Go to the Post Office to Buy a Recharge Card
The easy way to add money
Adding money to your Taobao account is easiest by going to the China Post Office. When you go to the Post Office, you can buy a recharge slip with a pin number. It is a lot like adding money to your mobile phone account.
Why not go through the bank?
You can also connect your Alipay account to your Chinese bank account, which should be even more convenient, right? Not exactly. China bank’s online security measures are in constant motion, with new passwords, digital certificates and other chaos forcing you to relearn the procedures. Overall, I have found the Post Office method to be much smoother. One caveat, though: if you need any kind of refund for whatever reason, you will need to have a Chinese bank account. All the more reason to chat with the Taobao shop first!
How much to recharge?
You can recharge in any amount, but start off with a modest amount so you can get the hang of it. Let’s say 50 or 100rmb. The post office charges a small commission of 0.5%, with a minimum of 2rmb per transaction. So you will have to add 2rmb for a 100rmb recharge. Or 5rmb on a 1,000rmb recharge.
At the Post Office
When you get to the Post Office, head towards the window called Postal Business Service.
What to ask for
I have always gotten by with a very straightforward request to “chongzhi taobao” (充值淘宝). But we have Reports from the Field that a more specific and accurate request is “wang hui E” (网汇E) Thanks Taobao Newbie
Filling out the paper
They will give you a slip of paper that looks like this:
Let’s zoom in on that.
You only need to fill out a few things in the green highlighted area.
The Amount
The amount shown here is 100rmb.
Your Name in Chinese
The postal worker needs to put a name into the computer to process the transaction, but neither this, nor the address have any real purpose whatsoever. Feel free to make up any name you like. Can’t think of one? Let’s call you 巴比 (Barbie).
Your Address in Chinese
Again, this is not needed for any official purpose. Feel free to copy an address off any business card you may have. They just need something to put into the computer. Then write a zip code into those tiny boxes. They might want you to write your Chinese name a couple more times. If they ask, just copy again it where they point.
Your Pin Number – Remember It!
The Post Office attendant will type your info into the system and give you a keypad to enter a six-digit pin number. Then you will be asked to enter it again on the keypad, to confirm. Choose any number. And remember it! You will need it later.
Your Receipt
When that is done, you will receive a small slip of paper. Don’t lose it! The next step is back on the Taobao website to add the money to your account. You will need to the number highlighted here in green, as well as the six-digit pin number that you typed.
Post office charged me 2 kuai for a 100RMB recharge
Hey Josh, thanks for the field report. Where was the post office that you used?
Little update, just went to my local post office to try and buy the recharge card, and they demanded my passport!
So obviously not THAT simple…
@Josh
I confirmed with the post office – 2rmb is the minimum fee for recharging. The guide above has been updated. Thanks again for your Field Report! I would still recommend that everyone add a small amount the first time so you can get the hang of it.
@Taobao newbie
That is a bizarre! Your post office is drunk on power. They should not require your passport for the recharge. I would recommend perhaps trying another post office, if there is another one convenient to you.
Has anybody else been asked to provide a passport?
I thought so too, and they know me there, so was pretty annoying
Maybe it’s just for the first time transaction? Hopefully after they have me in their system and can ask for password as confirmation it will be smoother…
Thanks for the great website!
Another update: went back to the post office with my passport today. They made me open a post savings account, got a plastic card with words Taobao on it. They demanded my Taobao user name and email address with which I registered, and after all this, in the end, they could not sign me into the Taobao, because the system does not accept foreign passport numbers, only Chinese ID-card number!!! What’s the deal??? SO now I got a post office account with some money on it, and I still can’t use the Alipay on Taobao… Getting frustrated…
I succeeded! Turns out it is better to ask for a “wang hui E” service, rather than say “chongzhi Taobao”, then they give you this slip directly and no questions asked
Hope this helps those who are just starting out, like me:)
Thanks again for your great website and all your suggestions!
Excellent Field Report, Newbie! I’m glad you got all that sorted. I’ve updated the Guide with your info.
