Shopping BJD Bhiner

This is just from a quick look through but it seems to me that Bhiner acts as a Taobao/other Chinese shopping site agent. That means they will purchase from shops on your behalf.

Whether you get real items depends on which sellers you ask them to buy from. So the answer is both a yes and no! Check their help article here for information. I imagine that Bhiner's pages pull from searches for BJD products, so they will be from all different sellers, some legit and some not. It's likely the majority are legit, but if you're concerned, you should make sure to browse official Taobao stores yourself, and then purchase through an agent using exact links.
The items that use the same stock photos are more likely to be legit than not. They are probably from the manufacturer's official Taobao store. But again, if you want to be sure, you should seek out the official stores yourself to ensure you have the exact right link (reverse image search will usually accomplish this!). TBH I've not heard of Bhiner before, so I would probably recommend just going straight to Taobao and using an agent that is recommended such as 42agent.

EDIT: Also btw, the price difference. Dealers often have higher prices because that's how they earn their commission. Alice's Collections is the same, you can purchase all of the accessories they offer for significantly less by going to the maker's taobao pages. ACBJD has a mark-up, and that's normal for dealers.

 

I purchased bjd clothes from taobao by using Bhiner as my agent.
They only buy whatever taobao links you give them, so, if you want to buy a bjd from taobao, you have to check the legit level of the taobao seller. Bhiner is legit Chinese agent.
.
bjd.bhiner.com is just Bhiner site that gather any items that related to bjd in English translation in order to help you understand the language, however, those are only selected items that Bhiner bjd chooses to show you, not all bjd items on Taobao site (I believe)

 

Bhiner mirrors and acts as an agent for Taobao. They are not producing nor actually selling anything themselves.
Likewise, all those Chinese agents like Alice's Collection, Legenddoll or the majority of ebay BJD clothes sellers are also doing nothing else but selling you stuff they purchased/order for you elsewhere, namely Chinese companies and artists.
So when you find an outfit on Taobao for example, it might be very likely you are looking right at the source of the outfit, namely the artist's shop

The price difference has several reasons.
When you buy on Taobao directly you see the price "from locals, to locals". A local artist selling to a local collector generally will not ask the same price he would ask from someone buying from abroad. Currency conversions, more effort that needs to be put into communication and shipping, knowing the foreigner probably can afford paying a bit more etc., all that changes the price.
When you purchase through a dealer, the dealer wants a cut of course as well! He goes through the hassle of purchasing the thing for you and shipping it to you, and he wants that service to be paid. That's how they make money after all.

What Bhiner does is they mirror listings from Taobao for you, in a way you can browse and somewhat read them. Nowadays it's a little difficult to browse Taobao as a foreigner without an account, hence why they probably decided to mirror it.
You then purchase through Bhiner, and they purchase it for you from the Taobao seller. Imagine Taobao like locals only Amazon, and Bhiner is the service/middle-man that makes it possible for you to buy from it even though you are not a local person.
Services like that exist for Yahoo!Japan for example as well.

However, that's the thing, Bhiner just purchases what you tell them to. Agents generally have little knowledge about what they buy, since they often buy for many different types of customers, and they aren't the ones you can make reliable for any quality issues, for misunderstanding a listing, wrong sizes and so on.
You need to put in some work and do research about the stores you are buying from, their quality, their legitimacy and so on. Yes, there are recasts on Taobao too. Just like there are legit agents and artists as well.
If you aren't comfortable buying dolls from there, you can still look into outfits. You will get the same outfit like from Legenddoll, because they too just buy it from another maker and ship it to you then. If the outfit has good quality will be up to the maker, not Bhiner, Taobao or Legenddoll.

(edited for correction, see below)

 

Sorry for that, I completely mixed them up with a different maker! You're correct with what you said

 

I been purchasing stuff from here cause it is cheaper than buying from Etsy or Ali when it comes to the same product sometimes. The agent is fast and reliable, actually good at resolving my issues with the order or questions. Domestic fee should be watched - sometimes it goes from 4 aud to 15aud depending. I paid decent amount of money for international shipping fee which was below the 1kg mark costing 15aud.

 

Has anyone purchased from BJD Bhiner lately? I haven’t since last year - I went to the website recently and it looks different. I cannot view products unless I use the “view cached data” option. Is it still okay to purchase from them still?

 

Iirc that issue is due to TaoBao changing their APIs and driving it more towards app usage and thus Bhiner can no longer cache / pull their listings. So I would assume you can still buy by using direct URLs but I will admit I have not lately.

