Guide: Facebook Shopping -What You Should Know

Shopping off Facebook is basically one of the most fun experiences you can have and also one of the most dreadful experiences you can go through. Online shopping has been around for quite some time now and thanks to Facebook, we're all now very aware of how to shop online, the payment procedures, the stuff that is available out there and how genuine it is.

As far as my experience with online shopping goes, it has been great overall, but then sometimes things just don't go perfect. So here's my little guide on shopping off Facebook.

I usually go for jewelry. I have never shopped for clothing or shoes. Why not? I don't know, I'm just not comfortable with the idea of buying clothes
unless I get to check the fabric and fitting myself and shoes without trying them on for the right size. I also never shopped for makeup, until recently, when I placed my first Sigma order. I have yet to receive it and judge my experience with the page that I ordered from.

But as far as jewelry is concerned, I have had a problem with only one page (I'm not going to post the name) and it's for sure I'm never shopping from them again. People can really misguide you at times and send something else, while you ordered something else. It can be a real mess and I speak from personal experience, so be very careful.

Quality Issues

A question that comes to mind is, are the products genuine or high quality? Now you cannot expect someone to sell an original Juicy Couture bracelet (which is actually priced at $40 or more) for Pkr 300/-. No, stuff sold on Facebook is not genuine, unless specified or so, but despite being replicas or first copies, the products are good quality. They are manufactured and shipped from Honk Kong and China mainly.

Pricing

Now this is a sensitive issue and you'll have to look into it by yourself. There are 100's of Pakistani pages that sell all kinds of stuff and realizing the level of interest in online shopping, will charge you more or less than you can expect. So you'll have to do a little research and find pages that charge nominal and provide discounts. I have also shopped handbags (sorry I forgot to mention this earlier). I love handbags and don't mind carrying a replica because I cannot afford to buy myself a $1000 Louis Vuitton. Generally, replica prices range from Pkr 2000-3000/-. But there are some pages, that charge around 4000-7000/- for the same.

Payment and Delivery Times

Some pages offer cash on delivery (COD) which is the most preferred payment method of online shoppers. But remember, that you may have to pay delivery charges along with your order payment, unless the delivery is free. Bank transfer is another option, which I hate, because you get charged extra (at times heavily) for online transfers and sometimes you have no option but to rush to the seller's preferred bank for transactions. Easy paisa is a hassle free payment option and I usually go for it. It requires you to pay extra as well, but it's a great alternative to bank transfers.

Delivery time depends on how soon you make the payment. Once paid for your desired item, the seller dispatches the order the same or next day. Takes around 1-2 days usually or even longer at times, depending on your city location and unseen circumstances.

Seller Behavior

Some online sellers are very customer friendly and will provide you all the assistance you need with an order. Some are extremely rude or just plain careless.

Conclusion

Shopping off Facebook has not only become a trend these days, but is also a convenient way of shopping without having to rush to stores every time. Facebook pages have made it a lot easier to shop products that are not readily available throughout Pakistan, especially branded jewelry, cosmetics and even clothing. But needless to say, everything has its pros and cons. Shopping from pages may seem like a piece of cake, but sometimes, problems arise that can really be a pain in the neck.