I know it's a bit late for everyone now that Christmas is over, but regardless, there are some cool online stores out there I thought I should point out. Besides, the next Christmas won't be long, and if you're like me and can never think of a present idea in time, now's probably a good time to start
.
These guys sell bags, a really wide range, or really awesome bags. And as their tagline goes, "Bags you won't find anywhere else". The prices are decent,and they have sales every now and then as well.
But what really impressed me was their customer service. I emailed these guys with a few questions about a bag, and I got a reply within a day, and it wasn't one of those template replies or a reply to only the first 5 words of my email - it was a thoughtful reply obviously written by a human. Their sales process is pretty fast and slick as well - and you get notifications and followups when something happens. A damn sight better than Amazon, who take weeks to deliver something even when others US stores can do it faster.
What sealed the deal though, is their awesome returns policy. 90 days, whatever the reason as long as the item is in a saleable condition. And it isn't just talk - I returned a $160 Booq soon-to-be-superseded backpack (too rigid for my liking), right near the 90 day deadline, and it was accepted without questions, and processed within days, along with a nice email telling me it had been done.
This is actually another online store run by the Rushfaster guys, selling t-shirts for both sexes. Again, as with Rushfaster, a wide range, and a helpful website. The prices are reasonable too.
They started around the start of this year, and are already pretty busy. I missed out on getting a t-shirt before it was sold out, and for kicks, decided to vent using their contact form. These guys actually replied, and rather promptly (but I still didn't get that t-shirt though
).
The returns policy here is similar, but shorter - 14 days. Again, I have tested this out as well - I blame my indecisiveness, and trigger-happy fingers. (I swear I'm not being an asshole - I have actually bought something from Rushfaster at least
).)
These people also have a quirky sense of humour too - see the top-half of the packing slip below. The big white area is where the address label for my package was. This is something that's sorely missing in retail nowadays.
Moo, if you haven't heard of them yet, print stuff - business cards, minicards, postcards, greeting cards, sticker books... all kinds of cool paper things. Unlike your printer down the road, Moo lets you print a different card for each one in the set, in photo quality. You do all this via a spiffy online tool, allowing you to upload images, and design and place text and graphics on both sides. There are even galleries and pre-made designs you can draw inspiration, design and/or graphics from.
I used them to print my business-card sized 21st birthday invites. Each one had a different picture on me on one side, and the event details on the other. That's 100 cards in total, all completely unique.
And of course, me being me, I left this up to the last minute, and panicked as their tool had a few bugs in it (which are probably solved by now). A quick email and a few hours later, I was able to confirm that my design was submitted as I described it in the email.
When they came, they were everything I expected and more. Neatly packaged, and the quality was great, way better than I thought. It definitely wasn't the limited colour crappy printing you usually see on business cards. Everyone I gave them to loved them (although the cute photo of me might have been a factor
). It came bundled with marketing material (I'm surprised so many online stores don't this), but this was useful and memorable stuff (puzzles and riddles), as opposed to often useless, self-serving material.
Alright, it's another new year, and I'm still yet to launch my big, super-secret, world-changing project, so it's back to work for me!