Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Gmarket in a nutshell

Yohoo, I am going to try and win some vouchers for my online purchases. Spend a lot of $ on Gmarket so hopefully able to win some from them. hehehee

These are the information that might be useful for u..... but its full of words. So either u bear with it, read it through or just 'X' it. TSKTSK

Anyway, I often see qns on Gmarket like .....

'This is my first time ordering etc and I'm so lost. I hope someone can help me'.... but most often those qns are found on the Gmarket HELP section. The problem with some people is that, they expect u to spoonfeed them. Pls, you dont have language barrier when u look at English Help section so why is it so 'helpless' for u?

So if u understand english, go n read the HELP first.

To those that want to buy from Gmarket, pls go to http://www.gmarket.co.kr/ and click on English. There's a direct url but neh, i am too lazy to copy the exact url here.

From there, u can click on Customer service and starts to browse through. Read!!! Most of the qns can be found there.




What is Gmarket all about?
Gmarket is now joining 'forces' with Yahoo Singapore in Singapore. In Korea, its just Gmarket.
Its like any other online shops and u get to order from various sellers/shops in 1 single payment. All the items purchased in that single order will be shipped to u from Korea. As they are shipping by EMS Korea, its pretty fast. Maybe 2-4days can reach Singapore.

Another issue is that, shipping delays also can be a result of

a-sellers sending out items late,
b-sellers choose slow slow postal service,
c-sellers having issues with the orders. Need some clarification etc

You just need paypal or Credit card and u are ready to buy things from gmarket!


Problems likely to be encountered at Gmarket .....
I only have abt 3-4purchases from Gmarket (I think total I spent abt >SGD$800 for 95% of my stuffs) within the short 2 mths period?... its like buy 'nothing much' but yet everything just added up *faint* Plus I dont like to spree with people. So troublesome and waste of time.

Anyway, even though I have only purchased 3-4x but I have already purchased from more than err, 15 sellers? (hope i didnt remember wrongly).

The problems u are likely to encounter:

1-Sellers giving defect goods.
I have experienced this. But well, live with it since seller didnt properly package the stuffs but I suspect seller already know abt the palette chipping issue (i saw 1 THUMB PRINT on the middle of the CASE!!! i touched it by the side) and seller gave me chipped and actually its damaged free gifts...... ARGKKKKKK

anyway, what to do?!?! "Swallow" this down. I dont want to complain but wait till my other transactions are done n i will gave the seller low rating

2-Sellers pack wrong items
I have experienced this 2 times from the same shipment....... *ROAR* both are earrings issues.
One seller is honest to rebate the missing item cost. The other one is telling the Gmarket Global CSO that they are going to send them CCTV to check..... Zzzzz Ok, I hope their CCTV shows the packaging of my items clearly and not like how they handle their jobs. U cannot see things from yr CCTV- how the person check the quantity VS the items packed right? Tsk. Anyway keeping my fingers crossed.

This happened because I have ordered Item A, Qty 2pcs. Even the stickers on the box is Qty 2pcs but the item packed is only 1pcs........ Sianz. So now I am waiting patiently.. since 2-3wks ago?

3-Ordered wrongly and Seller request for top up.
I encountered this before. I thought I order Item A n B for 1500Won. Sala lah! Its 2500Won. No wondered I see how come this seller still dont wana shipped my stuffs out....... Then I received email in Korean Hangul, asking me for top up etc. So i send another email over in English and check things out. I have learnt a bit Korean so I can roughly guess whats the email about.

So I have to top up 4000Won and ok I tell the Gmarket Global to inform the Seller. Seller send out the items before I can do payment.

Initially I thought that they will deduct 4000Won from my CC but sala ....... deduct from Gcash. Then U have to transfer from Gaccount to Gcash.... I have tried several ways (follow the instructions given through email but its wrong!!!) and only managed to get it done after another different procedure.

Then the rest will be settled by the Gmarket CSO.

