While I had fun receiving surprise box every month, I’ve decided to cancel my glossybox subscription. I’ve gotten bored of it and wants to try a different box. There are so many out there!

Glossybox tends to vary from person to person which sometimes make it unfair, while I understand their argument, I stil don’t like feeling dissapointed and wishing I get what others get. it doesn’t help that they have a beauty profile but not exactly following it. may as well get rid of it all together so people don’t have expectations.

Now the cancelling process is ridiculous. After being asked multiple times on the site if you really want to cancel, you still need to wait for an email before you can actually cancel it. In my case the email stil hasn’t arrived after 15 minutes. I find this really unprofessional, you should be able to cancel just by logging into your account. This gives me an impression of trying to make customer forgets that they wanted to cancel. Not everyone has the time to wait around for an email. What if you forget and the email gets lost and the subscription runs for another month. Whose fault is this then?

I understand they want to keep customer and try to change your mind, but the multiple comfirmations on the site is enough.

Glossybox has so much to improve. Too many hiccuos in their processes and the customer services can’t handle the many complaints and give out a lot of excuses.

I’m glad I’ve decided to cancel, well that is if I can. I still haven’t received that email.

Shop: Baby Kingdom
Products: Baby items
Pro: Fast and reliable, great customer service, reasonable shipping cost, wide range of products
Cons: may not be the cheapest out there
Payment Methods accepted:  credit cards

Comments:

While baby kingdom may not have the cheapest price out there, but if you need certain items in a rush, it’s a good shop to go to. I usually would email them to ask if the items I’m after is in stock. I usually get a reply within the same day, even during weekends. Once my order has been posted, I also receive a personal email from their staff saying it has been mailed. The goods are posted within the same day or at the latest the next day.  It arrives very quickly. At the maximum two working days.

When I need baby items, I usually look around at other online shops to check the price but I always end up buying from baby kingdom because I know it will arrive when I need it. The price may not be the cheapest but the difference is minimal. They also have great range of products. I can almost find what I need there.

Overall, it’s a shop you would go for a fast, reliable, and hassle-free experience.

Shop: Doubleday
Products: Books, CDs and DVDs
Pro: Fast and reliable, stock newly released titles
Cons: limited range, more expensive compared to other online bookstore
Payment Methods accepted:  credit cards

Comments:

I only bought from doubleday because I bought a coupon from cudo.com.au that gave me $50 worth of purchase for $19. I wanted to buy a particular book then and when I checked the price on doubleday, it’s so much more expensive compared to other online shop but because of the coupon, I can buy another book so I decided it was worth it. Without the coupon, I definitely wouldn’t buy it because the book I was after was priced $28.95 there while in bigw.com.au the same book only costed $18.74. That’s $10 difference!

The range of books they’re offering is also quite limited to newly released title. Although this also means, they’re very fast in shipping because they only sell what they stock. Although if you buy in-stock items from other shops, it will also be as fast.

So in my opinion, double check with other online bookstores such as Big W, Borders, or Booktopia before buying. Although doubleday seems to be cheaper than your local bookstore because they sell below RRP, most of other online stores sell even cheaper with the same quality of service.

Shop: Catch Of The Day
Products: one deal a day shop selling random items.
Pro: Cheaper than RRP
Cons: Shipping can sometimes make items no longer cheap, processing time is very slow, there’s usually a ‘catch’ when something is too good to be true.
Payment Methods accepted: Paypal, credit cards

Comments:

This is another site I have love-hate relationship with. Everyday it offers a deal that only lasts for 24 hours so once you miss it, you miss it. It entice you to check the site every day and for me, it’s very exciting. It feels like Christmas every day. Because of the time limit, you tend to rush in buying and unfortunately it usually leads to disappointment.

I have bought a couple of small things from Catch Of The Day and I must say I’m neither impressed nor unhappy. But I must say I wished I hadn’t bought them. I usually end up buying useless items because of the adrenaline rush and at the end they ended up not that cheap because first, I don’t really need them and second, after further research, I could have gotten similar item with similar price from somewhere else.

