Orinity

Shopping can be fun, but sometimes you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for at the stores in your area, or sometimes they didn’t have your size in that one perfect item. Enter the World Wide Web. For years, the Internet has been a great place to shop, especially for those who don’t have the time to go from store to store looking for that perfect item. Below, you will find a list of things to look for when shopping online.

1. Organization and Presentation of the Site
First impressions are usually correct, and you can tell what kind of company you are dealing with the moment you take a look at their homepage. Are items easy to locate? Is the website easy to navigate? Chances are if the site is properly maintained and things are in order, you should have no problems if you decide to buy something. If the opposite is true, you may want to look somewhere else.

2. Reputation
If you plan on spending your money with someone, you want to know that they stand behind their products and services. What is their return policy? Will they be able to meet your needs in a timely fashion? If they encounter problems, how do they deal with them? If you are unsure, run a search on their company name to see what previous customers have experienced. The results may help you to make a more-informed decision.

3. Check Competitors for Price and Availability
For some, shopping is all about finding the best deal. For others, it’s about finding the right size. Make sure you explore all of your options when shopping online. Sometimes if you look for a great deal, it’s only for certain sizes. Other online retailers will match their competitors’ prices. Take a look around when you find something you like, and make sure you are getting the best deal.

4. Shipping Needs
Many online stores offer their customers free shipping. If your needs are more specific, however, look into whether or not they are able to deliver the products you need, especially when ordering internationally. Again, check out forums where customers have discussed their experiences before you buy. Sometime customs issues prevent your items from being delivered in a timely fashion, and there is nothing worse than waiting on something that you’ve already paid for to arrive.

5. Feedback and Communication
This is so important, and again you must turn to the web for other people’s impressions on the services they have received from online stores. If there is clear communication, any issues should be able to be resolved pretty quickly. If other past customers have experienced a lag in communication, however, steer clear of these businesses. It is hard to get your money back once it has been transmitted through cyberspace.

This post was guest written and contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of green shopping. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323[@]gmail.com.

I’m selling off this brand new (as seen in these pictures) DKNY Be Delicious (50ml).

S$50. Details for collection/postage as follows:

– Meet-ups:

Mondays to Fridays, 7pm at Hougang MRT, Ang Mo Kio MRT or Sengkang MRT stations.

– Postage:

Free normal post. Add S$2.30 for registered post.

If you are interested, but can only meet at other places, do drop me an email at cyrene@orinity.com

P/S: I also wish to have this as a give-away, but I can’t 🙁

With Valentine’s Day only 10 days away, many guys will definitely run into cold sweat at the cold hard cash that we have to spend to please our other half. If you are the typical guy that feels that flowers on Valentine’s Day is a must-have for girls, look no further than Prince’s. Prince’s is my florist of choice and I find their prices to be reasonable and value for money. They are amongst the cheapest and yet well packaged selection that I have seen so far. Some online florists actually dare to charge an extra surcharge of around $60 for Valentine’s Day period delivery. Prince’s deliver free of charge for two time slots which is 9am – 5pm and 5pm – 11pm respectively. While the time range is really wide, as long as my girl get her flowers, I don’t care that much. If you want to have the flowers delivered at a specific time slot, be prepared to pay $20 or more.

When buying from Prince’s, remember to register for membership which entitles you to 5% off non-promotion selection and 5% rebate points to claim on future purchases. Currently, Prince’s is having a promotion for early orders for Valentine’s Day period. The discount is up to 20% and definitely looks better and more worthwhile than many other bloodsucking florists. Go order some roses for her now! She will definitely look better with a bouquet of 20 roses instead of 3 pathetic roses…

I came across FlowerPatch through a MSN personal message of my friend so I decided that it is about time to do another short review with Valentine’s Day approaching right after Chinese New Year. The first glance on the web page is the quality of the images used on the website. The closer shots are taken with some blur so it makes the flowers look not as attractive. For the bouquets of 1 or 6 stalks of roses, FlowerPatch did not showcase the photos of the full bouquets so it is harder to judge. The bouquets for 24 stalks of roses looks good but the price definitely turned me off. However, I guess that’s the price you have to pay to give flowers on Valentine’s Day.

The lilies photos looks not bad but I think the packaging of the bouquets can be improved. There are no photos for their sunflowers so I can’t comment on that. Prices-wise, FlowerPatch is quite average for the bouquets they are offering. Personally, I will prefer Prince’s since my experience with them so far has been excellent.

Most people I know has a mobile phone at the very least and a good many of them are iPod owners as well. ZAGG Inc. is offering a 50% discount on their usually pricey products. invisibleSHIELD is made from a material that was created to protect the edges of military helicopter blades so that’s how tough your invisibleSHIELD will be. I have seen the demo videos on their website as well. So far, it is very impressive just by throwing a mobile phone protected by invisibleSHIELD into a box of screws & nails and shaking the box around. The result? No scratch or damages done. You can get the discounted prizes through http://www.zagg.com/showspecial. By using that link, all of the prices shown will be the discounted prices. Grab a piece before the discount ends! I managed to get my order in a few minutes ago for my iPod Nano 2nd Gen.

Did I mention that invisibleSHIELD carries a lifetime warranty and also free international shipping? However, international shipping will take a longer wait unless you want to switch to the faster UPS. If your piece of invisibleSHIELD becomes scratched, torn or damaged, you can send it back for replacement. There’s also a 30-day Money Back Guarantee included though shipping cost is not refundable. For people who need protection of other gadgets, ZAGG offers custom orders as well especially for newer mobile phones or laptops.