How I Shop for Lolita on Taobao
This may surprise you, but most of my lolita items have come from a Chinese marketplace called Taobao! Similar to eBay, Taobao is an online platform for businesses to sell their items. Many of the brands you know from online lolita shops have their original shop on Taobao. Some of these brands include Magic Tea Party, Dear Celine, Infanta, and SouffleSong! Buying from Taobao may save you some lolita funds! Here's how I shop for items on Taobao via the shopping service Taobao Focus.
Here are some helpful tools:
Taobao Focus Shopping Service
List of Taobao Lolita Shops
Taobao Search Terms (via Lolita Tips)
Taobao Search Terms (via EGL Live Journal)
These Chinese keywords will help you find the items you are looking for! Put your desired translated word after "lolita" in your search bar to help narrow your search. Taobao displays up to 100 pages of search results. 100 pages of lolita items is nice, but 100 pages of just lolita shoes is even better!
Is there a description in Chinese text on a product photo? No problem! This image translator will convert a language to another, even if the writing is on a photo. Important information like measurements, materials, pre-oreder items, and other details can easily be translated with this tool.
If there is a product you would like to find, save the photo and put it into an image search! I do this often when I see items on Devil Inspired, my-lolita-dress, and other Taobao resale shops. If you aren't afraid of a bit of detective work, this tool can help you find the original brand or item!
Thanks for watching and reading! I wouldn't have been able to expand my wardrobe so quickly without Taobao, and I wanted to share my tricks with others. Do you use Taobao? Is there anything about the process you have questions about? Do you have any tips for me? I'd love to read them!
Stay Frilly~
“Hi!! I just wanted to say thank you for guiding me on Taobao. I’ve been searching a good site to buy lolita for at least 2 years. I recently acknowledge Taobao, but as people were saying it was kind of difficult to work with it (not understanding the language). After a quick research, I found your page, explaining step by step what I needed to do and EVEN provided me with good tools (the Taobao Focus website and the image translator). I could finally buy lolita dresses all thanks to you!!”