The Happening: Online Ordering Success!

I don't know what it is about us Filipinos and online shopping. For some strange reason, there seems to be an innate fear in all of us that discourages us from availing of this terribly convenient way of shopping. Is it because we still fear the internet? Nah, we can't live without that ish. Is it because we doubt the legitimacy of the sites we're ordering from? Course not, they're official sites after all. Is it then because we're afraid the orders won't arrive to our lil 'ole third world country with a sketchy postal system? Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

Well, that was my reason anyways. Until I just had to order something abroad which wasn't available here. My girlfriend has been raving about Cath Kidston bags for quite some time now, ever since she saw them on Daphne Osena's blog. I admit they're quite the charmers, but the only problem was they were nowhere to be found on Philippine soils! That's why I checked out the official Cath Kidston site to check if they shipped worldwide. They did, and I ordered quite easily enough with my credit card. Then came the hard part: the wait.

Cath Kidston, 'twas nice shopping with you!

The site said the shipping would take two weeks. Two weeks went by and I still didn't have the bag. I called to follow up and they told me they sent the bag on the date promised. A few days passed, still nada. I called to complain and this wonderful voice with a British accent told me they'll send a replacement. I still had my doubts, but what the heck, I went along with it. What else can I do, right?

A few days later. I received a slip from the Quezon City Post Office telling me that I had a package to claim there. Quite excited, I asked someone to pick it up for me and after I paid a measly P30 tax for the bag, it was finally here. I was happy and satisfied with my purchase and then a few days after, I got another slip. It was for the replacement bag they gave!

Needless to say, I was happy I got a free bag, but I was even happier because even though it took some time, my venture into online shopping proved it can be done here in our native Philippines. Yeah, it was delayed because of our sucky system, but I've proven that as long as you order from a reputable store (go for the official sites!), all you really need is a bit of patience and some money for the tax to make it all happen. It opens up a lot of opportunities for shopping now as I'm not limited to just local items. You know what this means: Asos, here I come!

Well hello there, Asos. You've a great selection to browse through!

Yes, they ship to Asia too! Whoopdidoo!