To start overseas shopping, you first need to understand what it is and grasp the process, which is basically the ABCs of it. Then, you can tackle each step one by one. In fact, overseas shopping is quite simple; don't overcomplicate it. As long as you take some time to learn, all problems can be solved.
The following provides a detailed introduction to overseas shopping to help you take your first step.
1. About Overseas Shopping
1.1 What is Overseas Shopping
Overseas shopping, or cross-border shopping, is the process of placing an order on a foreign shopping website and receiving the goods. Depending on the website's policy, it can be divided into direct mail overseas shopping and overseas shopping that requires a forwarding service. With direct mail, the international courier can deliver the goods directly to you after you place an order. For websites that require forwarding, you need to use a forwarding company to ship the goods to you.
1.2 What are the Advantages of Overseas Shopping
Firstly, there's the price advantage. Many foreign brands have a brand premium in China and offer small discounts, whereas abroad, prices are lower and discounts are more plentiful.
Secondly, overseas shopping can ensure product quality, as products sold in their country of origin are often of higher quality.
Additionally, you can buy products that are not available for sale in China.
1.3 Where to Shop Overseas
Theoretically, you can shop on any foreign e-commerce website. In practice, shopping from the US, Europe, Japan, and Australia is most common. The e-commerce websites in these countries are diverse, so you need to select reliable ones to place orders.
For example, brand official websites (Estée Laeder US official site, Lanc?me US official site, etc.), well-known department store websites (Nordstrom, Macy's, etc.), and category-specific websites (Sephora for beauty, iHerb for health products, etc.). You can also follow updates on Bacaoo.com, as the overseas shopping websites they feature are reliable.
1.4 Overseas Shopping Process
The overseas shopping process is similar to ordering on domestic shopping websites; you need to register an account, add items to the cart, make a payment, and add a shipping address. The main difference lies in direct mail versus forwarding.
· Direct Mail
Some overseas shopping websites support direct mail to China. After registering an account, you add items to the cart, checkout and pay, fill in your domestic shipping address, and the international courier delivers it directly to your door. It's simple and convenient.
· Forwarding
Some overseas shopping websites do not support direct mail to China. In this case, you need to use a forwarding company. When placing an order on the website, you fill in the forwarding company's address abroad. The forwarding company receives the package and then ships it back to China, delivering it to the consumer.
Next, we will introduce each step of the overseas shopping process separately.
1) Account Registration
Just like domestic e-commerce websites, after choosing an overseas shopping site, you first need to register an account, usually with an email address. It is recommended to use international email services like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc., followed by Sina Mail, NetEase Mail, etc. Account registration generally requires filling in your name, email, password, birthday, and other information. This step is simple.
2) Add to Cart, Then Proceed to Checkout
Add the items you want to buy to the shopping cart, then go to the cart to checkout.
3) Add Shipping Address
Filling in the shipping address differs between direct mail and forwarding.
If you want to use direct mail and the website supports direct mail to China, you can fill in your domestic shipping address, usually in Chinese Pinyin.
If the website does not support direct mail to China, or if it does but you prefer to use forwarding, you need to fill in the forwarding company's shipping information. The forwarding company will be introduced separately below.
4) Add Payment Information
After filling in the shipping address, proceed to fill in the payment information. Most overseas shopping websites support Visa, Mastercard, American Express credit cards, and PayPal payments.
When choosing PayPal, the page will redirect to the PayPal payment page. Log in to your PayPal account to pay.
Some overseas shopping websites also support Alipay. When paying, select Alipay, and it will redirect to the Alipay payment page.
5) Submit Order and Complete Payment
After completing payment for a direct mail order, you can wait for the package to arrive. For a forwarding order, after payment, you need to track the order's logistics status. Once the order is shipped and you get the tracking number, you need to pre-advise the package for warehousing at the forwarding company. After it's warehoused, pay the forwarding shipping fee and submit it for shipment back to China.