A couple of things you should pay attention before buying from Catch Of The Day

1. For electronics and big items, check the condition stated on the listing (it’s there but it’s very small so it’s easy to miss). Sometimes they’re not brand new. Often it sells items that was sold to someone but was returned because of many reasons including faults with the product. They’re then fixed and resell with cheaper price on Catch Of The Day. I’m not saying they must be bad products, but you should be aware of this and weigh the pros and cons before buying to avoid disappointment. I’ve also read from other people’s experience, warranty can be a complicated matter. You will have to deal with Catch Of The Day rather than the manufacturer directly. So look into it carefully before deciding to buy.

2. They often sells bulk food items like chocolates, lollies, and biscuits. While the price may seem really cheap, pay careful attention to the expiry day. This is usually written in the specification. Most often than not, they’re expiring in the next few weeks. This makes me wonder about other items like cosmetics. They’re probably not fresh either although they don’t need to list the expiry date for cosmetics.

3. Processing can be very slow. I think they’re understaffed. My items don’t usually get shipped until about a week after purchasing.

4. Often they sell something of an unknown brand. I would be very careful with this. Do your research first and weigh the pros and cons.

5. They often sell random small items that you would find in markets or stores selling cheap chinese-made items like Reject Shop or two dollars shop. While they may seem cheap, the quality is often questionable and they’re usually end up not that cheap considering the low quality and you can probably get them in the shop with similar price.

In conclusion, while it is a safe shop, you still need to do your research before buying to make sure it is really a good deal for you. Unless, of course, if you’re willing to risk the money.

After three times experience buying from them, I don’t think I will buy anything again.

Shop: StrawberryNET
Products: brand name perfume, skin care, and cosmetics
Pro: Cheap and fast
Cons: I can’t think of any!
Payment Methods accepted: Paypal, credit cards

Comments:

I love love love StrawberryNET. Ever since I discovered this shop, I refused to pay RRP price for perfume and skin care.

This shop is based in HK, but they have customised service for Australia. The price is fantastic. It comes with free shipping for skin care and cosmetics. There’s a shipping charge if you only buy perfume, but if you combine it with skin care or make up, you’ll get free shipping.

The price is generally almost half of RRP price in Australia. You get exactly the same quality. They also have loyalty discount and volume discount. Loyalty discount means for every time you order with them, your discount percentage increases. Volume discount means the more items you buy, the more discount you get. This is on top of the already discounted price!

They also often offer free gift so I usually wait for something I like. I’m someone who has no patience for make-up, I only wear make-up for special occasion so I don’t invest on branded make-up products. It’s always a nice surprise for me whenever I receive make-up free gift because they’re of a good quality brand that I can actually use. Once I received a lipgloss that I really like and my latest free gift is a black CK eyeshadow which I’m sure is a better quality than the cheap one I own.

They also randomly send you ‘We Miss You’ email offering more discount! This is on top of the loyalty and volume discount. So if you’re in no rush, it’s worth waiting for it.

The shipping is extremely fast considering it’s coming for Hong Kong. It takes just under a week to get here. They don’t go through normal postal system so they cannot post to PO BOX. If you’re not home they will leave a card and you can call them to arrange pick up or tell them to come back and leave the package in front of your door (if you think it’s safe).

If I have to pick something negative it’s probably the look of the site. At the first glance it looks untrustworthy but rest assure they’re legit and reliable. Once you get used to how the site works, you’ll actually appreciate the ease of use and fast loading.

Shop: YesStyle Australia (yesstyle.com.au)
Products: Asian fashion
Pro: Unique Asian fashion unavailable locally
Cons: To have a pleasant shopping experience with YesStyle, you need to know how they operate and what to expect. Although yestyle.com.au is tailored for Australian customers, it’s not located in Australia and it works nothing like a local Australian online shop (see comments below)
Payment Methods accepted: Paypal, credit cards

Comments:

I have a love-hate relationship with YesStyle. I’ve known its existence for a long time but only decided to actually buy something recently.

