A Guide To My Online Shopping World
Past ten days have been like moving under gunfire. Finally got my good share of sleep, and now I'm all charged up to tidy my mess.
This post was initiated last month(?) but since my dearest friend Linzhen is asking about it, here I am working on it again. Enjoy!
If you ask me what is the one skill I've picked up most in the past two years, I would say (apart from tsum tsum) - online shopping. Pleasure to the heart, but guilt to the money, it is noticeable that I'm dedicating a significant portion of my monthly pay to feed this guilty pleasure. Uh-hoh. Let's work on some constraint. Control.
Anyway, I don't know if it's the upward trend of online global shopping, or that I've simply too much time at hand during breaks to browse the app catalogue, all I know are that my online shopping knowledge has improved leaps and bounds after several successful trials (and tons of failed attempts) at the various shopping platforms. Thought it might be good to spread some of my experience, so that you can skip the thorns (that pricked me and my wallet hard and sharp) and enjoy a seamless journey down the bed of roses.
My journey starts from Qoo10, then Ali Express, subsequently spreading to random platforms such as Carousell and Zalora, and eventually a venture into Taobao and Ezbuy. I would save my words on the former few, and focus on explaining how Taobao and Ezbuy work, hand in hand. If you can grasp it, well, welcome to the ultimate shopping heaven.
I guess Taobao is quite self explanatory. You're Chinese literate, you have your laptop, mouse and Internet connection, you're good to go. Navigate anything on Taobao and you find yourself unravelling the most insane things at an even more insane price. That's when your shopping cart starts to overflow. Checked out, billed, time to transport them back.
**A note of caution before this. Shopping on Taobao is subject to currency conversion, as well as credit card service charge of 3%. Do your math and calculate if it's worth it.
Back to the international delivery. Not that Taobao doesn't provide this service, but it's providing it at an incredulous price - I mean it in a bad way. No way I'm going to repeat history and import stuff at a rate of $20/kg. That's defeating the whole purpose of shopping at cheap Taobao, isn't it.
So how do I summon my goods back? Here comes the various call of shopping agents out there, all proclaiming to be the best of the best, and you shouldn't miss out the deal they are promulgating. I wasn't into this idea initially, which makes me cease taobao-ing for nearly a year, until last December when my friend introduced me to this portal called Ezbuy (formerly known as 65daigou).
EzBuy - Buy the world for you
Whether it should still be named a saviour, I'm holding that back. It's for you to judge. Basically what Ezbuy does is that it helps to ship your stash back at a cheaper rate. I will just summarise it as $1.69/0.5kg in my usual shopping context, flown by economy air.
So think of Ezbuy's warehouses as your alternate 'home'. Fill in the dummy addresses provided by Ezbuy and the goods will arrive at the warehouses. Next, Ezbuy will pack your stuff and ship them back at your command. The tip here is to accumulate your items to the nearest half or a kilogram to maximise your money spent. Meaning, shipping a 0.1kg or 0.5kg cost the same. The most you can go to is 0.53kg, before it jumps to the next tier. 0.53kg cost $1.69, and 0.54kg onwards will be another $1.69. So on and so forth. Easy?
**Note: Weight is measured based on actual or volumetric weight, whichever is larger. I paid 3x$1.69 for a cap that weighs 0.21kg, but labelled as 1.5kg by Ezbuy. The 'volumetric' weight, apparently.
**Note: Hidden in their FAQ/Terms & Conditions, Ezbuy charges 1.1x the weight. A place where they secretly rip your off.
What's being explained thus far is the service Ship For You provided by Ezbuy. They do other stuff as well, such as Buy For You. As the phrase suggests, it means buying things on your behalf (charge you agent fee) and shipping them back for you (charge you shipping fee). Targeted at chinese noobs, that's all.
I was adventurous enough to try it on a 'free agent day', like, why not, and indicated my usual shipping preference aka Economy Air. When it's time to ship, Ezbuy told me flatly that since it's considered as a 'branded' goods, they have to ship via Sensitive Air.
As if you can say no. My parcel weighs 1.33kg, so, LOOK AT THE PRICE DIFFERENCE.
I'm clearly frustrated because as opposed to this, Ship For Me service doesn't even label similar items as 'branded', so you have the freedom to express that you want economy air. Buy For You handcuffs you with no options. Talk about picking a smarter choice.
Note of caution again. I tried to ship some shoe water resistant spray back, and immediately got rejected by Ezbuy as 'flawed' goods. Besides having to go through the painful process of refund by the original seller, I have to absorb
1) domestic shipping back charges
2) admin charge by Ezbuy to ship the goods back aka $1 (as if I can reject)
3) currency conversion loss
Honestly speaking, I should have just left the item with Ezbuy. I think I had a net loss after the whole procedure. Anyway, this experience tells us that we should always read clearly what can or cannot be imported back. My mistake here.
So, after filling in the addresses and details, pay Ezbuy via various methods (ATMs, I-Banking, Credit Cards), then wait for them to arrive! I always choose I-bank because I'm lazy to find ATMs and credit cards have extra charges.
When your items have arrived in Singapore, Ezbuy will notify you, and you are expected to arrange for delivery. Doorstep delivery is obviously the most convenient but most expensive, so the majority always opt for pickup point collection, ranging from MRT stations to neighbourhood collection (Find one near your house! Mine is beside a church lol). The time of collection is catered to normal working adults, so unless you knock off at 12am or have a peculiar shift work like me, collection shouldn't be a big problem.
