Orinity

Here it is! My reviews of online spree organisers!

1) Pretty (http://www.pretty.com.sg) was (the site no longer exists) by far the most interesting spree organizer ever. She had the most number of different sprees. Almost half of which is the less common sprees from the Taiwan auctioneers. However, I waited way too long. Average was about 2 months. I even waited for 3 months odd, had to email the organizer even. Apparently she had my items but didn’t send to me until I dropped her that email. One of my girlfriends got pretty pissed off by the slow response. She came across a forum discussing about this particular spree organizer and was none too surprised to read about the many bad encounters the forum members had with Pretty.After a few sprees with her, my girlfriend Blue and I stopped placing orders with her.

A couple of months later, she posted about refunds and her site closed down soon after.

2) The second spree organizer I came across was My Little Closet (http://cutiecloset.blogspot.com/). The original exchange rate was 18.5, which was eventually revised to the current 20 (Taiwan sprees). For US sprees, the exchange rate is 1.58. Funds transfer via POSB Savings Account. They charge a minimum rate of $3 for tops. More for other items such as dresses, shoes, etc. They are now currently having a Taiwan shoe spree and a Forever 21 spree. Do check it out!

I placed the most number of orders with them and so far they have given me 2 rather negative incidents to get upset over. Once, in the beginning when I was a newbie to sprees, and a most recent one which somehow stopped me from spreeing with them. They are pretty good organizers actually, just that I have a couple of other spree organizers that I would prefer to deal with.

Oh yes, I should elaborate more about the 2 negative incidents first. In the beginning, Blue and I had placed our separate orders from My Little Closet, only to discover that our items were Out Of Stock (commonly known in spreeing terms as OOS) and the alternative option of ‘Do Not Buy’ (DNB) were not available. Usually, spree organizers would drop the accumulated orders to the actual auction supplier, and the suppliers would revert back on the stocks status. If an item is OOS, the organizer would email the people involved about the matter and asks if there is an alternative item they would like to buy. However, we were not given this option and being the persistent women we are, we refused to choose another item (as the other items did not catch our fancy) and thus demanded a refund. Eventually, they did refund us despite some reluctance on her part. The second incident happened recently. I was enquiring about a spree status (a PG Bag spree #8) as I had already received a bag from a later spree (PG Bag spree #11). What My Little Closet did was to repeatedly give me the status of the later spree, despite me attaching my order forms and sending to them twice. They even tells me to transfer them postage for the bag I already have received, and on another occasion, tells me the bag (that I got) was OOS while the other (which I didn’t receive because it was stated OOS in her past email) was available. My girlfriend Blue actually had a major argument about some of their orders and she stopped ordering from My Little Closet since.

I don’t discourage spreeing from My Little Closet. Just that you need to be fully aware of what you have ordered based on the fact that I know they are quite busy folks since there are quite a lot of sprees available. So invariably there are bound to be cases where there is miscommunication and such. So please be patient with your orders.

3) Shoppingspreezzz (http://shoppingspreezzz.blogspot.com) is one of my favorite spree organizers. This site is no longer available because they got pretty pissed off by some spree-ers would bug them to no end. They have thus created another private blog to their more well-behaved spree-ers, which of course includes ME. Haha.

The wait for my orders were relatively shorter, which of course made me very happy. Their exchange rate is one of the best, despite a $2 handling fee. Exchange rate for Taiwan sprees is 20. No US sprees. So far, they have not given me any problems. So I would greatly recommend them to you. If you are a well-behaved and patient spree-er who is understanding and do not have vulgarities in your language, you may drop an email to them at Your Dream Shop(dreamzz_shop@yahoo.com.sg) (as they are known currently) to seek their permission to view their blog.Please do not create trouble for them and do understand that they have lots of orders to accumulate and process. The liaising process is never easy.

4) There was Tinkerthotz (http://tinkerthotz.blogspot.com), but they closed shop due to one of their staff going overseas to study.I remembered I was quite sad at the news when they posted the message. They gave me my fastest spree orders ever. I got my pair of boots three weeks after they closed the spree. One of the team even dropped by the boots to one of my colleagues so that I can get them. I love this organizer loads! No unhappy incident so far.

