Online Shopping Reviews

Novelty Items: A Good Choice for 2012 Christmas Gifting

For individual shoppers, it is a little bit too early to plan the 2012 Christmas gift list now. However, for resellers or store owners, it is not. Many suppliers have already started their Christmas 2012 early-bird sales. If you are looking for Christmas supplies to get ready for the biggest shopping event of the year, you may find some really good deals from the various offers online around the world.

In one of our previous posts, we have introduced the Christmas 2012 shopping guide for merchants (read the post), in which we shared our knowledge about where to purchase made-in-China products for the Christmas season and how to stay safe with the international shopping. Although the guide basically targets merchants, it fits for end consumers who are prowling the web for best deals on Christmas gifts or other Christmas supplies.

Seeing that both consumers and resellers may need some inspiration to learn about the best Christmas 2012 gift ideas, we decide to research the market and deliver a helpful gift idea guide series for our readers. Here let’s start from novelty items as they are the No. 1 good choice for Christmas gifting based on our research and analysis.

Standing out by creative designs, novelty items can always bring great surprise to gift receivers. Generally, they look this way but work totally the other way. This is the very charm of such products. When you see them at the first glance, you find it hard to identify their real functions. Then with great curiosity you try to dig out what they are and how they work. The whole process can be really exciting. In addition, they are always an amazing decoration for your room, your office or your home. Finally, they are usually easy to afford! Now you understand why we believe novelty items are the top choice for Christmas 2012?

If you do not take a good look at the novelty items yourself, it is hard to image what kind of products can be “novel”. So the best way to get inspiration is to check out the novelty item collections one by one. Generally, you can get a basic idea about what the product is or what it is used for from the item title. Anyway, you need to read the item description in order to uncover the details on how they work.

Though lots of Chinese online shops carry novelty items, most put them under various categories and you have to spend much time and work very hard to spot them. So far we have only found two sites that have an exclusive channel for all kinds of novelties: Aliexpress.com and Dinodirect.com. Both sites are well-known big players in the Chinese international online trading arena. In particular, the Novelty Items zone at Aliexpress.com seems to be one of their most widely visited areas and they have been giving great prominence to this category since they were founded.

Aliexpress.com

The novelty items at this site are sorted into three major categories: novel toys, novel households and novel consumer electronics. Here are some of the most popular novelty items there:

Page-by-page LED Lamp

Continue reading Novelty Items: A Good Choice for 2012 Christmas Gifting

2012 Halloween Deals from Online Chinese Suppliers

This year Halloween falls on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 – it’s only weeks ahead! Anyway, if you are looking for 2012 Halloween deals from online Chinese suppliers, it is still not late. On the contrary, it is now the perfect time to hunt for the best deals with the deepest discounts on a variety of Halloween supplies, including costumes, wigs, masks and lots more products that feature horror, fun or sexiness.

Low pricing is generally the very attraction of made-in-China Halloween supplies. The vast array of categories and styles further popularizes the Halloween products offered by Chinese suppliers. If you want to buy such stuff from online Chinese stores, do remember to choose legitimate and reliable websites with good reputation. Otherwise you may lose money simply because you encounter a scammer.

Here we would like to remind you that it is always necessary to confirm the nature of a China-based online shop before you invest the first amount of money in them. Though doing much research on the shop you are interested in may kill you a lot of time, you will find it totally worthy after you discover a good supplier for your business or for your personal needs through a thorough investigation. Also, if your friends or family recommend some good Chinese shopping websites to you, you can give them a try as they probably have used them and benefited from their shopping.

As a professional review website, we will list some popular and tested Chinese sites offering Halloween 2012 deals below. Again, we encourage you to do further research on them even though they are basically trustworthy based on real customer reviews. Each and every store recommended has their own pros and cons. For instance, some stores may stand out by quality while some others by pricing, service or item variety. Doing research can help you uncover the details so that you can make a better shopping choice.

