Koreadepart Experience & Mini Haul!

This was such a nice way to end my last day of classes. On Wednesday, May 15, USPS left that horrid pink slip in my mailbox saying I missed my delivery (which mind you I did not, cause they didn’t bother walking up a flight of stairs or buzzing the intercom to see if anyone was home—which everyone was… They always do this. -__-). Once I saw “Foreign” under sender, I already knew what it was…

My order from KoreaDepart!

Now this post is going to be a long one! I want to get in my little haul, and thoroughly talk about KoreaDepart. So please don’t abandon me just yet! Haul first, site info later! But as always, a bit of rambling.

I had never ordered from KoreaDepart but it seemed popular and had nothing but good reviews, so I decided what the hay? I’ll order something small and see how it is, if I love, I’ll order more. Lo-and-behold, I friggen loved it.

Here’s how the process or journey went:

• Order placed: May 2, 2013
• Order shipped/refund placed*: May 3, 2013
• Order left Incheon Airport: May 7, 2013
• Order delivered (and missed): May 15, 2013

* to be thoroughly explained~

After all the pictures, I will explain everything! (You know cause, everyone would rather see pictures than a bunch of words…) Just so no one gets confused and can enjoy Korean goods at great prices! I’ll be posting pictures of the packaging, what I ordered and the samples.

So let’s get on to it. ^^

Here’s the box, all logo’d up and everything. Click to enlarge.

See the wrapping? Imagine if there were fragile products? I’d be in bubble-popping galore!

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

My order all neatly spread out. Click to enlarge.

My lovely little tiny order. I ordered relatively few items, because–well, it was my first time, and I wanted to just test the waters. Another, I ordered something else, but it was sold-out so they refunded… This is it: The Face Shop’s Natural Sun AQ Eco Cushion Sun Cover (note the “Cover”, I intended to get the “Original”… but I’m looking forward to this one more now!), two Aritaum Air Cushion Sunblock Puffs (to use alternatively with the Cushion) and three Blotting Films from The Face Shop… because who wants to pay $5 USD a pack at TFS locations here in NY? Not me.

Samples I received in a separate little packet, never tried anything from Skinfood before.

A little sneak at the gem of my order! Click to enlarge.

Sigh, so far, I’m really liking this pretty little gem. Purchased it for summer because it’s perfect for travel, has SPF 50 PA+++, and it’s lightweight. I intended to purchase the Original one, because it’s the one that was in The Face Shop (only in Flushing, canvased them all only found there… It’s been a month though, maybe they got shipments!) And the lovely 달자 (whom I HIGHLY recommend) had written a review, here (along with many other cushions, sparking my interest). The one I ordered is from the same line but is not the “Original”, it is the “Cover” version. But, no more of that, I will use and get a firm grip on my opinion, then post a review! 😀 Kekeke, I’ll let that one simmer.

Now, onto the whole KoreaDepart lecture!

First of all… shipping. Amazing. Ordering things from Hong Kong, and S. Korea usually takes 3-5 weeks to arrive here in the US (from my past experiences) and for it to arrive in just 2 weeks was awesome!

Ordering on the site, is easy actually. They do provide a beginner’s guide on ordering and have an FAQ section here. They’re pretty thorough at explaining, from what I saw. But, I didn’t use the guide before I ordered; I just peaked after… out of curiosity.

It’s simple: Browse –> Add to cart –> check out! (Sounds like it came out of Dora the Explorer LOL.)

The first thing they’ll ask is if you would like EMS mail or registered mail as shipping option. This is asked because depending on your choice, you have to pay a prepaid shipping cost. Since a lot of my visits are from Asian readers, I’ll point this out: If you live in an Asian country you will pay a fixed price, you won’t have to deal with the whole prepaid price shenanigans. These countries include: China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the Phiippines, etc.

For everyone else, here’s the explanation!

Registered mail prepaid cost is $25 USD. EMS is (I think, don’t quote me!) $30-$1000, there are other options in between. DO NOT PANIC, THIS IS NOT YOUR FINAL SHIPPING COST! When your products are being packed to be shipped, the box is weighed. The final weight, will determine your final shipping cost.

If your shipping cost is less than your prepaid cost, they will refund you the difference. If it is more than the prepaid cost you paid, you will be charged the difference. Here is an explanation from their site. I paid the $25 USD, but the real shipping cost was $8.54 USD. So I was refunded, $16.46 USD.

I paid with Paypal, so the refund thing was easy. The day it shipped, I got my refund. It’s not that confusing! If I’m correct, I think G-Market does the same thing. After that, it was all smooth sailing tracking with the link they provided. No good after it left Incheon airport though… tracking does not update after that for Registered Mail.

Final Verdict: (If you made it this far… congrats! LOL.) I love this site. I have this whole wish list, which unfortunately, is half influenced by everything I’ve read on 달자’s blog… and things too expensive at the TFS locations or Asian beauty shops here in NY. I’m going to be purchasing again really soon, so yea. I totally recommend. They have such a wide selection of brands and products, for such great prices! It beats putting my faith on eBay and the time it took for the products to arrive was another plus! I’m so happy to have discovered this site.

Hopefully, I helped out–without being boring… I think I was though. ><
But, thanks for reading! As always~
(Time to watch more Supernatural… Cause… who needs sleep?)