How-tos: Blogshopping

I recently discovered blogshops and was amazed by the very affordable prices for pretty blouses and dresses. It’s a really convenient and cheap way to get dresses for work! For those of you new to blogshops, here's a short guide so that you can start shopping in no time!

There are many blogshops hosted on LiveJournal. Two very popular blogshops are BonitoChico and Lylarose. Btw, many blogshops are opened by young entrepreneurial ladies who source their supplies from Bangkok, Hong Kong, etc or have suppliers produce their own designs (known as “specially manufactured items”.

How They Work

For LiveJournal blogshops, it's usually ok not to have an LJ nick though some blogshops may require you to have one. These blogshops will often launch "collections" at certain set times and orders are all on a first-come-first-served basis as normally only limited stocks are available.

How You Shop

As you browse through the collection and see something you are keen on, you leave a comment with your email details and the item(s) you are interested to order. You will then receive an email whether the item is still available or not. If it is available, you will be given between 24 - 48 hours to transfer the payment, normally via POSB Funds Transfer or Interbank Transfer. Only when payment is received will the item be mailed out.

For some blogshops or backorders (meaning certain items in a collection that were initially out of stock due to overwhelming response but now made available in VERY limited quantities), you will need to transfer the money over first to confirm your order and reserve the item. Refunds will be made if the item is no longer available.

For other blogshops like those hosted on Blogger, the same principle applies but instead of leaving a comment, you send an email to the owner of the blog to make your order.

Postage

For postage, there's normal postage and registered mail. Registered mail will be safer as you will be able to track the status of the delivery as a Registered Article (RA) number will be issued.

More Tips on Blogshopping

Since these blogshops normally launch collections quite regularly like once a week, you can join their Mailing List and they will email you when a collection is open for ordering. And for popular blogshops, once a collection is launched, the items are often very quickly snapped up!

As you can see, it is really EASY to buy from a blogshop! But some important points to note:

• You don’t get to try or touch the item before purchasing.
• The actual product may differ from the product.
• Some blogshops may not be dependable and may take a long time to send out your item to you, mix up your orders, etc.
• You need to be patient at times to wait for your purchase to reach you. Backorders normally have a longer waiting time as blogshop owners do not have ready stock and need to reorder, and wait for stocks to arrive before they can send out to you. So if you can’t wait, try to get items while they’re newly released.
• To protect yourself, do a search on the blogshop you are keen to buy from, and check out forums to see if there are any negative comments or experiences from other shoppers to be sure the shop is reputable.
• Finally, would you be able to write off the amount if the item gets lost in the mail, the quality differs greatly from what you expected, the clothing doesn't fit, etc? If so, you are ready to SHOP!!

Check out some of these blogshops now!

BonitoChico en vogue

This is a very popular blogshop and I must say their designs are stylish and also very affordable. They release a collection once a week so you will definitely find something you like! This is the also the blogshop I did my first blogshopping (actually my only for now)!

Vogue Femme

Found out about this blogshop as its owner was featured in Urban for her dressing. The styles are not bad!

Lollyrouge

Came across this blogshop from Beatrice’s blog. Find the designs quite unique.

There are lots and lots of blogshops out there, do a search online or you can click over to Beatrice’s blog for more links (under Advert: Shopping Treat!)

Will share with you my first experience blogshopping in another post! Stay tuned!