I recently ordered 3 wigs through BuyChina, a taobao shopping service. Before this order, I've never used an agent or anything to buy from taobao so I can't really compare services.
BuyChina is pretty much like a cart for international shoppers. If you find something you like on taobao, you can put the link in the search bar and it'll give you a translated listing page for the item. The price that BuyChina shows you is the converted dollar amount plus the service fee, which is 10%. They give you a converted domestic shipping fee on the same page as well as an estimated shipping cost.
Shipping cost is weight based like pretty much all other services. BuyChina, however, makes you pay shipping when you pay for your items. They'll refund money if shipping was less than expected and they'll have you pay more if it's the other way around. In their Help category, there's a
nice chart for estimated weights based on the item. Before you pay for your order, you can alter the weights of your items if you have an idea. This will change your shipping cost so you can go back and forth between your items and the weight alteration page to figure out the total you pay.
You can search through BuyChina to find items but I find it much easier to look on taobao then put in the link to get the listing. BuyChina honestly has some poorly translated categories and not everything gets filtered into the right one. Going through the pages will eventually give you exact repeats as well. I don't mean look-alikes, but the same item from the same seller in the same part of the page. Because of this, I like to look at BuyChina as more of a convenient cart than an online store.
Once you've bought your items, BuyChina will take pictures of each one once they receive them. The pictures will be in your Order Status and I find it really nice to see the progress. They also give you a tracking number. I ordered on January 8th and my items were all in stock. I don't remember when BuyChina received them but they shipped out on the 12th. They arrived on the 22nd.
Packaging was very secure. My wigs were fit snuggly inside a cardboard box but BuyChina added a bit of bubble wrap anyway. I didn't take pictures because the box was so completely taped up with yellow packaging tape that I sort of destroyed the box. xD;; No worries about packaging at all.
Overall, I think BuyChina is really convenient and quick. I definitely will use it again but I hope they update their categories to make browsing easier. I can't compare price with other taobao agents but it's not bad as long as you buy at least a few items. I think the more you buy, the cheaper shipping gets which lowers the total price per item.
On to the wigs!
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The three shops I bought from were
CC Kids,
Ghost Cos, and
lingyisun.
Packaged wigs:
Please excuse the blurred wig head. I need to get a new one since the one I have is unsuitable for pictures. xD;; It's quite hideous and frankly kind of scary. Oh and please note that the wig head is small so the length of the wigs' bangs won't actually be that long when worn.
The first wig I got was an 80cm
green wig listed as one for CC from Code Geass. I bought it for my upcoming cosplay of Nah from Fire Emblem Awakening.
Front:
Back:
The wig is very soft and shiny. It's not Halloween wig shiny though which is nice. The fibers are nice and a simple comb though fixes any messy look. The wig has a good level of thickness to it. It's not too thick and not too thin. The wig net that it's sewn to is beige and you can't see it through the fibers. The wig net that came with it doesn't fully contain the wig though.
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From lingyisun, I bought an
ash purple wig meant for Rem from Final Fantasy Type-0. I plan on cosplaying her eventually because all the Type-0 feels. ; A;
Front:
Back:
Top:
By the head, the wig is extremely thick. Too much, in my opinion. If you have long, thick hair and a round face like I do, wearing this wig will make you look big headed. It's unfortunate but I think I'll keep this wig around to see how it'll be once I cut my hair shorter. Hopefully it'll look better. The wig itself is great quality though. The fibers are nice and definitely seem fit for styling. However, I don't really like how messy the parting looks up close. It has a bunch of short fibers sticking up and I tried to capture it in the picture above but I don't think it took very well. The wig cap that it's sewn to is beige and you can't see through the fibers.
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The last wig I bought was also for an upcoming cosplay as Shindou Ai from Kyoukai no Kanata. It's
brown and curly and from Ghost Cos.
Front:
Back:
The wig is heavy with the curls so the picture from the back is with the wig head all the way against the wall and the curls spilling over the box instead of how I had it with the green wig. This wig is incredibly pretty. It's a nice shade of brown, has a natural shine, and is a good balance of thickness all while being soft. The wig cap is black for this wig but you don't notice it with the thickness of the wig. he wig net it came with is a bit difficult to get on, but it manages to fit the wig.
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No doubt I will buy from the same wig shops again. Especially Ghost Cos because their wigs just seem perfect. If you have any questions about the wigs or BuyChina, feel free to ask. I'll try to answer them as best as I can. o wo
