Taobao is like eBay meets Amazon Marketplace meets a Shenzhen fakes market, selling just about everything anyone could need for bargain basement prices. On Singles Day, China's largest online shopping event, consumers spent over 30 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) on Taobao and Tmall (a partner site).
We've already documented how you can buy breast milk soap, fake state media car decals to avoid tickets, and #SochiProblems t-shirts on the site, but one factor we've overlooked is how weird, occasionally creepy, and frequently weird the images used to advertise products can be. Well the Taobao-Media Tumblr is here to fill the void that the death of Regretsy left in our hearts. The anonymous blog collects images and photos used on Taobao product pages.
Some are simply confusing, why, for example, did this seller feel the need to photoshop out the model and superimpose these snuggies on a field?
Others are questionable but kind of adorable, like how this seller decided that dried fruit was the perfect thing to kick start her modelling career:
Then things start to get weird:
Some images are inexplicable, what is this even selling?
Even when the images themselves make sense, the products don't, is this a bluetooth headset to use in the shower?
Eyeglasses to let you see if an unmanned aerial vehicle is patrolling the skies above you?
Finally there's the tacky:
... and the terrifying:
Got any of your own weird Taobao finds? Let us know in the comments.
[Images via Taobao-Media // h/t Ned Kelly, Lauren Hogan]
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