Taobao or AliExpress: What is the difference between both of this？

     AliExpress was officially launched in April 2010. It is the only online trading platform under Alibaba for the global market and is called the "international version of Taobao" by the majority of sellers. AliExpress faces overseas buyers, mainly in English, secures transactions through Alipay international accounts, and uses international express delivery. It is a foreign trade online trading platform that integrates orders, payments, and logistics. It is the third-largest English online shopping website in the world.

    AliExpress and Taobao are essentially the same, both are online trading platforms created by Ali Group. The biggest difference on the surface is that they target different customers. AliExpress is mainly for Internet users in the world except for China, and Taobao is mainly for Internet users in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

    Taobao and AliExpress have different audience groups. Taobao targets the domestic market and all contacts with domestic buyers.

    Then the main language of Taobao is Chinese. Regardless of whether the region you choose is global or overseas, the Chinese language is unified, which causes inconvenience to overseas buyers who do not understand Chinese.

    AliExpress is aimed at foreign markets, and it contacts buyers from all over the world except mainland China. When choosing a category, sellers must take into account the differences in preferences, models, and so on between foreign buyers and domestic buyers.

    The biggest advantage of AliExpress is that it can use English and other languages ​​other than Chinese, and it can also set the price and directly convert it to the amount of its own country.

Some basic differences between Taobao and AliExpress are

• Taobao and AliExpress have different audience groups. Taobao targets the domestic market and contacts domestic buyers; while AliExpress targets foreign markets and contacts buyers from all over the world except mainland China. When choosing a category, sellers must take into account the differences in preferences, models, and so on between foreign buyers and domestic buyers.
• The speed of capital turnover is different. Taobao's capital turnover cycle is very fast, generally no more than 15 days, and it is very likely that buyers will be able to confirm receipt of the goods within 2-5 days and then Alipay will release the payment. However, due to logistics reasons and communication with customers, it may take 30 or even more than 60 days for AliExpress to let the buyer confirm the loan or the system automatically releases the loan, which may cause a large number of funds to accumulate and cause the seller's cash flow. 
• There is a big difference between international logistics and domestic logistics. Domestic logistics is only a very simple product packaging-delivery-signing and other links, but international logistics will involve the selection of logistics companies, domestic customs declaration, foreign customs clearance, and other links. The choice of logistics company should take into account the cost of return.
• Domestic e-commerce makes it impossible for many regions or countries that are far apart to conduct bilateral trade, or the cost of bilateral trade is relatively high. Cross-border e-commerce completely solves this problem, and different countries or regions can implement transactions through the Internet.

    Regardless of whether you choose Taobao or AliExpress, the most important thing is based on your own actual situation. If you have enough strength, you can enter AliExpress, because the risks and costs of AliExpress are relatively large compared to Taobao. AliExpress is more suitable for enterprises to settle in.

How Long Does It Take To Receive My Taobao Order From Taobao Official Shipping?

    Taobao, a famous online shopping website based in China with everything you need, at a cheap price. The downside is that it’s all in Chinese. For those who can’t read the language, ordering from Taobao is a headache. Of course, you can use an agent but direct shopping will save you money. you’ll avoid agent’s fees of up to 10% and the expensive international shipping fee they charge.

    Before I start, let me introduce myself. I am from Malaysia, so the following is the information from the Taobao official logistics that the blogger myself experienced.

    Before using official logistics, I have always used my own forwarder. Why use the official website logistics this time? It’s because of the Taobao official logistics sea shipping package, you only need to pay RMB17(about 7-9 Malaysia Ringgit) within 3kg. So I tried to see how long to receive my Taobao order by using the official logistics came to Malaysia.

Below is the average delivery time provided by the forwarder:

• USA: 12 business days
• Canada: 12 business days
• Australia: 12 business days by Air, 35 business days by Sea
• New Zealand: 12 business days
• Singapore: 5 business days by Air, 15 business days by Sea
• West Malaysia: 5 business days by Air, 20 business days by Sea
• East Malaysia: 7 business days by Air, 30 business days by Sea
• Japan: 5 -12 business days
• Hongkong: 3-7 business days

    This is just an estimated date, sometimes it can take longer than this during peak seasons. If your tracking status did not update in a longer time than usual, you should check with your warehouse, it may be lost or detained in the Customs.

Below I will show my Sea logistics information from the previous month.

    So after I paid on 2021 Jun 07, Then I received it in 2021 Jun 19 in about 12 days by using sea official shipping, and it only needs to pay 17 RMB.

    The speed of the local customs clearance and local postal services will also affect the delivery time.

    If it is sent to other countries, I have not tried this, but you try it, if it is a small package, I still recommend the official logistics. But the official logistics has a very serious disadvantage, that is, the weight of your package may be overcharged. So for me, I only recommend for those who buy small package only.