Expecting with a Budget

We haven’t actually announced this on any social media, but we will be expecting a new arrival to the family pretty soon! So I think it is pretty apt for me to post about some of the good deals I got from overseas online shops. It is extremely expensive to raise a baby, even more so for Singaporeans with all the inflated prices. Many items are so much more affordable if you can get them direct from the US/UK and we managed to do so with bulk of the items that we purchased for our little one.

iHerbGood for mommies who want to take a more natural, non-toxic approach because they carry Earth Mama Angel Baby and Badger Company, two very well-known brands in US but the prices are grossly inflated in Singapore. They also carry Weleda, Munchkin and Summer Infant products but I find these items cheaper on Amazon.

Amongst all that I purchased a number of oils i.e. grapeseed, coconut and argan. I really like argan oil for my stretch marks but switched to coconut and grapeseed oil because it was getting expensive. I prefer this to Bio Oil because it is natural and it absorbs much faster than Palmer’s. These oils are also great for baby massages!

For the mommies who are suffering from UTI, you can also get the cranberry concentrate from Dynamic Health, much more affordable than the ones in Singapore. Thayers witch hazel is something that I used very often as I had some heat / pimple rash on my chest and back, but you can also get it for about the same price on Qoo10.

Use my code FQF079 to get additional $5 off! Also, check iHerb and your email often as they do offer 10% discounts occasionally and discounts for certain brands too.  Shipping from iHerb is pretty cheap with Singpost and the items usually arrive within 2 weeks. The only issue I have with them is the packaging problem, 2 out of my 9 orders had items which leaked and had to be refunded. Thankfully their customer service had greatly improved over the past year and they are more willing to offer compensations for such cases.

AmazonIt’s a little trickier ordering Amazon since the key point is to qualify for their free AmazonGlobal Shipping. Only certain products are eligible and you have to buy at least USD$125.
The following are the links to the items we bought:

1. Philips Avent BPA Free Natural Infant Starter Gift Set
2. Philips AVENT Breast Milk Storage Cups : Avent products are much much cheaper on Amazon, even cheaper as compared to Baby Fairs.
3. Zojirushi Stainless Steel Food Jar : We couldn’t find this in stock when we went to Japan and were so happy that this can be purchased from Amazon!
4. aden + anais Classic Muslin Swaddle Blanket : The cheaper ones always on sale in Mothercare are made in China and are smaller in size. From the Amazon reviews, the 47 inch ones are much better in quality and they are almost never on offer in Singapore.
5. Munchkin White Hot Inflatable Duck Tub : This is super super expensive in Singapore, we purchased this so that we can have a place to bathe the little one when we stay in budget accomodations overseas.
6. Dynarex Disposable Underpad : This super unglam item is reccommended for use as a disposable changing pad.
7. OXO Tot Bottle and Accessories Drying Rack : Another must-have but much cheaper when purchasing from Amazon. I prefer this design because the ‘sticks’ don’t go all the way into the bottles, which I find a little unhygenic.
8. Weleda Baby Calendula Body Lotion : Recommended by Hello Charlie as a good moisturizing lotion for baby.
   

Target
We also made a one-time purchase from Target, mainly for Medela items since they don’t qualify for shipping on Amazon, so it was either we purchased them via a forwarder or we get them from Target. There was a one-off $30 discount for items over $150 so we went with target.
he following are the links to the items we bought:

1. Medela Pump In Style Advanced 9 Volt Power Adaptor
2. Medela Breast Pump Accessory Set
3. Lansinoh Milk Storage Bag 100 Ct : this is cheaper on Amazon so don’t purchase it from Target unless like us, you need to hit the minimum amount.

 

Hougang Parkview: Third Shipping From Taobao (淘宝)!

After settling into our new home for about half a year, we decided that we needed some extra items to make our life at home more comfortable, so we made another purchase in January and managed to get it before Chinese New Year!

The entire shipment was only 1.05 cbm, we actually had a hard time trying to get to the minimum of 1 cbm as the set of chairs we wanted to purchase was out of stock, so we made a last minute purchase of a stainless steel table.

Through this experience I understood the workings of Amcon a little bit better. I was actually contemplating trying out other companies because they are cheaper; without the $35 documentation fee and they charge lesser per cbm, some even offered checking services for fragile items. However I still went ahead with Amcon because of the problems I see that the rest of the shoppers were facing with other companies.

