Buying here vs Buying Online on baby stuff

[daveigh]

Hi mga sis, i am about 2 months pregnant, and I am now starting to scout for baby items that I need to buy. I have a list already, but what I want to get feedback from you is where is it better to buy a certain item?  Example sa Divisoria/Malls than online (Amazon, Ebay, Sulit.com.ph)?

For example, BPA free bottles of Avent/Dr Brown are cheaper when bought in US. But what about strollers? Playpens? I also read somewhere na ang lampin is better bought in carriedo? Care to share your info on this? Thanks in advance!

[twelvth_goddess]

The first item that I bought for my daughter was the Dr Brown's wideneck set that I ordered from Ebay. Mas mura pa din ng around 200 yata including the shipping but it took around 2 months before I got it since pre order sya from a Multiply contact. But then I also travelled to the US on my 6th month so most of my daughter's clothes, shoes, and toiletries were bought there, DEFINITELY CHEAPER. Yung stroller sana I wanted to buy from babiesrus since it was the 4th of july sale there but i travelled without my hubby so hinde ko naman sya mabibitbit lahat, plus, considering din the cost of excess baggage fees, hinde na lang din.

I'm a fan of online shopping and there are a lot of things that you can buy there that are cheaper compared to malls. Pero for big items like strollers, playpen/cribs, etc, I suggest you buy from the store cus it's important na ma-test and that you see the actual product before buying. Yung warranty din is important. Yung carriedo, I dont know lang ha. When it comes to my daughter kase, I dont mind spending at all basta good quality lahat. I only bought 1 second hand item for her, yung high chair nya which is originally my boss' son's chair. They only had it for 1 month when they decided to move back to the US, barely used din cus his son hated it so it was like new and I got it for 1k lang kaya hinde na ko umarte 

[[-c-h-a-]]

If you buy your items from abroad, hindi ba kayo icha-charge ng customs ng kung ano anong "fee"? Baka ang labas nun mas mapa mahal pa kayo...

Personally, wala pa kaming baby ni hubby dahil nagpplano palang. Ang OA lang ng nasa list ko kaya sabi ko, pagipunan muna namin yun to make sure we can get everything I want for our bub kasi ayoko talaga magsettle. Pero mas mura kahit papano to buy them from the US than to actually get them locally in Australia. The bugaboo pram here costs around $1.4k, eh sa States $800-$900 lang. Even with the shipping fee, mas mura pa rin. L'occitane and Mustela toiletries rin dito ang laki ng difference so I said, we'll get everything na lang from the US. All up, we'll be able to save up at least $500 pa rin.

Plus, walang buwayang customs dito

[daveigh]

^ Lucky kasi sis for me, umuuwi si SIL from vegas 2-3x a year, tapos what i usually do, when i buy things online, inuuwi lang nya. parang personal items nya. So i do not think na magkakaroon ng customs problems on my end, unless its an electronic product. Pero kahit laptop namin na in-order ko via amazon nauwi nya ng walang ganyang issue naman so carry lang.

[[-c-h-a-]]

^that's good so go go go! It's definitely cheaper to buy them in the US. Maybe not everything, but most. You can probably check the local shops for their RRP and then check their US prices to compare na lang

[sexytabachung]

I agree with sis twelvth_goddess. For some items, mas ok bumili dito satin. Feeding bottles, hindi narin nagkakalayo ang price when you get them from multiply or ebay sellers. Yung mga crib, playpen, high chair, stroller, car seat etc, mas ok na dito mo na bilhin so you can test them and see talaga if yun ang gusto niyo ni hubby. Sa mga clothes ni baby, para sakin if it is pambahay lang, pwede na yung locally made lang like mga nabibili natin sa landmark, sm and robinson's dept store. Pero yung mga pang alis ni baby, mas prefer ko mamili online like carter's, childrens place, old navy and gap. Abang lang ako ng sale or coupons from my brother (who is in the US) tapos i buy them online and if meron uuwi na relatives, makikipadala lang. Hindi ako nahihiya kasi pag ako rin naman ang nagpupunta dun, panay rin sila pakisabay eh.  If wala naman relatives na uuwi, meron mga nagpapa co-loading dito satin. Check mo sa multiply. Reasonable naman sila maningil.

[twelvth_goddess]

^Yung branded stuff is always better ot buy in the US talaga. Like Baby Gap, RL, Carter's, binibili ko yan from my multiply contact. I spend a lot on my daughter's shoes too, I always make sure that I get really good brands for her.

