Sunday, April 08, 2007
Another Shopping Post
Here's another option for buying manga online cheaply: Deep Discount (which I remember as Deep Discount DVD, but apparently they've decided to branch out into other merchandise as well). I found a coupon for an additional 10% off your book order with the code "BOOKSALE" so I decided to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they offer substantial discounts (generally 30% on the titles I looked at), even on the $10 manga. So I ordered a bunch of manga, including the next volumes of Emma and Shaman Warrior, two recent reads I'm eager to continue with. With the additional 10% discount, it added up to a total savings of 37% on most items. They also offer free shipping on any size order, so it's a good place to shop if you just have an item or two you're interested in.
Pluses:
UPDATE 4/10: Well, at least the entire order isn't being held hostage while all the backordered items are being filled. I just got an email that two of the books shipped out today. So now I'll wait to see how long it takes for those to arrive (it's via USPS Standard Delivery, so it could be weeks), and how long before the rest of my order ships.
UPDATE 4/13: I received notification that the rest of my order shipped yesterday, so that wasn't too bad. And the code for an additional 10% off book orders expires today, so stock up now if you were thinking of trying this site!
UPDATE 4/14: The first two items from my order arrived yesterday, less than a week after I placed my order and only three days after I was notified the items shipped. Not bad! (Certainly better than an item from Overstock.com that shipped over two weeks ago and has apparently become lost in USPS limbo.) Also, the "BOOKSALE" code was still working for me this morning when I used it to replace an item that Buy.com cancelled from an order even though their site showed the item was currently in-stock. 11:53 PM | |
Here's another option for buying manga online cheaply: Deep Discount (which I remember as Deep Discount DVD, but apparently they've decided to branch out into other merchandise as well). I found a coupon for an additional 10% off your book order with the code "BOOKSALE" so I decided to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they offer substantial discounts (generally 30% on the titles I looked at), even on the $10 manga. So I ordered a bunch of manga, including the next volumes of Emma and Shaman Warrior, two recent reads I'm eager to continue with. With the additional 10% discount, it added up to a total savings of 37% on most items. They also offer free shipping on any size order, so it's a good place to shop if you just have an item or two you're interested in.
Pluses:
- Free shipping on any size order, even a single item
- Additional 10% off entire book order with code "BOOKSALE" (and code can be used more than once)
- Great discounts on less expensive manga that often isn't discounted at other sites
- Selection isn't the deepest. (I tried David Welsh's online shopping test and one item, Blue, wasn't found. However, I was able to find several other books from Ponent Mon.)
- Site design and search functionality are very primitive. (I recommend searching by ISBN if you know it.)
- Product info is non-existent. Use this site for items you already know you want to buy. This isn't a site for doing research.
- Product availability info likely to be inaccurate. When I placed my order, everything was shown as "In-Stock" in the cart, but the next day when I checked my order status, three out of six items were listed as backordered, with no estimate on when they would be available. Even more frustrating, the order confirmation email from Deep Discount showed that five of the six items were on backorder. Further, as of this writing, all five of those "out-of-stock" items still show as in-stock when I search the site.
UPDATE 4/10: Well, at least the entire order isn't being held hostage while all the backordered items are being filled. I just got an email that two of the books shipped out today. So now I'll wait to see how long it takes for those to arrive (it's via USPS Standard Delivery, so it could be weeks), and how long before the rest of my order ships.
UPDATE 4/13: I received notification that the rest of my order shipped yesterday, so that wasn't too bad. And the code for an additional 10% off book orders expires today, so stock up now if you were thinking of trying this site!
UPDATE 4/14: The first two items from my order arrived yesterday, less than a week after I placed my order and only three days after I was notified the items shipped. Not bad! (Certainly better than an item from Overstock.com that shipped over two weeks ago and has apparently become lost in USPS limbo.) Also, the "BOOKSALE" code was still working for me this morning when I used it to replace an item that Buy.com cancelled from an order even though their site showed the item was currently in-stock. 11:53 PM | |