I've ordered some rechargeable batteries again from Taobao recently. And batteries are considered sensitive goods so I couldn't ship via the Taobao official forwarder.
I had to engage a "private" forwarder and I turn to PingAn International Express which price is very reasonable and one of the cheapest. This isn't the first time I used them, I've previous experience with them which is pretty good.
Price List for Air Shipment to Singapore (4/5)
They provide deliver to other countries too like Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong. They also provide sea shipment which I did not include here.
Customer Service (4.5/5)
Their customer service is also very responsive and helpful. They actually have a website whereby you can consolidate and then ship the items yourself when they arrived at their warehouse. However, it's kind of confusing for me so I always contact their CS to help me with it (so not going through the website) and they're always willing to help me with it.
They have their own site for tracking and you need to contact them for it (esp if you didn't go through the website).
Speed of Delivery (3/5)
The speed of delivery varies greatly - they usually delivers within a week or 2. However there was once there was a huge delay and I have to wait for more than 3 weeks before receiving my items. That was during the end of year sales season.
This is the timeline of my recent delivery in August.
Condition of Parcels (3.5/5)
The parcels usually came quite well protected but still with some dents and squashing. But I don't know when the squashing occurs - on the way to the warehouse or on the way to Singapore. (We all know about the "violent treatment" to the parcels by the China local deliveryman.) But so far, I've no much complain with their service except maybe when shipping potato chips, but I know I can't blame them because chips are so fragile.
This is my recent delivery from them, for you to judge on your own.
For me, other than the last item (at the bottom) was squashed, others are in pretty good condition. The item in all the boxes are in good condition.
Local Courier/Partners (4/5)
The local courier that they partner with seems to be Dragon link who seems to have a bad reputation. However, I do not have much problem with them. They would sms to notify you that your delivery will be here, and call before delivery and then inform you roughly what time slot they would arrive and ask if anyone will be home. If the delivery fail, you can rearrange for them to redeliver for free.
Overall score: 3.5/5.
