MySmartPrice-An Online Miracle!!! (collaboration)

So, it has been a while and I have been away. Trust me, Out of town without an internet connection is way harder than it sounds. I was visiting my relatives and theirs being a household with no internet user, my social life was paralysed,  leaving me holding onto my cell phone for dear life. Well, now that I am back, I have a surprise for you. We, at Lace & brocade, are happy to announce that we were contacted by My Smart Price, a website keen on changing the way we shop online and making it easier, for a collaboration. I have not shopped with them yet but the website looks promising and I am going to take advantage of the same in a couple of days and since, I shop means you know what it is all about, I see another post in the near future.

When I shop online, the biggest issue that I face is the search. It was a major drawback when I was studying till some years ago and with my work with some social organisations. Since I am now a full time blogger for the time being and this is like my imaginary bread and butter, I am browsing through all the valid shopping portals available on the internet almost all the time. It still gets a little tedious but you gotta do what you gotta do. However, for people who have higher levels of toiling to accomplish everyday, that can be a real headache (and backache if you count all the sitting in bed with the laptop). This is, precisely, where MySmartPrice comes in. The website is a quirky, easy to browse through and brings you products from all the most famous and powerful websites available as shopping portals. They have separate categories for electronic gadgets, make up products, clothing, Home and health appliances, sports products, babies and kids and as a cherry on top of Vanilla Ice cream (which is my greatest weakness after chocolate; and I don't like cherries on chocolate), Books. Since I am a sucker for more than Half of the things they have on their list, this website has become my Go-To place for comparing prices of all the products available on all the sites. The ease of shopping with them for the fashion crazy comes out clearly with the fact that I found about 4 products that I own there that I never saw anywhere on the internet (not a pleasant fact for women in general; there will be posts on where to find my looks on their website in the future).

To some of you, the company and the service may sound new. This website and their android app has become a raging success with upto 9-10 million visitors every month. They are funded by major names like Accel and Helion and in times to come, are expected to bring you prices of all the products sold online so you may compare and buy the best ones.

How it works: It is as simple to go use as it is to write about. When you visit their website at http://www.mysmartprice.com/, this page opens up on your screen:

Every part of the website is very clear and easily available. You can go to the desired category and click on it and this page opens up:

[I have opened the books page here, however, the other pages are a lot different. I will give you information on them in the subsequent posts.]

From here on you fall into another Galaxy if you're a book lover. MySmartPrice gives you a whole list of the prices your book of choice is available on the internet at.

The blue rectangles on the comparison column on this part of the page is the 'Go to Store' tab. As you click or tap on it, it leads you to the original location of the product on the website that you choose to shop for the product with. 

Now that we have begun this journey of ours with this fabulous website, stay tuned for more awesomeness to come from this latest love of mine. I cannot thank them enough for their books category and even more so for their fashion jewellery column. I am sharing some links for you all underneath. Let the shopping experience commence!

On Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/mysmartprice

The page for Fashionistas- http://fashion.mysmartprice.com/ishop/women

The page for the Gentlemen- http://fashion.mysmartprice.com/ishop/men

An awesome Giveaway- http://www.mysmartprice.com/books/contest/giveaway-contest/

An equally amazing initiative- http://www.saveindiancomics.org/

I shall now take your leave (with a heart heavy enough to compete against an elephant) but only to be back with a beautiful post for all the Jewellery lovers in you all before the week ends.

P.S. Please do ignore my sense of humour. I never said I was going be funny. -_-

Online shopping vs Online shopping

Oh no, I am not going to try and get your heart off online shopping at all. Personally, I am exceptionally fond of it. All it takes is an internet connection and something for it to work on. I shop online and when I don't have the time, I ask my friend to shop for  me, online again. The greatest upside is that you do not have to go anywhere or sometimes the stuff is not even available in your locality. I don't live in a Jungle but most of the clothes I love are not available anywhere in Himachal except Shimla, Dharamshala and Manali. So rather than travelling 9, 1 or 7 hours respectively, I go online on  my ipod touch and buy to by heart's content (or my wallet's capacity, whichever comes first; normally its the wallet thing). However, there are certain things that are still not possible in this way. Like when my sister was getting married in November, 2013, I could not just buy anything online. I'll tell you why.

Online shopping has a wide range of products and sites to choose from. Online Clothing brands are so many now that you'll lose count before you find that one piece you just fall in love with. For instance, Last night I spent 3 hours online to find a pretty enough peplum dress for my friend and I had been to I don't know how many sites before I found that one thing that I just had to have. That's how I roll. Choosing clothes online is easy. There are dimensions mentioned next to the outfit and some sites even mention the dimensions and the height of their models so the buyer can relate to it and buy something as per the comparison. You can choose colors too. It's just nirvana on a screen for anyone and everyone who loves to own the prettiest stuff. However, if you're in a hurry, buy only the stuff you can be sure you won't have to get altered or exchanged.

Buying jewelery on the internet is the easiest, best and the most risk-free option. There isn't much to do. Just browse through some choices and buy what you think will suit you or whatever you want to own. The only catch is the delicacy of the product or defect upon delivery. Well, in that case, you can exchange the product on almost every available site now. However, there are some sites which do not have a customer friendly exchange policy and some that don't have any such policy at all. It is always better to read the policies of the brand before you buy anything. I know its  tedious but that's where buyers come in. They have to spend time reading such stuff and you don't have to waste time. Buyers are also a good option for men in particular since they get confused over buying clothes, jewelery, shoes or make-up for their friends or partners. 

The only fine print on buying stuff online is in the shoes' section. I have shopped for shoes thrice and they have not been a perfect fit each time. If you think that it just needs a shoe size then you're mistaken. Every girl who has ever worn high-heeled shoes would know how hard it is to tolerate a wrong size. You cannot rely on a shoe size completely. Apart from the fact that shoe sizes vary with the brand, the shape of the foot is also an important information. You have to try a shoe on before you own it. Avoid buying shoes online, particularly the high-heeled ones. 

Make-up and lifestyle products like curtains, oils, candles etc are also easy to buy products since they are just brand based articles. However, yet again, buy make-up products only from the trust-worthy sites or the so-called 'big names' of online shopping. There are countless duplicate products in the market and its better to not risk using those on your face, skin or hair.

Follow the blog for more on everything that Matters. ;)

This dress is a product available online and is the love of my life for now. My shopper friend now owns and rocks it!