How many man hours have been spent on our new home since the day we collected our keys? I’ve totally lost count, and in fact, we go out every weekend checking for things to buy for our new home – from lightings to ceiling fans, window blinds, furniture, electrical appliances, solar film, water filter, shelving, mattresses, and many more.
On weekdays, we make brief visits to our unit to check the progress of defect rectification. One important lesson that we’ve learnt is to supervise it ourselves. In order to do this, we need to follow-up on the progress diligently and get to know the workers personally. Even though it’s the responsibility of the defect team supervisor, we do understand that he’s extremely busy running around hundreds of units. He has done his best within his capacity to serve each and every one of us. For a record, it’s the seventh week now but approaching completion in week eighth.
On a lighter topic today, I’ll talk about my first TaoBao shopping – which I’m sure almost every new homeowners do. It’s very addictive, so you’ve been warned. =)
Shopping at TaoBao is very easy. Just google “taobao shopping”, you’ll see lots of useful guides online. The BEST GUIDE that I’ve read so far is this – Ultimate Guide: Buying Directly from TaoBao. This blogger also wrote Ultimate Guide: How to Shop on TaoBao using 65daigou.
Since this was my first attempt, I chose to shop using 65daigou as it’s very easy. Simply register for an account, copy and paste the URL of the item that you wish to purchase from TaoBao website onto the “Buy For Me” field on 65daigou website (indicated by red arrow below).
Here are 11 things that I bought from TaoBao and their prices (exclude shipping and agent fees now, will update later on when items arrive).
1. 2-in-1 Shoe Cabinet with Stool (43x45x30cm) – $30.68
I’ve been looking for a tiny shoe cabinet to be placed outdoor and I’m glad to have found this at TaoBao. The same item is sold locally at Qoo10 for $80 + $10 delivery fee.
2. Automatic Motion Sensor Dustbin (12L) – $31.03
I’ve seen this in a local store and it was sold for more than $100. My silly husband asked me, “What if the sensor is not working and the dustbin cannot be opened?” My answer to him is, “Don’t attempt to pry open the dustbin. Just throw the trash together with the dustbin.” LOL.
3. Parquet Floor Protector (100x100cm with 1.5mm thickness) – $8.48
4. Bayco 11-pc Knife Set – $45.23
5. 2-tier Towel Hanger – $37.73
6. Floor Mat – $5.00 (I don’t know why I bought this, maybe it looks very fluffy!)
7. Kitchen Dish Tray – $5.68
8. 3-tier Thin Storage Shelf – $11.59
9. Kitchen Stainless Steel Dish Rack – $38.41
10. Automatic Motion Sensor Soap Dispenser – $38.41
One of my favourite! I bought three of them – one for kitchen and two for bathrooms.
Pictures taken from TaoBao
11. UMBRA Cute Cat Ring Hook – $13.41
This is super cute! Also comes in various designs like rabbit, giraffe, elephant, porcupine, etc. Keeps my rings in place and with style!
Some of my orders have been cancelled due to no stock; I shall try again after I receive my first batch. I opted for sea shipping as it’s the cheapest and suitable for bulk purchase ($1.50 for 0.5kg).
I’ll update this post again with shipping and agent fees.
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Taobao shopping looks like a lot of fun, though at the moment I’ve been getting my online shopping fix through eBay, Amazon, and Qoo10.
One thing about the Parquet Floor protectors though. We had them at our Rivervale home (they are sold also at Ikea), and seriously regretted using them. Over time, moisture, dust and particles accumulated between the protectors and the flooring, such that when we finally removed them (when we were selling our Rivervale unit), the parquet floor area was permanently scarred with all these foreign embedded particles. Not that it matter finally in our case, since the apartment unit was about to be sold and the new home owner was going to resand/revarnish. But if you’re not intending such, then you’ll need to quite periodically remove the floor protector to clean the parquet floor area underneath it.
We stayed clear of these Protectors in our new home @ Minton, and went with non-roller chairs.
Hi CY,
I’m on eBay and Qoo10 too, but not so active on Amazon (luckily!). Haha! Qoo10 is more fun because we can purchase through our mobile app. 🙂
We don’t have a parquet floor protector at Rivervale now, so our study room is badly dented and scratched from our roller and even non-roller chairs. 🙁 That’s why we thought of using one at BR. Thanks for your reminder, we will clean the underneath periodically to prevent build-up of dusts and dirts.
Hi Emily i love your purchases, gave me good ideas too. Cant seems to find your part 2, will you send me the link please? Our TOP is planned to be Oct 2016 but we have yet to start on finding an ID yet, wonder if you can share the final quote from your ID for reference?
Hi Elaine,
Opps, sorry that I haven’t posted Part 2 of my TaoBao shopping. Didn’t buy anything new after that. The final quote from my ID is approx. $30K.