Online Shopping: Staff Recommendations.
I asked staff about their online shopping habits and thought it was worth sharing the replies here.
Staff names have been removed in case you have a less than wonderful experience at any of these stores!
enjoy.
Max.
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The Iconic: www.theiconic.com.au – Great website, easy to use, lots of brands, free shipping if you spend over $50 and free returns!! You can return for a full refund, exchange for something else or receive a 110% credit note if the item wasn’t right. Superfast delivery usually the next day or you can select to have your items delivered the same day within 3-4 hours on most items available on the website so it is great if you need something quickly. They have regular sales and promotions so you can almost always never pay full price! Allows you to create a wish list so you can save items you like and come back to them if you are logged into your account.
Surf Stitch: www.surfstitch.com.au – great website and easy to use also, always running sales and promotions so you never pay full price. Free delivery if you spend over $10 and also quick delivery, usually the next day or within 2 days. They now have free returns as well. Very easy to return or exchange something with them. Great brands and very helpful customer service staff.
Beauty Storm: www.Beautystorm.com.au – Basically just a website for Dermalogica skin care products at up to 30% off RRP. So much cheaper than in stores and has really quick delivery (I got mine the next day after placing my order). Really easy to use.
Fish Pond – www.fishpond.com – a great online store for books, cd’s and DVD’s. Can usually find books at cheaper prices than in Australia as they are sent from the UK. Takes a little while for delivery, maybe 1-2 weeks or longer depending where the book comes from.
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Online shopping
Love Amazon, been shopping with them for about 15 or so years. They refunded an order that didn't arrive even though I'm fairly sure it was Aus Post that mucked up. Other than that I've never had a problem and while the Aus dollar was high it was great!
Had trouble with Fishpond with a couple of bits and pieces but free postage makes it worthwhile.
Oz Sales - good range of products, great prices but there's a long delivery time and depending what you're ordering postage is a killer.
Ebay - maybe I'm lucky but I've never had any problem. I only use 'Buy it Now' since I can't be bothered doing the whole bidding thing. I only choose 'shops' that have a high rating and have been around for a long time. I mainly order craft supplies
JBHifi - I hate going to Miranda so if there's something I'm looking for I usually get it online. For a while I think that the postage was free, but last time I ordered I think it was maybe $1 or $2. Their turn-around time is excellent.
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My favourite online stores are
Local
www.d-dphotographics.com.au Photography gear import company in North Sydney. Allows purchase of imported gear but with the advantage of someone to go to if a warranty issue arises.
www.pccasegear.com.au Great range of PC equipment based in Victoria.
International
www.bhphotovideo.com for Camera gear has just about everything.
A couple of things I have picked up that are useful to know when ordering stuff online are to do with delivery.
1. If buying a heavy-ish item it is very often better to buy locally simply because of delivery costs can be more than the item being delivered.
2. Always pay a bit extra to get a delivery option that has parcel tracking.
Some thing to remember if you order from OS and paying by credit card. Many CC companies will charge you a fee for each transaction you use your CC for when buying something in a foreign currency.
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I do a lot of online shopping for running and bike clothes with Wiggle. Great site to use. I particularly like the way that you can narrow down your searches to sex, size, in stock etc.
I also bought an ebook using my Samsung tablet from the Playstore. So easy. Much, much better than trying to buy for the Sony e-reader and going through the computer. And if a dunderhead like me says it is easy you know it is.
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buy a fair few books, but no transaction ever compares with Book depository. Good product and price for starters, but it's the whole hassle free transaction that wins me. Fast , free and secure shipping (with few exceptions, was always 10-14 days from UK or US). If ever I've had a problem with incorrect product, damaged, or non delivery, they have been pro-active in resolving. I've actually had to ask them to hold off on refunding once when something had taken 4 weeks to arrive (it came after 5!), but that they were so willing to do it spoke volumes. Also, they were never about getting your details to pass onto others, or making you jump through hoops to find hidden costs, they were very honest and up front.
