Buying Official PGR Merchandise From Taobao/Shopping
Where to Buy
- What’s the difference between Kurometheus Flagship Store and PGR Official Store?
- They are both official Kuro Games merchandise storefronts. All items from either of these stores are legitimate, official PGR merchandise.
- Kurometheus Flagship Store is a Tmall store, while PGR Official Store is a Taobao store. Alibaba Group owns both Tmall and Taobao, and the shopping process is the same between these two storefronts.
- Kurometheus Flagship Store will carry Wuthering Waves merchandise in the future according to the shop description.
- We recommend using Kurometheus Flagship Store unless the item you are looking for is only in stock at PGR Official Store. Kurometheus Flagship store has:
- A wider range of items. For instance, as of Feb 2024, you can purchase some of the IPSTAR collaboration merchandise at Kurometheus Flagship Store but not at PGR Official Store.
- A membership system. See the Extra tab for more details.
Prohibited Items
Taobao’s customer service page lists the full catalogue of items that cannot be shipped internationally: Link
In addition, Taobao’s official shipping service and some parcel forwarders will refuse to internationally ship items that belong to the “sensitive items” category. These include but are not limited to:
- Liquid products
- Powder products
- Cosmetics
- Food and medicine
- Crystals
- Jewellery
- CD/DVDs
- Batteries
- Magnetic and electronic products
- Counterfeit products
- Pornography/adult products
Please also check with your country’s import laws to ensure none of the purchases fall into the category of prohibited goods. Taobao sellers will not inform you even if the item cannot be exported or violates your country’s import laws.
Notes
- Kuro strongly advises that you do NOT order items that are currently in stock with pre-order items. Kuro will not ship your order until all of the items are in stock.
Example 1:
In January, the buyer places an order that consists of:
Item A – Currently in stock
Item B – For pre-order; will be released in May.
In this case, Kuro will ship both Items A and B in May.
Example 2:
In January, the buyer places an order that consists of:
Item A – Currently in stock
Item B – For pre-order; will be released in May.
Item C – For pre-order; will be released in July.
In this case, Kuro will ship Items A, B, and C in July.
- Keep an eye on the official Bilibili Kurometheus account Link for new merch news.
- Kuro is very inconsistent with restocking merch. Once an item is sold out, there is no guarantee it will ever be back in stock again.
Shopping Guide: Using Taobao’s Official International Shipping Service
As of Feb 2024, Taobao’s official international shipping service is available for the following countries and regions: USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan. If your country is not listed here, you will have to use a shopping agent service.
Step 1: Placing an Order
Item Page
① Item name
② Item price
③ Shipping details (Note: This page only displays available shipping options. The buyer will choose the international shipping option at the payment screen.)
④ Size (if applicable)
⑤ Color/Type (if applicable)
⑥ Number of items
⑦ 立即购买: Buy now; 加入购物车: Add to the cart
Scroll down to see item details and additional images.
Important: If the item details mention 预售, it means the item is for pre-order. In addition, make sure to double-check the item description before buying–in the example shown here (Hyperreal figurine), Kuro specifically requests that you do not order this item together with other merchandise; you must place a separate order for this item alone.
Shopping Cart
Items added to the shopping cart (购物车) will appear like the above image. The shopping cart displays the cost of the items without the shipping fee.
Select all items you would like to order and click the red 结算 (checkout) button to proceed to the payment page.
Checkout
Note: Since 2023, multiple international users have been reporting that it is no longer possible to make payments on the PC version of Taobao. You can resolve this problem by using the Taobao app. This guide will use screenshots from the Taobao app from this section and onwards.
① Select shipping address
- This will be the buyer’s address (i.e. the final destination of the package) saved in the address book.
② Select shipping method
- Taobao official international shipping offers 4 delivery methods in total. However, some of the shipping options may not be available depending on the seller and the destination country.
- Tap 更改 to see all available shipping options.
- Once the buyer confirms the shipping method and completes the payment, there is no way to change the shipping method once the seller ships out the order. This is because the seller will ship the package to different warehouses depending on the shipping method and destination country.
| Shipping Method Name | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 集运空运
Consolidated Shipping: Air Freight |
Upon placing the order, the buyer pays the cost of the items and domestic shipping fee.
The seller will ship the package to Taobao’s international shipping warehouse. When the order arrives at the international shipping warehouse, they will measure the dimensions of your package and charge the international shipping fee accordingly. Once the buyer pays the international shipping fee, Taobao will ship the package to the buyer’s country by air. The shipment will then be handed over to a local courier, who will deliver it to the buyer’s specified address. |
| 集运海运
Consolidated Shipping: Sea Freight |
Upon placing the order, the buyer pays the cost of the items and domestic shipping fee.
