Citibank has a service called
Globeshopper where one is able to shop at all the US online stores. Especially for stores that do not deliver to Singapore, this is just fantastic! Once you sign up for the service, you'll be assigned a US address. You can then accumulate all your purchases at this address and deliver it back to Singapore in any combination of parcels via DHL. All you need is a Citibank credit card for the shipping from this US address back home.
So last month, I spent alot of my time online. Shopping. It was crazy. There was a 50-75% sale at Gap and Ralph Lauren and the baby apparel were all so gorgeous! And then there was this minimum amount you needed to spend in order to enjoy free shipping to the US address. So of course, I'll buy till I hit the minimum amount! Online shopping is super fun! And since I'm at it, I even decided to get a birthday present for a friend from Ralph Lauren which I then thought, "why not opt for free gift wrapping?"... yipppeee!!! Free is good!
So there I was... happily clicking away. 2 parcels were already delivered to my US address, and after this 3rd parcel, I thought I had better start shipping the stuff back... since this friend's birthday is coming up! And guess what, to my horror... the shipment cost for this parcel is more than the purchase itself!!!! The stuff cost USD205 and the shipment cost USD248. Can you believe this parcel weighed 44kg!??!?! Isn't this like the weight of a super skinny adult!??!!?? And then I realised how very stupid I've been. What was I thinking? Gift wrapping?!?!?!?
So came Monday and my 3 parcels arrived - 2 small, 1 huge.
In the huge box was my friend's really nice BIG gift box, and some of Luca's clothes. Only half of the space was used. Argh.
3 lessons I've learnt:
(1) Never (ever!) opt to gift box any item.
(2) At checkout, request retailer to reduce/remove any plastic sheets and stuffings and compact pack the stuff into the smallest box possible.
(3) Avoid buying bulky items like bags and shoes.
Okay, that was my first globeshopping experience.
It'll be awhile before I start my crazy sprees again.
