To buy clothes from China online, settle six things in order: where you're buying, whose label is on the piece, your size in centimeters, the fabric, the store's shipping and returns terms, and how you pay. Below is each step, using real listings as worked examples.
Step 1: Decide how you want to buy
There are three routes. The first is buying direct from a marketplace like Taobao or Tmall. Listings are written in Chinese and most sellers are set up for domestic delivery. The second is a buying service, which places the order for you and forwards it on, adding a middle layer between you and the seller. The third is a store that lists named Chinese labels in English and ships internationally. That last route is what CHINASQUAD is, so weigh our opinion accordingly. Our guide to where to buy Chinese fashion online compares the options.
Step 2: Find the label behind the piece
The most useful filter you have is a brand name. Anonymous listings, the same photo under ten different shop names, tell you nothing about who drew the pattern or who stands behind it. A named independent label has a point of view you can follow from piece to piece.
Take Soote Season's One-Shoulder Waist-Cinching Checked Shirt. The listing describes a folded, layered neckline, a waist-cinching shape and contrast buttons at the chest. Those are design decisions, not stock-photo filler, and if you browse the rest of the Soote Season line you can judge whether that sculpted approach carries through. For more on labels that started out selling at home, see our piece on Taobao designer brands you can buy outside China.
Step 3: Size yourself in centimeters, not letters
An S from one Chinese label is not an S from another, and Chinese sizing often runs smaller than US letter sizes. Take a garment you already own that fits the way you like, lay it flat, and measure it in centimeters: chest from armpit to armpit, waist, hip, length from shoulder to hem, and sleeve. Then compare those numbers with the size chart on the listing, not with the size you usually buy.
Kroche's Lyocell Cotton Oversized Trench Jacket comes in just S and M, and the listing says its oversized silhouette offers generous ease across a variety of body shapes, so two sizes stretch further than you'd guess. A shirt with a cinched waist is the opposite case: there, a centimeter or two matters. Our Chinese clothing size guide walks through each measurement in detail.
Step 4: Read the fabric composition line
A product title is a headline; the composition line is the fact. It tells you how a piece will feel and wear more reliably than any photo.
Kroche's Silk Wool Wrap Knit Top is a good worked example. The title says silk and wool, and the description calls it a silk and merino wool blend. The composition line confirms mulberry silk and merino wool, but it also lists acrylic, polyester and nylon. So this is a blended knit, not pure silk, and the description is clear about what the blend is for: the fine luster of silk balanced by a matte finish, warm yet lightweight comfort, and a soft knit designed to feel comfortable without scratchiness. It comes as a top in rose or gray and as a cami in cream or cocoa, sized S to L.
Outerwear works the same way, with one extra wrinkle: shell and lining are listed separately and are often different. That Kroche trench names a cotton and lyocell shell over a 100% polyester lining. When you browse coats, check both lines.
And sometimes the breakdown isn't there at all. Kroche's Lace Tiered Cake Skirt describes a three-tier lace silhouette with a softly structured A-line shape, but its description doesn't give a fiber breakdown. That isn't a reason to pass on a piece you love; it's a reason to ask the store before ordering if fiber content matters to you. The wider Kroche collection shows how one label describes fabric across a range.
Step 5: Read shipping, duties and returns before you pay
This is the step people skip and then regret. Before you check out anywhere, open the store's shipping and returns pages and read them yourself, start to finish. Look for who handles duties and when, how delivery works to your country, which items can come back, and what sending something back involves. The store's own page is the version that counts, not a blog summary like this one. Ours is at returns and exchanges. While you're at it, check each listing for notes like pre-order, which the Kroche trench and knit top above carry as separate color options.
Step 6: Pay through a checkout you recognize, and keep the paper trail
Use a checkout flow you recognize and a payment method that leaves a record. Be wary of any seller who asks you to pay by direct transfer or through a chat app instead. Once the order is placed, save the confirmation email and the tracking number when it arrives, and keep both until the piece is in your closet and you've decided it stays. Our guide on whether it's safe to buy clothes from China goes deeper on spotting risky sellers.
After a couple of orders, the six steps shrink into a two-minute habit: route, label, measurements, fabric, policies, checkout. If you'd like to practice on pieces that already show the brand name and composition in English, start with what just landed in our new arrivals.