The seller will ship the package to Taobao’s international shipping warehouse. When the order arrives at the international shipping warehouse, they will measure the dimensions of your package and charge the international shipping fee accordingly. Once the buyer pays the international shipping fee, Taobao will ship the package to the buyer’s country by sea. The shipment will then be handed over to a local courier, who will deliver it to the buyer’s specified address. This option is cheaper than Consolidated Shipping: Air Freight, but takes significantly more time. |
| 官方直送
Official Direct Shipping |
Taobao will ship the package directly to the buyer’s international address. If the buyer chooses this option, they will pay the cost of items, domestic shipping fee, estimated international shipping fee all at once during the initial payment. |
| 自行联系卖家发货
Contact the Seller for Shipping |
The buyer will negotiate with the seller individually for them to ship the order to their address. Note that most Taobao sellers are not willing to offer personal international shipping. We do NOT recommend using this option. |
IMPORTANT: Each of these shipping methods has different weight and size restrictions depending on the destination country. The courier service or Taobao’s international warehouse will reject any package that exceeds these restrictions. In general, the weight of the package should not exceed 20kg for consolidated shipping and 5kg for direct shipping; the size (length + width + height) should not exceed 150cm.
③ Payment Options
Note: Taobao uses Alipay’s platform to handle payments. If this is your first time making a payment at Taobao, and you have not bound your Alipay account to Taobao account, you will have to make an Alipay payment password. This password is different from your Taobao account password.
As explained in the How to Register for Taobao section, we strongly recommend that you bind your authenticated Alipay account to Taobao account to avoid the account being frozen.
Taobao supports the following credit card options: VISA, MASTERCARD, and JCB. Other payment options (e.g. Apple Pay) may also be available in certain regions. Taobao will charge 3% of the price of the items as service fee. Tap 更多 to see all available payment options.
④ Domestic shipping
- Both of Kuro Games’ stores charge 10 CNY for domestic shipping for orders under 100 CNY. Orders over 100 CNY are eligible for free domestic shipping.
- You do not need to change anything here.
⑤ Notes
- You can leave a message to the seller, but it is not necessary. You do not need to change anything here.
⑥ Price details
商品总价（共n件宝贝): Total item price (total n items)
大陆段运费: Domestic shipping fee [if applicable]
跨境运费券: International shipping coupon
- Taobao sometimes gives out international shipping discount coupons. If you have one of those, tap on the arrow sign to select a coupon.
优惠码: Discount code
- Enter the discount code if you have one. Leave it blank if not.
人民币合计: Total in CNY
(Your currency)合计: Total in your currency
- Item cost + domestic shipping fee if using Consolidated Shipping
- Item cost + domestic shipping fee + estimated international shipping fee if using Official Direct Shipping.
⑦ Payment details
支付手续费: Payment service fee
After reviewing your order details, tap the red 去支付 (make payment) button at the bottom of the page.
If using 官方直送 (Official Direct Shipping): You are all done! Please wait for your package to arrive.
If using 集运空运/集运海运 (Consolidated Shipping: Air/Sea Freight): See the next section on how to proceed with international shipping.
Step 2: Consolidating the Package
If you have selected 集运空运/集运海运 (Consolidated Shipping: Air/Sea Freight) as your shipping method, you must consolidate your package once it arrives in Taobao’s warehouse. For these shipping methods, the seller will send your items to Taobao’s international shipping warehouse in China. Once your order arrives at the warehouse, the warehouse calculates the international shipping fee to your overseas address. Once you pay the international shipping fee, the warehouse will ship the package.
You can check the status of your international parcels in the 跨境物流 (cross-border shipment) menu in 我的淘宝 (My Taobao) page. Tapping 待集运 (awaiting consolidation) will show the orders that have not been consolidated and shipped out from Taobao’s international warehouse yet. Tapping 订单 (orders) will show all your international orders, including the ones that have been fulfilled.
In the 我的集运 (my consolidation) page you can access by tapping 待集运, the 待入库 (awaiting delivery) category shows the list of orders that have not yet arrived in Taobao’s international warehouse (i.e. orders that have not been shipped out by the seller or are currently in transit for domestic shipping).
Once the order reaches the international warehouse, it will show up under the 待合单 (awaiting consolidation) tab. Taobao will also send you a notification reminding you to consolidate your package and pay the international shipping fee. The notification contains a link that takes you directly to the consolidation page. Select all orders you would like to consolidate, click 去合包 (proceed with consolidation), and pay the international shipping fee. The warehouse stores your items free of charge for up to 20 days. After 20 days, they will charge an overdue fee for each item. If you do not consolidate your package and make the payment within 50 days, the warehouse will discard your items.
Using a Shopping Agent Service
If you live in a country where Taobao’s official international shipping is not available or simply do not want to deal with the shopping process yourself, you can use a shopping agent service to purchase the items. Although using a shopping agent/proxy is usually more expensive than directly purchasing from Taobao, they offer several advantages:
- The buyer does not have to go through the entire process of registering and verifying an account, downloading various apps, navigating Taobao in Chinese, etc. The shopping agent will take care of the entire shopping process for you.
- The agent can communicate with the seller on your behalf in case there is a problem with your order.
- Some shopping agents are willing to forward items that normally cannot be exported out of China.
The below is a list of Taobao shopping agents recommended by the members of GRAY RAVENS. Please note that these recommendations are based on our members’ personal shopping experiences, and we are not affiliated with them in any way.
- Superbuy: https://www.superbuy.com/en/
