Aliexpress VS Taobao: An in-depth analysis

Ah, the age-old question… which is better? Taobao or Aliexpress?

The fact that you are here, reading this article implies that you have stumbled upon either one or both of these Chinese juggernauts.

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Who will win?

Let’s explore. But before we do, let me share with you some intriguing details you may not have known. Taobao and Aliexpress are one in the same. They are literally owned by the same man, Jack Ma, the founder and visionary behind Alibaba Group.

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- What is the difference?

Taobao is the top online shopping marketplace and social media platform in China. Yes, you read that correctly, social media. Taobao is quite interesting in its make up. If Taobao and Aliexpress were twins, Taobao would be the beautiful overachieving child. It provides Chinese residents with the biggest marketplace available, whilst encouraging a social media experience. Taobao allows its customer base to record videos, which would be comparable to Instagram, and upload them to the site. Many times, the videos would be people using the products on Taobao and vlog style posts. It goes the whole nine yards. You can follow, comment and subscribe to updates. There are even live videos as you would see on the YouTube premiers. Taobao is truly an all in one platform. It provides a chat application. This application is called Aliwangwang. This will allow you to chat to the sellers and retailers as you please. Taobao is also linked to Tmall. Tmall, unlike Taobao, provides users with a shopping mall like experience. All the sellers on Tmall are global brands which give consumers more confidence in their shopping choices, and a more premium feel.

For example, a well known Australian company, Chemist Warehouse is one of the global brands. Australian supplements and skincare products are highly sorted after in China. The company’s presence on Tmall allows for an affordable, accessible and pleasant shopping experience.
Taobao is only meant for Chinese resident’s eyes to see!

Aliexpress is that rebellious child. It has a face sprayed with makeup to give the illusion it is as beautiful as its sibling. It is shunned to the corner with only a fraction of the products available on Taobao. Aliexpress is aimed at foreigners. This is conveyed in the pricing and product quality. It is in multiple languages which makes it accessible worldwide. Aliexpress has a fond place in the hearts of dropshippers as many started their journey on the platform. Aliexpress has both individual sellers and big name retailers under one roof. Aliexpress user reviews are, well… useless. A big chunk of the reviews are somewhere along the lines of “I received the product, haven’t used it yet”. Aliexpress has opened its doors to international sellers. This door is currently open to Russia, Spain, Turkey, Italy and France.

But, is the rebellious child always the worst? Not always.

Now let’s jump in deeper…

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Price

In the context of this category, I will be referring to epacket countries. Generally speaking, if the product you are wishing to purchase is below $5 USD, you will find it cheaper on Aliexpress. This includes the product and shipping cost. If your product is above $5 USD, you will generally find it cheaper on Taobao. This includes product and shipping costs.

WINNER- Tie

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Quality

Cheapest may not always be the best. You can have an identical looking product, but one would be made of premium materials while the other is a flimsy piece of garbage. This holds 100% true to all products on both platforms. Reading reviews is crucial before purchasing. Taobao, generally speaking, has better quality products. Why? Because the sellers take pride in their stores and their reputation. A Chinese customer is no fool to this, so good quality is expected or you will be sure to read the horrible reviews in the listing. Aliexpress, as mentioned previously is aimed at foreigners. Not all, but a big majority of the sellers are chasing after the buck. They will buy the cheapest they can get and resell it to you. Why? Because they know you are not going to return a phone case to china. In fact, if it only cost you $3 then you probably won’t even open a case about it. That is where lays the problem. That is why sellers get away with it. If you do request a refund, they will refund you their cost price. No loss to them.

WINNER- Taobao

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Variation

The weird, the wacky and the wonderful. All that you can imagine and that of which you have never thought imaginable can be found on the Taobao. This category is an easy one.

WINNER- Taobao

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- User Experience

Taobao is a JUMBLED MESS. At least to outsiders it is. Even with English translation turned on, it is very hard to navigate. Translations are not accurate and you are left to shoot in the dark and experiment to see what works. Are you brave enough to wander into the unknown? Most are not. That is why Aliexpress is an ideal platform for non-Chinese.

