Ever since I got past the language barrier and discovered that I could easily shop on Taobao, I had been buying and buying. I started out with books and then went on to household products.
I hesitated on purchasing clothes but eventually gave in because everyone looked so good on the models. Unfortunately, what you see is not what you get. While there have been some instances where I have been lucky enough to get a decent quality clothing piece, there were also incidents where I had disappointing buys.
Here are some of the reasons why buying clothes on Taobao sometimes is a bad idea:
Wrong item or size sent
One of my first misses were a wrong item sent, the listing was for a top and pair of shorts. I had placed an order for the shorts but they sent the top over instead. And the top was not even something I would wear so I had to just deal with it. Another frustrating incident I encountered was when the seller sent over the wrong size, especially when it is a smaller size. If it were a larger size then I could at least get it altered. There was this dress which I was really anticipating and when it arrived, it turns out that the seller had sent S instead of M. I am not even sure how did that happen since there was only M size available on the site. Returns are troublesome and not worth the time, money and effort at all.
Bad quality clothes
They probably do not even do quality checks because I have received clothes with holes in them or missing buttons. Luckily, these were relatively cheap buys at around SGD10-15. Other times, the material is just so inferior; you wonder why do they even bother making such terrible clothes. I have received tops that are made of materials so thin that you could easily rip a hole in it while trying it on.
Clothes that look nothing like the modelled photos
There was once I received a dress that was so short, it must have been made for hobbits. Just look at the photo above, noticed that the elastic waistline is just directly below my boobs as compared to the modelled photo. Apparently, I was not the only one who faced the same issue as well. Some buyers even commented that this dress was meant for little girls instead. I have heard that some shops steal photos of these modelled clothes from other authentic shops and then manufacture their own replicas, which explains why the clothes usually do not match what is shown on the website. So lesson learnt, one should always read the reviews before purchasing.
Wrong measurements
I really hate it when they have misleading measurements on the site and then I receive a piece of clothing that is simply too tiny for me. I bought a jumpsuit, which stated that the bust circumference was 88cm. Now, 88cm is a really comfortable fit for me because there is some allowance and I like my clothes to be loose fitting. But when I received the item, I could only zip it up halfway. I took the measurements and it turns out that the bust area was just 74cm.
However, this usually happens when you buy clothes that are priced below 100 RMB. Especially those that cost like 20 to 30 RMB, do not expect something decent. And do not trust the feedback given, I do not understand how some people can be satisfied with the crappy quality. But I have heard of sellers offering rebates to get buyers to change their negative feedback to positive ones so that could be the case. Guess I should just stick to buying other items off Taobao instead.