Selling on Taobao

Taobao is China's largest marketplace with monthly traffic of 600 million Chinese users. It is completely local in nature and focuses only on mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Registering a Store on Taobao

Registration and sales through an individual. What you have to do:

1. Open a bank account in a Chinese bank.

   A non-resident of China can not open a bank account in a Chinese bank, except for two cases: when you are a student and stay in China with a student visa, or when you are an employee and you have an employment contract with a respective work visa.

2. Register an account in AliPay payment service.

   To register with AliPay, you have to submit your personal details including your passport number, visa number, bank card details and your photo with your passport spread (KWC). You will also need a phone number registered to the same passport as used to open an account with a bank and AliPay.

3. Register an account on Taobao.

   Both Taobao and AliPay belong to the Alibaba Group holding, therefore, your personal data is stored in the common cloud; so you do not need to re-register on Taobao, but just go to the marketplace via the AliPay application, where Taobao is a built-in mini program (same way as in WeChat).

   

   

   

4. Register as a seller (with an already linked AliPay account).

   Create a store

   You can create a store, fill the storefront, and select a design using the built-in assistant Ali Wang Wang, which also allows you to analyze the incoming traffic and gives recommendations to enhance your selling performance.

Registration and sales through a legal entity

Procedure of selling through a legal entity is essentially similar to selling through an individual, but you will obviously need a legal entity in China and an account in a Chinese bank.

So, what you need

1. Registration of a legal entity in China

   Registration is available for non-residents on condition of submitting personal details and takes up to 60 calendar days depending on the registration zone (there are free economic zones and ordinary economic zones).

2. Export and import license (if you are going to sell imported goods)

   Obtaining the license is only possible after registration of a legal entity and takes up to 30 calendar days depending on the category of product groups to be imported.

3. Account in a Chinese bank

   It can be opened within 15 calendar days upon submitting your Chinese company's license (also called 营业 执照, yíngyè zhízhào).

4. Register as a seller on Taobao and link your Chinese legal entity

   To link your legal entity, you will have to submit copies of the charter documents and the company representative's personal details. The representative also should be available to answer a call and confirm his/her identity.

5. Create a store

   You can create a store, fill the storefront, and select a design using the built-in assistant Ali Wang Wang, which also allows you to analyze the incoming traffic and gives recommendations to enhance your selling performance.

Taobao Store: How Much?

1,000 CNY is a mandatory deposit payment for a seller registered as an individual.

If you are going to register the store for a legal entity, your major expenses will be:

• Company registration

• Obtaining the export and import license

• Importing to China (if necessary)

• Internal logistics and warehousing

Want Your Store on Taobao?

Our team offers a full range of services for placing your online store on the Taobao platform: