Fox Cherry and TaobaoSpree review- Neutral

Today I will be reviewing my very first Taobao order! It came from a shop called Fox Cherry- http://foxcherry333.taobao.com/

If the name Fox Cherry sounds familiar, it is because there was a review of them on EGL. In fact, it was this review that made me go ahead and place an order. Fox Cherry make lolita inspired accessories (mainly hair stuff) and because it is Taobao, the prices are cheap. I ordered some things for myself and also some items for the Feb Ox Loli meet, which sadly, did not get here in time (more on that later)

The majority of this review relates to my experience using the Taobao shopping service Taobao Spree- http://www.taobaospree.com/

Communication


I was assigned Lucy, who was going to look after my Taobao order for me. I would love to say that Lucy was amazing but to be honest, I found the experience to be annoying. An example of this would be when Lucy attached the wrong spread sheet to my order. You fill in Taobao Spree's spreadsheet and then before they order, they send it back to double check to make sure they have the right order. We got quoted the right price but we got somebody else's order on the spreadsheet. Considering this was my very first Taobao order, this did not help my first-time nerves at all. It was hardly a massive mistake but it did not leave a good first impression. Of course, I also have to allow for China being 8 hours ahead of the UK, but despite this, I still found Lucy a bit too slow responding for my liking.

One of the biggest factors about my Taobao order was that I ordered on the 4th of January knowing fully well that Chinese New Year was coming up. And this was a risk that I had decided to take and obviously Taobao Spree was not in any way responsible for this. However, my order did come on Taobao Spree's last working day before they started their holiday. But unfortunately Lucy only gave me one hour to respond with my final payment and did I get that email in time? Nope! So I had to wait a fortnight for Taobao Spree to come back off their holidays before it got posted. Now, I cannot stress enough that this was my fault and NOT Taobao Spree's fault but I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't been given more time to pay before they went away. Whether this was because of the slowness of the Chinese post or whether Lucy was slow, I don't know. If you take just one bit of information from this review make sure it is this- NEVER order from Taobao right before Chinese New Year.

Ease Of Use


Taobao Spree's fees were relatively easy to work out because it was all set out on the spreadsheet. Before they order they double check with you if you want to go ahead, which gives you the opportunity to back out if you are unhappy. At first I found filling in the spreadsheet to order a bit daunting. Luckily, Taobao Spree have included Youtube videos (made by other people) on their website showing how to do it. I found the video very helpful and without it, I would have been confused.

Charges


Taobao Spree's charges were very reasonable. Even after all their fees were added on top, I only paid roughly £8-9 per item. This is still relatively cheap, especially considering how much re-sellers would probably charge.

Shipping


After the 2 week Chinese New Year break, my order was shipped by Taobao Spree on the 1st of February and it arrived on the 8th. I didn't have any nasty customs fees to pay so it came quite quickly.

My order was placed inside a bubble wrap envelope. It was very secure and not damaged at all.

Inside, every item was individually wrapped in plastic and then bundled in to a large plastic bag. The items were a bit squished together but nothing was damaged and it was all very secure.

Overall, I would like to give Taobao Spree a positive feedback rating. Despite Lucy's slip-up and the Chinese New Year fiasco, I don't think I have any solid complaints about Taobao Spree's service. The neutral feedback in the title of this post is actually for Fox Cherry.

I ordered 5 items- 3 rose corsage veils, a double pink rose hair comb and a pearl hairband with rose decoration.

These are the 3 headdresses. I got 2 in all-black and one in blue x black. When you order such cheap items you can always argue that you "get what you pay for". Actually, I was happy with the appearance of all of my items.

The reason why I am giving Fox Cherry a neutral feedback is because as soon as I opened the packages this very strong smell of cigarette smoke hit me. All of the items I ordered absolutely stank of smoke. For some reason, the rose veils were the worst affected. It is a good job I managed to get the smell out with some Febreeze spray. I also found that everything was covered in thin strands of glue and I picked a lot of this off before taking this photograph. The edges of the material were rough in places so I am concerned they may fray. However, the ribbon used does appear to be of good quality.

This pearl headband was the least affected by the smoke and glue. It was actually meant for the Ox meet raffle and after trying it on, I don't think it suits me. So I will be looking to sell this soon. I doubt I will get very much for it. Despite not being affected as badly, I am still going to give it a quick spray with Febreeze.

A close-up of the flower bit.

I have decided to keep the pink rose comb for now. It is actually very beautiful in person.

For some reason, I got given a free Fifi Lapin mirror. I am probably going to chuck it in with the pearl headband as a free gift when I sell that. But it was a nice gesture.

So overall, this has been a very mixed experience. Although I got these items cheaply, I still can't justify giving Fox Cherry a positive review, because I don't think I am being unreasonable when I expect the items to not smell of cigarette smoke. Plus it wasn't much fun trying to peel little trails of glue off the items. I am just trying to be as honest as possible, and in all honesty, I was not majorly impressed with the items I received. I don't know... do you think I have been too harsh? Let me know what you think.

But I would use Taobao Spree again. I think with a little practice and a bit of "getting used to" the service, I would become more confident. And I still think it is a better option than buying from re-sellers such as Qutieland, whose prices work out a lot higher. So yes, Taobao Spree does get a positive rating from me. I just wish I hadn't been so stupid as to order right before Chinese New Year.