4-Insufficient $ or Topup for Postage
U rarely encounter this problem. For me, I kena this for my 'last' previous order. So happened the utensils + wallet is over the estimated weight so I have to top up. Again, u have to transfer $ from yr Gaccount to Gcash for this to take place. If u already have $ there, then it should be just a click of a button. Too long i cannot really remember.

5-Combined Shipping
Initially i am pretty confused abt this, even after I read the HELP. In this case, its like I placed an order A (ie 5 sellers, 15items) and then I realised I have something more to buy..... so I placed another order, B (ie 2 sellers, 5items).

Then I can combine shipping if order A *Last* seller to send out the items havent send it out OR its still on the way being shipped...havent reached the postal Office HQ i supposed...... then u can combine. If they already estimated the shipping charges or u already see the last seller sending out the items 1day ago with the tracking, then give up. Buy another time

When U placed order B, the shipping charges starts from scratch again. Shipping is cheaper as the weight increased. So it means if yr shipping charges for Order B is rather high, then most often u have more $ stuck in yr Gaccount when yr total weight isnt that heavy.

How do u combine order? U can go to Gaccount, Shopping list etc n u will see Order A n B. Click both and ticked 'Combine Order' or something. just ensure that the address , receipents etc for both are correct to prevent yrself from seeing 2 parcels.

6-Sellers cancel partial order?!?
Well, I ordered 3 items from Seller A, only to have this kuku delaying my items for >5days i think (all other items reached Gmkt) and then....... the seller cancelled 2 of my items and send me just 1 item!!!

THENNNNNNN that 1 item is scratched!!! and I have to pay 2500Won for domestic shipping. How unreasonable is this? Anyway, this happened before Gmarket allows international buyers to comment on the sellers. Otherwise I am going to give her a BAD BAD BAD rating.

7-Money stuck in Gaccount
I have more than 100,000Won stuck in my Gaccount. Why? Because some tiny things the seller put as 1kg. Then if i ordered 10 of such tiny things, I end up paying 10kg for something of mere 500grams including box. What to do............. I will have to wait for my next purchase. But HEY!!! If yr Gaccount is 90,000Won and yr cart is 90,0001Won inclding shipping......... good luck!!! U cannot useeeee Gaccount 90,000Won!!! and pay the rest by CC etc.

So yea, yr shopping cart must be more than Gaccount $$$ for u to utilise that.


Aiyoooooo my posts has some not that positive feedbacks on Gaccount sellers.... still can win the contest anot LOL

Ok, enough of the negative.... there are really very good sellers too. Like the one selling me Konad nail art and wallets!!! Although wallet seller reply is very slow but he still managed to help me with my order!!! :)

So I will buy from them again, plus one of the earrings sellers thats honest to admit her mistake. I will buy from her again.

I have also exchanged email with some of the sellers but wow, one of their email is 98.99% in Hangul and I have a hard time trying to decode it. hehehe has to send one reply soon else she must be thinking I go MIA....... Anyway just like when I visit Korea, there's very friendly and nice Koreans around and there's also some the 'i dont see u, i dont see u' kind of pattern. Maybe because they dont understand foreign language or dont want to waste time engaging in a 'chicken n duck conversation' and thus, they walked away..... Gmarket sellers are also like this. Mixed of good and bad sellers. But there's defintely more nicer sellers than bad sellers.

The thing to check out is reviews..... if the rating is poor, I wont hestitate to drop the sellers no matter how cheap/nice etc the pdts are.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Purchase

All the philips products......



This is a cheap regional free DVD player with HDMI output. Looks cool and Only $69. Plus, its very suitable for me because I have some Regional 1 discs that cannot play on my LG DVD player! Yippeee This is designed for room usage so its now in my study room! Good buy!

(From left to bottom)

One earphone (Crystal Sound), good sound quality 6-24500Mhz Frequency if i remember clearly (throw the box away)... ,Digital Clock Radio; Digital Clock Radio with weather forecast.