[Updated on 17th April 2015] I have to retract my praises for Amcon because of the terrible way they are handling the custom inspections. Amcon has one of the higher charges amongst many frieght companies and more and more have been popping up left and right. I used to believe that they are one of the better ones, but my most recent experience has changed my impression of them.

If you read further, you will realize that I have had one item that was not shipped due to my missing nickname, I also had a replacement item sent by one of the sellers. I was supposed to receive all my items before Chinese New Year, it is now 3 months later and only now was I able to get my two items. In between, I had to constantly call May and Amcon to question them where my items were. I can tell you that they really didn’t care if I was ever going to receive my items.

I posted twice on my Tao bao Shopping facebook group, once to praise them then another to retract my statement so that I didn’t mislead anyone. They are not DHL or Fedex but you expect a certain level of service due to their prices. My first encounter with them was superb (responsive, proactive, meticulous), my second time with them was not that great (still responsive but not proactive anymore) and the third time will probably be my last.

So I shall share some advantages of Amcon over other companies:

• Local customer service (May is based in Singapore so any questions or queries can be directed to her pretty easily, Amcon express hotline also available for even more direct queries)
• Items are shipped out from China as soon as all items have arrived (No need to wait for specific shipping dates)
• Shipping takes an average of 8-10 days
• Dedicated delivery truck (No worries over lousy shipping couriers in Singapore)

This time round I had one item being left behind in the China warehouse, seems like the seller didn’t write down my nickname on the outside packaging and they just didn’t bother double checking with the order form I gave; although I am partly to blame because I didn’t double check my items correctly as two of the orders have very similar tracking numbers so I thought they were all accounted for.

This time round, all items were very well packaged by the individual sellers, I believe it was due to me constantly communicating with them. As always, this is the list of items we purchased:

Bay window cushion good quality cushion, affordable pricing, very good customer service! I like that they have a wide variety of materials and colour for the cushion cover. Most of the other sellers only have overtly colourful choices and I didn’t take to that.
Stainless steel table one of our last minute purchases, extremely useful in the kitchen. Packaging is superb with wooden crates but the table was not without physical flaws although it did not affect us much.
Electric scooter working well so far! The battery is not made of lithium so it is bulkier, lots of useful free gift. We are looking to sell the electric scooter at $300 with the seat, leave a comment if you are interested! scooter has been sold!
Bamboo shelves good quality, good for all our potted plants.
Ladder much more stable than the usual aluminium kind, a little dusty when it arrived.
Flip clock much much better than the one I bought from the previous seller! Better packaging and the number plates were not damaged.
Lego plate not the real one from lego, but identical in colour and quality but at half the price!
Ottomans customized to the measurements we wanted, although they sent the wrong legs for one of the ottoman but they were very quick to apologize and send us the correct set of legs. They have storage space too!

Hougang Parkview: Review of Taobao (淘宝) Loots!

A quick update on how some of the buys from taobao have been doing 🙂 If you would like me to review the items, please leave a comment and I shall get to it.

First up, the correct legs of the study chairs have finally arrived. It was a SUPER long wait. The packaging was beyond lousy. Luckily nothing was damaged in the process. The workmanship was not the best, however after we fixed everything together, the chair looks pretty decent! The chairs are quite comfortable and sturdy. The material of the chair is just what I wanted; there are small holes in it that makes it more cooling to sit on, the material is water-repellent so it doesn’t absorb sweat and it is easy to clean!

I am loving the robot vacuum that I bought in my first loot. It is really the greatest helper at home! The amount of dust it vacuums is beyond belief. We purposely bought furniture that can be shifted around or had legs that were long enough for the robot to get under. So whenever I can, I clear the floor of anything that can be cleared and just let it roam. It uses about 70-80% of its battery life if I want it to clean the entire house. The only problem I have with it is sometimes it doesn’t charge properly; it will show that it is 100% when in fact it has only been charged 20%. But the problem is easily solved by removing the robot from the dock and putting it back to charge again. The dustmite vacuum is quite pointless and under utilized, plus the supposed ‘vibrating’ function it had spoiled after the first use.

