Korean Website which ships to India | A shopping guide

DISCLAIMER:

The website has a very basic and simple user interface. But the operations are smooth and I haven’t faced any difficulty while shopping with them.

This post is not sponsored. I love the website and their customer service, hence I made this shopping guide.

SHOPPING ON THE WEBSITE

• THERE IS NO FIXED PRICE. PRODUCT PRICE VARIES DEPENDING ON SALE AND PROMOTION THE WEBSITE OFFERS.
• The website has a lot of products and a lot of brands, DO NOT GET DISTRACTED AND CONFUSED.
• In the navigation bar, hover/click on the special offers tab -> special deal. Check their bestseller sale page and weekly deal sale page (new products every week and great discounts, maximum 3 products per week is added here)
• special offers tab-> sample shop (find deluxe sample or 10 pieces sachet sample packet)

 

Tips:

• Make optimum use of your wishlist, add the products you want to buy to your wishlist and monitor it from time to time for any price changes. Make a purchase when there is a sale.
• Some brands like Laneige, Tony Moly, Etude House etc., maintain consistent price and usually don’t fluctuate. But brands like Skinfood, Secret Key, Innisfree etc., have price fluctuations depending on sale or any offer.
•  Don’t use the navigation to shop by product type, it can be time consuming and confusing to find specific product. Shop by Brands instead or search for the product.

• Use the 10% discount coupon. It pops up from time to time when you add item to your cart or when you open the page.

• You need to share the website link in any of the platforms mentioned below.

SHIPPING ESTIMATE:

• The website offers weight based shipping. What does it mean? Shipping charges vary from order to order depending on the weight of the products in the cart.  As you can see in the image below, the shipping varies depending on the product weight.

• Choose K-packet. Don’t exceed 1.8 kg weight(your cart will show the total product weight. K-packet takes anywhere between 10-25 days to arrive depending on the holidays in between. I usually get my orders in 10-15 days. You also get a tracking number when you use K- packet and chances of not getting customs duty is high when you use K- packet.
• If you choose EMS, your order will reach you in week and YOU WILL PAY CUSTOMS DUTY 41% and customs handling charges to the logistics company(charges vary depending on the company).

Tips:

• It may appear like you are paying extremely high shipping charges but when you buy a couple of items and break down the shipping it is cheaper than any other website.

• Total shipping value/no of items = individual shipping amount.

• Add this to your product value and cross verify with other websites which offer free shipping.
• Install an app “Aftership” from app store and add your tracking number to track it.

PAYMENT METHODS

• Currency is USD, if you are shopping using Indian cards. Make sure your card supports international transaction and also prefer using a credit card over a debit card. (in case there is a misuse of card, you won’t incur much loss, since it’s credit card, headache will be for the bank)
• USE ONLY PAY PAL. It’s safe, secure and easy. Also when you are redirected to Pay Pal page, change currency conversion by bank. It’s set to default as pay pal but change it to bank. Bank conversions are slightly cheaper than pay pal.
• 

Image source: Bank Bazar

REWARDS:

• You get 400 points when you sign up.
• And 10 points for every 1$ you spend on the website.
• You can redeem points according to the chart below,

CUSTOMS DUTY:

• Customs duty depends on location, quantity, product value and the logistics company.                                                                                                                                     eg : Maharashtra customs is one tough cookie.
• Customs duty is 41% of total value declared(including shipping).

 

Tips:

• Always use K-packet to ship.
• Since it’s weight based shipping there is no minimum order value so shop in small quantities. I don’t exceed 1-1.5 kg limit. This will also reduce the chance of hitting customs.

 

This is the link to the website www.cosmetic-love.com

And let me know in comments if you have any difficulty and also if you are going to shop from them. 

 

Image credits: Cosmetic-Love