Stylish Clock that need to be on 24/7 to power supply otherwise all the memory will be gone after 3mins when the standby battery decides to 'give way'. Waste of my $. Supposed to put this in co but because I have to switch it off power supply, this is out of the way. The radio tuner is digital so that means everyday i must go through digital scan (radio channels) to tune into the radio station. Otherwise have to slowly adjust from one chanel to another. If you have digital radio, u will know that upon every strong signal (means there's a station at that frequency), it will stop the scan until u press the button again to continue scanning to THAT radio station you want. Wayyyyyyyyy too troublesome.

The long box (Radio) is the replacement set for Stylist Clock. Stylist clock is on my room desk now. So the radio with weather forecast (just gimmick) will be for office use because it runs on battery 4 x AAA and/or power supply.


This is how the weather forecast radio/alarm looks like. First pic with light and power supply on. 2nd pic when its off. The light indicator on the top left corner is supposed to change color according to the weather forecast. But i am not sure how it really works.


Top radio is SO's. I find it not worth of $130. Too expensive for the lousy quality. The quality is worse than the Samsung S300 Phone I have 3yrs back? Not TFT screen. Very laoya lah. Just laoya!!! WASTE OF $$$!!!

U can play clips/pics/radio/alarm on this but the pics are not clear. The clips are not clear too. Quality simply sucks. Below is the Philips Sonicare toothbrush I bought again. My previous one was dead after 1yr usage. Replacement set also last less than a year. &^#$#$#*$%^ and that set is UP$229 or so and I bought at aroud $170. SHIT!


My crystal sound earphone. Comes with a pouch. I choose gold instead of purple. Purple isnt really suitable for my skin tone. The sound quality (see frequency range) of this is comparable with the swarovski earphone. Just that the wire might be slightly different and the sensitivity of swarovski is better (but means noise also can pick up). This earphones also has some parts 'wrapped' with rubber materials and those are not lasting materials.


This is the lousy $130 radio. Slim, cool looking but SUCKS!

Sonicare Flexcare

The set is almost 1yr old!?!?! The white box is UV santizer for the brush. The silver tube is how its interior looks like. Hopefully this can last me > 3yrs.Very expensive toothbrush. But I have no choice because I dont know how to brush my teeth *properly*. This is the most expensive one i ever bought. I believe this is the most expensive range in the market too. So yea. This is retailing at $285!!!

ZZzzzz This works on Lithinum? battery so I choose to buy this instead of the HX9551 series which is the replacement set I have. No point getting athat again when I know the battery sucks. Flexicare also has a model without the UV box. For $30 more, I get a UV santizing box and also travel adapter. More value for money.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Gmarket Online Order III (b)

Wallet

I have only ordered from 1 seller. This is the seller I bought my 2 wallets from. For my first order, I was having a tough decision on the red or gold wallet...

Then, I saw that Gold is OOS (small & Medium sizes)... so i thought hmmn maybe Gold is nicer IRL... WRONG. Bad mistake.

My friend commented that it looks like gold bar!!! Its super bling manz... Today I went for my kimchi lesson and when I told the lady my friend commented on the wallet being gold bar, she laughed and said yes!!! but she said its nice! *giddy*

Anyway, i bought 2 wallets but seller only gave me 1 sweet!!! So i let the seller know and at that time, the red wallet is already OOS.

Meanwhile, I was waiting for the seller's reply and I dare not place any order. So when the seller replied me 1-2wks later, I quickly placed an order! The seller was out on business trip so that explained the delay on the email.


The scarf and the pink card holder are free gifts. Actually its free gifts for my 3 wallets, including this 3rd pc, red wallet. Anyway, this is the LAST PIECE of the wallet from the seller *according to seller !!! Yippee!!!

p/s the pockets/inner area of the wallet is not as bright as the above pic. its way too bright.



Now this wallet is more unique than those 'LV/Gucci etc' wallets we see on the streets. I dont know, Singapore has many rich youngsters/young adults etc all carrying LV like its free. Oh ya, not forgeting the 'gold bar' wallet is also one of a kind *faint*

Some of the pics are taken with flash. This wallet is very unique. The buckle is full of crystals (really very good quality).. and the leather is cow leather. Then, the surface is like patented with goldr/red glitters underneath that patent material!!! so the wallet leather is rather bling too!!!

