The trouble with shopping at Amazon is obviously the shipping cost. To save money, I ship to Comgateway and then they will ship to me in Singapore thereby saving a few bucks.
These days I would only go to Taobao. Amazon is only for those things (diving equipment and underwater photography stuff for me) that's absolutely essential to buy from U.S..
You can literally find anything there.
And they are cheap. Typically 50% or more cheaper than shopping at retail stores.
For example, I just bought a recliner, something like one of those Lazyboyz.
It cost me RM830. This is full leather and not PU, ok? Over here in Malaysia, I would have to pay at least RM3,000.
And the shipping cost? RM16.80 delivered to my doorstep. Yes, sixteen ringgit!
How is that possible?
This is done through a buying agent called Ezbuy. https://ezbuy.my
You have to join their Prime membership though. But during special occasion, you can get temporary Prime membership for free. That's what I did. Otherwise, you can just buy a one month membership for RM18.80.
Bought this display rack (1.2 meter wide and 1.8 meter tall). The shelf is made of solid wood and not those particle boards IKEA use for their shelfs.
Guess how much I paid? RM92!
This thing will cost at least RM800-RM1,600 from local retail store.
Ezbuy is good because the site is in English. For the Melayu or non-Mandarin educated Pendatang Chinese, you can still buy from Taobao. Just need a little more work. But for the kind of savings you will get, I think it's worth the effort.
This is the future of retail.
The trend started in US by Amazon, then Alibaba (who owns Taobao), and now it has reach Singapore/Malaysia.
If you own a retail store or work at one, you better be nice to the next customer that walks into your store. You will get fewer and fewer of these people.
That's not to say retail will be wiped out but you better having some really unique selling propositions to compete for my money.
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