers aren't the moral police for the world, it's best to get off that high horse. yes you can campaign for equality and human rights, but let's not pretend you are saving children from labour camps by buying overpriced australian brands (the majority of which ironically is manufactured in 3rd world countries)