HUGE TAOBAO HAUL!

Hi there! Here's my huge ass Taobao spree that I've been waiting for ages! This is probably the most patient I've ever been while waiting for stuff to arrive.

This time, I used a much better and more efficient spree agent called 65daigou. Their exchange rate is SGD$1 to RMB$4.90, while their agent fee is 8% of the total purchase plus shipping fees. I love their service! All of my order statuses were updated frequently and they will inform you if a certain item is out of stock and prompt for your action. The purchasing system is very easy to use too. Simply copy the URL of the product you want to buy and they will do the calculations of the item price and respective domestic shipping cost to their Shanghai warehouse. All you need to do is to type in the size and colour of your item. In addition, 65daigou has a membership system that will waive the agent fees to 4%-6% if you have hit a certain purchase amount within three months. They also have a credits system where you accumulate points through your completed purchases and you can exchange these credits into cash where you can use it to waive your agent fees.

I placed my order on 16th Sept. By 22th Sept, almost all my items had arrived in the Shanghai warehouse and was ready for shipping to Singapore. However, because the previous agent was too slow in ordering my shoes for my first Taobao spree, the shoes went out of stock and I decided to order the same shoes from a different seller through 65daigou, along with a couple of new items. The new orders took another week to arrive at the warehouse and they finally shipped everything to Singapore on 28th Sept. I opted for economy air shipping and everything finally arrived on 4th Oct and were delivered on the very same day to my house.

I spent around $255 for everything, inclusive of $62 shipping fee for 6.3kg worth of stuff and $5 for home delivery because I didn't think I was capable of lugging home 6kg worth of stuff by myself.

Everything came in a big 65daigou plastic bag. My shoes were properly boxed up and the amount of tape they used around the box was endless. Accessories and fragile objects such as sunglasses were properly bubbled wrapped and sealed, while the clothes were all individually kept inside plastic bags.

Okay, enough rambling, here are my baby loots! Links to the items and approximate cost of each item are at the bottom of the pictures!

DIY Studs
$2 for 400 6mm studs

I bought these because they would come in handy during one of my future DIY projects. Unfortunately, were too small for my liking. I should have bought the 10mm studs instead! Clearly, I overestimated how small 6mm was. They are pretty easy to use, just poke it through your clothes and secure it. It came in a small ziplock bag and I didn't really bother to count if there were 400 studs because it would take forever.

Spike Collar Necklace
$1.80

I bought this on impulse, mainly because I wanted to use up all my pre-pay balance I had in my 65daigou account. ASOS has the exact piece retailing for around $32. 

Evil Eye Bracelet
$3.90

I don't know about you, but recently I'm a big fan of eyeballs. I remembered seeing it in Topshop when I was working there and I know that most of Freedom accessories come from China.

Round Retro Shades
$5.70

I call them my Fan Bingbing shades. This was one of the last minute purchases to use up my pre-pay. It came with a spectacle bag and a cleaning cloth. I remember people telling me if I ever wore those John Lennon inspired round shades, they will remove me from their friend's list but hey, I think I look pretty decent in these!

Studded Tote Bag
$8.00

This was definitely one of the best bargain buys ever. I remember seeing this retailing in local blogshops for $25 and $40 at FEP. The quality of this bag is amazing and the canvas material is sturdy. I went out with this bag and threw in my 13 inch Macbook Pro. The straps held on strong! My mum really liked this bag too.

Inner Tube Bralet
$3.15

I have a lot of sheer chiffon tanks that I like to match with high waisted shorts but I don't think it looks nice if I pair it with a tube inside so when I saw this, I immediately thought of all the wonders it could do to my outfits. It could come in handy when you are wearing an extremely large armhole tank too! 

Oversized Sheer Pullover
$5.50

This is what I would classify under "disposable clothing", same group as disposable underwear. The pullover looked really great even with a pair of denim shorts. The material is really comfortable but I'm a bit disappointed that it might become extremely oversized after a wash. I wore it out yesterday but it's still sitting in my laundry bag because I'm scared to wash it. 

TOMBOY Tee
$5.90

I initially bought this to cut it into a tank but when it arrived, I realized it was more of like a stretchy and body-fitting tee than a cotton tee. It could pass off as a bodycon dress for me! I like it. The shop which I bought it from also has a lot of Topshop/Zara/H&M/Wildfox (inspired) stuff and there are no domestic shipping charges. From the reviews, I think that it is a pretty trustworthy shop and most of their things are reasonably priced, so do check it out!

Matryoshka Doll Tunic
$13.30

The original link which I wanted to buy from was out of stock so I had to pass 65daigou another link, which was slightly pricier. Unfortunately, last I checked, I think the item is also out of stock from the shop which I bought from. This was true to the stock photo and the colours were very vibrant. The neon yellow triangle plates on the collar were sewn on.

FUCK OFF Tee Dress
$12.05

I forgot how I chanced upon this but I remember finding it under one of those Japanese Harujuku fashion. This was such an adorable statement tee, how could I resist not buying it! It was supposed to be a tee dress in the stock photo and the length was alright for me because I'm small. Material-wise, the tee is not sheer and is actually pretty comfortable.

