Plus mostly Australian online shopping resources for clothes, shoes, fabric, notions, groceries, travel, takeaway delivered to your door and more!
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I buy everything online. No really! It all started back in 2004 with eBay. Let’s face it, I had champagne tastes on a beer budget. eBay was a world of second hand clothes and shoes, designer ones even, going cheap – especially if you put the time in to search and search.
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Once I met Mr Ask (a self confessed tech geek) my eyes were opened to so many more cool sites on the internet. My first iphone made it worse, now I could eBay in waiting rooms and on my lunch break and pretty much anywhere!
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I love that I can sit a home and order something and it will arrive at my door. As I live upstairs, I love that it’s less for me to lug – my groceries are delivered to my kitchen bench! The down side is that the sites I buy from have my email address and send enticing new products and details of their sales direct to my inbox. Which sometimes results in me blowing my budget. I’ve never had a significant problem buying online. I pay by paypal where possible because it is easier to chase up problems, if you have them but I also use my debit card.
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It helps to know your postage. I know what postage in Australia costs, as well as overseas. Postage from the UK and USA can be huge but sometimes that’s okay. For example fabric can be so cheap in the USA – If the fabric costs $25/m here and I buy ten metres that’s $250. If I can get it for $4.50/yrd in the US plus $60 postage it works out to about $11.50/m or $115. So I can be okay with shipping costs (and waiting for a few weeks to get it) if I save $135!
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Read the fine print. If you are not sure that the item you are buying will be just right, check the returns policy. If I buy something that doesn’t work out and can’t be returned, I sell it on eBay. I don’t always make my money back but it helps to keep my budget balanced.
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Are you sure it will fit? When buying clothes and shoes, don’t simply trust the size – you know size can vary wildly. Grab a tape measure and take a bust, waist & hip measurement, use this measuring guide to do it right. Keep your measurements written down in cm and inches (saves you converting when buying from overseas) and use them when working out fit. As a general rule, stretch clothes should measure about the same as you and fitted garment should measure about 5cm more than you.
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So are you ready to shop? Here are my fave haunts for (almost) absolutely everything!!!
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Clothes & Shoes
- Crossroads – Clothes that are cut to fit real bodies in sizes 8-22
- Birdsnest – Crazy pretty, cute and sometimes retro
- Hard to Find – Accessories, pretty things and clothes/shoes
- Target – Really handy if you buy something in store and wished you got another one or the didn’t have you size
- Shoe sales – Up to the minute, lots of sales too
- Shoes of Prey – Expensive but beautiful handmade shoes that you design!
- eBay – The worlds biggest op shop!
Fabric & Notions
- Hawthorne Threads – Lovely array of quilting cottons
- Fabric.com – Loads of choices and tons of sales
- Punch with Judy – Quilting and sewing tools
- Sewing Patterns – Cheap commercial patterns
- Girl Charlee Fabrics – The best range of stretch fabrics ever
- Metro Sewing – great for sewing machine or overlocker feet and parts
- eBay – Fabrics, notions, patterns and tools from the world
Groceries
- Coles Online – Delivered to your kitchen bench
- Grocery Run – Discounted groceries with different specials daily
- USA Foods – For all you American bits & bobs
Travel
- Last Minute – Cheap hotels, flights etc
- Hotel Club – Cheap hotels
- Trip Advisor – Find out what others have to say about hotels before you book!
Takeaway & Dinner Delivered
- Eat Now – Order from local restaurants
- Menu Log – Order from local restaurants
- No Q – Order from local restaurants
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After typing that I feel like a shopaholic! I will do my best to update this list with other cool corners of the web I find along the way. If you are looking for something in particular, feel free to ask me if I know of a great site – chances are I do! Now you know what I buy online and where, I’d love to know about you. Do you buy online? Do love it or have you been disappointed? Are the some things you wouldn’t buy online? Comment here or visit me on Facebook xxxx
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