daigou

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person who buys goods in one country and sends or carries them to customers in another, usually for a fee.

   Grammar: Countable: one daigou, two daigous. Often used before another noun, as in daigou shopping.

   Patterns

   • a daigou for something
   • work as a daigou
   • buy something through a daigou

   She works as a daigou, buying handbags in Paris and shipping them to clients in Shanghai.

   Many daigous advertise their services on social media rather than in shops.

   The website connects overseas students who act as daigous with buyers at home.

2. 2noununcountablebusiness

   The activity or business of buying products abroad and reselling or sending them to customers in another country.

   Grammar: Uncountable when it means the practice in general: daigou is growing, not 'a daigou is growing'.

   Patterns

   • the daigou business
   • do daigou
   • the rise of daigou

   Daigou has become a major channel for foreign cosmetics in China.

   New rules made daigou less profitable for small sellers.

   She earns extra money doing daigou while she studies abroad.

Word forms

Common combinations

work as a daigou

He works as a daigou to pay his tuition.

the daigou business

The daigou business depends on price differences between countries.

buy something through a daigou

I bought the serum through a daigou in Tokyo.

a daigou service

Several apps now offer daigou services to overseas buyers.

Synonyms and how they differ

personal shopper

A personal shopper buys things for clients locally; a daigou specifically buys abroad and sends goods across borders.

reseller

A reseller sells goods again, often locally and without the cross-border element that defines daigou.

Practice

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Write a sentence using “daigou”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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