No, cross-border e-commerce, overseas shopping, and overseas purchasing are all different.

The essential difference between overseas shopping and cross-border e-commerce "Overseas shopping" is an online shopping consumption trend that has emerged in recent years. It refers to consumers who do not rely on purchasing agents and directly go online to buy goods abroad (overseas). However, the procedures for overseas shopping transshipment are relatively cumbersome. You need to find a reliable transshipment company first, place an order on an overseas website, deliver it overseas (overseas) to the transshipment company's warehouse and then transport it back, and finally receive the order through domestic express delivery.

However, with the development of "overseas shopping", some "overseas shopping" forwarding companies have gradually expanded into overseas shopping group buying business. The latter two have more "one-stop" service characteristics compared to overseas shopping transshipment. They only need to pay through regular group purchases and then wait for the goods to be received. According to the regulatory regulations of the customs department, all current "overseas shopping" activities can be included in the two cross-border trade e-commerce business models of "direct purchase import" and "online shopping bonded". At present, the main model in cross-border e-commerce pilot cities is "online shopping bonded". "Bonded online shopping" means that cross-border e-commerce companies centralize overseas purchases and uniformly ship goods from overseas to domestic bonded warehouses. When consumers place orders online, the logistics company delivers them directly from the bonded warehouse to the customer. The characteristics of cross-border e-commerce are: due to the pilot bonded temporary storage model, consumers can receive ordered goods very quickly, and can also meet consumers’ requirements for quick returns and exchanges; in addition, due to the significant reduction in import tax Preferential policies and centralized procurement models will greatly reduce the procurement costs and logistics costs of goods. At the same time, the import, inspection and quarantine, and online sales of goods go through the entire process of sunshine supervision. The quality of the goods is guaranteed, the rights and interests of consumers are protected, and the after-sales service problem is also solved. The difference between the legal compliance of overseas shopping and cross-border e-commerce

The entry of overseas shopping items is declared as "personal items", and transshipment is still in a gray area in the United States. On the cross-border e-commerce pilot platform, everything becomes transparent and legal. Local customs, foreign affairs administration, inspection and quarantine, finance and taxation and other departments will settle in the park together with the company to provide one-stop services.

Comparison of the costs of the two methods. The total price of overseas shopping items includes the item price, overseas (overseas) consumption tax, freight (this money can be saved if many e-commerce websites offer free shipping), and transshipment freight. and tariffs that may not have been circumvented. The large number of small transshipment companies is based on the premise of avoiding tariffs by default, but the problem that comes with it is that safety and timeliness are not guaranteed. Many transshipment companies will inform them of the tax-included price and the tax-free price of transshipment. The former means that tariffs will be paid by default, while the latter is a speculative way of "hitting the jackpot" to test whether tariffs can be avoided during customs clearance. However, overseas shopping still has a strong price advantage for individual buyers. This is mainly due to the fact that some items may be able to enjoy extremely low prices during large-scale promotions on overseas e-commerce websites, covering the subsequent shipping costs and fees. tariff.

Compared with overseas shopping, the additional cost for cross-border e-commerce products is the import tariff paid for transparent supervision. However, cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Tmall International will require merchants to pay personal postal tax for consumers. In addition, the "online shopping bonded" model can enjoy certain bonded discounts. Since the goods are purchased from overseas and stored in bonded warehouses, logistics and labor costs will decrease. It is expected that the overall actual cost can decrease by 10% to 20%, so the final price will be the same as that of the bonded warehouse. Overseas shopping is about the same. Taking Tmall International, a subsidiary of Alibaba, as an example, Wu Qian, general manager of the International Affairs Department of Alibaba Group, said: "The ex-factory price of a bag of American nuts is 100 yuan, and the local retail price in the United States is about 110 yuan. On this platform, , Tmall International sells them for 120 yuan, which is basically close to the retail price in the country of origin, while the price of traditional trade imports is close to 190 yuan, and the retail price of 54-piece large Japanese diapers commonly found in supermarkets is just over 200 yuan. It only costs about 130 yuan, and most of the price difference here is the saved logistics fee.” What are the differences between the two methods of products?

At first, overseas shopping users were mostly young mothers, and the biggest demand came from milk powder. etc., and then gradually expanded to skin care products, daily necessities, clothing, food, electronic products, jewelry and even household appliances. The services provided by these products on different overseas shopping websites are not the same. Although the overseas shopping demand for electronic products is huge, it is also more restricted. Some small overseas shopping companies are allowed to transship electronic products with restrictions.

