How to Register a Taobao Account: 2023 Complete Guide

To shop on Taobao, you must first register a Taobao account. Therefore, you must use a long-term valid mobile phone number to register a Taobao account.

Taobao has only a Chinese version, so shopping will be difficult if you don’t understand Chinese. We recommend using Google Chrome to shop on Taobao, as you may need to use Google's built-in translation feature to translate Taobao from Chinese to English.

Create a new Taobao account in 8 simple steps

Step 1: Visit Taobao's official website www.taobao.com. If you visit outside China, you will automatically be redirected to Taobao's international address, world.taobao.com.

Step 2:

• To translate Taobao, right-click and click "Translate to English".
• Click the "Register for Free" button to register.

Step 3: On the registration page, select "English" in the upper right corner.

Step 4:

• Select the country/region where your mobile phone is registered from the drop-down list.
• Enter your mobile phone number (no spaces, no hyphens, no brackets).
• Click "Get Verification Code".

Step 5: In the pop-up prompt box, drag the sliding button from left to right until it turns full green. Once the bar turns green, a verification code will be sent to your phone number.

Step 6: Add the verification code in the input box and click "Agree and Register".

Step 7: Follow the on-screen steps to create your Taobao username and password, then click "Submit".

Step 8: Once you click "Submit", you will see something like this.

Congratulations! At this point, your Taobao account is now ready.

Taobao FAQ

Can I register on Taobao only with a Chinese phone number?

Of course not. Taobao supports most countries and regions, including mobile phone numbers in 169 countries and regions.

How do you get help with Taobao orders?

For newcomers who do not understand Chinese, shopping on Taobao is very difficult, especially when encountering after-sales problems, because the Taobao system is very complicated, and many Chinese people don't know how to initiate a dispute or where to get customer service support. Most of them get bot responses and no help at all.

Place an order on Taobao and plan to ship it overseas. You'd better find a Taobao agent to help you process your order, as most of them offer English customer service and can guide you on handling the follow-up issues of Taobao orders, such as returns and exchanges and quality inspection. If you order directly from Taobao, you will hardly find customer service to help you with these tasks.

How do you pay on Taobao without Alipay?

It is entirely whimsical because you have not considered the business logic between Alipay and Taobao, which belong to the Alibaba Group. When you purchase goods on Taobao, a payment gateway will allow payment and guarantee the customer's rights and interests, similar to PayPal. Therefore, Alibaba Group encourages users to pay through Alipay. On the one hand, it can build a closed business loop. On the other hand, it can collect user consumption information for extensive data analysis, dig deeper into user needs, and explore new business needs.

Of course, you can buy on Taobao without Alipay. You can pay Taobao sellers offline, but there is no guarantee. What if the seller does not deliver the goods after receiving them? What if their product is defective? Customers have no warranty on these after-sales issues, so more and more users are willing to pay on Taobao through Alipay.

Can anyone use Taobao for commercial purposes? Are there any usage restrictions?

Taobao is an online marketplace owned by Alibaba Group that allows businesses and individuals to buy and sell goods in China. Anyone can use Taobao for commercial purposes, but there are some restrictions to keep in mind:

Location: Taobao primarily targets the Chinese market, so individuals or businesses outside China may face challenges using the platform.

Language: The platform is in Chinese, so users who don't speak Chinese may find it challenging to use.

Payment: Taobao primarily uses Alipay for payments, which can be difficult for individuals or businesses without a Chinese bank account or payment method to make purchases on their own.

Registration: Businesses must register with the Chinese government to use Taobao commercially.

Product Restrictions: Certain products that can be sold on Taobao may be subject to restrictions, such as products that are illegal or prohibited in China.

Taobao is primarily designed for individuals and small businesses and may not be the best platform for larger enterprises or those looking to sell products internationally. It is always a good idea to research the policies and regulations of a platform before using it for commercial purposes.