Online Ordering in Beijing

[roddy]

Thought I'd put together a short list of retailers I've used where you can order online and pay when the goods are delivered. If anyone's got any other recommendations, speak up! I'm only including ones I've used personally.

Groceries: Carrefour

A bit of a hassle to order, you need to download an excel spreadsheet with a list of products, copy and paste stuff into another order spreadsheet and then email it in. Should get your order within 24 hours, and they give you two delivery slots to choose from, 10am to 3pm and 3pm to 8pm.

The spreadsheet doesn't seem to be too up to date, and a fair number of things I ordered weren't available (I now have 2kg of pasta and no pasta sauce:help ). To be fair they were quick to let me know and there would have been time to put in replacements if I'd bothered. They also let you know the exact price (which may be slightly different to what you expect due to the spreadsheet not being bang up to date).

Delivery was efficient - one lad hefting the box and dumping everything into your cupboards, and a girl collecting your money. They didn't charge me a delivery fee despite not reaching their minimum order of 500Y (due to missing pasta sauce, mostly).

They don't do the full range of products, but there's enough there for a very comprehensive weekly shop - though if you're reaching the 500Y minimum spend 4 times a month, I want to come round for dinner.

I'm also sure I don't need to point out this means that you can get reasonably priced imported spirits delivered to your door - if you've got a grand or so to spare you could have a pretty impressive drinks cabinet set up in no time.

Computing / Electronics: Zol.com.cn

If there's one thing I hate more than shopping, it's shopping in Zhongguancun. Which is where Zhongguangcun Online comes in handy.

The site's all in Chinese, and it's very comprehensive - from 60ft plasma screens to blank floppy discs - so it might take a while to find what you want.

Zol.com.cn itself doesn't actually sell things as far as I can see - it acts as a clearing house for information, and once you've identifed what you want you'll get a list of dealers selling that, and you order from them on the Zol.com.cn site - the order then presumably gets passed to them to handle. Find your product page, then click the 报价 link and look for the dealer list with prices. Phone numbers are also there if you want to call.

I need to therefore add a caveat - I've only ordered stuff from one dealer, so I can't guarantee the others are all as good. However, the one I did use twice managed to phone to confirm and deliver a bunch of wireless networking stuff by lunchtime after getting an order late the previous night, and I'd be happy to try out other firms - after all, you don't hand over money till you've checked it out, and with the wireless PCI card I got the guy offered to hang around and help me install it.

How prices compare to actually turning up at Hailong Dasha or Bainaohui I don't know - but if you know what you want (electronics) and what you don't want (look, look, laptop, very nice) it's a great option.

Cameras / Accessories: Rayi.cn

They have stores at the big camera place in Wukesong and a new flagship at Soho (which I haven't been to yet), but if you prefer, ordering at Rayi.cn will get you your toys delivered next day. Rayi usually seem to be marginally pricier than others, but they've always impressed me with how professional they are. Again, the site is all in Chinese.

Flowers: Flowers2u.com.cn

You're more likely to have these delivered to someone else than yourself, but they will come round to your apartment or office to collect payment (they also take credit cards) so I'm including them here. Website is in Chinese or English, and service and product are both very impressive. Not sure how they rank on price to be honest, but you can't skimp on romance

[Shadowdh]

Nice list Roddy, but I would surely like to see the house that can fit this baby...

60ft plasma screens

:mrgreen:

[JamesGoff]

I would be happy with just 3 of those feet!

[gougou]

Books, CD's, DVD's...: dangdang.com

The Chinese Amazon. Delivers to your door (home or office) within the 5th ring road, lets you specify times for delivery and calls before coming over.

All books are at least 10% cheaper than the price printed on the cover, many more than that. Their selection is good, but far from complete.

I've tried it three times, each time without problems; delivery was punctual and complete.

[roddy]

Can you pay on delivery with dangdang?

[gougou]

Can you pay on delivery with dangdang?

Are you implying I didn't read your post??? :evil:

Well, each time I gave the guy bringing my books the money, and dangdang never complained, so I guess it got through somehow.

[zhwj]

I've been pleased with both Dangdang and Joyo. In downtown Beijing and in several other cities throughout China (check their pages for details), payment can be COD and delivery is usually within a day or two if the items are in stock.

Shipping for normal delivery is 5 RMB per order, or 15 RMB for expedited service. You can also have them come to pick up payment and deliver orders to a different address.

Both places also sell tons of other stuff - there's a cool USB plugin hotplate I have my eye on at Dangdang.

[etcetera24]

If there's one thing I hate more than shopping, it's shopping in Zhongguancun. Which is where Zhongguangcun Online comes in handy.

Knowing about www.zol.com.cn has made life so much easier. We've also successfully ordered a few SD cards from a vendor on the site.

Even if you don't place an order through the site, it's still a great way to get a rough idea of prices one should bargain around. Saves you from leaving the market with lingering uncertainties of whether you got ripped off on your purchase.

[roddy]

Just ordered a water cooler and 1GB SD card from Joyo - very easy to use, will let you know if all turns up ok. Was very tempted by the USB Vacuum Cleaner.

[liuzhou]

Do they have any of these?

