Online shopping is now something most of us are accustomed to and I’m sure every single one of you reading this has, at one point or another, bought something online. But a relatively recent phenomenon I’ve noticed, is the selling of products via Facebook or increasingly, Instagram. I don’t know if it’s just a local phenomenon or if it’s something that’s also happening elsewhere in the world so it’ll be interesting to hear your views.
I realise these 2 platforms have a low cost entry (free) with no need to own a domain or host a website or have an estore template. A lot of the time, from what I observe, you email, leave a comment, or more popularly, send a private message or text by Whatsapp to the seller to purchase the items you are interested in.
I do notice that a lot of luxury product resellers use this medium of sale, as do sellers of imported cosmetics or people who run “sprees” for hard to get products or cosmetics. I’d watched and observed this for a while and while I note that some very popular Facebook pages or Instagram accounts seem to do a roaring trade, which does boost their credibility, I’d always been hesitant because I’m a bit of a traditionalist.
I prefer shopping from a proper online store and I stick to the big ones unless I’m looking for a very niche item. I basically want someone I can hold accountable if something goes wrong. But I recently dipped my toes into this grey world of Facebook/Instagram shopping and I have to say that it has left me feeling wanting.
I’m curious if any of you do buy things or shop on Facebook pages or through Instagram accounts, or if you are a seller, if you find it to be an effective or successful medium 🙂
I have had one successful trade, if you could call it that, through Instagram. I had purchased an acrylic organizer through @MyMakeupOrganizer about a year ago (or perhaps longer) after following the account for a while, figuring out what I wanted and then emailing her. Some of her organizers are available at Parkson Pavilion KL which lends to credibility, she made it a point to reply to Instagram questions and comments, and I knew of people who had bought from her and who had met her, and I knew a little about her history so to cut a long story short, I trusted her. Her replies to my emails were prompt, payment instructions were clear and I picked up the product the very next day. I was happy and it was a good experience.
I never really felt the need to make another Instagram purchase from anyone else until recently. I spotted an item that I’d had my eye on for a while and it was an attractive price, and I was keen. I shot off a text message on Whatsapp to make an enquiry, and I received a reply not long after. So far so good.
However, when I decided that I was interested to make a purchase, all communication suddenly went flat from the other end. I made a couple of queries to which I received no response for a few days, and then I decided that that was that. Pictures were still going up on Instagram and my messages were going through on Whatsapp, and if you use Whatsapp, you’d know that people can see when you were last on and I could see that the seller was active. But there was no reply.
I’ve since scrapped that intended purchase, chalked it up to experience and vowed to never fall into that trap again. It was probably for the best that the radio silence came before I had made payment or I’d be kicking myself in the head for being so silly.
The next time I’m swayed enough by price or availability or interest to make a purchase through Facebook or Instagram, here’s what I’ll look out for:-
- Does the seller answer all questions – Often, I see questions whether on Facebook or Instagram that go unanswered and that is a warning sign that perhaps the seller isn’t quite on the ball. I’d proceed with caution.
- Are the photographs authentic or stock photos – To be honest, even if it was a photograph of an item, it’s hard to tell these days, what with high grade fakes of everything proliferating the market. In fact, it may even be a stolen picture from a website or someone else’s account (I often see images from Karen at Makeupandbeautyblog.com and Christine of Temptalia.com being used to advertise cosmetics for sale with no credit) But if you’re paying top dollar and seeing just a stock photo, skip it.
- Do you know someone who has bought from the seller before – It’s not the best gauge, but it helps if someone you know well has bought something from the seller you plan to purchase from. It gives you something to go on, but it isn’t a 100% measure of efficiency so just use it as a yardstick.
- Is the seller answering your emails or text messages promptly – If you aren’t getting your questions answered promptly (I deem 24-48 hours to be reasonable for people in retail) look elsewhere. I understand that some of these sellers aren’t doing it full time, but if you want to hold yourself out to be in retail, even if just online, my expectations are of that of a retail store. If you face problems before making payment, you could also face problems after payment in receiving your goods.
So that’s my experiences. One good, one bad. For now, I’m still sticking to trusted websites and online stores where availability of goods are clear, payment terms are spelled out, delivery methods specified and while they may cost more, I feel safer and more secure putting my money there.
Have you bought anything through Facebook or Instagram or are you a seller? Do you have any tips or stories (good or bad) to share?
