作为中国生活和体验的一部分，热衷于在淘宝上买东西的歪果仁越来越多。受女友影响，苏默涵不仅学会了在淘宝上买东西，而且掌握了如何找到物美价廉商品的窍门。
近来一则歪果仁采访歪果仁在淘宝上购物体验的搞笑视频在网上热传。作为中国生活和体验的一部分，热衷于在中国电商网站上，特别是淘宝上买东西的歪果仁越来越多。苏默涵(Mike Sullivan)便是其中之一。他来自英国剑桥，在北京生活已有7年，目前在英国驻华使馆工作。他有一个淘宝APASS会员的中国女友。受女友影响，苏默涵不仅学会了在淘宝上买东西，而且掌握了如何找到物美价廉商品的窍门。
我们特别邀请苏默涵为电商在线撰文，讲述他的淘宝经历。
正文：
虽然我在中国居住和工作，但我总想回英国和家人共度圣诞节。这意味着，我得在中国购买圣诞节需要的东西。我非常享受能寻找带有一点中国元素、和中国文化有联系的礼物，这些都是在家乡见不到也找不到的。这对我来说曾经是一件非常艰难的事。我没有车，不能到北京之外的地方；我没办法识别北京本地的工匠师傅手艺是好是坏……
所以我曾经老去北京的秀水街，我特别讨厌这个地方，但也不知道还有哪里可去。秀水街让人感觉那里卖的大多数东西都是假货或品质低劣的东西，而且由于每个卖东西的人都觉得我是个游客，所以他们对我漫天要价。我从来都不喜欢讲价，而且当有人收取比商品实际价值要高得多的价钱时，我会感到很恼火。
现在，我淘宝。真的比以前好太多了。
我可以在闲暇时间逛淘宝，我能看到图片和商品描述，这让了解我要买的商品的由来和特色变得容易得多。迄今为止，我已经买过几件珠宝，瓷器，真丝围巾，甚至更多东西。我知道其中没有一件是古玩，但你可以了解更多关于产品来自何处的信息，而且价格透明。
最好的一点是，我可以向中国朋友发送淘宝的链接，来听取他们的意见——他们可以告诉我这件东西看起来好不好、标价有没有太贵或是否值得买。一切都变得好太多了。现在我已经很多年都没去秀水街或其他专门向游客卖东西的地方了。
直接去淘宝
在英国，我倾向于不要老在网上购物。物流太慢、太贵了……但在中国，我越来越了解到，我不应该浪费时间去逛街，我应该直接去淘宝。
就在几周前，我家的几个灯泡爆了。我想当晚就把灯泡修好，所以我径直去了社区里的小卖部。它们只有灯头特别大的灯泡，所以我又去了另一家小卖部，这家小卖部卖的灯泡尺寸是对了，但只有装在一个丑盒子里的白色的LED，还是不知名的小牌子。于是我又试图去第三家铺子买——一样只有无名品牌的亮白色灯泡。
抓狂的我买了五个灯泡带回家，花了将近100块钱。换上之后，发现其中两个不亮，另外三个照出的白光看起来很假，丑得让我不想用。
所以，我做了本应该一开始就做的事——我打开iPhone，登上天猫商城，为了求快，我选了一个北京的卖家，买了五个暖黄色的菲利普灯泡。它们一两天之后就寄到了，每个都能正常使用，而且比我从小卖部买来的垃圾货便宜一大截。下次我会直接上淘宝。
淘宝是种罪恶的快乐
讲真，对于买了远超我需要的音频设备，我有一点负罪的快感。我买了很多对头戴式耳机、入耳式耳机、麦克风、数字模拟转换器等等，几乎比我能记住的所有品种还要多。
因为在中国商品价格可能比较贵，我以前通常会等到回英国后再买东西。但现在通过淘宝代购，我再也不需要这么做了。
我已经用非常实惠的价格买过B&O、森海塞尔等西方品牌。但更棒的是，淘宝让我可以探索那些在英国更难买到、更贵的品牌。
我买过非常少见的日本产头戴式耳机，也了解到了很多卓越的中国品牌(如声美、Oppo、Hifiman)，这些都是我家乡任何一位朋友都从没听说过的。
淘宝不仅成了一种买东西的方法，还成了一种探索爱好的方法。
附英文原文：
Though I live and work in China, I always try to return to the UK to spend Christmas with my family. That means I need do my Christmas shopping in China. I really enjoy trying to get gifts with a bit of Chinese character, things connected to Chinese culture, which they couldn’t see or find back home. That used to be really tough for me. I don’t have a car to travel to places outside of Beijing, I don’t recognize local craftsmen…
So I used to end up going to the Silk Market in Beijing — which I hated but didn’t know what else to do. It felt like most things there were fake, or poor quality, and because everyone thought I was a tourist they would try to charge me ridiculous prices. I’ve never liked bargaining, and it annoys me when people are trying to charge me much more than something is worth.
Now — I Taobao, and it’s so much better.
I can look for things at my leisure, I can look at photos and read up on the products, it’s much easier to learn about the history or significance of the things I’m buying. So far I’ve bought pieces of jewelry, porcelain, silk scarves, and more. I know none is antique but you can see more information about where things are from, and the prices are transparent.
Best of all, I can send a Taobao link to a Chinese friend for a second opinion — they can tell me if something looks good, is over-priced, or not worth buying. Everything is just so much better. I haven’t been to the silk market or other tourist shops in years and I’m loving it.
STRAIGHT TO TAOBAO:
In the UK, I tend not to shop online too much. Delivery is too slow and expensive… But in China, more and more, I’m learning that I shouldn’t even waste time going to the shops — I should just go straight to Taobao.
A few weeks ago some light bulbs broke in my house. I wanted to fix them that night so I went straight to the shop (Xiaomaibu) in our community. They only had bulbs with the big size heads, so I walked to another store, they had the right size heads but only white LEDs in an ugly box from a no-name brand. So I tried a third store — they too only had bright white from a no-name brand.
In frustration I bought 5 bulbs, together costing almost 100 RMB and took them home. Upon trying them, I found two didn’t work, and the other three gave out such an ugly artificial white light I just didn’t want to use them.
So I did what I should have done in the first place. I pulled out my iPhone, I went on TMall, chose a Beijing seller for speed, and bought 5 soft-yellow Phillips bulbs. They arrived within a couple of days, all worked perfectly and were significantly cheaper than the rubbish I bought from the Xiaomaibu. Next time, I’m going straight to Taobao.
TAOBAO FOR MY GUILTY PLEASURE
I have a bit of guilty pleasure for buying much more audio equipment than I need. I’ve got more sets of over-ear headphones, in-ear headphones, speakers, DACs, and more -- almost more than I can even remember.
Because China prices can be expensive, I used to wait until I was back in the UK to buy everything. But now with Taobao Daigou I don't need to.
I've bought Western brands like B&O and Seinheisser at good prices. But even better, Taobao is allowing me to explore brands it would be a lot harder and more expensive to buy back home.
I've bought rare Japan-only headsets, and am getting into awesome Chinese brands (like SoundMagic, Oppo, and HiFi Man) that none of my friends from back home have ever heard of.
Taobao has become a method not just to buy but to explore a passion.