[roddy]

I know you are all on tenterhooks about my Joyo order, so I just wanted to let you know that they phoned this morning to confirm I'd made an order (it was a bit odd, rang my mobile and said 'Hi this is Joyo, did you make an order?' and I said yes, and they said 'Ok, we'll send it out as soon as possible' without actually confirming what I ordered or the address or anything.)

The next fascinating development was early this afternoon, when the delivery people people phoned to check I'd be in this afternoon, which I wasn't, but they'll deliver tomorrow afternoon instead - which is the same time the Carrefour delivery is due, and is also when the building management are sending (on past experience) two slapstick comedians round to fix the balcony.

Further updates as events warrant.

Edit: Projector Keyboards pretty, Roddy want.

Edit Edit: Delivery arrived as scheduled. Can't really justify another post though, can I . . .

[babygodzilla]

has anyone tried buying anything from dangdang.com? i happen to found the cellphone i wanna buy for lots cheaper on that site, and being the adventurous geek that i am, i feel like trying this out to see what online shopping in china is like.

so far ive had language barrier troubles. their method of payment it odd. first of all i wanted to do cash-on-delivery, but they told me i can only do so in Shanghai, and i live in Beijing.

so i thought "OK, ill pay using my Bank of China ATM card." so i picked the option of paying by bank, and whats weird is i had to specifically choose the bank that i have. so i picked Bank of China, and it asked me to choose between GuangDong, and Shanghai. so these are obviously locations, and since i am in neither of those locations (unless Beijing = Guangdong...?), i got stuck. i just blindly chose GuangDong. and then it asked me for 5 things:

1）号码。 im like "number"? what number? my bank account number? my ATM card number? my social security number? passport number?

2) 密码。well since theres a "mima" im guessing the answer to #1 is most likely my ATM card number, but im just not 100% sure, cause at Bank of China i have 2 codes, one for the ATM and one for the savings account itself.

3) 信用卡有效期。this one is baffling since i dont have a chinese credit card. i doubt theyll take bank of america or citibank cards. this field may or may not be required to fill in though.

4) 证件号码. im lost in translation in this one. whats a Zheng Jian Hao Ma? i looked up in the dictionary and ZhengJian = papers, ID. my ID number? like my Social Security, or Driver's License number or something? Passport? i only have my BLCU Student Number as far as any Chinese ID number is concerned.

5) i couldnt read this one.... 看不董。。。

so well ive emailed this exact question to their help system, which is quite good i must say. theyve answered all my questions (and lots of questions that is) within 3-4 hours.

any help you guys can give is greatly appreciated. thanks!

[gato]

You can do "cash on delivery" with dangdang.com if you live in Beijing. I had many deliveries from dangdang when I lived there.

According to their website, they offer COD in 178 cities around China.

http://service.dangdang.com/pmf/index.php?sid=801280&aktion=artikel&rubrik=036&id=528〈=zh

[roddy]

Merged the dangdang query with the online shopping topic.

I think only books and AV stuff is Dangdang's core business, everything else is other companies working under the dangdang flag, so it might depend on the individual company policy and where it is based - if it is in Shanghai it can send someone round, if not, it can't. Could be wrong, but I'd guess that's what is happening

You might have more luck with Joyo.com or someone listed on zol.com.cn - I've had good experiences with both, as listed above.

[babygodzilla]

roddy, thanks for the merge. and i think you're right. i just tried ordering a book, and the order form is COMPLETELY different. its not one bit the same, and its more detailed. this is very confusing... anyone with better chinese wanna try ordering a phone?

[babygodzilla]

ive been trying to find the product page for electronic chinese dictionaries and just cant seem to find it on the ZHONG GUAN CUN online store. neone can help? thanks

[doumeizhen]

You can also get stuff, paid on deliver (in Beijing) from joyo.com. Movies, cd's, books, some electronics. They are the Chinese Amazon.

[Gaogao]

Hi there!

So, if I read it right here (and on 当当´s 帮助 page), I can choose to pay COD both in Beijing and Shanghai (books). I gotta admit, that I got a bit excited about ordering books online in China , since I often do it at home, and I really like the idea that I only have to give the address and click on the books I want (and cheaper than in the bookshop). Well, my Mandarin´s not the best yet, this is why I think that this experience would add a huge plus to my summer immersion.

Anyway, my question would be: I´m staying in a dorm, so would it be a problem/trouble if I asked dangdang to deliver the books to the dorm??? Usually how fast does it take, which type of delivery should I rather choose to be fast but not too expensive (or if I got ut right, it´s free above X yuan)? 一类区域普通快递送货上门 or 邮政特快专递 or 加急快递送货上门??

Thanks!

[dreamon]

Today is 2011; is there an updated list of online stores that deliver in (esp. southern) China? Could you please suggest any online stores that (a) take US credit cards, (b ) have good reputation, ideally exist for some years, (c ) can be navigated by a beginner in Chinese, e.g. have English or a clear lay-out, (d) have a good range of quality products and reasonable prices? I'm currently interested in electronics and flowers, but all other suggestions are of course very welcome. Thank you!

[aristotle1990]

You can buy stuff from Amazon.cn with a US credit card. Good electronics selection, though no flowers. There's no English, but if you've ever used the English version of Amazon before, it's not hard to figure the layout out (hint: they're identical).