Why shop online?
There are many products not available in Singapore. Even if they are available, the prices charged by local retailers are usually very much higher compared to buying online due to margin markup, import tax and rental.
Why spree?
Overseas retail websites may sell items at much lower prices, however, the shipping costs are usually very high. By consolidating orders, one can stretch the per unit charge to the minimum.
How to participate in a Livejournal Community Spree?
First and foremost, you'll need to have internet banking facility for transfer of funds. Sometimes spree-organizers do accept ATM transfer but that is at sole discretion of the Spree-organizer. Please visit DBS website to apply for Internet Banking Facility if you haven got one.
You'll need to wait a few days for the bank to process your request and send you the IB Security Device. Once you get the device, follow the instructions to activate your Internet Banking Facility and ooh la la, welcome to the world of Internet Banking.
Next, to be able to post your orders, you'll need a livejournal account. Please visit livejournal.com to sign up for a new account if you haven't got one.
Then to be able to post in a spree community, you'll need to join this community. After joining the spree community, you now can post your orders under the various sprees that you want to participate.
Posting your Order
Most spree organizers have an ordering format already in place. To lock in your orders, you'll need to post a comment, and following the ordering format, put in your required items.
Thereafter, calculate the amount that you'll need to transfer for your first payment, and IB the funds over to the spree-organizer.
Once the spree-organizer acknowledges and confirm that orders have been placed, you just have to wait for your lovelies to reach Singapore.
* If you do not receive any acknowledgement or status updates, please do contact the spree-organizer for information. Of course, please do not be a psycho and hound the spree-organizer on a daily basis.
** If you are unsure about how to post, I always advocate the Monkey See; Monkey Do method. Reference from orders placed by others and follow through.
Collection of Payments and Top-Ups
To deter punk shoppers and since spree-organizers are not millionaires, it is only right that we promptly pay up for our orders and the upfront shipping from the site of origin to Singapore.
Once the items arrive in Singapore, depending on how the spree-organizer split the costs, another round of top-up would be required based on actual shipping charges and local postage.
Prompt payment is also very important or else, run the risk of having your orders rejected.
Think of it this way, would you want that great bargain of yours to be cancelled because it was OOS by the time the spree organizer checked out the orders? All because someone delayed the funds transfer and the spree-organizer was soft-hearted enough to wait for that ONE person to transfer the money? I doubt so. Hence, please be prompt when it comes to payment.
Shipping and other miscellaneous costs
There are many ways shipping is incurred. There are flat rate shipping, shipping based on total purchase amount, shipping based on total no. of items and shipping based on volumetric weight.
Hence, there are many ways to divide out the shipping per unit. Please do understand how the spree-organizer is going to split the shipping cost out.
Please do keep in mind that when it comes to shipping, it is not always possible to divide it to the exact. Sometimes, it is really based on estimation. If you are not happy with the method chosen by the spree-organizer, then do not participate in that spree to avoid future disputes.
In addition, spree organizers will usually collect a nominal transaction fee between $0.50-$1.00 for purchase of packaging material and what's not. This is a well followed practice and I really think such nominal amounts are very insignificant. Please do not be a miser on this!
Items receipt and collection
Once the items reach Singapore, the spree-organizers would need to re-distribute the items to the individual spree-ers. Most spree organizers would usually opted for normal / registered local postage.
For bigger items, spree organizers may sometimes provide mass meetups or self collection options.
Self Collect - Spree-er go down to spree organizer's homes to collect their items.
Mass Meetups - A fixed date, location and timing for distribution of items to spree-ers.
Individual Meetups - A fixed date, location and timing based on spree organizer and spree-ers convience.
Spree Organizer Terms and Conditions
Sometimes, the more structured and organized th T&Cs are, the more experience a particular spree-organizer is when it comes to organizing sprees.
Every spree-organizer have their own T&Cs. Please do read them properly and make sure you can accept these T&Cs before joining the spree.
Protecting ourselves and chosing your spree organizer
Most of the livejournal spree communities have regulating mechanisms and precautionary measures to keep errant spree-organizers at bay. Example are feedback links, strict rules against profiteering, strict spree-organizer qualification procedures, etc.
