Guide to Online Clothing, Shoes and Accessory Shopping

If your not shopping online yet, you are missing out.  If you are not sure what all the hype is, let me teach you.  You have the potential to be shopping from all over the world at prices that you could never imagine back home.  The GFC is still hitting the western world and prices have never been better for the consumer.  However, there are many tricks, scams and problems that you can incur while online shopping.  I have prepared a guide to online shopping which will help smooth over any problems which you may encounter and how to avoid scams.

1:     Newbies to online shopping should start with EBay. There is a reason why EBaying has been so popular over the past 10 years.  There is definately tips and tricks to EBay but generally the format is very simple.  The reason I say to new online shoppers to start on EBay is because it gives you a general overview of what online shopping is while in a secure and protected environment.  You will learn currency conversion, postage details (including worldwide postage) and general online facilities available to shoppers and sellers alike, eg PayPal.

2:     Before anyone does any online clothes and shoe shopping, however, you need to know your measurements!!  Its one thing that sizing is different all over the world but it is another when the sizing isn’t always correct with standard conversions.  For example. my shoe size in AUS is 8 and in European sizing I am anything from a 39-42.  You just need to know what you are in cm or inches.  The other measurements that you should have written down with you while online shopping is your clothing sizes.  Especially your bust size when buying any tops and dresses which have zips.  We have all tried to put tops and/or dresses on that wont zip up.  You really dont want to have to be sending something back (including postage costs twice) as you have brought the wrong size.  This shouldn’t be a deterrent from online either; you just need to know what you are buying.

3:     Now you’re ready to start shopping online.  You may have no idea where to start, but the only way you will find the right online stores is by checking them out.  Here are a few things that can help you determine whether the store is trustworthy or not:

a:     If they are affiliated with PayPal or not (not sure what Pay Pal is? see below);

b:     Change the domain to https from http.  This security enables your page and prevents scammers stealing your credit card details.  If an alert pops up telling you that there was a problem when you tried doing this, the site should be avoided at all costs.  Sites that that automatically change to https are the most trustworthy. This usually happens at the 'checkout' stage; and

c:      postage; when you are shopping online, 99% of the time your item will need to be posted to you.  There are numerous ways for this to happen.  The sender could use express postage, registered postage, Standard post, International Airmail, International Seamail or possibly courier, although the latter is unlikely.  Ultimately you will be paying for the postage. Be cautious when free postage is offered on a single item (particularly EBay), the postage is generally incorporated into the items selling 'price' and therefore is more expensive that its worth.  It is not uncommon for larger online stores to offer free shipping if you spend over $100.00 etc. If you intend on spending that much then go for it.  Be sure to check shipping or postage information o each online store's website.  This should tell you what postage companies they use, expected delivery time and how much it costs.  Some of these new online stores are just 'middle men', they ultimately hold no stock and sell on behalf of the wholesaler retailers.  Once the sale has finished, they give the sale numbers to the wholesaler who in turn send them the items to pass onto the customers.  In the end, the customer save some money but has to wait 4 -6 weeks for thier item.

Here are my suggested online shopping wesites:    

Strawberrynet.com  This is Hong Kong based website which stocks make-up, skin care and hair care products as well as fragrances.  Delivery is usally 1 week and all items are sent via registered post and its FREE. All prices are cheaper than you will find in any department store.


Sportsgirl- Stocking the same items as you can buy instore, they also have a 'sales' section where you are likely to find items that you wont be able to buy instore.  This principle is the same for any retail store which also sells online.

Supre online has an enormous sale section and for really cheap. If you shop at Supre, shop online. They also offer free postage if you spend over $100.00.

Buyinvite.com.au is a good one for sales of items that are currently in store but you get to buy them on sale.  You will need to wait around 4-6 weeks to receive your item as it is a 'middle man' website.

For those who are not familiar with PayPal here is a brief explanation; PayPal is an independant website from Ebay, yet they are affiliated. You are allocated with a secure online account which you can transfer money in and out of. This makes it especially easy when you are selling online and then making purchases, as your funds will be paid to you into your PayPal account and you can just as easily make payments with this money.  The best part as the transfers are instant as you are dealing with real money.  Your funds are also guaranteed which makes the site very useful and reliable.