YesStyle stocks latest asian fashion items from clothes, bags, to shoes. Initially, they’re a global site mainly targetting North America customers with deals for US/Canada shipping. Recently, they’ve opened an “Australian site” tailored for Australian customers. The only difference between the two sites are the currency used and the shipping fee.

When ordering from Australian site, shipping fee is flat rate of $9.99 or free for order above AU$150. Shipping to Australia is slightly more expensive when you order from the global site.

Other than the currency used and the discount shipping, it is really not an Australian site because transactions are processed overseas and items are stocked overseas.

It’s easy to assume that because it’s a .com.au site, shipping will be fast just like most Australian online shop. This is not the case with YesStyle. To have a pleasant shopping experience with YesStyle, you need to know exactly how they work and what you can expect from them to avoid dissapointment.

1. Understand that it is a Hongkong based store, not Australian. This means items are stocked in Hongkong and will be shipped from there. They do not use Australian Post but a courier service. They also do not accept PO BOX. When you’re not home when the package arrive, the courier service will leave you a card and you need call them to arrange suitable time for delivery or pick up from the depot (and not your local post office).

2. Pay attention to the availablility of the products. Most of the products are shipped within 7 days, some even 21 days. They mean it when they say this. You do need to wait that long for your order to be shipped.

3. Be prepared to get some of the items you ordered cancelled. When a lot of sizes of a particular item already unavailable, be prepared for yours to be unavailable as well. They do not usually restock the same model. You’ll be refunded for the cancelled item once your order is shipped.

4.  Eventhough transaction is settled in Australian Dollar, your bank may still charged overseas transaction fee because the merchant is not an Australian merchant. Make sure you take this into account.

5. Pay attention to the measurements of the item, they’re pretty accurate.

I can confidently say that they will not deliberately scam you or cheat you but there are a lot of inconveniences that may leave you frustrated. So beware of these beforehand.

I’ve bought from YesStyle once and although I’ve been tempted many times, I’m not sure if I would do it again. First of all, the prices aren’t that cheap. Second, I just don’t like to wait for my package too long, it takes the fun out of it. I also dislike the overseas transaction fee my bank charges.

I don’t think the wait and the cost is really worth it unless it’s something I really really must have.

TIPS: Use one of these coupon code to get US$5 (or the AUD equivalent) off your order

TWITTER5

FACEBOOK5

Shop name: Baby Zone
Address:  398 Keira Street, Wollongong NSW 2500
Open: Mon-Wed,Fri 9am-5:30pm; Thu 9am-6pm; Sat 9:30am-5pm; Sun 10am-4pm (yes, they open weekend!)
Products: one stop shop for baby needs.
Pros: great price, excellent customer service
Cons: only stocks popular brands, only local to wollongong.

Comments:

I was looking for a local baby shop and came across babyzonedirect.com.au which has warehouse in Wollongong. The website stated that they only open monday to friday so I took a couple of hours one friday and went there. To my delight they told me they do open weekend!

If you look here, the online shop itself doesn’t have good reviews especially in terms of customer service so when I went there, I didn’t expect much out of their customer service. To my surprise, as soon as I walked into the store and looked at a few cots,  I was approached by someone. We were approached by a couple of staff who readily answered all our questions and showed us how things work. One of them is this young lady called Angela. She was impressive. Although she was young, she was obviously knowledgable about the products and passionate about what she does. We came to the store clueless about carseats and prams but she enthusiastically and tiredlessly explained to us everything we need to know about them and showed us how they work. She was also very honest about the pros and cons of different brands and styles. She also told us other customers’ feedbacks regarding the products, good and bad. She encouraged us to not rush into decision and think more about what we want. She didn’t pressure us into making any purchase on the spot.

The shop itself is not overly big but not small either. They stock nursery furnitures (mainly cots, change table, drawers) of popular brands (Boori, Kingparrot), prams and strollers, carseats (mainly safe n sound), baby bath, baby walkers, etc etc.

I was told that the online shop and the physical store are two different departments that’s why on the website it was written that they don’t open weekend (also probably explains the difference in customer service).