From a book buying point of view, they surpass the others. For newbies to the game, they make it very easy to obtain product, cheaply and quickly. (In fact, when people come looking for an ILL and want something quickly, cheaply, this is often a better option than ILL (shhhhh - dont tell the Doc Del'ers!).
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My very first book purchase was a balls up, but the 3 things I have purchased online since, have all gone very smoothly.
All from different sites.
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My regular purchases sites are,
Peters of Kensington, Oroton, ebay, Art.com, strawberry.net
I've never had a problem or been unsatisfied with online shopping. I love Art.com - cheap and affordable works (US dollars) but shipping is steep. Last purchase I had a free shipping coupon and ended up with three large, beautiful art pieces (one framed) for $155!
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ove Cruelty Free shop for Vegan products,
Goodwill Wines - buy great wine and assist charities,
Iconic - fashion, shoes, free, fast delivery, free returns if not right. (Most companies will send replacement out for free, but you have to pay to return the unsuitable item first.)
Etsy (home made stuff from all over the world).
Have made a few successful bids on e-bay, but wasn't so good at selling, as buying.
Live in a unit with difficult access and neither Australia Post or some couriers will deliver to the 3rd floor,- resent in a way as paying for delivery, but also can understand the difficulties.
Prefer if Australia Post is the delivery option, can always collect from the nearby PO.
Couriers easy to miss for working people, then you have to drive across Sydney to collect from their depot - may as well have gone to the shops.
There was a dodgy local courier operating for a while which caused a bit of stress when dealing with sellers using that company, but the courier company came good in the end, all issues resolved.
I have misjudged sizes occasionally. Of the many purchases made via Etsy, only one parcel went missing, and the seller refunded the money immediately.
Shopping when it suits me, no parking worries, no noise and crowds as at Westfield.
Whole world to choose from, can find some unique products.
Mostly I use PayPal but sometimes it doesn't work for particular sites even though they offer it as an option - like Booktopia, another one of my favourites,an Australian online bookseller.
I always look for the https - if it doesn't have the s they don't get my business.
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B Hi Fi
Great in store experiences, but terrible online business.
I once ordered a new release CD through the website. Took months to be dispatched (in the meantime, it became available in the stores), and never turned up. Resulted in me asking for a refund. I then visited a store and bought it in person. They did refund easily enough
The weird thing about JB Hi Fi is they cannot / will not fill online orders from shop stock.
Product Review
- website for posting product and retailer reviews. String Australian focus.
- as always, be aware of malicious / misleading reviews, but one feature I like is people can post questions to the reviewer for follow-up clarification and discussion.
- I have posted some reviews and had some good follow up questions from other people thinking about buying the same item.
Digital Star (computers and accessories)
- a real shop in Auburn,sells online too. Good range of stuff that the big retailers don't have.
- I have bought a few small things online, never a problem., always on-time. Can't recall shipping rates, but prices overall reasonable.
Big Brown Box (TVs, Hi Fi, Home Theatre, etc.)
- Sydney based online store, with all the necessary legitimate "Contact Us" details
- I bought my new TV from this place based on recommendation from a tech-head friend.
- after much shopping around (since I only buy a new TV every 10-15 years or so!), this store competed well on price and range (big range!) compared to the big retailers.
- they delivered free and within a few days as promised. Courier phones ahead to give up-to-the-minute delivery time.
Your Home Depot (Kitchen appliances, etc)
- Sydney based kitchenware online store with a real address.
- competitive pricing on more expensive brands like Kitchenaid
- deliver on time as promised. Even a week before Christmas, I got an order within 3 days.
- free shipping over certain amounts (about $200 I think)
Angus and Robertson (ebooks, books, CDs)
- hassle-free ebook (epub) purchasing / downloading (I have bought 4 ebooks so far with no problems)
- I ordered a CD that had to be sourced from USA , which arrived within the 10 days promised, reasonable postage, all for less than $20.