The lights are all working well, except for the service yard light and kitchen light. Please do not buy LED lights from this shop: 度尔家居专营店, both the capacitor for both light fused, one within a week of installation and one within 6 months of installation. My sister’s light from them also had the same problem. Although the sellers usually are willing to send a replacement, but this just shows the quality of their products are just not good.

Magic bullet is working very very well! I use it mainly for chopped garlic, grinding sugar and the ocassional smoothie. The many many cups that they provided really helps as I can store the processed items in them without being afraid that I would run out.

Corkboard was quite easy to put up on the wall. It is now our travelogue!

Hougang Parkview: Another Big Loot from Taobao (淘宝)!

I recently made another purchase using Amcon Express. I didn’t like this experience as much as the previous time. I felt that this time round, communication with May wasn’t the best and she also insisted that I told her the wrong information. It was not totally her fault, perhaps due to the fact that there were much more items this time round, I came across some really crappy taobao sellers.

So what happened exactly? I did the usual thing, buy all my items from taobao using my credit card and having Amcon’s address as the shipping address. I was quite happy actually, cos’ I got some discounts from my tmall 积分 and 淘金币. However, two sellers took very long to ship the items (books and cork board) and by then 90% of the items have already arrived in the China warehouse on 21st June. Without my knowledge, May decided to ship these items to Singapore (装柜) first, then she shipped the other batch over on 23rd June. Normally, this would not have been an issue but there were more bumps in the process this time round.

1st problem: number of boxes (箱数)
This problem is arise when I purchase more than 1 bulky item from their stall, some of them were not able to tell me how many boxes these items would arrive in. So the number of boxes Amcon received and the number of boxes I thought I should receive didn’t match up;  because some of them told me that the items (study chair and weighing scale) told me that they will ship the items in two boxes but ended up shipping it in one. How to avoid this? Keep on checking with the seller, generally if there is only one tracking number (订单号) there should only be one box.

2nd problem: seller not taking note of instructions (备注)
This problem only happened with the seller which I bought the study chairs from. There were lots of options for the study chairs I bought; you can choose the height of the back support, the type of legs and the material of the chair. With this, most sellers will cater to this my having you select them during the purchase process. This seller did not cater to this, so I had to choose some other similar option while the seller adjusted the price and put a note down. However, even after extensive communication with them, they managed to send the wrong legs to me. So after I made noise about their irresponsibility, the seller send me the correct legs free of charge. So now I had to have another batch of shipment coming in.
Furthermore, May suddenly said she receive another package at her warehouse which I have no idea came from which seller (initially I thought it is from whom I bought the cork board from). So I won’t be able to pinpoint the crappy seller until I receive the item.

3rd problem: below average service from Amcon
Somehow, May was not as prompt as the previous time. The last time I shipped my items, it arrived in Singapore in 8 days. This time round, it took 13 days. I mentioned it to May, not to offend her, but just wanted to know if it was due to a holiday or something. She was very offended and became defensive and started insisting that I told her certain things which I did not, and I have my Whatsapp to vouch for that. It was only at this point did I realize I had 3 shipments coming in – 21st June, 23rd June and the final batch in 1st July (the items arrived on 28th June, but somehow she did not ship them over immediately). This 1st July shipment will only arrive in Singapore on 13th July.

One of the reason why I chose Amcon again was because it took the shortest time to arrive in Singapore from China and also the service from May. I didn’t mind paying more (shipping is more expensive plus the $35 extra admin charge) for better service but after this round, I shall try Oops.sg for my next shipment.

Unhappiness aside, at least I got my items! My shipment was HUGE (1.3 cbm) this time round, made me think that I didn’t utilize the 1 cubic metre fully the previous time. I barricade myself from the entrance after unwrapping all my items!

I don’t have the pictures for all the items as I was too tired and excited with the unboxing process, plus I was doing it alone, but this are the significant ones.