Can someone provide some guide of how to make payment via banks listed in Alipay? which I believe it is another option for buying “wang hui E” right?
thanks.
@TFG
Thanks for the great guide. I went to the PO and asked for a 网汇e, then forgot what to do, and actually brought it back home and filled it out in front of the guide.
The only different thing my PO required was that I had to also put my name in the 网汇e:收款人姓名 section. This didn’t seem to influence the process, which was pretty fast (about 2 minutes?).
After that I went home, loaded the money into 支付宝, and paid for a product I had bought. When it arrived later (fake, but that’s what I expected for 18 kuai plus shipping), I wrote a review for the seller. Fun fact: the site won’t allow you to use the words ‘假货’ (fake product) in your review–or at least in a positive review, which is what I gave.
@K Thanks for the Field Report about the name in the 收款人姓名 section. I have updated the guide to reflect it.
Yo,
Watch out if you try to do this in a smaller city. Some of the smaller branch offices don’t do this. They do however, have the TaoBao Credit/Debit Card things. So you can sign up online and get one from the bank afterwards. Just take your ID and e-mail address to the bank and get it afterwards.
Thanks for the Field Report, Friend.
I have registered both of TaoBao and Alipay yesterday. However, I didn’t add any money in my account yet as I don’t understand how different between make a payment by Alipay and add money to the account by recharge card. Is that mean if I add money to the account then don’t need to use Alipay? Pls advice, thanks!
BTW, I’m happy to found your site, it’s fabulous!
Also, how can have a money in my Alipay’s account? As I understand a bit of Chinese and have checked on Alipay website, it seems like I need to deal with the bank. But before that I have to fill out the form (online) which needs to fill chinese ID number and of course that it doesn’t work when I fill my passport number! How can I do, pls help! Thanks!!
Hi Alice, There’s two ways of paying on Taobao, one is pay from your Alipay account, the other is directly pay the seller from your bank account. the previous option is safer, as the money doesn’t go to the sellers bank account directly when you make the purchase, it only goes to their account after you receive the product and confirmed the payment.
Taobao account is defaultly connected to Alipay, the amount of money in your Taobao account just means the amount of money in your Alipay account. There’re many ways of putting money into your taobao(alipay) account, two most commonly used methods are: 1) move money from your bank account to alipay account, or 2) go to the post office to buy a recharge card, the latter one is what we suggested here, as it’s simpler than going to the bank counter to register and install e-bank softwares etc.
Yes, Alice, what you read was probably “How to put money in Alipay account from your bank account”, which requires Chinese ID numbers to ensure the security for the user’s bank account. You can recharge money for your alipay account in a simpler way, that is, just go to the post office and buy a recharge card, it won’t require Chinese ID number, just choose “网点充值”–>”网汇e充值”, then input the number on your recharge card, then, it’s done! =) (for illustrated guide on this step, please read Enter Recharge Numbers Online)
Good luck and happy shopping!!
Laobanniang! You deserve a raise.
Thank you so much Laobanniang!
Yeah, right, like you ever paid me~~ :..[
I followed these instructions and got myself a hui4 yao4 hao4 ma3 and remember the pin number I used as well. But its not working in alipay. Does it take some time for them to process and get into the system? Or should I be able to use the recharge card number right away?
Hi Anon, What kind of failure message is it giving you?
hi!! i’ll be moving to macau, china for work in a couple of weeks.. i was wondering if there is a China Post there so i could get a recharge card?
Sorry MOnewb, never been to Macau, not sure if it has China Post…
I asked my husband to bring back the wang hui E form from the post office and he was given something different than what I seen before. It is a larger slip of paper (also has the perforation on the right side for the receipt) but I don’t see a Wang Hui E option. The top says Hui Kuan Dan (汇款单）。 Is this a new form or did my hubby pick up the wrong one?
Hi MRC, Hui Kuan Dan(汇款单) is for transferring money from post office. it’s not the Wang Hui E service…. your husband might need to go back to the post office and ask them to give your money back.
