Net-A-Porter's new APAC region and eBay's Global Shipping Program

If you go to www.net-a-porter.com you will see a new Splash page:

I noticed this yesterday arvo and my interest was immediately piqued.  A few things I noticed:

• Prices are in AUD
• APAC region doesn't have all designers yet but did have a decent range
• Prices of products seem comparable between the APAC site and UK site
• Items get shipped from Hong Kong and returns are still free via DHL to Hong Kong
• Delivery time is 2-4 working days
• Free Shipping (FreeEnjoy free shipping on all orders until March 29) although how much shipping will cost after March 29 is unknown
• Prices EXclusive of Duties and Taxes if your order is more than AUD$1000 (see screenshot below):

• No Duties/taxes if the order is less than AUD$1000:

So far I don't really see the benefit of the APAC site if we still get charged taxes for orders > $1000 and if we still have to pay shipping after March 29.

In other news, eBay has a new Global Shipping Program which I learnt about when I bought my Burberry trench.  Thought I would share the info with my internet friends so you don't get a heart attack when/if this happens to you.

eBay's Global Shipping Program basically allows consumers like us to purchase from international eBay sellers who won't ship internationally (for me it was a US seller).  What happens is the seller ships domestic (in my experience, to Kentucky, USA) which is in eBay address.  Some dude at the eBay address receives your package and then sends it onto you in Australia.

I was skeptical at first, I mean doesn't this add unnecessary delivery time to me?  (Yes)  And why am I being charged an Import Tax (my purchase was <AUD$1000)?  The answer was "Australian buyers are not charged fees for duties, but they are responsible for the taxes and brokerage fees included in the import charges."  I'm not sure what this means or whether it answered my question but I couldn't be bothered arguing.  Lastly I raised the point that the seller himself had no idea how this whole thing worked and was also very confused about the Kentucky address and Sydney address he saw at Checkout.  Maybe if they promote a service like this to sellers, they should explain how it works??

I personally fail to see the benefits of this system and don't think it was worth the headache and confusion.  To me it just seems like eBay is trying to take a bigger slice of the pie (they collect 60%ish of the postage you pay and give whatever's left to the seller).  I'm not sold (yet); my parcel forwarder does a good enough job for about the same cost.

YSL Arty ring overdose

I've heard reports of the Arty ring being discontinued.  I've also heard reports that they are not.  Does the rebranding of YSL to Saint Laurent Paris have anything to do with it?  Regardless, I decided to finally get me one of these after months years of umm-ing and ahh-ing.

I picked one up at UK retail off NAP.  The next morning they had all these Arty rings at 50% off.  Annoyed.  Anyway, I finally received them all and played around with them last night.  I would say they are TTS.  I bought some size 4s and some size 5s as I'm in between 4 and 5 (which is about a J-K) in normal rings, and as expected I am between sizes in the YSL Arty.

I'm not sure what the official colours are called because NAP doesn't call them anything....  Arty experts help me out!

Please let me know which colours you like the best.  I don't think I'll keep all of them as 6 is a tad bit excessive.

This is quickly turning into a shopping blog

I'm materialistic.

There I said it.  I love shoes, and to a lesser extent bags.  I get distracted by sales and sparkly things.  I work to earn money to live a life that I want to live, which includes shopping and eating nice food and travelling overseas every year.  I also value immaterial things such as spending time with my family (I make an effort to see them twice a week and almost always over for Sunday dinner), and hanging out with friends and spending time with my other half.  I also have no children or husband to support (yet).  I already own property and whilst I have a mortgage to pay off, I also have rental income.  But yes I do also pay rent.  And I do love to shop.

The Vogue Forums are really good at helping me spend money.  I found out about the ridiculously cheap Missoni scarf from Stacey which I blogged about a few days ago, then I found out the NAP sale was reduced further and being the inquisitive person I am, jumped on to see what had been reduced further. 

Only 10 minutes and $1000 later......  I am the owner of the following:

Giuseppe Zanotti swarovski crystal-embellished suede sandals

Marc by Marc Jacobs sequinned leather ankle boots

YSL Arty ring in blue

Both pairs of shoes were 70% off - the Giuseppe Zanottis were £334.50 (A$501) down from £1115 (A$1,671) and the Marc Jacobs booties were £98.75 (A$148 - you'd be lucky to get Tony Bianco booties at that price!) down from £329.17 (A$494).  The YSL ring was retail at £158.33 (AUD$236) which is still cheaper than the Aussie RRP at AUD$295.

These are the items I did NOT buy (to show you that I do *sometimes* exercise self-control):

Miu Miu Glitter-finish leather ankle boots

Christian Louboutin Pigalle 100 nude

J Crew Tipped Wool Peacoat (only because they don't have my size)

Did you pick up anything from the NAP sale?

Ok I promise my next few posts will not be shopping-related!