Monday, August 23, 2010

Blog~Shop, Blog~Hop

It seems like the online business industry is mushrooming everywhere. So much so that I have had the opportunity to be tagged to so many stuff that I don't need and certainly not interested in, in Facebook.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against online sellers in any way. In fact, I would have to admit to the occassional splurge here and there, and online buying is certainly one of the alternatives to satisfying a need to shop especially when it's already midnight and all the stores are closed.

I would have to say that I do salute some of the online sellers that I have had the opportunity to do business with once in a while. Most of them really do treat their business as real as a brick-and-mortar shop and I do think that for some, they earn more than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. They update their products regularly, most at least once a week and for some, several times a week. They respond to customers orders really fast (which I really like and is a nice change compared to the snotty salesgirls that you meet in some high-end clothing boutiques), and the best part is, if you are really good (which translates into having the time to surf around and compare prices among the different online stores) you might get a really, really GOOD BARGAIN.

Okay, let me highlight one example in which I had the opportunity to not only be witness to, but I actually experienced the whole situation! There was this shawl which I really fancied. I was introduced to in Facebook by a close friend of mine (who also blog-shops, by the way), and at that page the owner (I presume) requested all sales be made to her blog site instead of Facebook. There is apparently a form that you have to fill in the blog. From that blog, I found that the price of the shawl is RM39 (not inclusive of postage which costs about RM5 per shawl). Luckily the shawl was sold out, otherwise I wouldn't have trolled through the net in search of another seller in my attempt of buying the shawl (I really fancied it, you see). Lucky me, I found another seller and surprise, surprise, the price of the shawl was RM25 (at another blog-shop, also not inclusive of an RM5 postage fee). Wow! An RM14 difference for the same shawl?! I was over the moon and immediately made my purchase. A few days later, I received the shawl (and was obviously very pleased with the fast delivery and how beautiful the shawl is in real life compared to on the Net) so I decided to make another purchase. But this time, I decided to look through Facebook to the page of this seller whom I have ordered shawls a couple of times before. And imagine my surprise when this seller offered the same shawl at a price of RM20! OMG. Almost half the price of the first seller. The best part is, the same seller will be giving me a discount as I am considered a regular customer since I have bought with her before. How cool is that!

The ironic thing is, the first seller, selling at RM39 per shawl had sold out all her shawls. The other two sellers selling both at RM25 and RM20 respectively did not. Why are people more willing to buy something at twice the price? From my point of view, the first seller had better photos and are therefore able to present her goods in a better light than the other two. Funny, isn't it? How by packaging your product well, you get to sell it at a premium. By showing the product in a way that doesn't highlight the beauty of the product, you get to sell at a cheaper price but still do not sell as compared to the first seller.

My advice to all sellers out there, showcase your product as a superstar. It only takes one glance at your product to determine whether the customer wants to BUY your goods or NOT.

In support of online-shopping, Cheerio!

xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

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