If you have any tips on pitfalls to watch out for, I’d appreciate it! I find it quite a pain navigating a Facebook page or Instagram account to look for product availability because there’s no way to see what’s available at any one time. You have to scroll through the feed and that’s exhausting (and a waste of time!) But then, that’s me – I’m a traditionalist, remember? 😉
Paris B
Yup I agree, same wavelength. I’ve never bought stuff off Instagram sellers or Facebook sellers and if I do, I make sure its someone I know of or has a good track record. A lot of times, the insta shops and fb shops look super dodgy and their main point of contact is Whatsapp of all things which I think looks really unprofessional. On top of that, sometimes the prices of the items on these pages are so cheap its just really difficult to believe that those are genuine products.Especially those that are purportedly selling genuine imported cosmetics and luxury bags. I’d rather buy stuff of a legit site where there is a proper channel in case I need a refund, or have a question etc. Which is why I have yet to get myself the Limecrime lipcreams despite it being abundantly advertised on Instagram lol.
Yes! Some of the prices are unbelievable. Yet these insta-stores seem to be doing a roaring trade, which means there are people willing to put their trust (and money) in them! Good for them then LOL! As for Lime Crime, to be honest I don’t get the hype about them. Maybe it’s because I was there when they first came online and they had some really bad controversies with regards product composition and also how they treated people so ever since then I’ve been put off them.
I never have and I never will. The risks far outweigh my desire to own whatever it is that calls out to me.
Good call! Money is too hard earned to be squandered to some unscrupulous people.
Haven’t gone down that rabbit hole yet. I suppose you could call it a good thing if your queries doesn’t get a respond BEFORE money is exchanged 😛 Imagine going to Consumer Tribunal over something like this… and the authorities are clamping down on Uber and UberX drivers? The injustice of it all.
The Whatsapp contact method is annoying in that I would have to intentionally ADD that person’s number in my phone book (unless there’s a way for me to get around that, which I clearly haven’t figured out yet), even if it’s to ask a simple question.
But yeah, caveat emptor and all that.
oh yes! The Whatsapp thing bugged me too and no, you can’t add someone on whatsapp without first adding to your contacts. I’m actually quite glad I tried it out (and didn’t get burnt) because now I know I never will again! 😛
I am guilty of lurking big brand names on instagram though i never shop for things there.Mainly i just use it as a medium for new product releases or whatever big brand names i can lurk and drool over their latest collections. I try to be VERY patient (except for makeup ) and wait for them to hit the bargain/ discount stores, and that’s where instagram comes in super handy,hashtags-my forever life saver!
Familiarity with brand names/items could really help when it comes to online shopping,checking for customer reviews and double checking the customers profile if they’re just someone who made an account to make the seller look legit-which i think ebay has a lot.
I do agree with you on the authenticity of the items/photos.5 years ago i was so crazy with shopping on facebook, one thing i did notice were sellers use these term- authentic replica or class AAA for “designer bags” and use photos which where copied from the websites of designer brands.I wonder where they got that term from! Haha!
Ooh yes don’t even get me started with shopping on Facebook. There are so many fake pages and accounts and people selling fakes but as you say, calling it authentic replicas, that it really pisses me off. The worst thing of course is to see people ask if it’s original. I feel like telling them that if an item sells for Thousands in store, there’s no way an item now selling for just a hundred bucks could be original -_-
Dear Paris,
Thank you very much for your kind words.
It has been a pleasure serving you.
I am also very grateful for the opportunity to be part of Parkson.
You’re welcome. You’re one of those who are doing this online thing right! 😛
I’ve been addicted to online shopping these days, simply because it’s hassle-free. But I only online shop for things that I don’t have access to here in KL. A few weeks ago I took a chance by ordering online at Sephora and have a forwarder company shipped it to me, just because I was not sure about those ‘pre-order sprees’ some IG shops offered. Unless the things are ready stock, I wouldn’t get it from IG Shop. I have one time shopping at an IG shop just because I was searching for the Dior transat highlighter high and low and this IG shop happened to have it on ready stock and I just go for it. Sometimes you need to be really careful as in doing some ‘background checks’ on the online shops, see their feedbacks etc. If the seller haven’t reply to me more than just a few hours I wouldn’t spend my $$ with them. Just my personal opinion. 🙂
It’s great to know you had a good experience Indri and to score such a limited item too! 🙂 The store I contacted came highly recommended and the item was a ready item but still, I had that brush off. It was so weird!
Hello! 🙂
I totally agree on your post.
