What is Overseas Shopping? Overseas Shopping Review

I. Historical Background

The rise of “overseas shopping” is due to the increasingly convenient online shopping channels, while the increase in domestic consumer purchasing power and the enhancement of the international payment capacity of the RMB are also important reasons.

Behind the rising wave of overseas shopping crazes, there is certainly some consumers' blind trust and admiration for foreign brands. Further analysis shows that the deeper reason is consumers' distrust of the quality of domestic products and their dissatisfaction with the high domestic prices of foreign brands.

There are also many overseas shopping agent websites or discount information websites in China. Through these websites, you can learn about the detailed overseas shopping process and related strategies, and they can also provide purchasing services.

We also provide an overseas limited-time discount navigation service, which brings together daily discounted products from major overseas limited-time discount websites, classifies them, and organizes the various products by category, saving user time, facilitating user searches, and building a better and safer channel for users to connect with these websites.

There are also some auxiliary websites or tools. Through these websites, users can easily obtain the price and evaluation information of the same product sold by mainstream e-commerce companies at home and abroad, as well as the popularity of the product. For example, it provides a one-click query function for overseas shopping logistics information. By providing query services for major forwarding companies and domestic and foreign express delivery information including STO Express and EMS, it helps those who have express delivery query syndrome to get rid of the suffering, making overseas shopping easier from now on!

2. Taxation Policy

According to the "Notice on Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import Tax Policy" issued by the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation on April 8, 2016, the single transaction limit for cross-border e-commerce retail import goods is RMB 2,000, and the annual transaction limit for individuals is RMB 20,000.

For cross-border e-commerce retail imported goods within the limit, the tariff rate is temporarily set at 0%; the exemption of import value-added tax and consumption tax is cancelled, and 70% of the statutory tax payable is temporarily levied. Single transactions exceeding the single limit, and the accumulated individual annual limit, as well as single indivisible goods with a tax-paid price exceeding the limit of 2,000 yuan, are all taxed in full according to the general trade method.

This means that if a single transaction exceeds 2,000 yuan and the individual's annual cumulative amount exceeds 20,000 yuan, the full amount will be taxed in accordance with general trade methods.

3. Current situation of overseas shopping

1. Advantages

First, you can "shop" at international stores at home and place orders without being restricted by time or location.

Second, you can obtain a large amount of international product information and buy products that are not available in China;

Third, the prices of goods on overseas shopping websites are much cheaper than those in domestic counters, and overseas shopping websites often have discount promotions;

Fourth, as the RMB exchange rate rises, the purchasing power of RMB increases;

Fifth, the domestic luxury goods market is flooded with fakes, and it is really difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake without a pair of discerning eyes. However, there is basically no need to worry about the problem of fakes on the products on overseas shopping websites, so people can buy with confidence.

2. Disadvantages

First, language restriction. Most overseas shopping websites have foreign language interfaces. If you are not good at foreign languages, it will be difficult to shop online compared to domestic ones.

Second, international delivery cycles are long and riskier than domestic delivery, and the quality of logistics and express delivery in each link is uneven; there are no standardized corporate regulations in the forwarding industry, and when problems such as forwarding companies closing down occur, there is nowhere to complain. "Overseas shopping is risky, shopping needs to be cautious" is something that ordinary consumers must pay attention to.

Third, consumers have no right to refuse payment when using Chinese-issued credit cards, and they are not accepted by most overseas online stores;

Fourth, if there are any problems in the operation of logistics, financial flow, and information flow, you need to make international long-distance calls and communicate with all parties in English. International mail is very unreliable; returns and exchanges are also inconvenient;

Fifth, online payment is not safe. Because credit card information is kept by foreign online stores, and foreign credit card payment system transactions do not require passwords, the number may be snooped on at any stage during the transmission process and stolen. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the network environment is safe and there are no hidden Trojans or viruses in the computer;

Sixth, the various forwarding companies that consumers come into contact with are usually not real international logistics channel providers with customs clearance resources, but intermediaries. These forwarding companies usually do not rely on e-commerce rebates but on hidden intermediary fees to make profits, which may not be lower than the fees charged by professional purchasing agents;

Seventh, policies of various countries change frequently, and as more and more countries become aware of the behavior pattern of overseas shopping, policy caution brings potential risks and confusion to overseas consumers, such as the tightening of New Zealand's milk powder export policy.

4. Shopping Process

1. Purchase process

In simple terms, the process of overseas shopping is as follows:

1) Register on a cross-border overseas shopping website.

2) Register for a rebate website (most websites offer rebates, the more you buy, the more you get back, ranging from 1% to 10%);

3) Register a forwarding company and get your own overseas forwarding warehouse address (if the overseas shopping website supports free direct shipping to China, you do not need a forwarding company and can skip this step);

4) Connect to overseas shopping websites through rebate websites;

5) Select the product and add it to the shopping cart;

6) After selecting everything, confirm the quantity and amount, and check out directly;

7) Enter the collection address and consignee name provided by the forwarding company (if the overseas shopping website supports free direct shipping to China, you can directly fill in the domestic collection address and consignee information);

8) Enter the credit card billing address, card number, name, and expiration date;

9) Shopping success;

10) Receive a deduction message from the overseas shopping website a few hours later;

11) Shipping from overseas shopping websites;

12) The forwarding company's collection warehouse receives the package, pays the forwarding fee and submits the shipping instructions for forwarding back to China (if the overseas shopping website supports free direct mail to China, skip this step);

13) The forwarding company will ship the goods, which usually arrives in 5-7 days (if the overseas shopping website supports free direct shipping to China, skip this step);

14) Express delivery to your door.