5) Pretty Dolls (http://prettydolls.wordpress.com) is a relatively new organizer and I have only placed one order (for the E.L.F cosmetic spree) from them, but I like the way they do things that shows them to be a steady team. Exchange rate for Taiwan sprees is 20.5, with an S$1.50 handling fee per item. Exchange rate for US sprees is 1.6, with an S$1.50 handling fee per item. Transfers are done via DBS Savings Account.

They have more US sprees if Taiwan sprees are not your cup of tea. And one thing is that they have a longer spree time frame of at least two weeks, so there is plenty of time for you to mull over which top you should get (Even better, get both!). They are currently having a Forever 21 spree (US) and a Cutie fashion (Taiwan) spree.

6) Last, but not least, there is EV (who has requested for us to keep her name disclosed). My guess is that she is a regular in Livejournal sprees. I got her email from Blue and so far she is a trustworthy organizer. My friend whom I mentioned started spreeing in 2005 has also liaised with her before and she greatly recommends her. However, the thing about EV is that she does not have a site (that I know of) and will only email me when she is opening a spree. And she closes the spree pretty fast; time period is about 4 days max. So far, she has not had any problems with my orders. If you are a reasonable, patient and understanding person, you may wish to email her (please drop me a mail at cyrene@orinity.com to request for her email) to be included in her mailing list. As mentioned, I do not wish to have you harassing her with your emails/enquiries as this is a spree we are mentioning.

POINTS TO NOTE:

Some unspoken spree rules:

– Don’t accept the Terms & Conditions by the spree organizers? Then don’t join the spree.

– No Payment = No Order. You wouldn’t go shopping without bringing along money, do you? Credit cards do not apply.- There has to be trust among the organizer and you. Don’t trust? Don’t join. Do not cry over spilled milk later on.

– No changing of orders after you has placed yours. Adding of new orders shouldn’t be a problem if the spree has not closed.

– Please try to state any alternatives in case anything is OOS.

– There is only so much the organizer can do and have control over. Respect them. They should also not be held for any defects in the items. They would usually instruct the supplier to check that the items are in good condition before they are sent out.

– No vulgarities. We are all educated people, why must we talk in that manner?

– Lost mail? Normal mail is cheaper, but it depends if you want to risk having your items get lost. The organizer can provide you with details if you chose delivery via registered post, but any mail that is out of her hands is out of her control.

– Once the spree is closed, it means no more orders.

– This is a spree. Please be prepared to wait 1-2 months.

Do drop an email to the spree organizers if you need any clarifications. They would usually revert back within 1-2 working days.

I started online spreeing in mid-2006. If you think that is a long time ago, you would have been pretty amazed that I have one friend who started spreeing in 2005. Haha. For those of you who is unsure of what a spree is, it is defined as, “A shopping spree denotes a playful and “devil may care” attitude in a single shopping trip where lots of money is spent. A spree can be defined as a carefree or pleasant outing, in the pursuit of purchasing goods.”

In a more operational context, it is a process involving an organizer (middle person), customers (people like you and me) and overseas auction suppliers. The organizer is someone who collects orders from customers and places/liaise with the overseas suppliers. As it is a lengthy process, customers must understand that they need to wait patient for 1 to 2 months (or even longer) to receive their items.

This is the basic steps of a spree: Organizer opens a spree of an overseas auction/brand supplier, customers place orders and transfers payment to organizer, and organizer liaises with suppliers and informs customers of their order status. Items arrive at organizer’s address since organizer was the one who did the liaising. Organizer sends out customers’ orders via mail or sometimes meet-ups.

Here are the spree organizers that I have encountered so far.(Excluding the LJ sprees, which always closed so early before I can place my orders? Actually, I don’t really know how to place orders in LiveJournal sprees. My girlfriend Blue does that for me. Hee)

1) Pretty (http://www.pretty.com.sg)

2) My Little Closet(http://cutiecloset.blogspot.com/).

