..in online shopping? I’m still curious in the development and the potential of online shopping in Asia/Malaysia. As my mum and brother told me that they are now doing some bank transactions online also in Malaysia a few years back, my first reaction was like ‘Whoa…way to go Malaysia!‘ I’m glad that local enterprises are implementing ‘the’ way for doing business in the future.

My first experience with online shopping was with Ebay. From then on, it’s like a love relationship which keeps on growing and blossoming. Since then I’ve bought most of my stuff online, except groceries and toiletries, mind you . Believe it or not, I bought my first bike at Ebay! And the seller really disassembled the whole bike and shipped it to me by post! I don’t know whether I was stupid or I’ve gone bonkers, I think both, because the shipping cost almost half as much as the bike itself was worth. That was the only bad choice that I’ve made in online shopping.

Since then I’ve grown smarter, I shop for my electronic gadgets which includes my laptop, my first Nikon camera, my hand phone, and computer (no kidding there!) online. Believe it or not, I also shop for my clothes, my cosmetics, my shoes and accessories, and books, and DVDs and my Wii online. The advantage of online shopping is, it really is cheaper at times than buying at the stores. Especially cosmetics! Now for clothes, I’d be more careful in choosing my size, but I love Esprit online shop here because they offer free shipping and if you don’t like it or if it doesn’t fit, you can return it within 14 days without paying a cent. Usually their size of clothing is quite standard, so I won’t make any mistake if I buy their smallest size.

The policy here in Germany is usually, a buyer is entitled to return the goods with complete refund within 14days, with no questions asked! Of course provided that it’s still in good condition and for clothes, it should be unwashed. That’s why I love shopping here .

Up till now, touch wood, I haven’t encountered any problems before. And they are still functioning as they should. Of course one should be aware of any dubious online seller. If it smells fishy, it probably is fishy. So it’s really advisable to keep your hands of those negative rated seller. Che wa…sounds like an expert there . For electronic gadgets I prefer to shop at Amazon which offer free shipping as well! How I wish I can shop at Amazon in the US because it’s so much cheaper than Amazon Germany. However I have to pay extra taxes if I buy from Amazon US. Bummer

Nowadays I’ve so taken for granted the ease and convenience of online shopping that I gotta check myself to not to just simply click the ‘Add to shopping cart’-button too often which is so tempting at first sight. However I still enjoy the conventional way of shopping at the stores itself. Once in a while, I do enjoy a stroll at the shopping complexes. But if it snows or rains or I just don’t feel like going out, with a click away, I just get myself a new pair of shoes or a book. It’ll be delivered to me in a few days time. Isn’t it amazing? So do you shop online?