It was a rainy Tuesday in Milan when I first stumbled upon the concept of a spreadsheet-based buying agent. As a vintage-loving freelance illustrator, my wallet is perpetually torn between my passion for rare finds and my student-loan-driven reality. The idea of navigating Taobao through a tool called mulebuy spreadsheet felt borderline genius — like a secret passage to treasures without leaving my tiny apartment. I admit, I was skeptical. How could a spreadsheet replace the thrill of scrolling through Chinese marketplaces? But after my 15th failed attempt at using a proxy directly (lost in translation, literally), I gave in. The mulebuy spreadsheet promised transparency: price, commission, shipping estimates —…