Pambahay, I agree na dito lang bilhin. Sa SM department store, madame naman nice.

[LLLA]

I buy AVENT bottles online kasi much cheaper compared sa mall.
I also recently bought Cloth Diapers online din.
Pag mga pambahay, sa SM lang. 

[clueless]

Majority of my baby's things are bought online. I only buy locally sa malls if i need it agad and cannot wait for transit time. Or if the price difference is immaterial.

I buy from amazon and other US-based online stores. For clothes, i buy from old navy/gap pag slle ralphlauren, carters. For shoes, i buy from zappos.

I use a forwarder pobox.ph so i dont need to wait for anyone to come to the philippines. Yon nga lang, it takes about 6-8 weeks. I no longer pre-order from multiply contacts because they charge a shopper fee, which i dont need to pay if i buy the items myself.

For big items like playpen, stroller, carseat, like the others said cheaper there pero talo ka sa shipping, if you add the shipping cost from the US to manila, it's about the same price na din when bought here so buy here na lang, at least you get to inspect the item pa. But if there is something you need/want that is not available here, or too expensive here na mas mahal pa din talaga dito even if you add in the shipping cost, buy na online.

For reference, i bought my avent isis duo from amazon for $182 and paid shipping from US to manila of $30. That is still a lot cheaper pa din compared to here. At the time the bpa free isis duo cost 40k here so ang laki ng na na-save ko.

As for the lampins being cheaper in carriedo, how much cheaper are we talking about here. Personally, i dont likegoing to divi cos i feel the hassle of going there is not worth the savings i get. So unless they are really ridiculously cheap there, pwede kong sadyain pero kung konti lang ang difference, SM na lang ako or even rustans.

[khriseeee]

Everything is cheaper in the US!

For the big ticket items (stroller, booster/highchair, playard) it would be best if you have someone who can bring them home for you otherwise there is no difference in price when you factor in shipping and customs. Take a look at the models you like here at the department stores so you can test it out and ensure that it's what you really want then  you can buy online. Some examples, the Fisher Price newborn to toddler rocker is P5,500 here, while on Amazon it's only $40. Fisher Price portable booster seat is P2,900 here, it's $30 on Amazon. I'm getting the Peg Perego Si stroller, at Rustan's it is $17,000 while on Amazon it's only $225 (around P10K). HUGE difference.

Or, if you can wait (or time your baby just so  ) the SM Grand Baby Fair has really great deals. It's only once a year though, in January. Graco playards go as low as P4,000 and carseats, strollers are a good deal too (you can check out the baby sale thread)

Clothes, yes there are local ones available and they are ok though I find some of the quality not that great, especially the ones I bought from Hello baby Bel-Air. It's cheap, yes, but fabric isn't that stretchy as compared to the mothercare onesies I bought. I wait for the sale at Mothercare (especially the 70% off one) and it comes out about the same price or even less than the department stores.

[sexytabachung]

^Sorry OT but When is the 70% sale of mothercare?

[stormy]

I buy here, I buy online too. Pero nagta-try ako na i-curb na yun sa online dahil may tendency mag-hoard mas magastos tuloy lumalabas kahit pa mas mura mamili abroad.

[khriseeee]

^Sorry OT but When is the 70% sale of mothercare?

Sis last time it was during January. There's a sale now too, 50% off. A set of 3 onesies is 550 nalang. Promise the quality is excellent after numerous washings. The onesies I bought from hello baby warped after 1 wash or the cloth was non-stretchy making it hard to put on baby.

[clueless]

^ i love mothercare to. Most of my baby's clothes are from mothercare, either bought here or in london. Super ok talaga ang quality.

Ang mahirap lang pag sale, minsan yung mga super mura, very limited sizes, usually small size like new baby. And the discounts now are less than before mothercare became part of the bench group.

[khriseeee]

^try the galleria branch. It's a huge store. I went there 3 weeks after the 70% off sale started n there was still a lot of stock in numerous sizes.or the BHS branch is in too.

[sexytabachung]

I was able to check nga last weekend sa greenbelt, they have sale items for 50% off pero true na limited sizes na lang or maybe naubusan na ako. Honestly, dito ko lang nalaman sa gtalk ang mothercare coz sa first daughter ko, wala pa atang mothercare dito sa philippines that time and wala rin ako nakikita sa US. I have friends na nasa Qatar and Kuwait, they are sending my 1st daughter clothes na magaganda and lately ko lang na-realize na mothercare pala yung brand. Kalowka! Will definitely check BHS branch kasi konti lang namimili dun for sure. Saan nga pala banda ang mothercare dun?

