Tips on How to Get the Best Deals from Chinese Shops

It is an undeniable fact that most buyers around the world choose to shop directly with Chinese online shops because the prices are unbeatable. Though some made-in-China products are truly made with superior quality, we usually won’t expect too much about the quality standards of the products offered by Chinese suppliers.

One of my American friends once commented, “I love buying from China simply because the quality is acceptable but the pricing is too low to resist. One good thing about shopping with Chinese sellers is: I can buy new stuff to replace the old ones easily. It is so amazing that even with a small budget I can refresh my wardrobe anytime I like.”

In addition to the highly competitive prices, there are tons of opportunities to further reduce your cost when trading with Chinese online shops. This post will introduce some useful tips to help you take advantage of such chances to save more on transactions with China-based shopping sites.

1. Search for valid coupon codes.

 This is definitely the most widely used approach to save cost. Some Chinese shopping sites may indicate the coupon codes on the homage banners or at the promotional pages while most won’t. The majority of Chinese shops usually choose to spread the coupon codes among their affiliates to help promoting their stores and products. For this reason, you may have to search Google for coupon codes released by the store. For example, if you want to shop with the electronic store Banggood.com, use the term “Banggood coupon codes” or the like to do the searching. Trust me, such effort is well worth as it can instantly help cut your cost to the minimum.

2. Check out the regularly updated promotional zones.

 99% of the China-based international online shops have one or more stable promotional zones which are accessible from their homepage. Such exclusive promotional pages are usually updated daily or weekly with new deals added, e.g. Daily Madness and Sale at Milanoo.com, Flash Sale (weekly deals) at Lightinthebox.com, Daily Deals at Ahappydeal.com, Clearance Centre at Focalprice.com, $2 Gadgets at Dx.com, etc.

Image courtesy of Banggood.com

Normally, the deals are very limited in terms of quantity and you may not find an on-sale product of your desire there. But I still encourage you to check out these areas frequently as some day you may be lucky enough to see a deal you are looking for.

3. Take advantage of themed promotions, seasonal sales and holiday sales.

 Generally, such sales are significantly big in terms of discount range as well as product quantity. The stores would select a collection of hot-selling products and offer a certain discount on each product for a particular theme, even, season or holiday. The most typical examples include Christmas sales, Black Friday sales, Halloween sales, Back-to-school sales, Valentine’s Day sales, Women’s Day sales, Chinese New Year sales, New Year sales, April Fools’ Day sales and more.

Image courtesy of Milanoo.com

Themed promotions vary from store to store based on their advertising highlights. For instance, as a fashion store, Milanoo often launches themed promotions such as 2014 Prom Dresses sale, 2014 Spring Shoes sale or Floral Wedding Dresses sale; the gadget stores, on the other hand, frequently release promotions on a particular category like cell phones, tablet PCs or flashlights. Such sales are usually used to promote a select collection of hot products and the discount ranges are tend to be narrower than those for holiday sales or clearance sales. But still, they are worth checking out as not everyone can wait to get a product of urgent need till the big sale comes. Besides, the bigger promotions may not carry the product you want.

4. Never miss out the anniversary sales.

 Based on my research, while Christmas is the biggest promotional season of the year for most China-based global virtual shops, anniversary is an equally important event to boost sales. Many Chinese sites offer the deepest discounts of the year on a selection of best selling products for promotional purpose. For such events, they tend to value more on expanding customer base and building brand image than on making profits. For this reason, people can usually get top-valued deals, which may even be available at prices lower than the costs. Anyway, the anniversary deals are more likely to come in a very limited quantity. So just pay close attention to the anniversary sales of the stores you are interested in and then try your luck.

Currently, Lightinthebox.com and Miniinthebox.com are celebrating their 7th anniversary sale with deals of up to 90% off. The promotions will end in March, 17, 2014. The two sites belong to the same e-commerce company based in Beijing, which has built a big name on the global market and has been listed in New York.

Image courtesy of Miniinthebox.com