Module four of the guide
Ordering through Basetao, step by step
Three routes in, one warehouse, one parcel out. This page follows the Buy for me route in full and then covers what changes for forwarding and for a search request.
Buy for me
The main route, in the order it happens
Each step below names the official page it comes from. Anything behind a login is described only by what the public pages say about it, because we have not seen it.
Create an account and whitelist the mail
Basetao asks you to add its address to your mail whitelist before you register, and warns that the activation mail can take one to three hours to arrive at Gmail. That is worth doing first, because the usual first support ticket is a missing activation mail.
Give Basetao the link
Marketplace links go in the search bar on the site. Items from 1688, WeChat, Yupoo or an image host go through the self help order form, which asks for the item URL, the item name, the seller name, the price, the domestic shipping cost, the quantity, and optionally size and colour.
For WeChat and Yupoo, Basetao asks you to include the sellers contact details in a note, and states plainly that it is not responsible if that seller turns out to be fraudulent.
- Write the measurement or photo request before the agent places the order. Confirm any service charge before approving it.
Pay for the goods and the domestic freight
This first payment covers what the Chinese seller charges plus the domestic shipping to the warehouse, and the service fee shown as its own column in the official calculator. International freight is not included and cannot be yet.
Read the arrival photos
Photos are normally uploaded the day the item arrives, free, with no limit on how many. If an item stays in the ordered state after photos appear, Basetao says that usually means the buyer found a flaw, so read the messages before assuming it is a glitch.
If you want a garment measured, that is a request, and the homepage lists a 1.5 CNY handling fee for it.
Decide: keep, return, or ask
Most sellers accept a return or exchange within seven days of the parcel reaching the warehouse. Return shipping is yours to pay, and if you ticked remove packaging at order time the item is no longer in original condition, so the seller may refuse.
Submit a parcel
You choose what goes in it. Orders from different sellers can be combined into one parcel, and a single order can be split across several parcels for different addresses. Both are listed as available services.
Pay international freight, then wait
This is the second payment moment, and the first time a real freight number exists, because the parcel has now been weighed and measured. Insurance, if you want it, is chosen here.
Ship for me: when you already bought it
If you can buy from a Chinese site yourself and only need the flight, you send the parcel to the Basetao warehouse and raise a Ship for me order so the arrival can be matched to you. Basetao asks the seller to give you a tracking code before dispatch, and updates the weight and photos once it lands.
Three things on this route that catch people out. The forwarding ban list is not the same as the purchase ban list. Basetao states it has no import qualification, so a parcel sent from outside China may be returned or seized. And the insurance policy applies to Buy for me, with a maximum insurance amount of 200 RMB for forwarded parcels.
What the parcel form asks for
Product name, quantity, the Chinese courier that carried it, and the tracking code. The courier list is long and specific: EMS, ZTO, YTO, STO, Yunda, TTKD, Best, UC, Quanfeng, Huisen, Fast, LHT, SF, ZJS, JYM, Deppon, Xinfeng, or other.
If you do not have a tracking code, get one from the seller before dispatch. Without it the warehouse has a box and no way to attach it to your account.
Combine or split, and why the clock matters
Both are ordinary services. The reason the choice is urgent is that waiting costs storage days.
Combine when
- You are buying from several sellers over a few weeks
- The items are small and the freight per parcel dominates
- Everything is going to one address
Split when
- Items go to different addresses
- One item is banned on the line the rest need
- One item is large enough to drag the whole parcel onto volumetric pricing
Track the parcel and check it on arrival
Keep the parcel ID, chosen route and carrier tracking number after the international shipping payment. A tracking label can appear before the carrier has collected the package. Compare the agent status with the carrier’s latest event and ask support about the missing step if progress stalls.
At delivery, check the label, package condition and contents. Photograph damage and the affected item, keep packaging and record what is missing. Use the applicable claim deadline and requested evidence; a screenshot of a tracking page alone does not establish the value or condition of the goods.