Milanoo.com

This site is, based on our personal criteria, the best Chinese destination to shop for cheap costumes and accessories, including cosplay costumes, zentai costumes, pet costumes, wigs and more. They carry a huge variety of costumes and accessories that fit perfectly the Halloween themes. Besides, they are a big name on the global market and have built a big customer base around the world since they were founded in 2008. For Halloween 2012 only, they have 500 plus styles in costumes to choose from, all offered at super low prices.

FTCline.com

Continue reading 2012 Halloween Deals from Online Chinese Suppliers

Folica Coupon Codes, Folica.com 2012 Promotions for Hair Styling Tools

Below you can find the latest Folica coupon codes, discount codes and Folica promotion codes. Save money for over 5,500 hair related products and tools including 300+ top salon brands including Bumble and Bumble, Kérastase, Moroccan Oil, L’Oreal, Paul Mitchell, TGI Bed Head and Frédéric Fekkai.

Folica.com launched in 1998 and has become the leading ecommerce website for hair products, tools and expert advice on care and styling. Folica.com – The selection of hair care, flat irons and hair styling products anywhere

If you are interested in buying from Folica.com with discount price, come back regularly to see if any Folica coupon code is available!

Coupon Code:

FALLSPECIAL

Discount Description: Get 15% Off when you purchase 2 or more products at Folica.com.
End Date: Sep. 30, 2012

Continue reading Folica Coupon Codes, Folica.com 2012 Promotions for Hair Styling Tools

HP Coupon Codes, HP Home & Home Office 2012 Promo Codes for shopping.hp.com

Below you can find the latest HP coupon codes, discount codes and HP promotion codes. Save money for Hewlett-Packard’s products, HP Laptop, Notebook, Mini, Desktop, Envy and Touchsmart PCs, Printers, Ink, Toner, Paper, Handhelds, Scanners, Monitors, and Calculators.

The HP Home & Home Office Store (shopping.hp.com), Hewlett-Packard’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce business, offers U.S. customers a one-stop shop for HP products including customized HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario PCs, handheld devices, printers, printing supplies and digital entertainment products.

If you are interested in buying from shopping.hp.com with discount price, come back regularly to see if any HP coupon code is available!

Discount Code:

NB9238

Discount Description: Save $600 using coupon code NB9238 for the purchase of a customized Envy 17t-3200 3D Edition HP laptop at the HP Home & Home Office Store.
End Date: Oct. 7, 2012
Restrictions: Offer limited to the first 275 coupons redeemed. 1 redemption per person or address. Not valid with other promotions, HP Academy, or HP Friends & Family. Restrictions apply.

Promo Code:

NB5154

Discount Description: Save an additional $75 off plus FREE shipping for the purchase of a customized HP laptop $750 or greater at the HP Home & Home Office Store.
End Date: Sep. 29, 2012

Coupon:

HPROOM200

Discount Description:Save an additional $200 off select PCs when purchased with the Samsung 55’’ 1080P HDTV at the HP Home & Home Office Store.
End Date: Sep. 29, 2012

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Christmas 2012 Wholesale Shopping Guide for Merchants

On the Chinese online global trade market, the Christmas shopping season generally lasts from early September to late December of the year. From the official blogs or Weibo (the most famous Chinese microblog tool, something like Twitter), I learnt that some popular Chinese wholeasale shopping websites have started their Christmas sales right from the beginning of September, with promotions targeting Christmas 2012 launched one after another.

If you are a merchant looking for Christmas supplies at great discounts from China for your inventory, it is the appropriate time to take action now. Although the deepest discounts are usually offered before and after Christmas, you can’t afford to miss out the precious opportunity to make huge profits by working as an early bird. You know, when you sell something other stores do not offer, you may win more customers, and what’s more important, you can set the prices with margins as high as possible!

Ad by Aliexpress.com

Anyway, I personally don’t encourage you to take all deals at the early stage of the Christmas sale season. As I mentioned just now, better discounts are coming up. I would suggest you choose the products that are hot-selling at the present and are priced already with good discounts. For instance, clothing, shoes, bags, bedding sets, faucets and a lot more fashion & accessories as well as home & garden merchandise are in high-demand anytime. Such goods are not just for Christmas, but for everyday use. Thanks to the Christmas 2012 shopping season, now they are offered at slashed-down prices!

