Is That Price for Real!? Check Out the Insanely Cheap Pinduoduo

If there’s one thing I got really good at doing in 2020, it’s online shopping. Not even a language barrier could stop me! There’s baopals, which is basically an English version of Taobao but with fewer choices. Then there’s JD.com that delivers goods so quickly that I’ve received purchases on the same day. And of course, there’s Taobao (navigate on how to register via QR code below), everyone’s favorite go-to place for basically anything you could ever need.

With all the time spent at home in 2020, I discovered that I love to buy (sometimes useless things) on Pinduoduo (拼多多 pīnduōduō).

Pinduoduo is an app that was created a few years back and unlike its competitors who spend time, money, and energy marketing themselves as the platform that carries quality high-end products, Pinduoduo went in the other direction. It targeted second and third-tier cities in China and became known as the platform where you go to buy cheap everyday goods for insanely cheap prices.

Back in 2018, our sister publication the Beijinger looked into these online shopping apps. “[A] misconception about mobile marketing in China is that high-value users are coming from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities,” said Daisy Wu, Vice President of YeahMobi. Pinduoduo, like Qutoutiao (趣头条 qùtóutiáo), are two Chinese internet companies who IPO'd in 2018, and both focus their businesses on capturing consumers who reside in lower-tier cities, according to the same article by the Beijinger.

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And with that business strategy, Pinduoduo has launched itself to the top of China’s list of online shopping heavy hitters.

Its interface is almost identical to that of Taobao, except in red instead. The app offers an easy registration option by linking to your WeChat account so the only step that you’d need to fill in is confirmation and then input your address for delivery.

To search for an item you can either type in the Chinese characters at the top of the search bar, use the voice search function, or (my personal favorite) use the photo search function by literally taking a picture of what you want and then just wait for Pinduoduo to search its database for items that resemble the photo. This comes in handy when you don’t know what something is called.

Since discovering Pinduoduo, most of my basic household supplies have come from this platform. Laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, etc. It’s where you go when you want simple things for cheap, but as my local friends recommend, don’t purchase anything expensive from Pinduoduo since sellers are not verified like some on JD.com.

So with a long holiday just around the corner, put your online shopping hobbies to work and scroll through hundreds of thousands of gadgets for the price of a Starbucks coffee.