Holiday Shopping: In Time for the Holidays (Attn: Procrastinators)

I must admit that I am a sucker for shoes and bags. Be it online shopping or in-store shopping, you will always find me in the shoes and bags aisle. It’s my way of accessorizing my get-up since basically I am a jeans and casual top kind of person. If I see somebody down the street, the first thing I look at is the kind of bag the person is strutting around. That’s how I judge people, basically. I judge them with their bags. Why bags? A bag can be anything it can be. The possibility is endless. Somehow I am drawn to the intricate layout, the fine workmanship, the quality of the material used, the color and texture, the size, the shape, the ease of use and the overall impact. How a bag looks defines the taste of the person wearing it. What about people who don’t wear bags? They’re both lucky and unlucky. Lucky because they don’t have to carry a weight on their shoulders. Unlucky because their life is boring. Besides their hands are always full, with no bag to put in their stuff. I know, you are raising your eyebrows now. That’s alright. This is my mantra. Life is too short not to be enjoyed. I try to enjoy my life by incorporating variety and just enjoying the little things that give me pleasure. One of them is bags and shoes. It doesn’t have to be that way for you. Just enjoy whatever little something that you can enjoy that won’t strain your budget. I used to buy pens every week. Any color, any design. It just gives me the pleasure knowing that every time I write, it’s always a different feel. Anyway, I shop online most of the time. The only other time that I am shopping somewhere else is when I’m at TJMaxx & Marshalls (I should get compensated for promoting them on this blog). I even go to Ross, sometimes. I hardly go to the mall and buy from specialty shops because it’s boring. Getting something that looks like it is mass-produced for an entire generation, just doesn’t appeal to me. I want something that is at least of limited production, that way the chance of me bumping into somebody sporting the same accessory is slim to none. So where do I go online to shop for the things I like? I go to smartbargains.com, overstock.com, zappos.com, amazon.com and lately to endless.com. I’m sure you are all familiar with these sites. But let me just tell you why I go to these sites. I like smartbargains.com because it does have a good array of high-end brands at affordable prices. The only thing that I don’t like is the standard shipping which is quite not at par with the other sites in terms of speed. I like overstock.com because it has an even bigger array of products to choose from and shipping is fast and affordable. But sometimes, price-wise they really are not the cheapest you can get online. I like zappos.com because of their wide array of apparel and fashion accessories and they carry the top name brands. Zappos.com also offers fast shipping. I like amazon.com because you basically can find anything under the sun, plus they always inform you on when you should order so it gets to you at a particular time. Amazon.com even offers a subscription to its customers so they can ship certain products for free if it’s eligible for prime shipping (two-day). This is such a good deal if you are a regular amazon.com shopper because you will really save on shipping and the product is delivered to your door faster. Lately, I got into the habit of buying my shoes and bags at endless.com. It’s a remarkable site that offers free overnight shipping. It’s always fun shopping from endless.com because you don’t wait for days for your item to arrive. You order today before cut-off time and immediately, the following day your ordered item is sitting on your doorstep. Isn’t that great? Definitely it is. Plus if you want to return a product, you simply go online and print out the return shipping label, repack the item, seal and label and drop it at the post office at no additional expense on your part and no third party to deal with. Besides the site itself is remarkable. It is for now, dedicated to bags and shoes, for men, women and even children. The site is also designed such that online shopping becomes almost as good as in-store shopping wherein you can scrutinize every aspect of the product before deciding on buying it. Endless.com does that with an advanced web interface wherein you can look at the product in different angles and zoom in to see a closer view of the material, the design, the color, and even the texture. Try it online, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. And for all of you procrastinators out there, it may not be late yet (as of this writing) to shop for a present that will get to the recipient on time. Give a bag or a shoe from endless.com. You will not be disappointed. I have to get going. I’ll get myself another bag.