Aliexpress offers a typical shopping experience, fully equipped with categories, deal, vouchers and easy to find help. There is nothing odd about it. It’s a comfortable place to shop.

WINNER- Aliexpress

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Shipping

Aliexpress natively has many shipping options. It has options that can go anywhere between 20–30 days, epacket at 7–20 days and express DHL.

Taobao has a specialised warehouse. This can be comparable to Amazon Fulfilment Centres. Sellers ship the products for international shipment there and you receive your package. Shipping is expensive and not worth it for one item, however, may be acceptable if you are ordering a Taobao haul. Shipping is split into 2 parts. First, you pay for the product and the domestic shipping fees. Once your products arrive at the warehouse, they are weighed and you must pay for the international shipping charges. This warehouse is limited to a handful of international destinations.

Which is better for shipping? This answer will depend on your use case scenario. Let’s break it down.

Personal Shopping

If you are purchasing products for yourself and don’t mind waiting a long time, then Aliexpress would be the way to go. If you are in a rush, it would be best to order via Taobao. If you choose Taobao, be sure to use a third party fulfilment service such as Superbuy. Your buying experience will be as easy as copying and pasting the link to your product on Superbuy. Customer service is in English, it is fast and runs 24 hours a day. They take no fees for the service; however their prices are not that cheap. It’s worth it for the headache you will be saving yourself from.

Dropshipping

If you are using this for business purposes then, well, it depends. If you want the cheapest price and are willing to gamble on quality (always order a sample for yourself to test first), then Aliexpress. If your product is under $5 USD, then you have no choice. Aliexpress. You should never use a shipping method below epacket. Not if you want a sustainable business.

If you want more control of your shipping and want better quality products, then Taobao. If you use a third party fulfilment centre or an agent. They are able to speak to the suppliers on your behalf. They are able to negotiate and do quality control inspections. They are able to organise the shipping methods and speeds you wish and provide you with REAL tracking numbers to update your customers with. Agents are able to automate much of the fulfilment process for you. However, if your product is less than $5 USD it will be too expensive.

FYI- I do not recommend using the Taobao warehouse for fulfilment unless you know exactly what you are doing. Tracking down your parcel and speaking to customer service will be very challenging if your product is lost or delayed. It does happen and its best to know your way around.

WINNER: Taobao (use a sourcing agent or a fulfilment centre for personal orders).

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Communication

Communication with sellers on Aliexpress is atrocious. You send a seller an email and most wont reply until a couple of days or even a week later. Most do not speak English, however the system will automatically translate their written Chinese text into English for you and vice versa. The positive is that you can communicate in English.

Taobao sellers reply almost instantaneously. You will usually receive a reply back within 1–60 minutes. That’s amazing. You will however need to use Google translate to assist you and language barriers can arise.

WINNER- Tie

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- Customer support

Aliexpress has easily accessible customer support. You can chat to them and resolve your issues. Taobao is MUCH harder to find support for if you are outside of China. There is an app called Taobao Lite. This was designed for non Chinese consumers… however it is still in Chinese

WINNER: Aliexpress

Taobao Vs Aliexpress- AI (artificial intelligence)

Now, you wouldn’t think this would be a category worth thinking about let alone mentioning. However, OMG. Once you use the two platforms, you will become accustomed to how useful it is to your shopping experience. What is AI? AI is a technology that allows the various platforms to track your interests and showcase related suggestions to you on your homepage or as you browse. Amazon is very good at doing this.

Aliexpress- Great AI. Works as it should, however is limited in its specialist capabilities.

Taobao- Mind blowingly good. This platform offers the best AI experience I have had to date. It has special abilities with such accuracy that it serves as extremely useful to dropshippers and Amazon FBA sellers. Want to find out more about this? Check out this LINK

WINNER: Taobao