Divi Diva

Internet shopping in the Philippines not yet as popular as it is in America. Here, the items for sale are limited and can usually be found off-line at much lower prices. However there have been pretty successful auction sites that are noteworthy, and I do know of some folks who actually make a good living selling online.

The internet shopping sites I use most frequently are Ebay Philippines and Bidshot. In fact I used to be so addicted to Ebay that it was my browser’s homepage for a while. For those of you who haven’t experienced either, let me tell you that for those of us “stuck” in Baguio, these sites provide a realistic virtual window shopping treat.

• Realistic because the items here are within reach. The items for sale are in the country and the Philippine Peso is the currency in use. It’s not like I’m drooling over a Louis Vuitton Steamer Trunk that is available for pick up only in Buffalo, New York because it’s too heavy and expensive to ship out of the U.S.

• Virtual because you can shop from the comforts of home for items that are located in different places in the Philippines (in Manila mostly, but can come from as far as Davao). Of course there are some uberstupid zero-rated folks from China selling ridiculously cheap laptops using stock photos, thinking we’re so gullible that we’d wire them the money for an item they will never deliver.

• Window Shopping because you can surf to your hearts content without having to actually purchase anything. Plus you let your mouse “do the walking.”

Other advantages for the buyer on Ebay.ph are:

• You can choose to participate in transactions involving meet ups, with the ability to inspect the item before buying it, although this practice is slowly disappearing because of bogus buyers.

• No credit cards or Paypal are necessary. Transactions can be in cash, via bank deposits, G-Cash , wire transfers and the like

• The sellers care a lot about their reputation, so if you choose to buy an item from a seller with a high rating you’re a little more assured of his reliability. Buyers do need to have good ratings, too, or they won’t be allowed to participate in the bidding process (tip: start from small items to build your reputation)

For Bidshot, since you can send your bid and/or messages to the seller via Short Messaging Service (SMS), you can actually haggle down the price. A lot of the transactions are negotiated and concluded offline. At Bidshot very few auctions actually work as transactions are pretty swift, everything is negotiated or swapped even, and no one really waits for the listing to expire before concluding the sale. What really happens here is that Bidshot provides a venue for advertising items for sale and a venue for the seller and buyer to be able communicate with each other.

What was the first item I ever won?

A blue 1989 Corolla in 2005 for about Php79,000 that the seller refused to sell because he said the price was too low! He had started the bid at Php1.00 and did not set a reserve price. Ebay did not compel him to sell the item to me. That was my first experience and I knew that because sellers could list items for free there would be a lot of bogus sellers.

What items have I successfully bought using these services?

• A Pre-Owned Palm Treo 600 (Php10,000 when it was selling at the Greenhills Tiangge for 15,000)
• A Brand New Digital Safe (Php1,800)
• A Leather Targus Laptop Bag (Php700)
• A VW Restoration Handbook(Php350)
• A Set of 500 Beautiful Clay Poker Chips (Php3,450) when Celebrity Poker was not yet in vogue. I remember they were like $60-80/100 pcs the last time I was in Chicago

Were any of these items shipped to Baguio? Nope. But since I am a Manila girl and all my family is there, I time my purchases to coincide with trips necessary to buy business supplies. All these purchases were C.O.D. and I was able to inspect the items.

I kinda lay low from Ebay though, because I won the bid for a Compaq Presario last October 2006 but this awful, awful seller who said the item was in excellent condition but did not disclose that the battery held absolutely no charge, was forcing me to pay for the item. I was not about to shell out Php30,000 for a defective item! He ranted and raged against me via email and was insisting that I take the item despite its condition. But I told him I was not stupid.

Eventually, he got my account suspended on Ebay. Of course there are ways of getting around that setback. Hahaha. His reputation as a seller was damaged more than mine was as a buyer. This seller is an awful, arrogant, deceitful man. Has sold a lot of defective items from the U.S. and is one “feel na feel” (Pinoys, you know what I mean) sonnamagan. How I would love to tell you his Ebay ID, so just email me if you really want to know so you can avoid being victimized by him.

Later on, he was still trying to sell the same item, this time at a lower price, and finally did disclose that the battery was defective. But I guess, the bad feedback I gave him did other buyers some good — and as far as I know, he was not able to pass the item off to some innocent buyer.

Will I ever transact on Ebay again? Of course! There’s just nothing there right now that I need — or want. Because of that bad man, I am starting to love it a little less though.

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