There! You can embark on this magical journey if it still entices you! I'm still on board, unless I find another alternative hahahahaha.
This post was initiated last month(?) but since my dearest friend Linzhen is asking about it, here I am working on it again. Enjoy!
*
Anyway, I don't know if it's the upward trend of online global shopping, or that I've simply too much time at hand during breaks to browse the app catalogue, all I know are that my online shopping knowledge has improved leaps and bounds after several successful trials (and tons of failed attempts) at the various shopping platforms. Thought it might be good to spread some of my experience, so that you can skip the thorns (that pricked me and my wallet hard and sharp) and enjoy a seamless journey down the bed of roses.
My journey starts from Qoo10, then Ali Express, subsequently spreading to random platforms such as Carousell and Zalora, and eventually a venture into Taobao and Ezbuy. I would save my words on the former few, and focus on explaining how Taobao and Ezbuy work, hand in hand. If you can grasp it, well, welcome to the ultimate shopping heaven.
I guess Taobao is quite self explanatory. You're Chinese literate, you have your laptop, mouse and Internet connection, you're good to go. Navigate anything on Taobao and you find yourself unravelling the most insane things at an even more insane price. That's when your shopping cart starts to overflow. Checked out, billed, time to transport them back.
**A note of caution before this. Shopping on Taobao is subject to currency conversion, as well as credit card service charge of 3%. Do your math and calculate if it's worth it.
Back to the international delivery. Not that Taobao doesn't provide this service, but it's providing it at an incredulous price - I mean it in a bad way. No way I'm going to repeat history and import stuff at a rate of $20/kg. That's defeating the whole purpose of shopping at cheap Taobao, isn't it.
So how do I summon my goods back? Here comes the various call of shopping agents out there, all proclaiming to be the best of the best, and you shouldn't miss out the deal they are promulgating. I wasn't into this idea initially, which makes me cease taobao-ing for nearly a year, until last December when my friend introduced me to this portal called Ezbuy (formerly known as 65daigou).
EzBuy - Buy the world for you
Whether it should still be named a saviour, I'm holding that back. It's for you to judge. Basically what Ezbuy does is that it helps to ship your stash back at a cheaper rate. I will just summarise it as $1.69/0.5kg in my usual shopping context, flown by economy air.
So think of Ezbuy's warehouses as your alternate 'home'. Fill in the dummy addresses provided by Ezbuy and the goods will arrive at the warehouses. Next, Ezbuy will pack your stuff and ship them back at your command. The tip here is to accumulate your items to the nearest half or a kilogram to maximise your money spent. Meaning, shipping a 0.1kg or 0.5kg cost the same. The most you can go to is 0.53kg, before it jumps to the next tier. 0.53kg cost $1.69, and 0.54kg onwards will be another $1.69. So on and so forth. Easy?
**Note: Weight is measured based on actual or volumetric weight, whichever is larger. I paid 3x$1.69 for a cap that weighs 0.21kg, but labelled as 1.5kg by Ezbuy. The 'volumetric' weight, apparently.
**Note: Hidden in their FAQ/Terms & Conditions, Ezbuy charges 1.1x the weight. A place where they secretly rip your off.
What's being explained thus far is the service Ship For You provided by Ezbuy. They do other stuff as well, such as Buy For You. As the phrase suggests, it means buying things on your behalf (charge you agent fee) and shipping them back for you (charge you shipping fee). Targeted at chinese noobs, that's all.
I was adventurous enough to try it on a 'free agent day', like, why not, and indicated my usual shipping preference aka Economy Air. When it's time to ship, Ezbuy told me flatly that since it's considered as a 'branded' goods, they have to ship via Sensitive Air.
As if you can say no. My parcel weighs 1.33kg, so, LOOK AT THE PRICE DIFFERENCE.
I'm clearly frustrated because as opposed to this, Ship For Me service doesn't even label similar items as 'branded', so you have the freedom to express that you want economy air. Buy For You handcuffs you with no options. Talk about picking a smarter choice.
Note of caution again. I tried to ship some shoe water resistant spray back, and immediately got rejected by Ezbuy as 'flawed' goods. Besides having to go through the painful process of refund by the original seller, I have to absorb
1) domestic shipping back charges
2) admin charge by Ezbuy to ship the goods back aka $1 (as if I can reject)
3) currency conversion loss
Honestly speaking, I should have just left the item with Ezbuy. I think I had a net loss after the whole procedure. Anyway, this experience tells us that we should always read clearly what can or cannot be imported back. My mistake here.
So, after filling in the addresses and details, pay Ezbuy via various methods (ATMs, I-Banking, Credit Cards), then wait for them to arrive! I always choose I-bank because I'm lazy to find ATMs and credit cards have extra charges.
When your items have arrived in Singapore, Ezbuy will notify you, and you are expected to arrange for delivery. Doorstep delivery is obviously the most convenient but most expensive, so the majority always opt for pickup point collection, ranging from MRT stations to neighbourhood collection (Find one near your house! Mine is beside a church lol). The time of collection is catered to normal working adults, so unless you knock off at 12am or have a peculiar shift work like me, collection shouldn't be a big problem.
There! You can embark on this magical journey if it still entices you! I'm still on board, unless I find another alternative hahahahaha.
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