PSA for anyone ordering from Taobao in the US, check the shipping warehouse BEFORE you pay
I bought a $12 phone case from a seller in Shenzhen and picked the first shipping option without reading the fine print, so it sat in a warehouse in Guangzhou for 3 weeks because I never confirmed the address. Switch the warehouse to the one in Los Angeles and the same item showed up in 6 days for $4 more. Has anyone found a cheaper way to get small stuff over here without waiting a month?
Kinda disagree that the LA warehouse is always the move. Those consolidation warehouses charge by weight and size once it gets stateside, so on small cheap stuff the fees can eat up whatever you saved on the item itself. For a $12 phone case you might be better off just checking if the seller offers direct shipping, even if it takes a bit longer, because you skip the warehouse fee game completely. Not saying your way is wrong, but the $4 extra is only half the story once you add handling. Figuring out the real total before you pay is the part most people miss.