3) Shoppingspreezzz (http://shoppingspreezzz.blogspot.com)

4) Tinkerthotz (http://tinkerthotz.blogspot.com).

5) Pretty Dolls (http://prettydolls.wordpress.com)

6) EV (name undisclosed as requested).

Will post my reviews about these 6 spree organisers in my next entry. Do keep a lookout for it!

I was reading my usual tech forums and I came across this thread regarding iPod. Apparently, someone decided to make a iPod death clock that estimate when your iPod is going to kick the bucket based on your iPod serial number, usage habits and the manufacturing date. Since I only got my iPod Nano 2nd Gen last month, I thought I might give it a try. According to the death clock, my iPod have another 2 more years before dying. To me, 2 years is kind of short since I don’t drop my iPod often and is pretty careful with it. How long can your iPod last?

The webmaster definitely knows how to target his audience in selling iPod batteries through the free tool. The results provide an estimate on the remaining battery life and also a link to the web store for purchasing iPod batteries. Not a bad idea to market iPod batteries & repair services!

And I want to shop and shop and shop too! I often have this insane yearning to be overseas. Even a step out onto Malaysia would be greatly welcomed. I once went on a one-day shopping trip to Johor Bahru (in Malaysia, just right across from Singapore) with some friends. Once I got past the customs, I felt as though a tremendous load has been lifted off my shoulders.

Maybe I am exaggerating, but I do really feel this way being confined to our sunny little island.

Initially, my girlfriend/colleague and I are planning for a shopping trip to Bangkok. In the end, she voiced out her thoughts about us having only shoes and bags as our major hauls during a past trip. And that the expenses for shopping in Bangkok and shopping in Singapore would eventually be the same after we included our expenses for the airfare and hotel accommodations. This is very true. However, a part of me still wants to have a short holiday at the same time. I cannot experience such a feeling while in Singapore. Most importantly, when I am in Singapore, my passion for shopping is relatively harder to trigger as compared to overseas – where I know that if I don’t buy something I like, I may never get to see it after I returned home.

I echo what many of my friends have said, “Singapore has nowhere interesting to experience!” Well, this same logic applies to the local residents of any country. And I am one such resident!

When there is an urge, there is always a catalyst. And we always have that annoying itch in our lives – work. Ever since I joined another department, work is never ending. I don’t seem to click all that well with one of my colleagues either. I hate it when she slaps me on my shoulder. It feels like a karate chop to my blade. And the two of them are going to Bangkok for a 3 day 2 night shopping trip!

Ahem. Sorry for digressing. So, now I am waiting till about mid-December before my girlfriend gives me a confirmation on whether she is still keen to go on our shopping trip. You see, our company only gives out our bonuses a couple of weeks before the Lunar New Year as the bosses have this practice since goodness-knows-when. While the majority of our friends can go all fanatic about shopping in December (which is also the Christmas month – Christmas shopping!), we have got to wait till mid Jan (Lunar New Year is on the 7^th and 8^th of February next year!) before we can do any drastic deduction to our savings. And talking about shopping, there aren’t much ongoing online sprees for me to browse through! Those sprees that are being held, I didn’t take any liking to any items too!

I am starting to feel depressed. Half an hour before it is officially Monday. I hate Mondays. I wish every week could start on a Wednesday. Now that would be ideal, don’t you think so?

Haha!

As we are using a generic banner that came with WordPress theme that we are using, I have decided that we need a new header banner through a contest on DigitalPoint. The contest has been ongoing for four days and things are looking great at the moment with many promising designs. Cyrene and I will most probably be choosing the winner tonight.

This is not my first time doing a contest to get a design. I did it a couple of months again for a search engine script that I was trying out. The main good point is that contests are good for people who are operating on a shoestring budget to those with a stash of cash for a design. Another major draw is that you get a variety of choices and you can feedback to the designer on changes that you like to see for the designer to submit a revised version of the design. A contest for web designs is possible too, however, I noticed that there are less contestants going for web design as they take up more time.