I had always been wary about buying electronics online. I limit my online shopping to fashion items, cosmetics and paper products. For one, I cannot test gadgetry if I buy online. So for example I need to buy canon projector, then for sure you could see me doing intensive research first on features, reviews and whatnots about each model, then I’ll be checking out prices in different stores. Then I make the buying decision. It was only last year when hubs was in US that we both tried to buy gadgetry online.

And we got surprisingly good buys! Most of the stuff we bought were from Amazon and OfficeDepot. We got a digital cameras, a graphic tablet, Nintendo Wii’s, and finally hubby bought an HP Notebook online. And all turned out really great. So you could say this finally gave me some confidence to shop for electronic items online. But my rule would always be ‘below $200′ you know just in case…the items are defective or I need to return it. When buying online I make sure I really study a company’s shipping and return policies.

So last week I decided to try if my online shopping luck extends to the eastern side of the planet. I decided to shop for some gadgetry at LightintheBox.com, a China-based online shopping portal selling lots of affordable phones, accessories, electronics etc. I was in ‘let’s try and see what happens’ mood. Picking out products you want in Lightinthebox is actually very hard. Why? I have a hard time to choose because the choices available is simply amazing. And the prices are really hard to resist.

In the end, I picked out one touchscreen phone for hubby.  I fell in love with the features and nothing  would beat the price! The Versio Aquarius 600 Dual Card Camera WIFI Phone  for only $79.99. It’s available in several colors – white, black, pink, green, blue and red. I picked out black just to be safe. Then I also searched for a small MP3 player for my daughter since she is sooo into music, I decided on MusicTube 4G Style Card Reader MP3 Player in pink – $19.99. I also remembered needing a spare earphone and earphones in this shop are really cheap so I included one in my cart - 3.5mm High Fidelity Stereo In-Ear Earphone – $2.99.

My total loot price was $102.97 + Shipping charges {to Cambodia} – $17.34  minus a $10 off coupon, so the total bill for me was US$ 110.31. Not bad since I was getting a phone, an mp3 player and earphones. Checking out was a breeze. I simply used Paypal to pay for the goodies. You cannot choose which shipping company to use, LITB will choose which courier/partner best serves your area. But I did chat beforehand with their online chat service and asked which companies usually service my location and I was given the answer – DHL. I find DHL to be very reliable, at least in this part so I breathed a sigh of relief. Another concern for me was the import duties I will be billed with, but the customer service staff assured me the courier would handle customs clearance first, then would just bill me.

I also love Lightinthebox’s MyOrders page. You’d be able to check the status of your orders. If they are being packaged, processed and shipped. They will also provide a tracking number. So I knew that my orders were shipped on July 10 and on July 13th it was already delivered. Fast and very efficient. The courier even called us before delivery to inform us how much is the customs charge. Which was a hefty $20 but we were expecting that since we were shipping electronics and I know duties for these stuff are not cheap.

So was it worth it? A big YES! All items were packaged in one box. Inside the box, there was another layer of bubble wrap. And for the prices of the items I bought, they were pretty good. Hubby took a big liking to the phone. It has a very responsive touch screen, and he loves the WIFI and dual sim features. As for the MP3 player, the kiddo adored it. It was lightweight, very easy to operate, the only downside is that we had to buy an SD card since it was not included in the price. All in all, I’m very impressed with the products and the whole shopping experience. You can bet, I’ll be shopping there again. I’m already eyeing an Android phone I wanna have…

Here’s just some photos of the package..

Tip. Search for Lightinthebox.com coupons online before you check out. They usually have $5, $10, $20  off  codes available online depending on how much is your total purchase.