2. Coupons

Almost all overseas merchants support coupons and have a high degree of integrity in redeeming coupons. When placing an order and checking out for payment, there will be an input box for "entering a coupon code". When you use a valid coupon code, you will get an extra discount when shopping. Some overseas shopping stores even offer discounts on top of discounts.

Finding coupons when shopping overseas is an essential task.

3. Mail order process

1) Direct Mail

(The website accepts Chinese credit card payments and supports direct shipping to China).

Advantages: Simple and convenient; if the order is lost or damaged, you can directly negotiate with the shopping website to reissue it. In addition, the advantages of direct shipping from Europe are particularly obvious, because European goods are subject to a 17% value-added tax (i.e. consumption tax). If you choose to ship directly overseas, you don’t have to pay value-added tax. According to experience, for general items, the saved value-added tax can basically offset the international shipping fee; but if you choose to ship to your own country by transshipment, the value-added tax paid is not refundable, and you have to pay the transshipment fee yourself.

Disadvantages: There are few overseas shopping websites that support direct shipping; shipping costs are expensive.

2) Transshipment

(The website accepts payments from credit cards issued by domestic banks, but it cannot be mailed directly to China. In this case, you need to find a forwarder who provides a local delivery address. The merchant is responsible for delivering the goods to the forwarding location, and the forwarder is responsible for delivering the goods to Chinese consumers.)

Advantages: There are many more products to choose from. After all, only a few foreign shopping websites provide direct shipping, and some websites that can provide direct shipping are very expensive; the delivery speed is guaranteed and can be tracked; compared with direct shipping, transshipment is cheaper.

Disadvantages: Need to use some workarounds to avoid consumption tax; long cycle; if there are problems with transportation (such as lost goods), it is difficult to negotiate.

5. Notes

Choose overseas shopping websites carefully and beware of fraudulent shopping websites.

VI. Major Events

On February 18, 2014, the Shanghai headquarters of the central bank announced that it would launch a pilot program for cross-border RMB payment services in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Five payment institutions, including UnionPay, 99Bill, and Tonglian, signed contracts with cooperative banks. This means that in the future, consumers will be able to use RMB to shop overseas through third-party payment institutions, and domestic companies will also be able to use RMB to conduct cross-border business. Industry insiders believe that this is another important measure to facilitate cross-border trade and expand the cross-border use of RMB.

The latest news on April 13, 2014 is that the Industrial Bank's official mall has teamed up with the cross-border maternal and infant e-commerce company, the Mai Le Gou Global Boutique Maternal and Infant Mall, to launch the "Overseas Direct Purchase" business for imported maternal and infant products, and began to provide domestic users with overseas original imported goods. As a pioneer in the domestic banking industry's trial of overseas e-commerce, the Industrial Bank has also taken a substantial step forward.

During the 2016 315 Gala, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine conducted quality spot checks on children's products imported through cross-border e-commerce channels, including toys, clothing, diapers, tableware, wet wipes, etc. A total of 654 batches were sampled, of which 217 batches were found to be unqualified, with an unqualified rate of 33%.

Among them, a total of 124 batches of imported toys were randomly inspected, and 28 batches of products were found to have small parts that could easily cause choking of children or physical safety performance failures. The products mainly came from Thailand, South Korea, Germany, the United States and other countries. The brands involved include: little tikes, wonderworld, etc.

A total of 133 batches of imported children's clothing were sampled, and 29 batches were found to be substandard. The main problems were that the straps and accessories of the clothing did not meet the standard requirements, were easy to cause suffocation for children, and the pH of the fabrics was substandard. The products mainly came from South Korea, Turkey, the United States and other countries. The brands involved included: Allo&Lugh, Boys Rock, etc.

7. What are the overseas shopping websites?

1. Lookfantastic

This website is probably a cosmetics and skincare website that everyone is familiar with. It has a Chinese website and accepts Alipay payments. There are often 25% and 15% discounts, which is very cost-effective. The discount code can be found on the website. When the UK left the EU, I once bought a foreo mini2 with a friend. The price was about 700 RMB, which was a good deal!! I was lucky that there was no tax!! There are many cosmetics brands on the website, and there is a chance of taxation, which depends on luck.

2. Matsumoto Kiyoshi

As the leader of Japanese chain drugstores, Matsumoto Kiyoshi plays an indispensable role in the lives of Japanese women. Its online sales platform is even comparable to Rakuten in Japan.

3. Unineed

A British brand discount website, mainly selling major luxury brands. The website has discounts all year round, and the discounts are very impressive. It is a good place to buy big brands. It is suitable for buying Dior, Gucci, Chanel, Versace, Prada, Armani, etc. But please note that some brands cannot be shipped directly to China, so pay attention when buying. Then the goods of each brand are not complete. The goods are shipped by international EMS, and there is no need to declare customs. The postage is free for direct shipping over 40 pounds.

4. iHerb

iHerb is one of the largest health products websites in the United States. It is similar to Drugstore, and many maternal and child products can also be purchased on it. Now that DR has closed its website, it is still cost-effective to buy many things on it. The advantage of iHerb is that it has Chinese page services and can ship directly to China, so it is a place where many newcomers test the waters for their first order.

5. SkinStore

Skinstore is the world's largest cosmetics retail website. Its cosmetics series include beauty and skin care, beautiful makeup, shampoo and hair care, bath, mother and baby, tools, perfume, teeth beauty, etc. It sells more than 5,000 well-known products from more than 200 brands, with a wide range of brands, from Neutrogena, OLAY to Z.Biagtti. It supports Alipay payment and direct shipping to China, with shipping starting at US$10.

References

• 1. Overseas shopping: Baidu Encyclopedia