Taobao experiences?

[hellothere]

I was watching one of Chryros' videos regarding SKCL yellow Alps and he mentioned that they are "readily available." I was able to find the Taobao page that he posted (I had to register first) and they're still selling a couple colors of real Alps ... I think. I'm not quite sure of the Google Translate, but I can see a couple colors are marked "Made in Taiwan," so Forward Electronics. They're also about $0.25 a piece, when you include shipping, which would be a bit cheaper than even buying Matias switches in bulk.

I don't read or speak Chinese, but there are a bunch of folks that proxy stuff from Taobao to the US. I searched on the forum and only found posts by proxies, so I wanted to see if any members have had experience.

[CL4P-TP]

Every NOS Alps switches on Taobao are out of stock, if you try to make an order they'll cancel it later.
Can peripherals sells desoldered ones, but I've never bought from them before: https://qtbao.world.taobao.com/?spm=201 ... 72896lgbyr

Also, you can find linear Matias for less than 0,9 yuan and cliky ones for 2 yuan.

[ZedTheMan]

I'd love to purchase some of those desoldered ones, but am having some serious difficulty navigating the page. How does one do this?

[CL4P-TP]

I'd love to purchase some of those desoldered ones, but am having some serious difficulty navigating the page. How does one do this?

You need to create an account to navigate taobao pages. However, this is the direct link to the switches page: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a3 ... 2996228780

You'll need a proxy service like superbuy to make the order and ship them outside of China.

[hellothere]

I'd love to purchase some of those desoldered ones, but am having some serious difficulty navigating the page. How does one do this?

You need to create an account to navigate taobao pages. However, this is the direct link to the switches page: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a3 ... 2996228780

You'll need a proxy service like superbuy to make the order and ship them outside of China.

Which, of course, goes back to my question of, "Anyone have experience with Taobao proxies?" So, one vote for Superbuy!

The switches page link immediately switches (heh) to a page that says, "According to relevant regional laws and regulations and Taobao policy, this product cannot be shipped to your country or region." The region listed is US. *Sigh*. I'd probably have to create another TaoBao account with a different country listed, so I can see the page. Or use a VPN.

EDIT: I can see https://qtbao.world.taobao.com/?spm=201 ... 72896lgbyr, but I just can't click on anything. I get the "no shipping" page.

[hellothere]

I'd also like to know what gets translated as "angry bear." I get that "squat spring loaded" is "buckling spring" and "axis" is probably "mount." I think "angry bear" might be Space Invaders / Hi-Tek.

[CL4P-TP]

I'd love to purchase some of those desoldered ones, but am having some serious difficulty navigating the page. How does one do this?

You need to create an account to navigate taobao pages. However, this is the direct link to the switches page: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a3 ... 2996228780

You'll need a proxy service like superbuy to make the order and ship them outside of China.

Which, of course, goes back to my question of, "Anyone have experience with Taobao proxies?" So, one vote for Superbuy!

The switches page link immediately switches (heh) to a page that says, "According to relevant regional laws and regulations and Taobao policy, this product cannot be shipped to your country or region." The region listed is US. *Sigh*. I'd probably have to create another TaoBao account with a different country listed, so I can see the page. Or use a VPN.

EDIT: I can see https://qtbao.world.taobao.com/?spm=201 ... 72896lgbyr, but I just can't click on anything. I get the "no shipping" page.

Mmh, I'm in Italy and I don't have the "no shipping" page. You can just paste the item link to superbuy to check pics and prices, but you can't do that with a store link.

"angry bears" are space invaders, they have some cool keyboards but shipping would be very expensive (min 50+€ to Europe)

[hwood34]

I'd love to purchase some of those desoldered ones, but am having some serious difficulty navigating the page. How does one do this?

You need to create an account to navigate taobao pages. However, this is the direct link to the switches page: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a3 ... 2996228780

You'll need a proxy service like superbuy to make the order and ship them outside of China.

Which, of course, goes back to my question of, "Anyone have experience with Taobao proxies?" So, one vote for Superbuy!

The switches page link immediately switches (heh) to a page that says, "According to relevant regional laws and regulations and Taobao policy, this product cannot be shipped to your country or region." The region listed is US. *Sigh*. I'd probably have to create another TaoBao account with a different country listed, so I can see the page. Or use a VPN.

EDIT: I can see https://qtbao.world.taobao.com/?spm=201 ... 72896lgbyr, but I just can't click on anything. I get the "no shipping" page.

Absolutely stay away from Superbuy. Any proxy somehow charging 0 fees should send up red flags. But basically they make all their money overcharging a ridiculous (and unpredictable amount) on shipping. Also just generally unreliable. I've used Taobao Focus a few times and it's always been easy. Fee is 10% though, which can add up pretty fast depending on what you're buying.

And yeah electronics aren't allowed to be shipped outside mainland so you won't be able to view them normally on the site, but you can kinda cheat it by just copying the link address and pasting it into the Superbuy search tool to view it translated on their site with no issue.