Ready, get set, shop

Singapore — Get your credit cards ready as Singles Day sale has started. What started out as a made-up holiday held on Nov 11 to celebrate singledom has quickly become one of the biggest annual online sale seasons in Asia.

We are expecting crazy markdowns from sites such as Alibaba, Shopee and more, but for many of us, TaoBao is the place to go.

We spoke to TaoBao expert Professor Lum from online coupon e-store ShopBack for some pro tips on getting the most out of our 11.11 shopping that everyone — from the daily TaoBao shopper to ladies who have not even been on the site — can use.

1. Ship directly with Taobao Global Consolidation and Shipping to enjoy 50 per cent off

This is a super nifty promotion, especially for TaoBao newbies. You can buy straight from TaoBao and ship directly using the Global Consolidate and Shipping — with 50 per cent off your shipping for the first kg plus free shipping for subsequent 0.5kg when you use selected service providers. It’s a great way to start the shop-and-save lifestyle with minimal hassle.

2. The whole of 11.11 is a fabulous day to shop

To kick off the revelry, ShopBack hosted a campaign titled ‘Everything at $0.11’ where a range of products, from messenger bags to skincare products curated by the shoppers of ShopBack will be made available at $0.11. At ShopBack, the festivities will run until 11pm today.

3. Remember that the most important thing to look out for are the seller’s ratings and reviews

Low prices are always tempting, but do always check the seller’s ratings and reviews before buying. Points are accumulated like this:

Positive rating = +1 for seller, Neutral = 0 for seller, Negative = -1 for seller.

Go for stores that have at least four diamonds and up, especially if you are a TaoBao newbie.

4. Make full use of the Favourites Folder

Amid the myriad of fashion, accessories, necessities and more on TaoBao, you may get lost browsing through the endless sea of items available. Fret not, use the Favourites Folder where you can save your favourite products and favourite sellers.

This is particularly useful when you want to get more bang for your buck from your Taobao purchases by earning Cashback through ShopBack — where you should add items to your cart only after launching TaoBao via ShopBack.

5. Image search makes the Taobao world your oyster

Most users find it challenging to put a finger on the names of their desired items in Mandarin. With the super-useful image search function available on the TaoBao mobile app, all you need to do is snap a picture, and TaoBao will find the items for you. We tried the function a couple of times ourselves, and the results were great.

This story first appeared on www.ELLE.sg