Having an AMEX is starting to become an issue for me. A big spending problem that I need to curb ASAP. This comGateway service is a gateway to retail debt I tell ya. I realized since opening an account with them that I've been spending my nights trawling previously untouchable shopping meccas. As of now, I've got one shipment containing two Amazon.com packages (3 items total) heading for home and another 3-item shipment being processed by Charlotterusse.com.
I mentioned in my blowout shopping post that I was trying out the comGateway service. My first try was purchasing a stainless steel wide-mouth Sigg 1 litre water bottle and a pair of JBuds Noise-Reducing earphones. Once I confirmed their arrival at my pseudo US address and determining the chargeable shipping weight was already going to be substantial, I decided to get myself something else I've been wanting to get but had difficulty finding on eBay - a Wii Fit platform riser. It's this plastic platform that'll raise the height of the Wii balance board to a full 4 inches; the height of an actual step aerobics platform. I've wanted it for a long time and the opportunity presented itself (via comGateway and AMEX) so I erred on the side of WTH, let's just do it and do I did :)
I was even encouraged to try out Amazon's Prime membership for a month. I joined just so I could take advantage of the 2-day free shipping. Once the trial period is over, it's back to free standard shipping for me. My two Amazon pacakges are now on their way via DHL. At a total of 5kg chargeable weight, I ended up paying USD50.62 in shipping cost. More than the total cost of the 3 items I got :P Oh well, the price you pay for wanting things from the States, eh?
Then as I was checking my package status today on the comGateway site, I decided to be curious and check out the promotions tab. There I saw a BOGO for USD15 shoe promo from charlotterusse.com. I said that I'm looking for the perfect wedge heel that''ll go casual and dressy and since my dream of owning a Crocs Rio is undoubtedly crushed to smithereens (I've searched multiple countries for this shoe), I decided to delve into this offer. If there was something to get, good for me and I'm able to get two shoes for cheap, hopefully. I found the perfect wedge heeled cutout bootie that ticks all my criterias and as a bonus got another pair of shoes valued at $32 for 15 bucks. The second pair I got is a studded gladiator wedge in cognac. Kills my desire to own a tan colored shoe though now I've kinda gone over my shoe limit for the year. I mentioned I was allowed just one more shoe, now I've gotten two shoes but I'll rationalize it away by saying it's like I'm getting 2 shoes for the price of one. Which is kinda the truth anyways :) I also got my colleague some earrings since I registered for the charlotterusse.com newsletter and got a 10% site-wide discount. So, on top of the BOGO promo, I also got a 10% discount off of my total. Neat isn't it?
But like I said, I just blew USD1000 plus not a week ago during my all-out birthday week and here I am blowing more money on stuff I don't necessarily need but just want to satisfy some kind of deep rooted desire to be able to buy things from websites that tell me I'm not eligible to buy from them due to my geographical location. Yes, I guess I am one of those people who try to find a way around things if you tell them you can't do something. Did it with Kindle now I'm doing it with the rest of Amazon. For the last time, i'm just going to try to give up on Amazon completely. Not just Kindle, which I've been good at, but the whole of Amazon itself. And online shopping in its entirety. I don't think I can afford all this spending much longer. I do want to save some money this year. Maybe get my savings up by 10K. So, really, please Zlena, let's just do away with the online shopping completely. You can't afford to be THIS frivolous with money. Love you, gal. Muahs!
UPDATE (31/03/2010):
YAY! My order with Charlotterusse.com was cancelled. I knew going into it that there was a huge possibility the order wasn't gonna go thorugh cos I kinda tried a hokey thing by falsely stating my billing address was my US shipping address. Which they were smart enough to figure out and thus the cancellation. I'm glad. After publishing this post yesterday I was starting to feel major buyer's remorse. As in I really should not be spending this much on shipping. The cost of the things themselves is ok, its the shipping that kills it. So, cancelled order = good for my sanity :) Oh, and my DHL package is now in transit in Hong Kong. It should arrive soon-ish to my home. I CAN'T WAIT!
I mentioned in my blowout shopping post that I was trying out the comGateway service. My first try was purchasing a stainless steel wide-mouth Sigg 1 litre water bottle and a pair of JBuds Noise-Reducing earphones. Once I confirmed their arrival at my pseudo US address and determining the chargeable shipping weight was already going to be substantial, I decided to get myself something else I've been wanting to get but had difficulty finding on eBay - a Wii Fit platform riser. It's this plastic platform that'll raise the height of the Wii balance board to a full 4 inches; the height of an actual step aerobics platform. I've wanted it for a long time and the opportunity presented itself (via comGateway and AMEX) so I erred on the side of WTH, let's just do it and do I did :)
I was even encouraged to try out Amazon's Prime membership for a month. I joined just so I could take advantage of the 2-day free shipping. Once the trial period is over, it's back to free standard shipping for me. My two Amazon pacakges are now on their way via DHL. At a total of 5kg chargeable weight, I ended up paying USD50.62 in shipping cost. More than the total cost of the 3 items I got :P Oh well, the price you pay for wanting things from the States, eh?
Then as I was checking my package status today on the comGateway site, I decided to be curious and check out the promotions tab. There I saw a BOGO for USD15 shoe promo from charlotterusse.com. I said that I'm looking for the perfect wedge heel that''ll go casual and dressy and since my dream of owning a Crocs Rio is undoubtedly crushed to smithereens (I've searched multiple countries for this shoe), I decided to delve into this offer. If there was something to get, good for me and I'm able to get two shoes for cheap, hopefully. I found the perfect wedge heeled cutout bootie that ticks all my criterias and as a bonus got another pair of shoes valued at $32 for 15 bucks. The second pair I got is a studded gladiator wedge in cognac. Kills my desire to own a tan colored shoe though now I've kinda gone over my shoe limit for the year. I mentioned I was allowed just one more shoe, now I've gotten two shoes but I'll rationalize it away by saying it's like I'm getting 2 shoes for the price of one. Which is kinda the truth anyways :) I also got my colleague some earrings since I registered for the charlotterusse.com newsletter and got a 10% site-wide discount. So, on top of the BOGO promo, I also got a 10% discount off of my total. Neat isn't it?
But like I said, I just blew USD1000 plus not a week ago during my all-out birthday week and here I am blowing more money on stuff I don't necessarily need but just want to satisfy some kind of deep rooted desire to be able to buy things from websites that tell me I'm not eligible to buy from them due to my geographical location. Yes, I guess I am one of those people who try to find a way around things if you tell them you can't do something. Did it with Kindle now I'm doing it with the rest of Amazon. For the last time, i'm just going to try to give up on Amazon completely. Not just Kindle, which I've been good at, but the whole of Amazon itself. And online shopping in its entirety. I don't think I can afford all this spending much longer. I do want to save some money this year. Maybe get my savings up by 10K. So, really, please Zlena, let's just do away with the online shopping completely. You can't afford to be THIS frivolous with money. Love you, gal. Muahs!
UPDATE (31/03/2010):
YAY! My order with Charlotterusse.com was cancelled. I knew going into it that there was a huge possibility the order wasn't gonna go thorugh cos I kinda tried a hokey thing by falsely stating my billing address was my US shipping address. Which they were smart enough to figure out and thus the cancellation. I'm glad. After publishing this post yesterday I was starting to feel major buyer's remorse. As in I really should not be spending this much on shipping. The cost of the things themselves is ok, its the shipping that kills it. So, cancelled order = good for my sanity :) Oh, and my DHL package is now in transit in Hong Kong. It should arrive soon-ish to my home. I CAN'T WAIT!
