Announcement: Service fee revisions, new cost estimate spreadsheet, new order and price quote forms

Greetings everyone, I wanted to take a moment to update you all on some important changes to my service fees and operations. Please take a moment to review the following announcements.

(1) Changes to service fees for Xianyu

Starting March 31, I won’t be able to use my usual payment option for Xianyu transactions due to Alipay’s revised policies. Unfortunately, the alternative payment methods I have to switch to come with higher transaction fees. As a result, I have to raise my service fees for Xianyu transactions to cover these additional costs. The service fees will be increased from the current 15% to 20%. A 3 USD or 5 SGD handling fee will also apply to products costing under 100rmb including domestic postage. The deadline for submission of orders is 29 March 5PM to enjoy the current rates before the revised fees apply, and payment needs to be in by 30 March 5PM (Beijing +8GMT).

(2) Reintroduction of SGD as Payment Currency for Paypal. USD is accepted for WISE

Starting from 31 March, I will switch back to SGD for Paypal payments for all my various services. For the past 4 months, I experimented with accepting PayPal payments via USD currency, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been working out for me. However, those who prefer to pay by USD may still do so by using WISE. As with above, the deadline for submission of orders is 29 March 5PM before the revised payment policy applies, and payment needs to be in by 30 March 5PM (Beijing +8GMT).

(3) New Cost Estimate Spreadsheet to help with price estimates

I have created a new cost estimate spreadsheet for all my shopping services to reflect the current rates. You can use it to generate price estimates and help with your budgeting. Please note that the new rates and currencies mentioned earlier will be incorporated into the spreadsheet starting from March 29.

You can access the cost estimate spreadsheet either by clicking on the link provided here or visiting the shopping service pages.

(4) Revised Order Form & Price Quote Form

I have created a new Order Form and Price Quote Request / Contact Form to streamline the ordering process. Regular customers may still email me, but incomplete orders will delay the process.

Orders submitted through the Order Form will have higher priority. This is encouraged for products in low-stock or one-of-a-kind items. But please only use this form if you intend to purchase, and only if you’re able to pay as soon as you receive the payment invoice.

If you are unsure about the actual listing price or committing to a purchase without a clear idea of the total amount payable, you can use the new Price Quote Request / Contact Form

Please use the Order Form responsibly. Repeatedly submitting orders without follow-through in a timely manner will result in de-prioritization of future orders.

(5) Information on shopping service info pages and FAQ have been edited for improved coherence and readability.

Thank you!

Status: Taiwan Shopping Service Back from Hiatus

Update: 7 Dec 2022

Thanks for waiting! After dabbling with some new transaction platforms, my Taiwan shopping service is ready to accept new orders. There will be no changes to current payment methods. However, orders placed from today will be subject to the revised service fees stated on my Taiwan Shopping Service fee page as a result of increased platform payment fees. I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Update: 10 Nov 2022

The bank is still unwilling to lift the limits to receive foreign funds. So I can’t accept new orders, as I have to reserve the limits for orders that are currently open with me.

In the meantime, my proxy and I are figuring out other ways to handle payments. Once we can establish a reliable payment method between the both of us, I’ll be able to accept new orders. But for now, I can’t process new orders anytime soon, so please consider looking for another shopping service. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Update: 3 Nov 2022

I’ve temporarily stopped accepting new orders for my Taiwan Shopping Service. Due to a recent surge in high-value orders, the bank is investigating the influx of foreign payments into the bank account and those foreign payments can’t be used until their investigation is complete. I’m not sure how long this will take, so I have to temporarily stop accepting new orders. Shipments will not be affected and all purchased items can be shipped out as per normal.

If you don’t mind waiting, you can still email me your order and I’ll get back to you once I’m able to make payments again. Sorry about the inconvenience caused!

