Pearl of Wisdom: Online Auctions 101

Sites like TradeMe (for us NZers) and eBay (the actual auction-y side) are fantastic because they combine two of the greatest activities of modern life: thrifting and online shopping. Paradise.

I've bought some absolute gems over TradeMe. I got a Uniqlo skirt for $3 (inc shipping). I've also got- no, we'll be here if I list all the great things I've bought off TradeMe. Incidentally, I've been to the TradeMe offices! They have a slide. I went down it. It was super flimsy and creaky. They were also planning to go international back in 2012- I'm not supposed to talk about that, but hey, it's been long enough and I never signed anything.

Right, off topic.



To skip to the point, there's a right way to do online auction sites. Instead of searching for the cheapest Buy Nows and auctions that have a week to close, use whatever filters are available to you on your local/fave auction site to mirror this search function:

Sort Order: Closing Soon
Price: $0-$5


The price is flexible, but you get the gist. You want to find what auctions are about to end, because this means there's less time for you to get outbid or involved in a bidding war. Either narrow down your category or do what I do and look at everything under the sun in a broad category, such as Woman's Clothing.

If you're looking for something specific, then don't use this method. This is for 'rummaging', and finding really cheap goods that you don't really need (although marketing discourse actually defines 'need' as including 'wants', so you can argue that you do 'need' that new pair of shoes you're coveting).

Another TradeMe tip for NZers: Use the mobile app, not the website! The app is configured to show thumbnails of all listings, not just the ones which have paid extra for a photo on the search screen.

Also, Happy 2015 everyone! Welcome back to Absolootely for the year :-)

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

I have no idea what sort of sites people outside New Zealand use! Do you have something like TradeMe? Link us to your local online auction site below. 

Pearl of Wisdom: The One Store System

Recently, I received a box of jewellery. I'd picked out each piece and it all came to about $15, which is about how much each would cost individually in any chain store. It was The Best parcel to receive and unpack, as you can probably imagine.

Mail Order Treasure Chest!
The trick, I find, to buying jewellery online is to pick a single seller, on eBay or Aliexpress, and select from their products. Most stores have a "minimum order" for small, cheap items like jewellery, so this gets around that, so long as you buy enough items to reach the minimum order price. It's cheaper if you buy in bulk anyway, due to the shipping costs.

If you are buying something cheap off of Aliexpress, it is worthwhile to have a look through the store and add something else to your cart from the same seller. Aliexpress and eBay both have really good systems for purchasing multiple items from a single store, allowing you to pay for them all at once. It's also great to have one package for multiple objects!

Browsing through stores also gets rid of pesky duplicates and gives you a random array of items to chose from, which is fun!

Also, if you've had a really good experience with a seller, do favourite their store and try to buy from them in future. There are some dodgy stores online and sticking with the ones you trust is a great way to ensure you continue having good experiences with online shopping.

I'm going to give a shout out to DX Jewellery, who I bought my bulk lot from. Each of their items are amongst the cheapest options for identical products on Aliexpress and they are good with shipping/packaging. Their minimum order is $9, which is really easy to hit with a mixed order.

Other Aliexpress stores I recommend are:
Red Blooded Woman
Tomato Clothing Store
Hangzhou Weido Apparel Co.
Elizabeth's Wonder Store
Jewelleries4U
Hottest Girls' Choices

Over the next few months, I'll be reviewing some pieces of jewellery I've bought (Absolootely has a one-month-use-before-review guideline, so I can't review them straight away). Keep an eye out for that!
Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Review: Silver 'Jacket' Earrings

This year I have been totally enamoured with a type of earring called the 'jacket' earring. Jacket earrings are comprised of a stud earring with an extra attachment that sits between the ear lobe and the butterfly or stud component. They are a brilliant way of adding a little bit of edge and interest to an outfit, without being too overstated.


My favourite pair are these silver diamante ones, which I bought off eBay a few months ago. They are super cheap, at under $4 (USD+Shipping) for two!

From Product Page
They have a stud with a long wire that is slightly crooked, so they sit better. There are two holes on the attachment, for different sized earlobes. It's great design and I haven't had problems with it yet. Aside from the classic earring problem of getting caught on clothes and coming off.




The photos on the Product Page, as seen above, suggest that the earrings are decorated with little stars, but they are actually more like flowers. I don't mind this, as it's a minor difference, but it's still a thing to note. I haven't found a version of this product for sale that has pictures of these flower ones. Are all the advertised star ones these flower ones? Who knows...


Overall, I'm really happy with these. For their price, I've gotten a lot of use out of them and I'm sure I will continue to. They're only slightly starting to go that bronze colour cheap silver jewellery inevitably goes, and I think I'll just buy another couple if they break or go too brown.

If you are considering buying earrings like these off eBay or Aliexpress, double-check how many the page is selling. For a pair of these, I ordered 2 and received a pair, but for another, similar, item I ordered 2 and received 2 pairs.

Ratings
Product Quality: 4/5
Accuracy of Description: 3/5
Similarity to Original: N/A (I think!)

I have another two pairs of jacket earrings, so keep an eye out for reviews of them, coming up in the next couple of months. If you're a fan of a jacket earring, let us know in the comments below and/or come squeal in excitement with me on Twitter!

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Pearl of Wisdom: eBay 101

If you're an avid Absolootely reader, then you'll remember when Kate went through the basics of using AliExpress. AliExpress isn't my native online shopping store, I'm more familiar and more experienced with eBay, so I'm calling this school to session to walk you through the basics. With these simple tricks, I'll help you avoid scams and rip offs. You can thank me later.



The first thing to note about eBay is that it has several different sites, including ebay.com, ebay.co.uk and ebay.com.au. I use ebay.com because it can display prices in New Zealand dollars.

Here's my list of musts for browsing eBay:
-Filter by price + shipping: lowest first > buy now > shipping specific to your location. There's nothing worse than finding something you love only to discover it won't ship to your country.

-Filter by size, style, colour, pattern, material and condition: new with tags. You can even refine the country the seller is located in if you only want to shop locally.

-Pay attention to the related products that are shown along the bottom of the page. This is where you'll find some of the best listings and discover the same product selling for less.

-Don't limit yourself to clothes. My best eBay purchases include camera straps, bags, iPod screen covers, pencil cases, craft supplies and phone cases. There's so many other things to buy!

-Have an upper spending limit. For me, I am reluctant to purchase any item over $20 in case things go awry. If they do, then don't hesitate to follow it up. I've not received items I've bought for only a few dollars and sellers have been more than happy to refund me.

-Think it over. The worst (but also best) thing about eBay is that they use PayPal, so they're not asking you to put in a card number every time you make a purchase. Instead of tossing everything in your cart and checking out straight away, leave it for a day and come back. It can be all too easy to spend everything you own through their mobile app.

-Check all the details and all the photos. I don't just mean the measurements, I mean study the actual photos and compare them. Sometimes, they use photos of a very similar, but different product. Do those two bags match? Which one looks cheaper? That's the one you're getting.

With this knowledge, you forth and unleash yourself on eBay!

Contributor: Rachel, @RachelElsewhere
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