Ribcage Tee
$11.80

I'm a big fan of skulls and anything that has got to do with skulls, if you don't already know, so... ribcages included. I bought this tee to cut it into a tank and the material is made of thick good quality cotton. I should have bought it in S instead of XS although it fits just nicely.

Scallop Hem Denim Skirt
$11.20

I was looking for one of those denim skater skirts when I chanced upon this. That's the thing about Taobao. You'd think you're looking for one specific item, which often leads to you chancing upon a gazillion other things... and you end up spending more than you expected. Anyway, the denim quality is amazing. There were sizes M and L available and obviously I chose the smaller one but when I realized it was tagged L when it arrived. It fitted me though, so perhaps it was a matter of wrong tagging of sizes. It came with the neon yellow belt as shown in the picture, but it looked like it had been in a battlefield when it arrived.

Oversized Sleeveless Checkered Shirt Dress
$13.30

This was so oversized on me! The quality and length of the shirt is alright but it's just too big on me! I definitely need to pair a belt with this.

Toga Dress
$6.90

I have been looking for a basic black toga dress for ages. This is more of a tank than a dress though because the material is too sheer. It's fine to wear it at night but it will definitely show the sheerness when light shines through it. It fits me nicely though.

Basic Leggings
$4.90 for 2

Nothing can go wrong with basic leggings. I always needed a pair of black leggings and I bought the white ones for one of my tie-dye projects. I'm not so sure about the H&M branding though. The material of these are quite thin and the black leggings were slightly shorter than the white ones. I would compare these to those you could find in shops retailing for about $10 a pair.

Topshop Inspired Skull Print Leggings
$12.45

I'm on a leggings rampage recently and I've definitely seen these leggings in Topshop for a couple of times retailing for $49. I compared it to my Yin Yang leggings and while my Yin Yang leggings were more fitting, these weren't too bad because it was free-size. The print is vibrant and it's very similar to the ones I saw in Topshop.

Tie Dye Galaxy Socks
$4.10

This was one of those things I was trying to justify myself in buying it. For one, I could easily make them myself and for another, $4 for a pair of socks on Taobao didn't seem like a very smart purchase. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the purchase because I thought it would look good with the shoes I am going to feature next. The seller even sent me an additional pair of socks. Although the free socks were pretty ugly but it's always nice when you get something nice unexpected.

Jeffrey Campbell Inspired Stinger Spike
$32.90

This is my most expensive purchase and probably the most unique out of the lot. Inspired by the Stinger Spike from JC, I haven't really seen anyone wearing these babies out on the street. To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive when purchasing from this seller because there weren't any reviews on the shoe so I didn't really know how it would turn out to look like in real life. The thing about Taobao is that if you're not familiar with the site or if you have trust issues, it's better to read reviews on your item before purchasing it. Not only does it help you in deciding your sizes, you can also roughly gauge the quality of your goods. I went ahead with the purchase in the end though and thankfully, the shoes do look like the stock photos and they fit my feet nicely. Given my experience with creepers or platform shoes, I usually wear a size 36 and this fits true to size. It has a little glue issue at the sides of the shoes though, but it's alright with me because I'm not that particular about such minor issues.

Creepers
$8.00

$8 for a pair of creepers, who could pass up on such a great deal?! As I've mentioned earlier, reading reviews helped so much because if I went ahead and ordered these shoes in my usual size 36, it would have been too big. Well, my feet is usually between a size 35 and 36 and I can fit in both sizes but it usually depends on what kind of shoe it is. These came in a white version as well, which I was leaning towards buying. I own too many pairs of black shoes already but I think black is more easy to match than white. There is something about the shoelaces that I don't like though.

Jeffrey Campbell Inspired Spike Litas
$21.00

These were the ones that the previous agent was too slow in ordering and the shoes went out of stock. I was very happy when these came to me. The shoes were probably the most exciting purchases for me. I'm not the kind of person who would spend a few hundred dollars on a pair of shoes that I am not sure if I would wear them in the long run, so getting these shoes that provide the same style are a steal for me. The spikes came all intact and none of them look like they will fall off anytime soon. I haven't seen the real JC Spike Litas in real life but I reckon these are extremely similar, except for the fact that the shoe label says Jojocat. The spikes are really sharp too and it's a pain in the ass when you're taking your shoes off by the heel. I wanted to preorder it from some blogshops when it was first made available and they were retailing it for $50. It will take me some time to get used to walking around in them because I don't wear heels that often. Overall, all the shoes I've bought are fairly well-made but somehow, the bottom surfaces of all the shoes all seem a little slippery although I'm sure a little wear and tear would scruff it up fine.

Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. It almost makes me want to stop shopping in real stores and just do all my shopping there. I will definitely be buying again soon.

Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed my haul as much as I did!

TAOBAO: BOY LONDON

Here's my virgin loot from Taobao! I wouldn't really call this a haul because there is only one item to show.