In recent years, large domestic express companies that have begun to enter the "cross-border transshipment" market have stricter restrictions in this regard. For example, SF Express stipulates that any items that are expressly prohibited by policy, will be subject to heavy taxes, have high value, or are difficult to transport Items are included in the refused shipment list. Electronic products, including tablets, mobile phones, laptops, etc., as well as collectibles and auto parts, will also be refused shipment. Consumers can only use SF Express to achieve cross-border delivery of clothing, food, cosmetics and other goods. At present, the most important "bonded online shopping" model of cross-border e-commerce covers not only traditional maternal and infant products, food and other products, but also clothing, bags, home textiles, furniture, accessories, cosmetics, artworks, etc. For cross-border e-commerce products, the entire process of import customs declaration, inspection and quarantine, and online sales are all regulated through sunny channels. The products can be traced to their origins, so they have obvious advantages in price, time, and quality assurance. Cross-border e-commerce pilots will set up display experience centers, O2O physical stores, etc., allowing consumers to personally experience products at bonded sites, which is something that overseas shopping cannot achieve.

In both methods, buyers spend the entire process comparing overseas shopping items, and should allow enough expected time, especially through overseas shopping transshipment. Since overseas shopping transshipment requires consumers to place their own orders, which are sent to the transshipment company through domestic logistics in the United States, and then sent to the country by the transshipment company. After customs clearance, the goods are then sent to consumers through domestic logistics. The complicated procedures will inevitably lead to high time costs. At present, relatively mature domestic overseas shopping companies promise that consumers can receive the goods in about 10 days, but this largely depends on the speed of customs clearance. Logistics times of up to one month are common events. As far as "direct purchase import" of cross-border e-commerce is concerned, after domestic consumers confirm the transaction on the platform, overseas sellers transport the goods into the country by mail or express delivery, while consumers can enjoy a series of green channel services from the customs. This includes prepaying taxes and fees for personal postal items when making cross-border online purchases, quickly verifying them with traditional express parcels, and automatically withholding taxes and fees when goods enter the country. Therefore, this shopping process is expected to be shortened to within two weeks. As far as "bonded online shopping" is concerned, since overseas products are purchased centrally by e-commerce companies and then uniformly shipped to domestic bonded warehouses, when consumers place orders online, logistics companies can deliver them directly, with the same speed and convenience as domestic ones. It is similar to online shopping, which means that after consumers place an order, it can arrive "the next day" or within a few days. There are different ways to choose from a vast ocean of goods. Whether it is overseas shopping or cross-border e-commerce, consumers ultimately want to buy the most satisfactory products. In this regard, overseas shopping may have more "freedom", and consumers can freely choose the overseas products they like. Cross-border e-commerce requires more information from the supplier's product list, which is relatively limited.

The goods in the cross-border e-commerce "online shopping bonded" model are limited to products stored in bonded warehouses. The "direct purchase import" model can eliminate this restriction. As long as the products provided by all merchants that have joined the cross-border e-commerce platform are available to consumers, consumers can choose from them. A few things about purchasing on behalf of others

The definition of purchasing on behalf of others: Purchasing on behalf of others means to find someone to help you buy the goods you need. The reason can be that you cannot buy this product locally, or it can be this product locally. The price is more expensive than in other areas. You can also ask someone to help you buy it and deliver it to your door to save personal time and cost. Helping people buy goods from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or even the United States, Japan, France, and South Korea, and then delivering them by express delivery or bringing them back directly, or carrying goods from China to abroad for others, is a common form of purchasing on behalf of others. There is also a type of purchasing agent. Because consumers lack relevant information about the goods they want to buy, they are unable to determine their actual value and do not want to be ripped off by merchants. They have to entrust an intermediary agency to help them negotiate the price, or simply let an intermediary agency purchase it on their behalf.

From now on, domestic e-commerce has developed rapidly, gradually expanding from the domestic market to foreign markets. In 2015, many well-known e-commerce companies launched overseas shopping services on their official websites.” It is understood that at present, JD.com, Yihaodian , Tmall and other e-commerce companies are extending their reach from domestic to foreign countries. Products from more and more countries will appear on the virtual shelves of e-commerce companies. From the perspective of business scale, Ant Moving-style small purchasing agents do not have competition. With the current concept of domestic free trade zones in full swing, imported goods display and direct sales centers in many places have also begun to open to the public. Imported goods can be purchased directly at home, and the prices are about 30% cheaper than those sold in supermarkets. As my country continues to open up. With the increase in sales and the signing of various trade agreements, the price difference between domestic and foreign goods for most commodities will continue to shrink. Coupled with the efforts of e-commerce companies, the purchasing agency industry, which is dominated by self-employed individuals, may gradually decrease.

This leaves individual merchants engaged in overseas purchasing “unable to complain” and is deeply affected. In China, Japanese and other foreign products are very popular, but at present, most of them rely on personal purchasing agents. The future trend is that the big fish will eat the small fish, and the personal purchasing agent business will become increasingly difficult to develop, with more services and smaller profits. Big fish eating small fish is a law of nature and a law of the market.