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The popular e-commerce site Taobao (www.taobao.com) was launched in May, 2003 and is already one of the most popular e-commerce sites with a daily sales of USD 30 billion in one day on Nov. 11, 2018. And the number is growing every year. To some extent, Taobao and eBay have some similarities. Both of them allow individual sellers on the platform, and you can sell anything from products to services on Taobao.

Is it possible to sell cross border products on Taobao?

Basically, you cannot open a Taobao.com store with a non-Mainland Chinese Identity. If you are not Chinese however, Taobao has created an alternative platform called T-Mall Global, which allows overseas companies ready to offer (and deliver) their goods to the Chinese market to sell on this important and growing platform.

Can I sell to China on Taobao.com using an agency?

As the back platform in Tmall global was written in Chinese, I strongly suggest you work with some agencies who can help you build Tmall shop as well as manage the shop and warehouse once you have an overseas company.

What cost would an agency charge if I hire them?

First of all, we need to break down the different costs involved to get a better understanding:

• Entry fee(check the set-up fee and timeline here)
• Running costs
• Revenue shares

(Other costs might be added depending on what Tmall Partner you choose).

1. Entry fee

This is a fee paid up front to the Tmall Partner in order to get started.

The fee can differ much depending on a number of factors, for example: how many products you want to sell, what kind of products you want to sell and which partner you choose. Giving you a ballpark price, entry fees normally start at USD 5000 – 10,000, but can be significantly higher.

Costs covered by the entry fee (examples):

• To analyze your product
• Confirming with the China customs that the products can be imported
• Creating product descriptions
• Preparing and designing your own page on Tmall
• Translations
• Logistic setups
• Warehouse preparation
• Others

2. Running costs

Once you have paid the entry fee, you also need to pay for services to maintain your Tmall store. It’s not uncommon that more established partners charge as much as USD 10,000 – 20,000 per month to keep the machinery up and running.

As mentioned, you can also find partners that are more suitable to SME’s, offering a higher revenue share (%), but charging you significantly lower running costs.

3. Revenue shares

If you decide to set up your own Tmall store on your own, you will need to pay commissions and yearly fees to Tmall, there’s no way to get around this.

Tmall Partners offer different revenue shares, usually stretching between 5-20%. For partners who charge lower entry fees and running costs, the revenue shares are normally higher and can be as high as 30-40%.

Thanks for your time, see you.

I Will Be Your Product Source Agency in China

1. Sourcing suppliers 2. Provide quotations 3. Collecting sample 4. Arranging shipping