Food slicer very useful! No more tears when slicing onions or being afraid of chopping of my own fingers. The blade is very very sharp, so the handle should be used all the time.
Knife stand it is made of bamboo (hopefully its true). Fits all our knifes well, good quality.
Magic bullet cheap alternative to the Shimono food processor that my mum has. Works just as well so far and the plug is compatible to our sockets.
Toolbox better quality than the ones in Toyogo, however you don’t have to specially buy this since Homefix also has comparable ones.
Motorised ‘unicycle’ this is for a relative, who is thinking of selling it, contact me if you are interested (item has been sold)! Very good quality and packaging but requires some practice to learn how to ride it.
Wall clock good quality and it looks great!
Toilet roll box very happy with the quality since I had a hard time finding a decent seller. Many of the other sellers had a lot of complains about quality and broken items.
Tanita weighing scale bought two of them, both arrived in original tanita packaging, Japanese words and all. It is so much cheaper and the quality is comparable.
Dining chairs love the design, but the chairs came with scratches on all the legs, indicating that their paint job is quite lousy. the seller said that I should have told them that it was meant to be shipped to Singapore so that they good package the chairs better. However, some of the scratched areas have already rusted, so I am pretty sure it was scratched a while ago and not only during the shipping process which the seller kept insisting that it was. I got a 20% discount though after I made noise.
Corkboard definitely cheaper and extremely good quality! I bought the 80 by 120cm one.
Kitchen rack no pictures for this, but the quality is really really good! Furthermore, you can shift the height of the rack. I was initially kicking myself for not buying something similar in Daiso but I gotta say that I was greatly consoled when I un-boxed this.
Study chairs no pictures yet as I am waiting for the damn legs! So far the quality seems pretty good and it was packed well too.

Check out this post for reviews of the items.

*Upgraded Version* Online Shopping at Taobao (淘宝)!

Exciting updates! Now it is easier than ever to buy stuff from Taobao.
There is a FIFTH method to getting things from taobao and I have already tried it twice.
I must say I am very happy with this method!

This method is similar to the 4th method I mentioned previously, only this time instead of a friend, you look for a official forwarder. What you get is a warehouse in China where you can ship all your items to, and the forwarder will pack them together and ship them to Singapore for you. I like this method because I receive my shipment faster (3 days!), I get to earn points through taobao, I don’t need to pay service fee to a third party and I get to charge it to my own credit card for points.

The first time I tried it, I ordered some wedding stuff. The forwarder I used was 4PX. Go to this link to learn how to use their in-house forwarder (国际转运).
It is pretty simple though; you type in your normal SG address in taobao and during the checkout process you choose the option of 国际转运. Taobao sellers will ship the items in a warehouse in China and once all your items have arrived, you consolidate them into one package and ship it to SG!

Update (5th May 2014) Tracking can be done on a third party website as the automated on taobao will stop updating once the items arrived in Singapore. 4PX ties in with two delivery companies in Singapore: Airpak Express or TGX Asia /TCK Express (TGX actually gets TCK to deliver items from taobao so check with the latter when you have questions about the delivery of your item). If your tracking number starts with 8100, it will be delivered by Airpak; if it starts with 2009, it will be delivered by TCK.

I spent around $20 for shipping and bought the following stuff (plus a scarf). 4PX charges by actual weight, my items weigh about 3.3kg, rounded up to 3.5kg.

I didn’t really like the way they packaged my items, plus the 快递 amount was always wonky as they capture the item as going to 海外 and not the warehouse in China. Also, certain 套餐 items cannot be bought conveniently.

The second time I tried with another forwarder, trading one.
This time round, you use the address of their warehouse in China during checkout. After you have bought all your items, complete and send an order form so that the people in the warehouse can pick out your items. Once all your items have arrived, you inform them to package it and ship it to SG!

I spend $19 for shipping this time round. My items weigh 3.3kg but was rounded up to 4kg. So I lugi abit, but that was also cos’ I can’t think of anything to buy anymore! I could actually add more items to make the shipment more worth it.

I like the way they packaged my items and the shipping is slightly cheaper than 4PX. However, they charge by volumetric OR actual weight, depending on which is heavier.

So there you go! A new way to shop at taobao 🙂

Online Shopping at Taobao (淘宝)!

I used to buy stationery from taobao through livejournal sprees. But as wise up, I realized I could shop more freely and whenever I want on my own. I don’t have to wait for sprees to start and I can have the items delivered directly to my place.

There are basically three ways you can shop on taobao:

1. by participating in a spree
2. buying directly from the seller
3. through an online buy-for-me service
4. have a friend that stays in China who can help you bring stuff that you shipped to his/her place over

I don’t like the first method as there is usually a limit to what you can buy and you have to wait for someone to start a spree. Plus the shipping is not always cheap and you have to self collect the items.

