>>10299842
I don't buy a lot of taobao because the quality issues, but I can sort of answer this. I think a big part of it is a lot of taobao brands are releasing stuff in styles the major brands won't do.
Look at FunCcnio's Ragnarok series which is medieval viking lolita, or their Winter Rose series which is a mashup of guns, roses, and the fucking Winter Soldier. If you like military lolita or punk, then there's Your Highness, Foxtrot Lolita, and now LAERS releasing really cool looking stuff. Meanwhile if you stuck with brand, you'd have to wait for the occasional Meta set and hope it suited your taste.
Same for brands like Crucis Universal Tailor. Yeah, sometimes brands release things in a similar style. Mostly ETC and JM. But ETC runs small, both brands tend towards busier prints and less vintage-looking designs. And of course there's all the taobao brands that are releasing pretty qi and wa lolita pieces. And the brands releasing throwback oldschool style pieces. And so on.
Plus, you can't forget that taobao brands almost always offer different sizes, and many offer custom sizing. That adds hugely to the appeal.