However, participation in a spree is still at our very own risk. To minimize this risk, we can chose to spree with established organizers based on the feedbacks obtained and how well managed a spree community is.
Always remember that if you feel uncomfortable spree-ing with a particular person, then drop it. Popular sites usually have several spree-organizers spree-ing around the same time. Chose the one that you feel most comfortable with.
Other risks
Other than delinquent spree organizers, we also need to know that there are other risks associated with spreeing online.
Risk such as wrong items shipped out by merchant, goods damaged in transit, to whole shipment being lost.
As much as we can lower these risks, they are inherent in any online sprees and is to be shared by everyone. DO NOT expect for the spree organizers to bear the cost of all the risks. Of course, if you have sufficient evidence to suspect a spree organizer of any delinquent actions, you may contact the spree community mods to lodge a complaint and launch investigations.
Spree Community Ettiquette
Sprees held in these spree communities are usually run by people on goodwill basis. Many spree sites do not allow spree-organizers to profit via additional fees except for a nominal amount meant for postage packaging material.
We are not paying these spree organizers for the service that they are providing, neither do they owe us for a living. Furthermore, no one should be rude to anyone, even if they are paying consumers. And hence, please be considerate and polite between correspondences.
While it is acceptable that you check up on the status of your orders, hounding spree-organizers on a daily basis is somewhat psychotic.
Frankly speaking, based on my previous own experience as a spree-organizer, I would gladly pay a nominal fee for the effort that these girls (and guys) put in to organize a spree.
In addition, some sites provide samples and GWP. Unless the sample and GWP is specific to the product that you have purchased (Eg: Buy two X brand product and get Y free), it is only right that the spree-organizer get these items (Eg: Free samples for every order; X for orders above $Y). Of course, whether to share with the first few orders would be solely at the spree organizer's discretion.
This also applies to special one-time offers and discounts. It is only right that spree-organizers get priority to utilize these special discounts and offers.
If you are really so hung up on these freebies, then organize your own spree.
Individual Spree sites and their risks
There are some individual sites that run sprees on their own. Unlike structured spree communities, these sites don't exactly have a regulating and watchdog party to oversee their actions. So the risk is very much higher compared to participating in sprees within spree communities.
However, majority of these individual spree sites are honest people offering very quality spree services and products.
Some common Livejournal Community Spree Sites
SG Spree (one of my preferred spree communities.)
Sprees Galore (one of my preferred spree communities.)
SG Live Spree (one of my preferred spree communities.)
_Spreee
Join Spree
Spree House
I love SG Spree
Spree Paradize
I Heart Spree
Frequently seen terms
- IB = Internet Banking
- Cap = The limit in which the spree ends
- Batch = Due to the Singapore customs rule, all packages should not exceed a value of $400.00, including the postage and insurance. Otherwise, GST would be incurred.
- VPost = Many online retailers either don't ship internationally or charges very high for international shipping. Mail forwarding and concierge services such as VPost come into the picture by providing an alternative to getting our lovelies.
- CWG / Comgateway = Mail forwarding and concierge services similar to that of Vpost. Some spree organizers prefer this provider to that of VPost. It really depends on situation and type of product.
- Concierge = Some retailers do not accept non-US drawn credit cards. In this case, concierge services offered by VPost and CGW comes into play by helping consumers to check out and pay via a US Credit Card. However, please note that there are transaction charges tied to these services.
- OOS = Out of Stock
- DNB = Do Not Buy
- Prohibited items = Singapore Customs and major mail forwarding companies have a list of items that are prohibited to be brought in. You can refer to the Singapore Customs website for more information.
- Supplier Sprees = Sprees that are from an unpublished supplier. The prices of the merchandise are usually nett price that includes shipping and any other hidden markups. This is somewhat similar to shopping in a normal retail store whereby you pay a fixed price for a product, not knowing the price breakdown. Some spree communities prohibit such sprees due to the low transparency of price breakdowns.
- Website Sprees = Spree from a published website such as asos.com, drugstore.com, etc. All the prices of the products are published on the site and cost of shipping determined on a separate basis.
- GWP = Gift with purchase
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