Buying online

fifomania

Is it easy to buy online?
Do you need a credit card or would Laser do?
How do you return clothes?
As you can tell I'm a novice but would be grateful for advice!

ha-ya-said-what

Hi,

Once you buy from a genuine, reputable site it's easy.

Irish sites will allow you to use a laser card, the only site I come across accepting Laser that I buy from is the Irish Schuh site, the rest are credit card.

If like me you don't own a credit card (& it's a damn good thing I don't) you can sign up for a 3V pre-pay visa card, upon registration you'll be issueda card - free, once you recieve this you can pop down to any shop selling 3V vouchers and buy a Visa voucher (there is a charge on the vouchers, think it's €2.50 for under €100 and €5.00 for a voucher over €100). Also you can set up a pay-pal account and link your credit or 3V vouchers to that for about $1 I think, just incase your buying from Ebay & the seller will only accept Pay-Pal.

All sites allowing returns will have a section telling you how to return items (the refunded amount goes back onto your card)


I do pretty much all my clothes & shoe shopping online, never any problems only with Schuh, they'll charge me for items & I'm there thinking great they'll be here in a couple of days, then I get an email saying that the item was not in stock for dispatch & is completely sold out so they are refunding the money to my card.... god I hate when that happens!!! :mad:

Anyway there isn't really much to it all pretty simple one you now the site is legit and you know your size in what your purchasing.

Good luck & happy spending lol

OldGoat

Good thread. I'd like to see some more do's and don't here.

I'd like to +1 the PayPal thing. It makes life so much easier and safer when using Ebay. I'm reluctant to give out creditcard details to strangers and going through PayPay givem me a bufferzone of securtity

Don't forget about to add import duties when you are pricing up stuff from outside the E.U.

Muzzer

Yeah the 3v card is the way to go, especially if you are a novice.

Just to add, usually when you recieve your clothes from shopping online there is a second side to the invoice with numerous reasons why you might want to return your purchase. You just re-pack the item, fill in the form and stick it on to the box/package and WALLAHHHH...! Hope that helped a bit anyway:)

Does anyone know of any IRISH sites where I can buy novelty and funny gifts without spending a fortune? Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Toto Wolfcastle

Make sure you factor in the cost of returning the item before you buy. There's no point in buying something from America, etc, that you are not entirely sure about if it's going to cost you a fortune to return.

Always google 'name of site discount codes' to see if you can get a percentage off. Some sites like ASOS have them quite often.

sillysocks

Some of the bigger shops like Next, Monsoon, Coast (I'm sure there's others but they're the ones I've used) you can return the clothes to your local store for a refund if you don't like it, find that much handier than posting back.

Muzzer

Sorry I should have specified, the two main places Iv'e shopped are www.mandmdirect.com and www.dressforless.com

Both sites delivered within days and both had, what seemed to be, easy return instructions. Mind you I didnt have to return anything as, especially with mandm, the quality and sizes were perfect.

I recommend www.mandmdirect.com if your clothes shopping, it's very simple to use and they didn't even charge me shipping!

aislinnb

if i buy with 3v and want to return item to a shop in town, can i put the money on the card like i would have to if it were credit card! or will they gave me cash, or put it on my laser.
thanks

E.T.

If you do buy online from outside the EU, be aware that you may have to pay VAT on anything over €23 (which includes delivery charge) and VAT and customs duty on anything over €150.

If you're buying on ebay - if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. ie if someone is selling a Gucci bag for €10 then it's probably not a Gucci bag. With brands like Karen Millen or Coast, prices will often start very low to avoid big charges for the seller.