2. About Direct Mail
2.1 Pros and Cons of Direct Mail
Direct mail websites are those that can ship internationally directly to you. Direct mail overseas shopping is simple to operate, has fast logistics, and relatively good after-sales service, making it very suitable for beginners. However, direct mail also has its drawbacks, such as higher shipping costs or free shipping thresholds, and issues like whether customs duties are included.
2.2 Filling in the Direct Mail Address
Nowadays, many overseas merchants target the international consumer market and offer international direct mail services, such as SkinStore, ColourPop, etc. These websites allow you to choose direct mail or a forwarding address. The direct mail shipping address can be filled in using Pinyin.
Some merchants have also launched Chinese-language direct mail websites, such as the lookfantastic Chinese site, iHerb Chinese site, etc. For these sites, you can fill in the shipping address directly in Chinese characters.
3. About Forwarding
3.1 What is a Forwarding Company For
A forwarding company acts as a bridge between us and overseas merchants. It receives packages from overseas merchants on our behalf and then ships them back to China. For example:
Everyone knows that the Estée Lauder US official website doesn't support direct mail to China, so you can't fill in a Chinese shipping address. How do you place an order then? You don't have relatives in the US either! This is where the forwarding company comes in. The forwarding company says, "My warehouse is in the US. Fill in my warehouse address and information as the shipping address. I'll receive the goods for you and ship them back to China. But I need a little money for my trouble."
That's the service and profit point of forwarding companies.
3.2 Pros and Cons of Forwarding Overseas Shopping
Forwarding companies solve the problem of websites not supporting direct mail to China. Most also offer duty subsidy models to avoid customs duties. They also provide value-added services like consolidation, splitting, repacking, reinforcement, and warehouse transfer.
The disadvantages are that the process is slightly more cumbersome than direct mail, shipping times cannot be 100% guaranteed, there are limits on package value, special items cannot be shipped, and there are risks such as the forwarding company shutting down, package loss, or product damage.
3.3 How to Find a Forwarding Company
There are many forwarding companies for routes between China-US, China-Japan, and China-Europe. A quick Baidu search will yield many results. Here, we mainly introduce how to choose a reliable forwarding company based on the following aspects:
1) Establishment Date
A forwarding company that has been established for a longer time is generally more reliable than a newly established one. There are many cases of forwarding companies going bankrupt or shutting down, so choosing an older, more mature company is very necessary.
2) Shipping Fees
Our main goal in overseas shopping is to get the best products at the most favorable prices. The initial weight price and additional weight price should be within a normal range. If the price is too high, it defeats the purpose of overseas shopping. Be cautious of prices that are too low.
3) Shipping Time
Shipping times may vary depending on the shipping channel and the peak/off-peak season for overseas shopping. Generally, around 2 weeks is normal. Currently, due to the pandemic, shipping times can sometimes be as long as a month. If it exceeds 2-3 months or longer, that's abnormal.
4) Shipping Channels
Check if the forwarding company offers multiple shipping routes to best meet the needs of your overseas shopping websites and products.
5) Value-Added Services
Check if the forwarding company has comprehensive value-added services and their pricing, such as insurance, reinforcement, splitting/consolidation, storage, returns, etc.
6) Customer Service
Before choosing a forwarding company, it's recommended to contact their customer service to understand the specific details. You can judge their reliability based on response time and service attitude.
3.4 How Forwarding Company Shipping Fees are Calculated
1) Initial Weight and Additional Weight
Package weight: Forwarding fees are basically calculated based on the weight of the package, sometimes also by volume. The total shipping fee is mainly composed of an initial weight price plus an additional weight price.
2) Value-Added Services
Value-added services are fees charged by every forwarding company (such as splitting, consolidation, counting, photo-taking, reinforcement, etc.). These services are generally charged, usually between 10-30 RMB per service.
3) Customs Clearance Fees
For special items, such as watches, game consoles, phones, computers, and other sensitive products, some forwarding companies may charge an additional customs clearance fee.
