Getting the best of/from Gmarket

This post is not related to my life in Korea but about my love affair with Gmarket, my favourite shopping site :)
It’s going to be a lengthy post so beware!

Love affair
My love affair with Gmarket started way back in 2007 after my A levels examinations with days and nights spent going through pages and pages of searches for apparels and bags I wanted.

Then in 2008, I made the big step in making my first Gmarket purchase. I wasn't sure of what to expect, how delivery was going to be done, etc; basically I had no one to turn to for advice other than the Gmarket customer service centre. Furthermore, I took a huge risk by ordering many items at one shot even though it was my first time placing an order. Thankfully, everything went smoothly and for this, I must applaud Gmarket's customer service centre because all enquiries I sent to them were always promptly replied to within a day or two and this was very reassuring for me.

For me, I always pay for the items using PAYPAL or my cash balance in my G account and items are delivered via EMS to Singapore.

I like it that Gmarket is very reliable and efficient. With months of shopping with Gmarket, I can gauge the time it takes for my items to arrive in Singapore from the time my purchase is made, such that I can receive my items by whatever date I need it by.

As to how long it takes to receive your items, it really depends on the number of items you order and the time period the individual Gmarket seller(s) take(s) to send out your items to the warehouse for international shipping preparation.
On average, for an order of 30 items, it'll take 1-2 weeks for the items to reach me from the time of order placement and payment.

Best AND favourite purchase of all time
2 years back, I saw Han Eun-Jung in this gorgeous dress which she wore for the Blue Dragon Awards 2008...

Alas, I lack the figure and most importantly, the money to purchase such a beautiful dress so I immediately went to Gmarket to search for a similar dress. Within the next few weeks (days and nights of trying different keywords for the search like chiffon, sequin, shiny...I finally found the right word: spangle), I found this:

Item url: http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=157810384

Perfect!
It looked so nice on the model who’s skinny but then again, I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off given my figure so I just added the page to my favourites tab.

Then on 30^th January 2009, Wonder Girls held a Peripera beauty class and…Yoobin was wearing the exact Gmarket dress I saw!

That just kind of did it…the moment I saw the dress on Yoobin, I knew I had to get it.


Then came the dilemma: I couldn’t decide between the beige or the pink one. In the end, I ordered the pink one…but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted the beige one so I sent an enquiry to the Gmarket customer service asking if I could still change the colour of the dress. It was too late because the item was already delivered to the warehouse. Furthermore, for international orders, Gmarket doesn’t allow for an exchange of items or change of colours of items. BUT they made an exception for me! So I paid an exchange fee of 5,000KRW (for the mailing charges) and my shipment was delayed by 2 or 3 days but what mattered most was that I got what I really want and what I am happy with  :)


On 9^th March 2009, I finally laid my hands on my dream dress.

BUT I didn’t quite have an occasion to wear it…so I wore it in the Korean video I had to make for class.

      

Then finally, I had a real occasion to wear it again :) For my 21^st birthday party and my cousin’s wedding dinner on 23^rd January 2010. Wearing this dress sure made me feel like a million bucks!

As the pianist to entertain the guests with some jazz, classical and korean songs before my cousin's wedding dinner @ Swissotel started :)

I received many compliments on the dress and many asked where I got it from. So I’ve decided to be nice to all and share this entry with all of you! Now you know my secret!


False eyelashes from Vox which I think are better than the m.a.c falsies I got for JC Prom. They're so natural and light that after awhile, I almost forgot that I had falsies on!

Item url: http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=173489522 (210!)

Competitive pricing

During my stay in Korea last year, I fell in love with this top after seeing it on Zipia and in Dongdaemun. It was retailing for 38,000KRW in Dongdaemun and after successfully bargaining it down to 30,000KRW, I felt all smug about my great purchase until I returned to my hostel and decided to check if it was selling on Gmarket. And it was…at 26,000KRW!!!

So I learnt from my mistake then…better to do my homework and check if the item can be purchased for less on Gmarket before making the purchase elsewhere.

For the Singaporeans who shop on Zipia (http://zipia.net), do you know that most of the items can be found on Gmarket for less as well?

Also, except for THEFACESHOP and MISSHA products which are not shipped internationally, BOBBI BROWN and ETUDE HOUSE and LANEIGE items can be shipped to Singapore and they are so much cheaper than local prices!

To search for for items that do international shipping by adjusting the tabs in the search results.
Even though there’s Etude House here in Singapore, it doesn’t carry the hair essence product I bought in Etude House in Korea. Thank goodness for Gmarket, I could stock up on it!
Forewarned: you can get addicted to Gmarket and it took me quite some time to wean off this addiction which comes back again every time I decide I must have a particular piece of product e.g. waistshaper, party dress, quilted bag, hair bands (inspired by Gossip Girls), or pretty shoes.


Problems faced
Of course, as with shopping online, there is always the risk that the sizing is wrong so do your own research/homework and pray that you got the right size!

Also,  I encountered 3 wrong items sent to me but all enquires were addressed promptly. Likewise, Gmarket made the refunds to me promptly as well. So do check your items when you receive them and if there are any wrong items, do take photos of the wrong item sent and email them to: global@gmarket.co.kr together with the details of the original item you had ordered.

Shopping on Gmarket when you’re in Korea

If you're staying in Korea for some time and plan to shop on Gmarket, I would advise you to seek help from a Korean you know when you receive a call from the delivery man with regards to the delivery of your item(s).

During my stay in Korea in 2009, I shopped from Gmarket as well and assumed the delivery would be made to my hostel lobby just like how my items are delivered to my doorstep in Singapore without any calls made so I never expected it that the delivery man would call me to confirm my address. I'm not competent in the Korean language and I'm far from it with a long way to go! More often than not, I have the tendency to switch off after hearing a Korean speak really fast so I end up not catching a single word of what he or she says. Which was what happened when the delivery man called.

My Korean friend had lent me his phone and gotten a phone number for me. When this man called me and started speaking very fast in Korean, I told him, "You got the wrong number" in Korean. I didn't know who he was and I couldn't catch a single word because he spoke way too fast. That afternoon, I got another call and the same thing happened again. But when I got a 3rd call the next next day, the delivery man spoke slower and was more audible. I realised he was calling with regards to the delivery of my items. Which means that the first 2 calls were by delivery men and I told them they got the wrong number -_- In the end, I had to contact Gmarket and ask for the re-delivery of both items. One arrived eventually while the other never came. Thank goodness that missing item was really cheap! So do be careful when shopping on Gmarket in Korea itself!

For those who are interested in purchasing items from Gmarket, I'll be opening more Gmarket sprees after my exams in May on http://spreesgalore.livejournal.com. Do let me know if you wish to participate in my sprees as we can share the shipping cost of the items.

Start shopping at Gmarket today!

Global site: http://global.gmarket.co.kr

Korean site: http://www.gmarket.co.kr <--- for a guide, you can refer to http://www.parkandcube.com/?page_id=2052