Hey everyone, thought I’d make a pinned post here to inform everyone about my activity status, which some people came to associate with the recency of my blog posts. I don’t update the blog anymore since I realise I actually haven’t got time to blog regularly. This is still a side-hustle and I have another day job. But rest assured that I am checking my emails almost every day. If I’m on a break, it will be reflected on this page and I will set up an auto-reply as well. Thank you for reaching out and I always look forward to helping you with your orders.

Cheers,
Angie

Partial Hiatus from 13 Feb 2023

Hello everyone,

Due to a current backlog from Chinese New Year and the added pressure of my full-time job, I will temporarily suspend new orders starting from February 13, 2023. I apologize for this abrupt announcement and for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please note that I will still attend to all open orders, including adding on new orders to existing orders. For new orders placed after February 10, 2023, it may take me more than 5 days to get back to you. If you are unable to wait, I kindly request that you cancel your order.

I have noticed a recent uptick in the number of people who request price quotations, but end up not placing orders. There are also people who ask me to help them look out for certain items, and never get back to me when I’ve found the items for them. Unfortunately, this causes delays for customers who genuinely need to place an order.

As a single-person operation, my resources and time are limited, and I ask that you only request price quotations if you have a genuine interest in placing an order. I have provided guides on my shopping service pages to assist with budget calculations, and I would be grateful if you could use these before requesting a quotation.

I appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time. I will not respond to non-confirmed orders during this hiatus.

Thank you for your trust and support in me. I appreciate your understanding and look forward to serving you again in the near future.

Delay in response time in light of festive season

Hello everyone! We are currently experiencing a high volume of orders as many of our customers are trying to get their orders in before the Chinese New Year holidays. Unfortunately, due to the holidays, many sellers have temporarily stopped dispatching orders to ensure timely delivery and customer satisfaction.

We apologize for any inconvenience and delays this may cause and kindly ask for your patience as we work to fulfil all orders as soon as possible. Please note that any orders placed at this time will not be shipped until after the Chinese New Year holidays.

In addition, please refrain from sending additional emails if you aren’t making changes to your order, and please try to keep all your orders in a single email. This is because each additional email you send pushes your email to the back of the queue.

Thank you for your understanding and patience during this busy period!

Lower service fees for Taiwan shopping service, acceptance of USD currency & CNY holiday delays

Hello! I hope everyone is having a good new year so far! I have 3 announcements to make:

(1) I’ve updated y Taiwan shopping service with a new service package with lower fees so shoppers have a more economical choice.

(2) Payments quoted and requested for all shopping services will be in USD from now on for increased transparency. The exception is for customers using Singapore-based payment platforms who may still pay in SGD.

(3) Chinese New Year is just around the corner and shipping services for Taiwan and China will be suspended from 18 January until the end of January to avoid a pile-up at customs. You may still place your orders but please understand if responses are slower during this festive season.

Thank you and Happy Chinese New Year to all who celebrate it!

Slower Response Time During the Holiday Season

The year-end season is upon us! This is a hectic period, so I apologise that myself and my proxies will not be able to process orders and check our emails as often as usual. From now until the first week of the new year, please allow us up to 3 working days to respond to each email. Unfortunately, we are unable to tend to urgent orders or time-critical holiday / Christmas sale offers.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continuous support and trust in us. May you enjoy the rest of the year and look forward to a better 2023! Happy Holidays!

Free storage period lengthened for China / Japan shopping service

Hi friends,

Shipping restrictions and lockdowns have resulted in shipping delays, or even made it temporarily impossible to ship out parcels by air to certain countries. Fortunately, many warehouses have extended their free storage period, so you don’t have to worry about paying for storage if you happen to be one of those countries affected by border restrictions.

For my Taobao / China and Japan shopping service, non-perishable items can be stored for free for up to 6 months (180 days) from the time your purchase arrives at the warehouse. After 6 months, your purchases may be disposed of if shipping arrangements are not made.