When it comes to wholesale shopping from China, safety is always the top priority. It is extremely important to choose stores that are reliable, offering quality products and providing satisfactory customer service. But how should we evaluate the credibility of a store we never trade with before? Research, research and research! You will find that the great effort in finding a trustworthy store is totally worth when you spot a wonderful supplier to do business with, which may mean you will source high quality products at lowest prices and gain huge profits.

To confirm that nature of a Chinese online shop, you can follow the basic rules as I suggest below:

Investigate the basic information of the store, from company registration license, year of establishment, authoritative certificates, website Alex ranking, background of the founder(s) to office locations or the like;
Check clearly whether they provide safe payment options like credit card or Paypal. I won’t recommend stores that only accept highly risky payment methods such as Western Union or bank transfer.
Search customer reviews as well as third-party professional reviews and read them as many as possible. From the reviews you can learn a lot of details about the company, which will help you make the decision on whether the store is worth giving a try or not.

Ad by Milanoo.com

Seeing that the research work can be really time-consuming, I will list some of the best-rated Chinese online suppliers for the Christmas 2012 wholesale shopping below for your reference.

Continue reading Christmas 2012 Wholesale Shopping Guide for Merchants

Must-read Tips on How to Avoid Being Scammed at Aliexpress.com

Below are tips on how to minimize the risks of encountering scams at Aliexpress.com. We compile the tips based on real scam cases collected from the Internet. Hope they help those who want to buy something from Aliexpress.com but are not confident about shopping safety there.

1. Never trade with any sellers bypassing the Aliexpress.com site. This is extremely important! If a seller offers to do business with you by providing you a much lower price, chances are he or she simply tries to steer you away from the protection system and steal you money. They either won’t send you any goods after they receive your payment, or won’t respond to your complaints or return or exchange request after they send you poor quality products.

2. Check the supplier feedback profile in detail. From feedback score, positive feedback percentage to specific comments left by customers, you are encouraged to read the information as much as you can. The detailed description on the products or services left by customers can generally inspire you a lot.

3. Start with a small or sample order. Once you see a item you are interested in from a seller’s store you never trade with before, even if you have research the store and are quite satisfied with their feedback standards, it is always necessary to start with placing a small order. That way you will be able to test product quality, shipping time and pre-sales or after-sales services with a small investment only. Besides, you won’t lose big money in the case you encounter a scammer.

4. Always use the site to solve problems. For any after-sales problems related to your orders, don’t simply believe in what the sellers say or follow their instructions to solve the dispute. It is OK to negotiate personally with the sellers to reach a solution agreement first but you should then resort to Aliexpress.com to conduct the agreement. Otherwise, the agreement may means nothing and your interest won’t be protected. For instance, if a seller asks you to delete the negative feedback you left for him or her and as a return they will fully refund you, don’t trust the promise as you may not get back your money after you take the action.

5. Use a safe payment method. Although Aliexpress.com is a legit company and there is no problem to send money to them by payment methods like Western Union, we still encourage you to use the safest payment option that can best protect you. In particular, credict card is highly recommended as you can request your credit card company for a chargeback when you believe you are scammed. A safer payment method will give you the further protection in addition to the protection service offered by Aliexpress.com.

Our advice: for any dispute, do remember to open a dispute against the seller through your account at the site before the deadline (see their dispute policy here). By doing so, you can ensure that your money will be withheld by Aliexpress in time. Otherwise, the payment may be released to the sellers in due time while the problem is not solved yet. For the same reason we always encourage buyers to use the site to communicate with the sellers in case any dispute happens – their system will automatically record the chatting history, which will serve as important evidence that may support your claim.

If any party wants to share more tips on how to protect buyers from rip-offs or scams when shopping at Aliexpress.com, you are welcome to leave your ideas at the following comment box. We will update this post when we find valuable suggestions that can really help.