The second method has recently been made more convenient as they now accept DBS/POSB credit cards but you would be at the mercy of bank exchange rates. You must also have a good command of Chinese and know how to use the 阿里旺旺 chat. The seller must also be willing to ship to Singapore and you have to bear the shipping charges which should be pretty high.

I don’t have a close friend living in China; if not the fourth is actually the cheapest method.

Therefore I usually go with number 3. The service that I frequent is Peeka. I tried this one and also 65daigou before. This two are the more established and popular ones amongst Singaporeans. There are many many more of such services available. You just need to google.

I wanted to ship some bulky items that will be stored in a box measuring 50 by 50 by 70 cm. This item costs 858 RMB and costs 80 RMB to ship to 深圳 (Peeka) and 30 RMB to ship to 上海 (65daigou).

• With sea shipping Peeka costs 210.11 + 70.50 =  280.61 SGD
• With sea shipping 65daigou costs 204.06 + 104.30 = 308.36 SGD + 8 SGD (if I want it to be shipped to my doorstep)
• Direct shipping to Singapore is a crazy 2500 RMB (estimated 680 SGD)

I actually tried both services before and I preferred Peeka because I feel that it is cheaper and faster. I also prefer the Peeka interface as I have a clear idea of what I ordered, how much I paid, how much I have to pay, how long the order is taking and so on. 65daigou was a little confusing and they even calculated the amount that I had to pay wrongly.

There was once that Peeka forgot to ship one of my items from the China Shipping Centre to Singapore and they waived the shipping fee for that item. It was a 65 litre Esky cooler and would have cost quite a bit to ship. They also helped me expedit some book orders from 当当 and they are always prompt in replying queries. PLUS, they always have this 1-for-1 luggage promotion that I love. Thumbs up for customer service!

SCAM alert!

I have sold stuff online for quite a few years, but I have never been scammed before! This incident will cause me to be more careful. TRUST NO ONE! Especially people who seem willing to pay hundreds of dollars just to ship something so common to another country.

Now this is what happened. I wanted to sell my iBounce (trampoline) I bought for my parents. They refuse to want to jump on it. Sian. So I posted a few ads online to try and sell it.

Got a reply from gumtree by this person: kanbongo@yahoo.com

Scammer: Hello how are you doing today, i want to know if this item is still available for sale reply asap.

Me: Yes it is still for sale. Please contact me directly at 9xxxxxxx for quicker replies. Thank you!

Scammer: Hello i am Mr J Balson from United State Of America. How are you today and how are your families? Hope all is good? Well i am interested in buying the item for my daughter in Greece (EUROPE), because it my daughter that need it and i hope she would like it, so kindly get to me with the total cost of the item including the shipping cost to her address below with post office, i pay through either Paypal or Bank transfer. Ok reply soon.
First Name: Janet
Last Name: Balson
Address: 10 Parkson Platinum Amerikis
City: Attiki
State: Athens
Zip-Code: 10446
Country: Greece

Me: It might cost quite a bit to get it packaged and shipped as the item is rather heavy and Singapore provides only DHL and FedEx services. I will check the prices and get back to you ASAP. But may I know it you have any budget/limit to the shipping charges you are willing to pay?

Scammer: I am thinking of the shipping through Post Office, because Fedex or DHL are more expensive, I will appreciate if you can check the shipping on the post office instead.

Me: The Rebounder weighs about 9.6kg in total. So I estimated the shipping charges for an item that weights 10kg using SingPost. I have attached the charges for shipping. Please let me know if you still want the item as the charges are quite expensive!

Scammer: Of course i still want it,kindly choose the 1 with tracking number for me and get back to me  with the total cost and your payment details thanks.

Me: I will head down to Singpost today to check the exact charges for the package. Will fill you in with the details ASAP. I would prefer transaction via Paypal.

Scammer: Just get back to me with the total cost and your PayPal id thanks.

Thank goodness it was a long weekends and Singpost wasn’t open! Just out of curiousity I googled the address of the ‘daughter’ and found this website. That was when I realized that I almost got scammed! Haha.

Lesson learnt: only a fraud is willing to pay a few hundred dollars to get their items shipped. Hahaha.