 

I don’t have any problems viewing anything on my iPad using safari.

 

Ahh that is interesting- I hope it can be fixed somehow. I would use Taobao but cannot access it even when I’ve created an account.

 

Fr?! I use iPad on Safari and I’m getting this issue. I wonder if it’s a setting on my end

 

That probably explains why I was seeing listings that were way outdated on another proxy...

 

I used to buy from them, but since the above link issues started and the fact that they no longer support paypal, i stopped using them. Every so often tho I'll use their site to check if they have alt options for stuff like wigs, clothes, bjd tools, etc. But it's been hit or miss because of, again, the API change scenario. I've since moved on to spreenow as my main proxy.

 

I had made a couple purchases not using PayPal, but I do admit I’m a bit reluctant just because it can be risky. It was before the cache data issues. I will have to check out Spreenow, I’ve never heard of them.

 

Relieved to hear that it's not just me having the API issues. With Bhiner specifically, their whole BJD site seems to be having all sorts of technical issues lately with slow loading times and links that go nowhere. With my last order, which came in a couple weeks ago, I was shown three separate tracking numbers: one going to a different city in the same country, one that had gone to France weeks ago, and one that thankfully turned out to be my own. It's a shame because I did like their interface better than Superbuy and their customer service was really responsive but BJD Bhiner seems to be suffering worse than other taobao proxies.

 

The three tracking numbers, that is a bit concerning I’m glad you got your stuff tho. I may do a small order just to gauge if I should keep using them. I really like their service and the reps have really been good to me. I hope their website improves.

 

I went ahead and ordered a few things from Bhiner on 7/15. It took a week for it to arrive to Bhiner and is now on its way to me :3 I purchased a couple doll stands, a pair of 1/4 size shoes, a wig, some eyelashes and a hoody set - I can post my haul if anyone interested It looks like Bhiber is working as intended They still don’t have PayPal, I had to use my credit card. They use Paygate service I think is what it’s called.

 

Hi, I used to buy from them, too and most of them were successful. However, as search or paste Taobao links into the field can't work (almost impossible), so giving up now.

 

Have you tried contacting their customer service about getting items that you can order from Taobao? I was able to order a few wigs from Sin contacting through their messages-they had me post the Taobao links in messaging (not the search bar) and they were able to order the wigs for me For this order, they have been very communicative- I got my answers from them the next day.

 

Yes, I sent a message 1 day ago and so far they have not seen it yet.

 

if you are requesting an item, perhaps they are still trying to get an answer from the seller?

 

I got a reply from them. Thank you for your adivce.

 

Bhiner will only order what you tell them to. If you add an item that's fake to your cart, they will buy that exact item from the exact store and send it to you.

You can always ask them to ask the seller if they:

1. Actually have the product they are listing
2. If the product is the EXACT same as in the picture. Elaborate on this as much as you can. There is a language barrier and they may not understand what you mean by the same product in the picture. I have learned this from experience. Most of the time I have to ask the same question in three different ways to get the answer to my question. I guarantee they are all using machine translations and maybe only 1% may actually speak English.

It could be possible that you order a legit item and they send you a fake item that cost less so they could make more profit. I am not saying they would or have, but I wouldn't rule it out. Anything is possible. Anyone from anywhere could scam you at any given time.

I have ordered BJDs through Bhiner before and they were all legit. However, I made SURE to add the dolls from OFFICIAL Taobao stores. You can find these links on the official doll websites, though not always. Dream Valley and Dollzone list their Taobao stores on their website.

Keep in mind clothing is something that is easily copied. If you shop through Bhiner, they will take pictures of the product they have bought for you and send you those pictures. If you don't like it, I am sure you can have Bhiner try and return the items for you.

If you think the risk is too great, or simply don't feel like you can trust something then avoid it.

Bhiners refund policies are as follows. You may have to point these policies out to them directly, and include a link to the page so they can read it for themselves. I have had to be a "Karen" and point them out before. After I did that, they changed their tune.

I don't know where you are from, but be aware that China does not exactly have customer service like America does. In America, you can practically return anything for any reason. Many countries are not like that and once you buy something then that's it. No refunds. No exchanges.

 

@Anshishoku ooo this is good to know, thank you! I haven’t purchased a doll using Bhiner- I use Clover or Alice Collection. Is purchasing a legit doll through BJD Bhiner less expensive or about the same? Was shipping and fees pretty high?