Not forgetting, the surface of the patent leather is heart embossed prints!!! Very classy and of course, bling bling. It looks way nicer IRL.

I have pre selected some of the wallets I will like to buy. However, some doesnt look as nice as it appears to be. This wallet looks a bit too over in the pics but its really very nice/sophiscated??? IRL!!!
It is outstanding but pretty in the way. Gold wallet is outstanding but too gold bar. TOOOOOO 'over'.

This wallet is sold at major shopping centers (not here) and then, its at about SGD$150+each. Genuine leather so price wise is still reasonable.

My black Renoma, boring boring black wallet *my wallets are normally black and hidden in my bag........ is still new, can last another 1-2 yr or so but I have took out all my cards/cash etc and put them in the gold bar wallet. I think the gold wallet can last me for another 2yrs......... so maybe in between when I feel like 'flashing' my bling bling red wallet, I will bring that out to flash flash a bit LOL

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Gmarket Online Order III

This is my 3rd order......... well ,sellers shipped out way too fast for me to order more things and combine them together.... so in the end, i end up with such a BIG BOX and EMPTY SPace!!!! *@&!#_+*&(@#% But its better than having sellers giving me wrong quantities or sending out real late (plus choose the slowest shipping method).



Stainless steel Cutlery
This is 18/10 Stainless steel chopsticks and spoons. Costed me about SGD60+? Kind of. I lost count of the cost. Looks nicer in pic.. This is more of brushed stainless steel finishing. Not glossy surface. Quality looks good and the prints look nice too. Just that not as nice as I thought it will be? Anyway, I still like it! Maybe not 10 out of 10 but 8.8 out of 10? Seller is great too although there's no free gifts. hehehe. I mean seller is very polite and nice from the msg we exchanged.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Gmarket Online Order



Bvlgari


This is a gift from my parents for the Chinese Tea Ceremony (wedding). My fav watch. This happened to be on the computer table where I take the online order pics.... so I just take a pic of it. Initially i thought its black crystals but no. Its black diamonds. Bvlgari. Look nicer IRL than on pic.

Gmarket Online Order
I ordered 2x and combined shipping over.......... I just saw my bill and I spend abt $395 bucks inclding shipping for THESE items........ like nothing much manz. *giddy*
Those are all my items. THose that are not in the pics... include the gifts I gave away... my mum 2 pairs of earrings & the VoV palette, a pair of earring and eyeshadow palette to bro ex gf, a pair of earring to bro current gf. My SIL bought the nail polish plates and set together with me....
I have passed 3 containers to my mum. All stainless steel material and someone told me can get these at NTUC. You sure??? I asked someone else and they said never see these in NTUC. DONTTTTTTT ever let me see these in NTUC. I spend over 90$$ over here, including those not in pics.

I bought them because I plan to tarbao foods in these containers. Healthier and environmental friendly.
VoV CastleDew Palette
The seller is damn kuku. I bought 2pcs. One for my own use (but gave my mum), another for friend's birthday gift. Then 1 of the palette (1 color) has slight chipped. When I open the box, I noticed this thumb print on the case! So I open up to check n saw that. That seller must be trying to clear stock to overseas buyer. WTFFFFish

And then gave me a free gift, Anna Sui inspired oil blotter paper and case with mirror......... WTFishhhh again.... pichar one manz. Waste my shipping cost and give me that lan item. Can throw back to her, I throw back to her. TSKTSK


Nail Plates
I spent abt 70+ from this seller. Bought 7 nail polishes (to be used with the plates), 1 set of 2 plates & stamp, 4 plates. Noticed there's a lot more of plates in some pics. Those are mine. I think I have 10pc of plates in total. No need to go manicure. DIY at home.


The seller gave me a lot of things!!! Cotton pad, Face Masks (i gave 6pc to my mum), nail polish removers!!! Very good seller!


