So, my order from TaoBao has finally arrived...
Not a flashlight related item, but a 10-25x42 monocular. Cost me 44.66$, of which 30.71$ is the item cost. So pretty expensive shipment, but it's still the cheapest I could find (DX used to have them at 37$ shipped, but they no longer carry them and I missed my chance). The cheapest currently outside TaoBao is about 51$ on eBay.
How it went - well, that was a bit frustrating actually.
MisterTao's site is buggy (much like BuyInCoins's, which is the same company, but a lot more so). Very slow, pages don't always load, attempts to write messages don't always work (so backup your message before sending it! also seems to work much better from the "messages" menu than from a product or order page) connections to database errors are frequent, and searches don't always show all items from TaoBao (it lists say 10 result pages but then stops showing items after the second page).
But the most frustrating aspect of it is the search - online translation to Chinese is almost nonexistent (I say "almost" because it seemed to have worked once or twice but 99.9% of the times if the TaoBao listing doesn't contain English words or some codes [like XML or 10-25x42] you'll never find it). Also, the searches are extremely slow, probably needs to connect to TaoBao and doesn't store TaoBao's database snapshot. My solution was to search directly in TaoBao or through Google (site:taobao.com). This also helps with page information as when you open an item in MisterTao you almost never get the elaborate description from TaoBao, but only an excerpt in the better case or nothing at all 99% of the time. But it's possible to jump to TaoBao's product page and look there, but it's not convenient. After getting to TaoBao's page from Google I took the listing ID and entered it in TaoBao to get the product from there. In MisterTao you can see seller ratings and they warn you if the seller rating is too low, nice touch.
From then on it was pretty simple, it's in the shopping cart, you say you want to buy it, wait several hours until MisterTao contacts the relevant Chinese seller for weight estimation, then they give you the (almost) final cost. After you've paid it takes several days until they ship (took 5 days in my case), and then comes the month and a half wait until it arrives. Now, the cost they give you is almost final since they charge by weight and the seller gives just an estimate of the weight, so they may refund several dollars if it was overestimated (I was refunded 2.58$, because the seller listed it as 700g instead of 560g) and say they would appreciate it if you actually weigh the package when it arrives and then ask for refund if shipping cost was overestimated or pay them back if it was underestimated. In my case it was spot on - my kitchen scales (purchased from BuyInCoins :) ) measured 559g, which translated to exactly 2.58$ difference in shipping cost. What's not very nice about the refund is that it doesn't go back to your PayPal account but gets in your MisterTao balance, just sits there for your next buy. I didn't notice it until now, so I've just sent a message to MisterTao asking for refund to PayPal.
Which brings me to one of the better aspects of MisterTao which is customer service - they respond pretty fast and have a good grasp of English. They are helpful and willing to satisfy, so it's easy dealing with them. My first attempt at buying this monocular was from a TaoBao seller that didn't have it in stock buy didn't tell them until after I paid, so they refunded to my MisterTao balance. After I contacted them asking for a PayPal refund they promptly did so. From my experience with BuyInCoins, if this is the same support team, they are very good and really try to solve all problems to my satisfaction.
The package itself was very good, corrugated box with soft polystyrene inside and the monocular arrived in perfect condition. I think this is how it came from the TaoBao seller but I can't really tell, it had no markings on it (looks like they were torn off, or it was a used box MisterTao had around). The box was wrapped in the usual gray plastic bag I know from BuyInCoins.
All in all I'm pretty happy with them, but there's a lot to be improved. If you really want something you can't find anywhere else or want to save some bucks, it's a good way to do so, just be aware of the downsides.
Oh, and the monocular itself is superb. It is of "VisionKing" brand, but it is rebranded for many other brands (such as Mystery). I have a 8x42 Mystery monocular which looks almost the same and it is really great. Both have very good optical quality, very smooth focus and zoom controls. I really like the 8x42's eyepiece much better than the 10-25x42's (it screws in and out instead of folding), but other than that, great zooming binocular, really recommended.