I have only purchased accessories from Bhiner - the most expensive items I purchased from Bhiner was 3 Sin wigs. I sent the link from Taobao- I believe them to be legit because the packaging was the same as the Sin wig I ordered from Moonlight. The quality of the wigs were really good too

speaking of orders, I got my order yesterday and everything looks as I expected from the photos ill post pictures tomorrow- I’m I love with the wig and jacket set I got for my boy- very cute and material is good

 

Even with the international shipping and the 3% credit card fee Taobao charges, it was at least $100-200 dollars cheaper to buy the dolls directly from Taobao (again, be wary of who you buy from). If you use Bhiner as a shopping service, then no, it is not much cheaper. You will have more peace of mind if you use them for shopping, as you get no extra help if you just use them as a shipping service. If you just used them to ship your self-purchases, they will not help you as they are not getting paid to do so like they would with their shopping service. Keep that in mind.

• Bhiner charges you a service fee. This fee depends on how much money you have spent with them. For the average user, this would be 5%. I am currently at level 2, which is 4.5%
• Help Center | Taobao Agent Bhiner

• Bhiner (as well as ALL shopping agents) also crank up the exchange rate. Normally, the exchange rate would be say...14 cents per 1 yuan. Bhiner will jack it up to 15-17 cents per yuan. That's how they make their money and why I started buying directly from Taobao instead of using them as a shopping service. You would be surprised how fast them pennies add up when you buy a doll that costs $500.00! However, if you buy enough from them and get your fee down to about 4% (which will cost you $10,000), then it might be worth using them as a shopping service for BJDs. For less expensive items, it isn't so bad. That is just my opinion though because I am cheap and like to pinch pennies so hard they flatten out like you put them on a railroad track and the train ran them over.

So far, shipping has cost me about $40-90 dollars. I choose Bhiner economy most times. This means they can ship it by ocean freight instead of planes, which takes a really long time. This also increases my anxiety!

Even though the shipping is that expensive, I have seen the cost of domestic shipping rise considerably. It literally cost about the same to ship from overseas as it does WITHIN the us, depending on which international shipping method you use.

I have never ordered from Clover, but I have Alice's. They add a PayPal fee in their prices, whereas most dealers do not (it is against PayPal ToS for US users). I like how Alices gets the doll more quickly than US dealers, as dolls are shipped to them as they are made (because they are in China) as opposed to sending them overseas in batches like with US dealers.

Oh, and for those who are put off because Bhiner no longer deal with PayPal:

I created a Transferwise (now just called Wise) account which can hold many different currencies. I used to pay directly in CNY with this bank on Taobao before they changed it. You can only pay in USD on Taobao now unless you have a Chinese bank account you can link to Alipay. (US citizens cannot get a Chinese bank account and so cannot hold CNY in their Alipay accounts unless Chinese citizens send it to them, I think).

Anyway, I got a debit card with Transferwise. I add money to my Transferwise account for what I want to buy and use that debit card only. Since it is a debit card, you can only spend what is on it, so if someone gets your debit card number they are not getting any money because my account is always empty! The purchase will be declined and you will get notified. I am not saying this is foolproof or a smart thing to do, its just what I do because I'm not giving anyone my naked card number on the internet.


Edit: I forgot to mention Bhiner seems to have the lowest shipping prices AND more carriers to choose from than any other service I have seen. I checked out Spreenow a while back and they seem expensive.

 

@Anshishoku wow, thank you for this run down so Taobao less expensive for dolls huh (the legit ones)? There are a lot of clothing shops I’d like to order from Taobao but for some reason, I cannot access the sites even when I have an account. Would you happen to know why that is or you think it could be my ISP preventing it (I’m using Centurylink).

 

Yes, legit dolls directly from the companies. I only buy legit. If it's too cheap, then it's too good to be true!

I haven't had any issues accessing certain shops. I have with items though. I think if its something that cannot be shipped to the US, Taobao will block you from seeing it. This could range from things like aerosols or fake name brands like Louis Vuitton. I can't be certain of this though. It could be that the seller just doesn't want any overseas traffic/sales, who knows?

You can try to get a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The VPN will change your IP to a different country so you can access content that is restricted to certain countries. The only VPN I have seen that has a "China" endpoint though is Nord VPN and that endpoint was Hong Kong. You can also try to change your location setting in Taobao. There is a menu at the very top of Taobao where your username is. Click on it and select China Mainland instead of Worldwide.



But I am almost 100% sure Taobao limits the items US residents can see. Taobao has been slowly squeezing out international buyers over the past few years.

 

Very good- I’ll check into using a VPN. Thanks again