The hubba and I are shopaholics and regardless of gender, we knew that our mini me would have the same overflowing closet of clothes, shoes and what nots though having a little girl would mean more frivolous purchases.

God decided our first born would be a little boy - which trimmed the accessories that I can put on him by half or more. DANG. I was surfing online for tutu dresses, skirts, bows and argh, all the pretty in pink collections.

Online shopping for his humble collection was done mostly online - this mommy here has had enough of paying through her nose in departmental stores.

5 tips to jumping onboard the online shopping bandwagon

Forwarders open a universe of other options

There are a number of websites that do not ship internationally - and they tend to have the most drool worthy apparels too! Hooray to forwarders that do the job of providing us with an address, offer the option to repack and shipping them over pretty cost efficiently too! It is a pity that I have not found one in Europe yet, otherwise the options would be insane.

Beware of companies that do not accept international credit cards

I got carried away with my online shopping and landed up with a frantic situation of

• Getting my credit card swiped and getting a SMS confirmation when the order did not actually go through
• Having to suffer through time differences before my question of whether the order went through could be answered

OK, twice infact I was faced with a red faced me and an email with no answer for a good 12 hours.

Online security credit card systems

I never knew how secure online credit card systems can be - until my order was put on hold because once again I was using an international credit card. I wish the websites could be clearer with what is acceptable but paypal seems to be causing less issues than the credit cards straight up.

Sizing....not quite universal

Newborn and 0-3 months are not suitable for asian babies somehow. The sizing runs small - and I realised that after getting the uber cute gap collaboration. Hopefully speckie gets to wear it at least once!

Coupon codes GALORE

Best part is always trawl the web for extra discount codes, some websites allow more than one code to be used which means extra savings!

Where I have been burning plastic

www.carters.com
www.oshgosh.com www.gap.com
www.oldnavy.com
www.disneybaby.com
www.modernburlap.com

I had no issues with these websites, mainly because they also handle international shipping. Baby gap sizes were running small and hallmark baby ran big so it's tons of trial and error for sizes.

www.hallmarkbaby.com

This took several online exchanges before I could confirm that my order went through, it was not fraud and finally delivered to my forwarder.


www.uniqlo.com.sg


Thanks no thanks to visiting so many Uniqlo stores and not being able to get a single baby outfit from their stores, I caved into their online option. Minimum spend of $60 gets free delivery and with a $5 discount coupon, I was clicks away from securing my first uniqlo baby parcel.


Instead of the expected week long delivery time, it arrived promptly at my doorstep the next day. Talk about chopchop currypok hor.



sea.taobao.com


Come on, who isn't tempted by these made in china items that cost a fraction of what they would in stores? We caved into getting my pregnancy pillow, shorts, skirts and subsequently his cotton mobile, first month decorations and crib runners from taobao.


Brick and Mortar

I still caved into this brick and mortar stall for cheap pjs, a wholesaler for bulk purchase.

Shen Kwong Trading Co
Blk 269 Queen Street #01-246 Singapore 180269

Especially for our kind of hot weather, having singlets and light weight clothing is extra important for stay at home days. The downside to this is, actually taobao can offer the same or equivalent at cheaper prices.