As for the price, they will give you whatever the price on the website so if you live locally or not too far from Wollongong, it’s worth going there to check out the product if you see something you like on the website. The price on the website is the cheapest around (I’ve checked). So I wouldn’t even bother checking other shops.

Also, you will know for sure if something is in stock or not when you go to the store and how long you need to wait. You can also lay buy the item so you don’t need to pay until you actually get your item. A lot of people say that if you buy from the online shop, you will still get charged first eventhough the item is not in stock and they don’t really tell you when it’s going to be available.

While I cannot say the same for the online store, I definitely recommend the offline store just for its customer service especially if you’re a newbie like me. It’s going to be my new hangout place over the weekend : P

I preordered Wonder Girls US debut album back in September but the release date is getting pushed back so many times that noone knows for sure when it’s actually coming. However, they released a new single and everyone who preordered the non-existent full album is getting the single for free.

A month after the single was officially released, mine never arrived. I emailed the customer service a couple of times and was told they have been mailed. It doesn’t help that the customer service is a one-liner man. S/he really needs to work on his/her email mannerism. When I was about to give up and accept the fact I will never get my CDs, I emailed them asking if there was a tracking number by any chance. The reply I received was a one line message saying they’ve mailed me another batch. I checked my account on the site and this time it has tracking number. Tracking number was useless though, it didn’t really track anything but two weeks later the CDs arrived.

Although they’ve proven themselves trustworthy, I would seriously think again before ordering from them again (http://www.wondergirlsmerch.com/). The one-liner customer service made me frustrated and they seem to be slow when handling overseas orders. Next time, I would just buy from YesAsia.

Ever wanted to buy stuffs from Chinese online shop but couldn’t because you couldn’t read it or the shop would not ship overseas? Buying agent is your saviour!

I’ve recently used this wonderful buying agent called Obook to buy a DVD set from Amazon China. Amazon China (also known as Joyo) does not ship overseas. I emailed Obook with the link to the product I wanted to buy and they replied (very quickly) with a quote. Of course you will have to pay for commision and double shipping fee (shop to agent then agent to you) but since the prices are generally really cheap and domestic shipping within china is also very cheap, it’s quite worth it especially when you can’t find the goods anywhere else.

The quote from the agent will include all these fees and if you think it’s not worth it, you don’t have to go through with it.

With Obook, there’s no complicated form to fill in. You simply email them what you want and they’ll get back to you with instructions. You can pay with paypal or western union. They’re located in china but they speak good english.

They can help you buy goods from many sites including taobao, the china version of ebay.

There are other buying agent out there but I have not used them so I can only confidently recommend this one.

I love Kara but I don’t follow them as much as I do with Wonder Girls. Kara girls have entertaining personalities so I watch them quite a bit. When I found out they have an english subbed DVD coming out I had a huge dillema. I’ve told myself to not buy Kpop items unnecessarily anymore but I just couldn’t resist DVDs with english subbed. I checked the content of the DVD, most of them I have not watched (since I only recently got into them). It also comes with a photobook which makes it more tempting since Kara girls are really pretty!

I took my time thinking about it. It costs US$59.99 with 6 posters and $49.99 without posters in YesAsia. The posters are pretty but I don’t think I have the space to stick all of them. So I decided I don’t need the posters. Converted US$49.99 to AUD, it came out over $60 so I waited a bit more hoping AUD gets stronger.

Maybe it’s a sign or just pure coincedence, I saw a random ad on LiveJournal about an Australian online Asian DVD shop that I never heard before. So I clicked on it. Turned out it’s an online shop for a well-known offline store in Melbourne called Sunstar. I browsed through their collection and sure enough they had the Kara DVD box I was after. The price was $56 including shipping AUD! (they offer free shipping for or der above $35).

I was delighted and excited that I had to buy it XD

I bought it yesterday afternoon and guess what, this morning it’s arrived. Wow.

The shop is called Media-Asia. Their prices are reasonable so if you live in Australia and love Asian entertainment, this site may be your one stop solution if you prefer to shop locally. Their prices are not always cheaper than YesAsia, but quite reasonable considering you don’t have to wait 2 weeks like when you order from YesAsia.