Wang Yuanyuan

cheekywang@hotmail.com

CHINA is the world’s largest production base for clothes. Accessories of many of the world’s most famous fashion brands are made in China, so it is easy to get great clothes for relatively low prices if you know where to look.

Shenzhen is a good place to buy discounted clothes of foreign brands made at nearby factories, but it is far from being the only place in China where clothes are made. If you use taobao.com, China’s largest shopping Web site, you can also buy designer items made in places like Zhejiang and Liaoning provinces.

Of course, one of the most challenging things is ascertaining whether the clothes you buy online are of genuinely good quality. Here are some tips to help you become a smarter online shopper.Choose a reputable online shop

There are millions of shops on taobao.com, a large percentage of which sell items that failed quality control tests in factories. When you want to buy an item and you don’t have much experience of shopping online, go to a shop rated as “blue crown” or “gold crown.” The more crowns there are, the bigger the shop is.

Before making the order, view other buyers’ comments. Read what they say about the products and the shop before coming to a decision.

It is also advisable to choose shops with policies such as “accept returning products within seven days without any explanation.”

If you are an experienced buyer, a “diamond” or a “heart” seller (both “diamond” and “heart” are ratings at taobao.com) may be a better choice as they tend to have better customer service and are more likely to offer discounts.

Sales record

The Web site records how many items a shop has sold in the past 30 days. If a shop, particularly a “crowned” shop has sold more than 1,000, it means their products are probably not of very high quality because no manufacturer of a designer brand would have so many extras.

Generally speaking, factories won’t sell more than 100 items of clothing to a single wholesaler at a time.

Successful online shops that sell designer clothes generally sell around 50 items in 30 days.

Prices

Big shops often have higher prices than smaller shops as their reputations allow it. But if you are savvy, you won’t have to purchase from one of these big shops.

By and large, an item of designer clothing will cost 100 to 800 yuan (US$16-126). Summer items are usually cheaper than winter ones.

Other items, such as T-shirts of Lacoste, Fred Perry or Tommy, can be bought for under 200 yuan. If the online seller is also a wholesaler, you may get one for about 80 yuan.

Your rights as a customer

If you are not satisfied with your clothes, and the shop refuses to return your money, you can consult the administrator of taobao.com.

The shops need to protect their reputations. Most shops contact people who write negative reviews, and try to offer deals to persuade them to retract the review.

The Web site offers a lot of protection to buyers and punishes shops that are found to be selling counterfeit or unauthorized products.

Assistance

There are Web sites devoted to providing advice to people shopping at taobao.com. These include meilishuo.com, mogujie.com and etao.com. These Web sites have bloggers who select and categorize clothes or accessories, mostly women’s. With their recommendations, it is easier to find what you want and decide what you like.