Been using ICBC’s online banking to buy on Taobao for over a year and no problem there. Besides the ICBC wesite has an English version that makes it easy to check online payments anytime. The cost is 60 RMB for the secure USB and software. It’s a one time installation (unless you change computer) and you are ready to do all your online transactions including Taobao payments. Less worrisome than going to fill forms at the post office!
Just wondering, i will be purchasing alot of stuffs during my dec trip to shanghai(Over 5000rmb). Is it safe to do 1time recharge to test the system first? or do a lump sum to charge to my account?
Is it confirm 0.5% handling fee? for instance, $5000rmb – $25mb fee?
It’s cheap!
-You are right – the charge is half of 1%.
-Please test it first! We have heard a couple incidents of mysterious recharge problems from the Taobao system’s temporary downtime or some user confusion. It is worthwhile to make two trips to the post office to avoid this. Be safe – 5000rmb is no joke!
hi,
I’m leaving China and still have some money on my taobao account (post office recharge).
How can I get my money back ?
thanks
I asked the Alipay service ppl this morning on this issue. Alipay said in order to prevent money washing using Alipay, user can not cash out balance in the Alipay account unless it’s money earned through online selling. so basically, you have three options:
1. the simplest way is to spend all your left balance shopping online.
2. If your money was recharged into Alipay account through a bank account, you can follow the “cash out”（提现） guide pasted below, when it says “fails”, (coz it’s not money you earned online,) then click the “原路退回” (return to where it’s from)button appears beside it, this is an option to send an email to Alipay service staff, to apply for manual handling of your money to be sent back to the account where the money was from. (Here’s a link to the screenshot guide.)
3. If your money was recharged into Alipay account using un-returnable channels like post office or machines in 24hour stores, you’ll have to find a very good, trustable Chinese friend, and transfer your money to his Alipay account. In this way, it will appear as the money your friend made online, so s/he can cash it out easily and give it back to you. You can follow this guide for how to transfer money online. Read this guide closely, you’ll have to make sure your friend’s Alipay account is certified account, or else, s/he won’t be able to cash out money, also notice there’s some fee charged by Alipay for transferring money online.
Hope this will help. Good luck, friend!
this is really sucks.
Hello friends,
Last year in december i with the help of my friend bought a ‘zhifubao’ card and that card has about 200 yuans but i cannot use that card means that on alipay i see 0 yuans as my balance. One of my friend said i need to link up that card with email and other things. I want to know how to use that card ? Actually i was having exams then so could not use, now as i am free and willing to buy some stamps as that is my hobby. So i am eagerly waiting for your replies.Specially field guide help me out with this.
Regards
Ajeet Pal Singh
Nanjing,China
Hi Ajeet, We don’t have any experience in using a zhifubao card yet. I think your friend is correct, for any kind of recharging card, you have to have a Taobao and zhifubao(Alipay) account first. Please check out our guides on how to register for Taobao and Alipay.
Thankyou Laobanniang. I found a solution for that , i came to know that is postal savings bank account so i didn’t withdraw money from that and checked the balance on the atm adjacent to China post. I bought a recharge coupon from China Post according to your guide which proved very much beneficial and successfully bought stamps as it is my hobby from Taobao !
Congrats Ajeet, we’re very happy for you!! =)
Hi there!
Someone can tell me if the passport is still necessary when going to the post office?
I bought many things from taobao, a Chinese friend did it for me, now I want to try doing it by myself…. I love Taobao!
Thanks
Hi XiaoKeAi, passport is not needed when going to the post office.
Hello XiaoKeAi ,
laobanniang is right. We do not need to show passport while buying recharge coupon at post office.Even i took passport but when i showed,she said no need of passport and even in the address column she just asked me to write my mobile number so was happy and do write your new experiences if u encounter !
Regards
Ajeet Pal Singh
hm, one question here, is those recharge coupons available in Singapore?
hello,
I live in France. I managed to place an order on Taobao. but I can not pay. how i do?
hei guys! this website really helped me.but i got one problem…now somehow i have two alipay accounts.the one that is directly linked to taobao has no money. but the on the other alipay account i have money. how can i change from one alipay account to another? please help…
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