- ordered a new release Australian book on the Monday before Father's Day, arrived exactly on promised day (Friday), free postage.
- Probably not the cheapest online books, even so my $45 RRP book for Father's Day was $35.
- quite a few complaints on Product Review about A&R, but none from me so far!
The Book Depository
- even though now owned by Amazon, still unbelievably cheap and still free postage.
- for the same book, always compare the prices from UK and US sites, there might be price variability
- I have ordered a lot of stuff over the years, almost always turns up within quoted time, usually 10 days.
- the one time a book did not turn up (even though Book Depository said they had dispatched it), they sent another one no extra charge. All they requested of me before replacing was to ask my local PO and wait a bit longer in case item was lost in the post.
Amazon
- I haven't bought from Amazon UK since they stopped free international super-saver shipping. Delivery can be a little slow, certainly slower than Book Depository.
- for big-ticket purchases advise comparing prices across the multiple Amazon sites, such as Amazon France and Amazon Germany. (so I am told, have not done that myself, though a friend bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner quite cheap from Amazon Germany). Buyer beware, re:warranty in Australia.
- advise check the seller, it is often a small retailer selling through Amazon website.
- I once bought a hard-to-find second-hand paperback from an independent retailer using Amazon US to sell books, and this was supplied without a hitch.
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have bought plenty of stuff online over the last 5 years or so. Can't recall any problems with suppliers.
I do stick to ebay retailers with 1000s of sales and high ratings, but it depends. If it's something I can't get elsewhere (2nd hand stuff usually) I just decide whether I'm willing to take the risk of losing the money - I weigh the cost up vs the desire.
my observation would be that the more streamlined and straightforward the online store's checkout process, the more likely that they have been doing it for some time and are reliable.
Any problems I have had have been the result of couriers. Generally they try to deliver and if you aren't at home they will take it back to the depot and you have to arrange another delivery time. All my problems have been with couriers not showing up at the second delivery day/time I've arranged, being either a day early or a day late - TNT is the worst in my experience. I much prefer to buy from people who deliver through Aust. Post. If you aren't around they take it back to the post office and you collect it at your convenience. Most couriers have a depot you can collect from aswell but they aren't as close as the post office.
My weirdest purchase?
The element in my over recently karked it and it's not a widely known brand in Australia, although they sell extensively in the UK. The Repair company I normally use couldn't get an element as a spare part. They suggested I could look online and if I found one they would install it. I looked and found heaps of them available at many UK appliance spare parts sites. One of the sites did a great job of creating videos showing how to install the spares in various appliances. So I purchased 2 elements (1 for now and one for later) and based on the video decided I could install it myself. I did and it was easy. I reckon I saved about $200 even allowing for postage of a reasonably large sized box from the UK.
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I sometimes order from Etsy. So far I've had no issues. They have heaps of great stuff for Weddings, gifts, etc. I've ordered my IPHONE case, 2 scarves and a present for my sister. I think they accept Pay Pal as well.
I've ordered a few things from Adairs online. They sell Linen, towels, etc. They are excellent! I usually get it delivered within 2 working day and if there is a problem, they will call you and let you know. Their products are high quality and they often have sales. They also send you a $20 gift voucher when you subscribe to their email newsletter.
Down that little lane are pretty good. It depends what you are after. Some stuff is a bit expensive. I tend to buy small presents from there. I've only had 1 problem, where I ordered a small pair of baby booties that haven't been delivered yet. I have to follow it up. You can pay with Pay Pal.
Temple and Webster sell lots of home wares and furniture. I think the suppliers are down to their last stock, so they post it up at a discounted cost and it's on sale for a limited time. I've only bought one thing - a hobbit printhttp://www.spinelessclassics.
for less than the price advertised here.
Because it was a print, the shipping cost was low, but I don't think it would be the same for furniture.
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