This is the first time in my life to buy plates/chrome earrings. All along I've been wearing gold/white gold and diamond earrings. THe thing is, I used to have infection during my pri sch days when i tried those cheap earrings. I have my earlobes pierced when I was a baby. Yes, baby. No typo. So its impossible the earholes get infected when I was in Primary school because its not new wound. Its due to my sensitive skin reaction with the earrings.
Then there's this seller that gave me a earring so i tried it on and still ok. THen i decided to plunge in and buy these earrings. So in a shot, I bought abt 20pcs of earrings (including 3pc to be given away). End up, sellerssss missed 3 of my earrings and I still gave 4 out. One is my bro current gf as I think she will be more suitable for the sweet earrings than me. I asked her and she likes it. So I just gave to her :P

There's some more ribbons earrings thats not in the pic. Looks too dark in pic but IRL Very pretty and BLING BLING


This is not my purchase. This is from a nice lady who send out the mask, mascara!!! and some free samples to me. So nice of her!!! Ok, I will ask if she wants the item I bought. hehehe

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Active-Crystal Headphones

The $165 Swarovski Active-Crystals headphones. Guess this is one of a earphones specially created for women. They still have this with necklace and it costed $239 or more?



This is the most tedious item to be removed from its packaging!!! I have never buy earphones thats packed like this.........

So many steps to removing it from the box/packaging. If I am a bit more rough, I would have damaged the plastic earplugs? I guess, they have to make the packaging look more 'classy' to make buyers feel justified to pay so much for earphones?
Did u see the 'Active-crystals' or 'Philips-Swarovski' wordings? Those are laser-etched words. Will they faint off after some time?


Bling bling. The booklet stated that its 'designed by women for women'. Something like this.
The white straps on the earphones are rubberband to hold it to the plastic packaging.
If u buy ala carte crystals from outside, it should be rather expensive (if u manage to find it in the first place). Plus, you cant possibly stick crystal of this size to a earphone. Nowadays people like to DIY their stuffs with lots of blings-swarovski. They paste those tiny flat base swarovski stones onto handphone/earphones/camera etc. (I have done it on synthetic leather photo frame)
But for earphones, the end result might be rather fake or weird because most earphones looks 'plastic'?
I read that for this philips-swarovski series, its made of stainless steel and fabrics cord (exterior). But i am not sure if its chrome or what.
Anyway, it should be more lasting than normal earphones because there's no rubber component that might turn sticky after years. Those normal earphones straps tend to become sticky after few yrs. Guess they slowly breakdown. Downside is the fabrics cord might get dirted easily.

Ok, the earphones isnt THAT pretty (not as bling as diamonds hehe) but its still pretty and unique!
I am putting this in my display cabinet first to display it for a while. Switch on the spotlight & will be like Swarovski showroom display hehehehehee. Ok, I'm waiting for a chance to 'flash' it on the streets. Lalalaaaaaaaa

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Gmarket 1st Order

Random display of pics... from my first Gmarket Order... but some stuffs are not in here.


This is from that seller whom has cancelled 2 out of my 3 items order. Then the thing is, i have to pay shipping and imagine end up buying 1 hairclip and pay domestic shipping.......... isnt this hairclip expensive?!?! Worse, its scratched!!! Very pissed with the seller. Maybe i should take a macro pic of this and post up here.

=I should have complained to Gmarket but its too late. So remember, if u received e/s palette (chipped off like mine), scratched items etc, just email Gmarket global and see if they can help u. No harm trying things out. Its very annoying to pay for something thats defective. We pay full amt, real cash. Not discounted price. Tsktsk



My bling bling gold bar wallet!!! The surface is also gold glitters inside that patent leather!!! Amazing right? Regret ordering the gold because the red is sooooo much nicer. How i know? Because i ordered 1 each. Gave the red to my mum. And I am going to buy the red again for myself. HUMPF!!!


Shower foam.......... initially i thought the free gift is one facial wash tube but that turns out to be scrub or moisturiser. I like the cleanser from this range.



Hair accessories from another seller. This seller is better because things are packed nicely into the box.



The accessories are pretty expensive. I end up paying $30 plus to 40 for 2 necklaces. Bought them because they are more unique.