I checked pobox.ph last night, im planning to order diapers kasi from drugstore.com since madalas nila ako padalhan ng coupon, and super like ko talaga imported disposable diapers. And also, i will be adding some clothes and shoes narin for my 2 daughters para sulit. How big yung box na worth $30 sa pobox.ph? 

[khriseeee]

^sis if you're walking from Fully Booked head towards the next block of BHS and turn left at the street. It's actually the building behind the BHS storefronts. There's a kiddie playground on the second floor so you should spot it easily. I wouldn't say that not a lot of people visit the BHS branch but I really feel like not a lot of people go to the Galleria one because there were really soooo many sale items left with lots of sizes pa.

I was at the BHS branch 2 weeks ago and saw a cutest baby swimsuit, was so tempted to buy but as if my baby is going swimming anytime soon. It would only be used for photo ops hahahaha

[clueless]

^^ the $30 box is the smallest, basta will not exceed 42" yata linear volume (length+widht+height).

I've ordered from diapers.com before but a small pack of diapers lang (huggies pull ups with cool alert for potty training) and some gerber snacks.

Mothercare is a UK brand. When i first went to the store in greenbelt when i was pregnant with my first last 2010, i found it very expensive. Sabi ko sm na lang. Or hello baby. All the stuff i bought from both were way too big for me baby, even their 0-3m sizes. So balik mothercare ako kasi they early baby, tIny baby, new baby then 0-3m, 3-6m etc. then when my sistr went to london, super hoard na kami. Thats why din most of the stuff i have At my store are mothercare.

[scents01]

Everything is cheaper in the US!

For the big ticket items (stroller, booster/highchair, playard) it would be best if you have someone who can bring them home for you otherwise there is no difference in price when you factor in shipping and customs. Take a look at the models you like here at the department stores so you can test it out and ensure that it's what you really want then  you can buy online. Some examples, the Fisher Price newborn to toddler rocker is P5,500 here, while on Amazon it's only $40. Fisher Price portable booster seat is P2,900 here, it's $30 on Amazon. I'm getting the Peg Perego Si stroller, at Rustan's it is $17,000 while on Amazon it's only $225 (around P10K). HUGE difference.

I agree with this..yung FP rocker ng baby ko, pinabili ko for P2500 only, nakicoload lang ako sa friend ko..balak ko din sanang umorder ng Graco playpen sa US pero buti na lang hindi ko na tinuloy, $100 cheapest na playpen nila, meron na rin namang 7k cheapest sa Rustans, makukuha ko pa agad..Binili ko yung mas mahal pero sana yung pinakamura na lang pala, hindi ko din naman nagamit yung diaper changer etc..

Re Divisoria, when I was on my 8th month gustong gusto kong pumunta dito..pinagbibigyan naman ako at sinasamahan pero hindi ako nageenjoy..tumatakas ako para makapunta dito once and yes gustong gusto ko dati yung nahahassle, preggy hormones haaay..

Anyway, yung mga white clothes, may cheap sets sila, papatak ng P30each, yung binili ko yung pure cotton Dolphin ang tatak P50each, kasi sa mall P100each yung nakita kong white clothes dati..ilang dozens din binili ko so naisip ko nakatipid ako, it turned out as well na two weeks lang nagamit ng baby ko tapos pinamigay ko na..meron din doon Mothercare rompers and shoes 150each..ang galing nga pati yun naiimitate na..

Wait for SM 3day sale as well, 10%off on top of other discount..may schedule ako mg 2nd wave ng sale, lemme know if you are interested lol

I also suggest that you check FN marketplace and SP baby and gears sale, kasi minsan yung brand new stuffs ng mga sisses natin binebenta nila ng mura..

[sexytabachung]

^^^ thanks sis, i will definitely visit BHS branch this weekend. sana meron ako mabili 

^^ sis, you mean sa $30 box ng pobox.ph small pack of diapers lang and gerber snacks ang nailaman mo? is it as big as the LBC box or Forex box na balikbayan box?

i wish there's someone na makaka-share ko sa pagpuno ng box coz i really wanted to get the biggest box para sulit. i better ask my relatives na lang. gusto ko lang talaga ng diapers