The letter we have been waiting for has finally arrived.
Yes, the Notice of Temporary Occupation Permit.
:D
I can't wait to check out our future home after the 25% payment and cheques for maintenance and survey fees have been cleared.
Maybe it is time to start learning how to buy furniture and lighting from Taobao. I have all along relied on agents like 65daigou to purchase on behalf, but the shipping fees are really costly for heavy items.
Take an example of my recent purchase (Link here):
- I bought 3 of the above set and the total cost exclude shipping is only: RMB264 (SGD56)
Total weight was supposed to be
4.94KG, but they charged me the volumetric weight of
6.00KG. My shipping cost purely for this item amounted to SGD23 which was 40% of my product cost. *Ouch* Lesson learnt: never ship bulky items with 65daigou. I could easily shave off a couple of dollars if I choose the right forwarder.
I have been reading up on various forums and many shared on other options like direct purchase from Taobao and using their designated forwarders like 4px, Prouter or engaging services of own forwarders like Amcon, Oops.sg and Hongxun Logistics. All these will require liaisely directly with the Taobao sellers unless you are willing to pay for Oops.sg or Peeka buy4U service. My mandarin is still acceptable, so I think i will give it a go on my own this time.
So I have narrowed down to these two:
Hongxun charges RMB 530 for 1CBM excluding GST (max 500kg) and delivers to your door step as long as there are lifts in your building.
Amcon charges slightly higher at RMB550 excluding GST. You also have to pay S$35 for shipping documents and if you engage their service to purchase on behalf from Taobao, it costs RMB50 per link.
Since the items I will be purchasing will be rather bulky, Amcon and Hongxun is definitely the way to go since I will probably be hitting 1CBM worth of items.
My other taobao purchases: http://lilmisswhite.blogspot.sg/2014/08/going-green-for-our-stomachs.html
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