To succeed in taobao shopping as a foreigner,you need three things: choose the right item and seller, payment, and shipping.
I have already shared tips about choose right product and seller,shippping.In this post,I will explain the payment method taobao support and some tips about payment.
Two questions about alipay
First,here are two common questions:
Q1. Can I use paypal on taobao?
Unfortunately, you cannot.
On Taobao or any websites owned by Alibaba group, PayPal is not a payment option as it is a direct competitor with AliPay.
Q2. Can I use alipay balance to pay for my taobao orders?
No, you cann’t unless you have a verified alipay account.
but it is very hard to verify it because it requires a bank card issued by China banks.
so unless you work,study or travel in mainland China,you cann’t open a bank account like that.
Here is a guide on how to open China bank accounts as a foreigner.
Four Payment methods Taobao support
credit card
Taobao accepts a wide variety of credit and debit cards, including Visa, MasterCard,JCB.
and the service fee is 3% of transaction amount.
Sellers with credit card payment gateway :per transaction limit: 10000 RMB,per day limit: 10000 RMB
Sellers without credit card payment gateway :per transaction limit: 6000 RMB,per day limit:6000 RMB
Note: If you don’t want your credit card info to be saved on taobao,you can also use pre-paid gift cards or virtual credit card.
Malaysia eBanking
if you are from Malaysia or have Malaysia bank account,you can use this payment method,its service fee is low,which is only 1.5%.
Linked China bank account
as I said,if you are in China right now,you can open a Chinese bank accout,get it linked to alipay as a payment method,the best part is no service fee for every transaction.
another thing is once you have a Chinse bank account,you can open a Taobao store there and selling to China domestic market.
Alipay gift card (支付宝购物卡)
Alipay gift cards are another possible payment method with the Taobao,but it is only available to some countries like Australia or Singapore.
and the limit is per transaction limit: 4500 RMB,per day limit: 5000 RMB
Pay on your behalf
Taobao allows you to ask someone else to pay for your taobao orders,you just need to input that person’s alipay account,taobao will send message to him/her.
Step 1.
on the payment page,find the keywords “找人代付”,click it.
step 2.
now you can type in your friends alipay account ,notes,and the verifacation code.then click”请他付款”.
your friend will receive a notifaction to pay for your order.
The steps to use credit card on taobao
Step 1.
After entering the payment page, input the card number, and then click Next
Step 2.
Card information page where you need to input the relevant information, and then click on Confirm the Payment(确认付款).
Step 3.
if you have activated the 3D Secure (Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode) feature,then you need to input the personal security code to authenticate the transaction.
if not,you can skip this step and will be led to the payment result page.
Let me know what payments you are using in the comments!
198 thoughts on “4 Ways to Pay on Taobao”
Hi. I am using Chrome Auto Translate. So far no issue but today when I click to pay, I was asked to select mode of payment. Option 1 was AliPay. Option 2 was credit card international HK etc. previously I don’t recall being asked.
I chose option 2, was given a list of my saved credit cards and selected my usual YouTrip MasterCard. But the transaction kept failing. I could not get back to the page to choose options 1 or 2.
Eventually I cancelled the transaction, repurchased, selected Option 1 AliPay and then my YouTrip MasterCard and the transaction went through.
What gives?
View CommentHi , I tried to use my amex to pay on taobao and it kept rejecting it.
View CommentBut taobao shows that they accept amex card. May I know why I got rejected? Thank you
try another card.
View CommentHello Eric. Thanks for an informative article. I am highly annoyed at this 3% fee. Is there any way for a foreign customer to avoid it?
View CommentDo you know Wise? It there a fee on their cards as well? Thanks
This fee cannot be avoided unless you have a mainland China bank card.
View Commenti accidentally left the payment page.
View CommentCould you kindly share how I can get to that page?
in the user center, you can try to pay again.
View CommentHi Eric,
I did try to buy something on Taobao, everything went well until I made my payment, my credit card refused to pay, I received a text, I responded it was me, all was well, I was advised to try again. Second time, same thing. Why would this happen? Now I’m concerned about trying again, perhaps the merchant won’t sell to me? Doubtful, but just a thought.
View Commentyou can try another credit card, if still not working, it may be the problem of alipay.
View CommentThank you, Eric. I did that, I’m surprised the other card didn’t go through, no huge balance, both are MasterCard’s, though my middle initial might have been the issue? Who knows, but I did get the order placed. Thank again for your assistance via this site, it’s invaluable.
View CommentHi Eric, how do I get to the page that you’ve mentioned “The Steps To Use Credit Card On Taobao”?
View CommentAfter you submit your order, the page will automatically jump to the payment page.
View CommentHi, I’ve tried ordering something from Taobao and it showed me to the Alipay page. I put in my credit card info but after confirming it redirects me to a page stating “Your personal information cannot be verified by Alipay, please make sure to fill it out accurately” I’ve filled out all required fields and triple checked to see if I’ve put in the info wrong. I don’t understand why it’s not working?
View CommentHi Eric
View CommentCan we use foreign credit card for TaoBao (china) purchase ? If yes, how to add in the credit card? Can Alipay be link to foreign credit card ?
yes, you can.
When you pay, a page will pop up asking you to enter your credit card information.
View CommentIf payment via debit card, what is the transaction fee?
View Commentsame as credit cards, 3%
View Commentit seems that by paying through credit card from Singapore is deactivated. On the payment page, only Alipay is accepted, there is none as you mentioned above have payment done through credit card. I knew that was possible maybe few months ago, not now. I wanted to pay for my purchase but can’t, hope you could enlighten me.
Thank you
View CommentI just tested it, you can still pay with your Singapore credit card.
View CommentHi, i have this seller contact while i was in china. Now i want to purchase more item from him.. and he me asked to do payment thru taoboa. However when he gave me his toaboa link, there is no picture of the item. My question is, how do i make that payment to him.
View CommentMany Taobao sellers use this way to collect money, you just need to place an order first, then tell the seller what you want, the seller will change the price and shipping fee, and then you pay.
View CommentHi, I’ve signed up at Alipay and my account seems properly verified.
View CommentBut I can’t seem to make any payment with my Visa credit card. I have linked it to my Alipay account and it even deduced a small amount from my bank account (probably to verify my card?). But when I scan an Alipay QR code for payment, I only get the option to “Pay with a new card”. When I enter my Visa card, I keep getting the error “Linking of this card is temporary unavailable. Please try another bank card.”.
Are there certain foreign Visa cards that Alipay don’t accept?
hi, Your foreign bank card can only be used to purchase physical products on Taobao.
View CommentHello, can I know how to cancel automatic payment from credit card by alipay ?
View CommentYou need to log into your alipay to cancel
View CommentHi, I can’t seem to get onto the credit card payment page. It always directs me to create an AliPay account.
View Commentthen you can create an Alipay account firstly.
View CommentHey which type of gift cards can be used on taobao? Does onevanilla visa gift card work?
View CommentI did not test it yet, but I guess it is ok.
View Comment