Overseas shopping and shipping!

We always say that the world is becoming smaller because travelling and importing of items are made way more accessible compared to 10 years ago.

I remember how it was almost a dream for anyone to travel anywhere out of their own country or even to just the neighbouring countries, but now, travelling across continent is a norm. Buying of things from halfway across the world is a norm. But yet, we still constantly seek for the best, the fastest and the cheapest way to ship something across the earth.

As not all online sites provides free international shipping option, we will still need to search out for companies who does shipping for us.

In the past, i use to purchase things through Vpost where they offer shopping from USA, EUROPE, JAPAN and CHINA.

 Their charges was one of the best at that point with a base charge depending on the location, weigh and fuel charge that are based on the weigh or volume of item.

However, i found a better way and it's way cheaper! 65daigou ships for you from USA, TAIWAN and CHINA.

Their rates are based on weigh only. There are no additional base charges or fuel charges. That makes it a lot cheaper to ship something from USA or China, to Singapore.

Of course the location wise does matters because if you are purchasing from Europe, then you will still have to use Vpost for now.

These sites too have a "buy for me" option where you do not have to coordinate the shipping options of the various sites and ensure the parcels arrive and coordinate for the items to be shipped to you. You can purchase you item through the site by keying in the URL of the item from the shopping sites. However, do note that they charge a service fees of 4-8% of your spending, meaning the more you spend, the more you are charged for the service.

But the good part about using this function is, they will be responsible for coordinating with the sellers and ensure that your items are received and sent out to you in good condition. Hence, they work as a meditator to ensure shopping satisfactory.

Hope this gives you a better and easier way to shop and ship! ;)

IKEA Molger Shelf Review

Many people saw my photo on this Ikea Molger shelf and commented so i decided to do a review on this! So here are my thoughts and review on this IKEA Molger Shelf, if you are intending to get one!

Firstly, i think it is a very good idea to utilise the 'unusable' space that is taken up by the toilet bowl. Many times, we try to put things on toilet bowl box where the plush button is and hope that they don't drop. When i saw this at IKEA i loved the idea!

So here's my unbiased review:
- It can only be used again a flat wall with nothing behind the toilet bowl. There a lot of toilet nowadays with this kind of built-in backing and make sure your tap is not in the way. So make sure you take your measurement properly.

- The shelf is VERY light hence, it is easy to fix and put it up. However, with its light weigh, it is IMPORTANT to ensure that the shelf is level properly by adjusting the legs as shown below.

If you have not realised, all our toilet floor is slanted so that water can be drained away. So every bit counts. Ensure that the shelf is properly fitted before putting anything on it.

- If you want to be very safe, you can get the shelf drilled to the wall.

Personally i don't like to drill things into my wall so i just have to make sure the legs are accurately adjusted. :)

- The shelf levels CANNOT be adjusted. So it limits the height of the items you can place on this shelf. There are also gaps, not very big though so you don't have worry that your handphone will drop through but please do not put small accessories pieces hoping that they will not roll off into the toilet bowl.

- Lastly, value for money? In the image below i have included the image of the code and measurement for you, for easy reference and you can just show the IKEA staff for purchase.

I personally think that S$99 for this is a bit expensive compared to the many other cheap shelving they have. For the idea of using an 'unusable' space, i still bought it anyway. If you are expecting very high quality wood or product because of the price you are paying... Not really... in fact there were some visible scratch marks already on it.

Hope this review helps you to make the decision and also for you to get all the measurements ready before making a wasted trip down to the nearest IKEA. :)