For those of you who don't know what Taobao is, you really should. In short, it's China eBay and they sell practically everything and anything. Well, basically, 90% of the things you own or wear comes from China. The thing about Taobao is that we (as in those of us who don't live in China) can't order the items directly from the website and we have to use an agent to place our orders. There are many agents who do Taobao sprees. Just do a quick Google search and all the agents will appear magically. I ordered this through smoochiezzsprees, which I will rant about their service later.

Everything on Taobao is fucking cheap, that is if you know how to search for the exact item that you want. The only catch here is that you have to know how to type in Mandarin. I finally feel like I didn't learn Chinese in school for ten years for nothing.

I had to go down to the P.O. to collect my parcel because I always opt for registered mail and somehow, whenever a parcel is delivered to my house... nobody is ever at home.

Here's the Boy London tee I bought from the amazing China eBay. I paid around $11 for it, inclusive of the domestic shipping and agent fees etc.

The quality of the tee was average but considering how much I paid for it, all is forgiven. Okay, the quality of my photos are also average but pardon the poor iPhone camera.

Now, let's talk about the service of smoochiezzsprees. Customer service wise, they were prompt in replying emails and polite. But other than that, everything else was pretty bad.

Seeing that I spree-ed with them once for Threadless and everything was fine, I decided to spree with them again. It was probably one of the worst decisions I've ever made. The waiting time for the Taobao spree on their website states 4-6 weeks, which was considered as pretty damn slow if you compare it with other agents, but I went along with it anyway because I decided to be patient. I paid for everything, including the 10% agent fees. Anyway, just so you know, everything was more expensive if you spree-ed with them because of their low exchange rate for currency.

Apart from this tee, I actually ordered another item, which was a pair of JC Spike Litas. Well, "inspired" anyway. This was what made me really upset about their service.

The updates of my order was generally fine until I realized it had been a month and I didn't receive any notifications of whether my items were being shipped out or what, so I decided to email them to ask about it. Thankfully, they replied to my email within a day or so, telling me that they update the statuses of shipping and arrival together, and at the same time reminding me that the seller speed was between 4 to 6 weeks. They also told me that they were expecting the arrival of my items by the end of next week, which is the end of week 5.

At the end of five weeks, I went back to check the website for my order statuses and I was so happy when it said that my items have arrived. I was beginning to feel happy and smoke rainbows until I read their email... which told me that my shoes were OUT OF STOCK.

Excuse me, you had five weeks to order my shit and you only told me my shoes were out of stock at the end of five weeks? Furthermore, that was an agonizing month of endless waiting because I was anticipating my shoes for the whole time. Man, that was really some service.

They did refund me the money pretty quickly, which I guess was the only other redeeming factor about the service.

I still wanted my shoes badly, so I ordered them through 65daigou along with my existing orders, which by far, is such a much better agent.

I have a huge ass Taobao parcel coming my way and I can't sleep because of it.

Just kidding. Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

HAUL: SHADES LOVIN' FROM TOBI

My shades from Tobi has arrived!

I placed an order with them on September 8 and the package arrived on September 19, so the total process took about 11 days. Shipping was through USPS First Class for $9.95, unless your order exceeds $150.

It came in a small box and my sister found the package right outside my doorstep because nobody was at home when the package arrived.

I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw the package on my table. I love receiving new packages. It was pretty well-wrapped, as you can see.

Finally ripped those bubble wraps open and here are the two pairs of shades I ordered! Read about my order here.

I haven't worn the funky pink pair out yet, but I can see it appearing in my ootds when my huge order from Taobao arrives. I have a huge upcoming post regarding my Taobao haul, so do check back often!

*Prices stated are in USD.

SHADES LOVIN' FROM TOBI

I have a new online shopping site to share - Tobi.com! I chanced upon Tobi accidentally while looking at some Youtube videos.

They were having this big 50% off your first purchase and I was in the mood for buying some shades. They had a lovely range although it's not exactly a big selection, but they had enough to satisfy my cravings.

The first pair I bought was this.

Tegan Sunglasses in Black

They were originally $12 but it was under the sale section and I managed to snag it for $3! That's probably cheaper than those from Singapore. These are your staple black shades that everyone should own a pair of.

Fun In The Sunglasses in Pink

This pair of shades was so adorable I couldn't resist buying it. It was originally $12, then it was on sale for $8 but I had an additional 50% off the original retail price, so I paid $6 for it in the end. The Tegan shades' final price was $3, so I couldn't use the discount coupon on that. These babies came in 10 colours but they only have the red ones left. Apparently, I bought the last pair of pink. For some strange reason, the pink ones were the most expensive out to the ten colours.

Anyway, originally I thought they had some free worldwide shipping policy but as it turns out, I thought wrong. Well, it still applies if your order exceeds $150, so I had to pay an additional $9.95 for international shipping. Still, two pairs of shades for less than $20 sounds like a good deal to me!

Shipping is going to take two to four weeks and I can't wait for them to arrive! I will blog about them again when they have safely arrived.

Click here for 50% off your total purchase!

Thanks for reading, bye!

*Prices stated are in USD.