Way before Malaysia got hit by the buy sell ecommerce market, I did sites or supported people on it overseas. Overseas, the market is huge & required verifications & etc for security.
Also cyberlaw & public shame on the scammer or those who don’t bother on their biz.
I am glad with that skills, I have managed to sell various items for myself & friends at various platform – blogs, facebook, lowyat forum, carousell & it all started as an experiment for me & coz. I not want to throw away & save up for a Pc & renovation.
So far, I try to be as transparent as possible & direct. Along the way, developed a keen eye for worthy items & suspicious buyers and seller. Just like in real life, whn go to a new shop, will verify & double check the stocks they gv & keep all receipts etc.
Whenever a seller did not reply promptly the possibilities:
1) Overseas
2) Stocks not in hand
3) No biz mindset.
4) Someone Rsvp but hvn’t pay thus waiting lor! Haha
Overall, I do background check on sellers 😀
Sometimes they hv shops or their items lead me to cheaper source.
As for me, some of my buyers bcm my friends & some even helped out some donation drive some time ago. The funniest story so far was one buyer turned out to be my neighbor! That boy & I ended up laughing non-stop online coz we spent 20mins figuring out the appropriate COD location spot.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Vera 😀 It’s good to know you’ve managed to make use of the platform to your advantage 🙂 The funny thing is that I actually did that – do a check, talked to someone who had bought before, the item was a ready stock item and still I had a poor experience. How la like that 😛
I’ve never purchased from FB before and like you, have a trust issue. The only time I’ve made a purchase through Instagram is via Romana @mymakeuporganizer for the Benjebelle brush tree. But it’s only because you’ve bought from her before. Hehehe…
I still prefer to shop at a proper and reputable online retailer. Thankfully, I’ve only had good shopping experiences so far.
Yep, best to just stick with an online store. I always feel that anyone who took the trouble to set up a proper online store with a proper website address and everything should be a little more trustworthy than someone who just uses social media platforms to sell things. That’s just mind boggling.
Hi there..
I’ve never purchased anything from FB or Instagram before. However, I was really tempted by ASOS for their maternity line. But when I discovered that there were many bad reviews on the deliveries , I just stopped there..
Hey Jessl, Asos is fine since they’re a proper store and I know of many who love shopping there since their shipping is free 🙂 The problem I was told is mostly with their clothes sizing and quality while shipping was never a reported problem, at least among my friends 🙂
I have just graduated to online shopping recently hahaha, I guess I finally got out of stone age. I have trust issues and I am fussy – bad combination in a women but it’s given to most of us perhaps 😛 I dread being cheated, credit card fraud, shortchanged with shoddy goods, and the list goes on. Over time, I learn through online reviews (like yours) that some shopping sites are acceptable. These days, if I do purchase anything online, it is mostly skincare and I will only purchase from established sites. I see a lot of online “stores” popping via FB and Instagram, presumably it is easy to set up and lower maintenance cost, if at all. I rather hold on to the temptation (and money!), toss and turn in bed than to go through a series of follow up with not so good sellers.
LOL! These days, if I can buy it online, I buy it online only because it’s so convenient and I don’t have to drag myself to the malls. But there’s still some fun in heading out and doing some real time shopping isn’t there? Especially for clothes and shoes. No online shopping for those (unless I find the exact item online that I’ve seen in store!) Wise move not to go with FB and Instagram stores. Way too dodgy some of them >.<
Haven’t yet jumped aboard this ship but I won’t say never…sometimes the need to buy a thing creates a means. Even if it means throwing caution to the wind.
Luckily for you, you happened not to have lost any cash or kind with a disappearing Seller but these things do happen and I am always aware of the possibility that it could happen to me…one day.
I suppose, it’s the law of odds when it comes to online transactions of any sort. But, touchwood!
I fully agree with you, hence my throwing caution to the wind and having it blown right back in my face! LOL For now, I’m just sticking to regular and reputable online stores. Money is too hard to come by to throw around willy nilly!
I have bought clothing from a FB account before. A close friend of mine has made several purchases from the seller, so I thought I’d try as well. But turns out, i am useless with measurements. So the dresses I bought didn’t fit me. Sure they looked very pretty on photos and perhaps on models with perfect bod but… I’m not a model. :p Still prefer to try out in a store.
LOL I know what you mean. Half the time, the pictures are of these skinny properly proportionate girls and I’m thinking “Geez! How to fit?!” Actually come to think of it, I have similar problems with clothes from Pratunam! So I’ve given up 😛