Payment Options in Taobao

After you've chosen your shopping method, it is now time to pay for your items.
支付宝(Alipay) is the platform for payment for Taobao. It is linked to your Taobao account. When making your first payment, you’d have to set a 6 digit passcode for authorizing your payment, excluding 代付(getting someone to pay for you, more on that later). DO NOT forget this passcode. You’ll need this passcode for every payment you make. Not really sure what to do if you forget but it seems that it’ll be a lengthy and troublesome process to recover your account should you do. There are multiple options for payment by alipay:

1. Credit/Debit card.
Note not all credit and debit cards will work. This mode of payment is convenient, but the fees associated makes the exchange rate poor.

2. Taobao Purchase Card
Can be purchased at any AXS machine under the top up section. Only available in 200rmb, 500rmb and 1000rmb denominations. If you are buying something that’s 30rmb, you’d still have to purchase minimally 200rmb and keep the remainder for future use. Exchange rate is better than using debit/credit card. After you purchase, go to alipay.com, then go to 我的支付宝－账户资产－支付宝购物卡－详情－then enter the number and serial to activate. The serial will be emailed to you.

3. Daifu(代付）
Getting someone to pay for you.
This is what I normally use (this is not sponsored). To use daifu, select 朋友代付 after you’ve carted out, under the 待付款 page. Alternatively you can go to alipay website, find the item to daifu, then hover the cursor over the 付款 drop down menu and select 朋友代付. After selecting朋友代付, and entering the daifu details(can be found on the above link, contact via WeChat or WhatsApp), they’ll guide you through the process. This is however not as fast as using the purchase card.
An advantage of using this option is that you can pay in 1688.com(Alibaba), where some things could be cheaper than in taobao. However, when you use daifu you cannot use 红包(hongbao) where it would be given out on events like double 11, whereas for the other options you can. Nonetheless, the amount you can save using the 红包 is quite little and it is quite hard to get hongbaos.

4. YouTrip
YouTrip is a virtual wallet service aimed at foreign currency exchange. After signing up and waiting for a week you will receive a physical MasterCard debit card that can be used for online shopping and contactless payments. Here is the link to its website. You will have to top up into the wallet before use. Below I will summarise the pros and cons of YouTrip based on my experience.
Pros:
- 0% service fee (aka good exchange rate as compared to your normal cards)
Cons:
- Minimum amount for top up is 20SGD and once you top up you cannot withdraw it, but you can use it for other card payments (not just taobao)
- There is still a 3% card fee for taobao purchases

YouTrip vs Alipay Purchase Card
After the 3% processing fee, the rate is similar to, or even better than the rate for the Alipay Purchase card (option 2). Even though the amount that you top up is locked into the wallet balance, it is more versatile than the Alipay Purchase card as the balance can also be used for other online shopping sites or at physical shops that accept MasterCard (have not tried it for physical shops, not too sure about any fees for physical card use, but I think there are no fees if used in Singapore as a normal debit card).

Conclusion: If you don't mind the cons, it is in my opinion a better option than the Alipay Purchase Card. 
You can also use my referral link and get $10 after your first topup!
Referral link: https://youtrip.app.link/JUN%20XU34063 
PS: Please click the link again after you've downloaded the app to ensure the referral gets captured!
​5. There may be other options that I don't know of, but the above are the popular ones and should be enough to get you started.


Do read the previous posts if you have not. If you have, that is basically all there is to getting started on shopping on taobao. In the future posts I’ll go over things that are less essential but good to know.


Quick Links:




  1. Introducion to Taobao 
  2. Shopping on Taobao
  3. Taobao Shipping Options 
  4. Payment Options in Taobao 
  5. Other Tips 


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