3.5 How to Use a Forwarding Company
After registering an account with a forwarding company, obtain the overseas warehouse address information. When placing an order on an overseas shopping website, fill in the forwarding company's address. After the package is shipped, use the tracking number to pre-advise the package on the forwarding company's website and apply for warehousing. Once it's weighed and the fee is calculated, pay the shipping fee and submit it for shipment.
3.6 Forwarding Company Customer Service Contact Methods
Common contact methods for forwarding companies include WeChat customer service, QQ customer service, phone customer service, ticket customer service, and WeChat official account customer service.
3.7 Forwarding Company Shipping Time
Forwarding company websites usually have detailed shipping time information that can be used as a reference.
3.8 Is it Necessary to Choose Forwarding Company Value-Added Services
Whether value-added services are necessary depends on the customer's needs for the shipped goods.
For large quantities of goods, choosing a counting service can minimize issues with inaccurate shipment quantities. For fragile or valuable items, choosing reinforcement and insurance services is safer.
4. About Overseas Shopping Customs Duties
4.1 Direct Mail Websites with Duties Included
Some direct mail websites include import duties in the checkout price, such as iHerb, German BA保镖, Spanish Pb商城, Fragrancenet, etc. You don't need to worry about tax issues with these sites.
4.2 Direct Mail Websites without Duties Included
These are divided into two types: one where duties are prepaid at checkout, such as Net-a-Porter, 24S, Fwrd, etc., and another where you pay the tax yourself if the package is inspected by Chinese customs, such as Cult Beauty, Feelunique UK site, etc.
4.3 Websites Requiring Forwarding
Forwarding companies offer duty-subsidized shipping channels that users can choose to effectively avoid being taxed. If the purchased item is not within the scope of the duty-subsidized channel and is taxed by Chinese customs, the individual is also responsible for the tax.
4.4 About Tax Calculation
Import tax amount = Dutiable value * Import tax rate. Tax rates for various categories are as follows:
4.5 How to Pay Tax if Taxed
If a package is taxed during customs clearance, you will usually be notified via SMS or email. Follow the provided instructions to pay the customs duty. There is a 50 RMB exemption for personal postal items, meaning if the tax amount is within 50 RMB, it can be waived. There are generally two ways to pay customs duty: EMS postal channel tax declaration and forwarding company payment on your behalf.
EMS postal channel tax declaration: You can choose on-site declaration or online agent declaration. Online agent declaration is more convenient. Click the URL provided in the tax SMS or email, register and log in according to the prompts, fill in the relevant information, and submit the tax payment application. Once approved, a tax payment notice will be sent. Click the link provided to pay the tax.
Forwarding company payment on behalf: Follow the forwarding company's instructions and pay the fee.
5. About Overseas Shopping Credit Cards
5.1 Credit Card Payment Methods Supported by Overseas Merchants
Generally, credit cards with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express logos are supported.
5.2 How to Apply for an Overseas Shopping Credit Card
Visa, Mastercard, and American Express cards can be applied for at various domestic banks. Application methods are generally divided into three types:
First, apply at a physical bank branch counter.
Second, apply online through the bank's credit card official website.
Third, apply through a legitimate credit card salesperson.
Any natural person over 18 years old with a stable source of income and no bad credit record, who can be responsible for their actions, can pass the review. You generally receive the credit card within about 2 weeks.
5.3 How to Activate a Credit Card
You can activate it at any branch of the issuing bank. Some bank credit cards can also be activated online. For details, consult the credit card customer service.
5.4 Credit Card Security Code
The last three digits on the signature strip on the back of the card, or the four digits on the front right of an American Express card. It may be referred to as CVC, CVV, CVN, or CID.
Never disclose your credit card security code to others to prevent fraud.
5.5 Credit Card Billing Address
The billing address is usually the mailing address used when the card was successfully issued. If unsure, call the bank's credit card customer service to inquire.
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