For Taiwan shopping service, storage policies remain unchanged. There’s no charge for storage, and there isn’t a specific deadline for storage period, but the consolidation location is a residential house, not a warehouse. The faster you can have your items shipped, the better.

My New Email Address

Hello friends, because Google is charging for workspace gmails (domain emails) from June, I’ve started to shift away from using it, and my new email address is [email protected] . I have not gotten around to personally informing everyone yet, but for those with open orders with me, I did not forget your order and you do not have to do anything except wait for my update. Of course, if you wish to contact me, you may use the new email address, and I will still be checking my old email until the day it shuts down.

Thank you!

Announcement: Back from Hiatus

Hello friends! I’m back from my hiatus! Actually, it feels like I never really went on hiatus, because despite my warning about an uptick in shipping issues, I continue to get requests from my regulars, who were very understanding and agreeable to switch to more reliable albeit more expensive methods like DHL, Fedex and the likes. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! I really am grateful. So I decided I might as well remove the hiatus notice from my website.

Generally, there are no changes to my service, but with fluctuating shipping prices and availability, it is no longer possible for me to give an accurate shipping fee estimation before you place your order, so I seek your understanding of this. I will still try to do so if you insist, but please also be prepared for when the actual shipping fee turns out to be more than that, or if your preferred shipping method is not available when your order is ready to ship.

In recent months, shipping problems have been exacerbated by fuel shortages and cargo crunch in China. I strongly advise everyone to use private couriers like Fedex, DHL, and UPS, which have more reliable and predictable schedules due to them having their own freights. This advice applies to customers in EU nations too. Since the new VAT laws were implemented in July, I’ve had some parcels rejected and sent back for unknown reasons when I use EMS or e-packet/registered airmail. These problems do not come with private couriers which tend to be much more capable at clearing customs. With that said, the more economical shipping methods like ems and e-packet are still available, but you use it them your own risk. If parcels take longer than usual to arrive, the post offices won’t investigate it. If the parcel gets rejected because of your insistence on airmail / ems, please understand that you don’t get any shipping fee refunds and you’d also have to pay a retrieval fee.

The pandemic has been hard on some of our finances, so I wanted to make sure that my customers are aware of the shipping challenges and costs before placing your order. In the meantime, I promise to keep up with the search for more reliable and economical shipping methods. I am certainly open to supporting your efforts to keep shipping costs low e.g. if you run a group order.

Thank you and stay safe!

Announcement: Temporary Hiatus, Limited Activity

I apologise for the sudden notice, but I am taking a temporary hiatus / break from 14 June 2021 and suspending my shopping services.

The main reason is that in the past months, I’ve observed an uptick in shipping and logistical errors, which I believe may be attributed to the manpower and cargo space crunch as a result of the pandemic. With the lack of clear insurance and compensation policies by shipping and forwarding companies, it has been stressful dealing with situations like missing and late parcels. Shipping prices, too, have been fluctuating, with some countries suddenly tacking on additional fees and changing their border measures. It has been challenging trying to give customers a fair and reliable shipping fee quote.

As a small business that only earns from service fees, it is unsustainable for me to compensate for losses and inaccurate shipping fee quotes out of my own pocket, which the shipping and forwarding companies deny accountability for. Hence, I’ve decided to take a break and source for more reliable logistics and shipping agents with fair and transparent insurance and compensation policies, so that we may all have peace of mind when shopping online.

I am also taking the opportunity to engage in some self-care as the past months have been particularly hectic for me.

For those who have active preorders and orders with me, rest assured that I will see them through until they are shipped to you. I am still contactable by email which I will check at least once every 3 days.

I will also accept add-on orders from people who currently have open orders / preorders with me.

I will not be accepting new orders from new customers. For old customers, it’ll be on a case-by-case basis.

Thank you everyone who has been very understanding and supportive, and for trusting me with your orders. We will talk again soon. In the meantime, stay healthy and safe!

Best,
Angie