How to find items from Taobao, Weidian and Trusted Sellers
There are a few methods to find items. All have their pros and cons and to successfully find what you’re looking for you should use a combination of them.
We separate these methods into specific searches and inspirational, luck based methods of finding items
Specific searches
Searching Reddit – Native Reddit Search
Just start typing in the search bar at the top of the page. You can improve your technique by utilizing tags and other search operators, but I suggest you keep reading to learn better methods.
Pro: Simple to use.
Con: The reddit search is very unreliable and needs exact matches. It only searches the title and body, not the comments. Abbreviations and typos are not found.
Searching Reddit – Reddit Search through Google
This is my preferred way, as google finds items that match your intent, not exact words. That means you will find abbreviations, synonyms and typos. More importantly it also searches the comments.
If you don’t like google you can also use another search engine, but indexation can be an issue and google seems to have the widest indexation.
How it works:
- Type what you’re searching for into the search engine
- append
site:reddit.com/r/couturereps. - Example:
RL polo shirt site:reddit.com/r/couturerepsexample google link. - You can of course replace with any other sub.
- If you don’t find anything give
site:reddit.coma shot.
Pro: You find a lot more posts.
Con: A little uncomfortable on mobile. Posts with low uploads or very recent posts might not be indexed.
Reverse Image Search
Reverse image search means you download a picture of the item you’re looking for and search for it on taobao or weidian. Success depends on the clarity of the picture.
How it works:
- Taobao: Currently disabled with no workaround. Old guide:Open the reverse image search pageand click the camera icon in the search bar. Then upload your own image. This “legacy link” is necessary because taobao does not publicly offer the feature anymoresource
- Weidian: Currently disabled with no workaround.source
Pro: This is the way to find new items that haven’t been discovered by the community yet.
Con: You need to do the work yourself. You will also find retail offers or items that look similar. You might also have to login, which can be difficult for many reasons.
Find inspiration
Scrolling through Reddit
Let’s start with the simplest method. Just open reddit, subscribe to a few rep subreddits and start scrolling.
It’s a good way to get inspired, so it’s a great method when you have no idea what you’re even looking for.
Live feed
RepArchive.com has a live feed of recent purchases from taobao and weidian. This service is made possible by Superbuy and Wegobuy. This is a nice place for inspiration and you can be sure that at least 1 person thought the item was worth buying.
Link: https://reparchive.com/feed/live
Top items
I list this as a separate category because it is a mix of both. Of course it’s luck based because you have no search bar, you get what you get so to say. But because the most popular items are listed it serves as the answer to most search requests we get.
RepArchive Top
RepArchive TOP lists the top 200 Taobao and Weidian items that are selling the best. It comes with a bunch of features such as images and prices on the page, different time frames to look at, currency conversion and support for different agents. You can also look at the items that have been rising the ranks the quickest.
Especially for new people this should be the only page you need to visit, without needing to learn any of the more complicated methods listed above.
Some information about TaoBao
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There are other reliable agents beyond Wegobuy and Superbuy which may offer more favourable shipping rates or lines to your part of the world.
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Once you’ve purchased an item through an agent, it will be sent from the domestic seller to their warehouse. You’ll receive QC pics and be afforded the opportunity to exchange or return an item if it’s not satisfactory (usually within a 7 day period). Some agents offer free additional QC pictures, others charge a nominal fee but you can request additional photos of any aspect you wish.
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All agents have a grace period where items will be stored free of charge. This varies from agent to agent, so if you foresee this being a concern, make sure to check how long the storage period is for the agent you’ve chosen. Storage periods can be extended beyond the free allotment for a nominal fee, or otherwise your items will be disposed of if you let the storage period lapse.
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International shipping is not included in the initial price you pay to purchase the item and have it sent to your warehouse, and it can be a substantial portion of the total cost of your package, depending on which shipping line you choose and how much you’re attempting to ship. Typically with other subs that deal with heavier, larger general use items like clothing or shoes, a “haul” is usually multiple kilograms. Dealing with watches I think most people will find the shipping rates aren’t quite as exorbitant since even buying a few watches at a time won’t amount to much, weight-wise.
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Much like all TDs can source the same watches, all agents can buy from the same variety of domestic Chinese marketplaces. Most commonly you’ll encounter Taobao, Weidian, or Yupoo links, but odds are if it’s for sale in mainland China, and agent can buy it for you.
