Internet commerce has been steadily gaining momentum in recent years. Agree, now most of us buy household goods, electronics, and even shoes with clothes without visiting real stores, right on the Web. This is facilitated by a wide system of discounts, low prices and advertising, through which online shops are promoted. In this article, we will consider such a portal as the MiniInTheBox store, which mainly sells various gadgets and accessories for them. It is a typical Chinese supermarket with all the advantages and disadvantages. Let's talk about them.
How are Chinese shops organized?
So, in terms of its organization, the MiniInTheBox supermarket can be safely attributed to the category of stores from the Middle Kingdom, such as AliExpress, Taobao. They work, in fact, according to the same principle - it even seems that the system apparatus of the service (sections of the site, the organization as a whole) is the same everywhere.
On such a site you can see hundreds of thousands of products that are offered at special prices. As a rule, they are significantly lower than those that can be seen in domestic online stores. In addition to cheapness, as people specify when publishing reviews, MiniInTheBox also captivates with free shipping for mostgoods. It is very nice. No matter where you live, your phone case or some jewelry will be delivered to you without overpaying for postage.
The "trump card" of a service like MiniInTheBox (in Russian, by the way, the site is also available) is globalization. They accept a huge number of different currencies for payment, product descriptions can be read in your native language, and even the cost of a particular item is automatically converted into the currency that you encounter in real life. And if you translate pages using Google Translate (it's not difficult), then, as far as organizing payment for goods and delivering them thousands of kilometers away, here Chinese sellers, you see, experience more difficulties.
Delivery with MiniInTheBox
Obviously, MiniInTheBox includes the real cost of services for the delivery of goods from the online store, as noted by reviews, in the price on the site itself. It's just that, unlike the price of shipping with DHL or EMS, airmail shipping (AirMail) is extremely expensive for small items (which are sold on such sites). Consequently, a person simply does not notice how he also pays for delivery, since its cost is not particularly high.
True, it can be delayed for many weeks. For example, some categories of goods can reach the recipient up to 60 days if, for example, there are any problems with processing the order at the post office. At the same time, on average, your item will be delivered no more than 4 weeks. It turns out that if you want to pay less - be preparedwait longer.
Pay for purchases
In terms of payment, according to numerous reviews, MiniInTheBox offers customers the widest range of different payment systems. These are not only such as Visa and Mastercard (with which foreign stores work), but also Webmoney and Yandex. Money. Therefore, you can be sure that paying for your purchase here will not cause you problems.
As noted above, you don't even need to recalculate how much money you need to purchase goods. MiniInTheBox (including the Russian version of the site) will independently convert to any currency (including rubles). Agree, this is convenient if you do not need to calculate the size of the commission, look for currency exchangers and perform some additional actions.
Guarantees
A reasonable question that every person looking for reviews on the MiniInTheBox website asks is the guarantees provided by the service that the money paid for the product will not be wasted. So that people understand that the things they have purchased will come (preferably in the proper form and assortment).
For this, firstly, there is the reputation of the resource itself. Thus, the MiniInTheBox store has been operating since 2006 - thousands of goods are regularly sold here, which, accordingly, are purchased by tens of thousands of customers. You can confirm this simply by reading reviews about the resource. MiniInTheBox is a very popular site, so there are dozens if not hundreds of positive reviews.thousand.
Secondly, you should pay attention to the goods that are sold here. It is no secret that they are supplied by different manufacturers, due to which their quality varies significantly. Phone cases for the same price can differ significantly. Therefore, when ordering something, read also about the product itself, and not just reviews about the MiniInTheBox website as a whole.
Quality of the goods sent
In general, such a question as what will be sent to you in the mail a few weeks later, you need to pay special attention when working with Chinese stores. In part, this problem is facilitated by the approach of manufacturers, which is to focus not on quality, but on the quantity of products produced. Another aspect is the low likelihood that the buyer will request a refund for a low-quality accessory. It is quite possible that the seller will receive the desired profit, even despite the manufacturing negligence.
Reviews. MiniInTheBox through the eyes of customers
In general, considering the reviews, the site is not such a bad place to shop. Judge for yourself - here are low prices, free shipping and the widest selection of goods from different categories. In addition, there is some kind of protection of the rights of the buyer, which is expressed in the form of a system of product reviews, a mechanism for the return of funds and re-sending products. Also here you can easily pay with the currency with which it is more convenient to work. Yes, there is also such a chip as discounts. MiniInTheBox provides discounted prices fordifferent products depending on the day of the week, time of day and so on. If you want, you can buy something cheaper than usual.
More conveniently, MiniInTheBox has a discount coupon. They are usually provided as part of some action or in honor of the event. It is very easy to work with him. This is a code that is entered into a special form on the site. It is noteworthy that this is done already at the final stage of making purchases - at the time of payment. Depending on the type, the MiniInTheBox coupon is valid for a certain period of time, so it can be gifted or redeemed later.
Should I buy here?
This is, as they say, at your own peril and risk. Of course, there are products that are of higher quality than others. Having bought one of them, we can say that we have made a good deal. The task of each buyer is simply to find such a product. At the same time, having bought a low-quality item, you can demand a refund, or, for example, a MiniInTheBox coupon as a gift. In order to maintain its reputation and prevent negative reviews, the project administration will most likely make concessions to customers.
Alternative
Of course, in addition to MiniInTheBox, there are many other stores of a similar format. We mentioned them at the beginning of the article and, in fact, there are even entire portals dedicated to such “Chinese giants”. There are quite a few to name, actually. True, among themselves such stores differ in prices and assortment. Let's just say there are stores where mostelectronic gadgets are offered, and somewhere - goods for the house. Their cost, respectively, may vary depending on this.
We recommend that you use your own experience when dealing with such shops. Although they look the same, they are mostly run by different companies, due to which the policies on such portals are different. Take cases for mobile phones - "walk" through the categories of "phone accessories" and select the models for which you would like to compare the price. In fact, the main thing for you is the price, since sites like MiniInTheBox do not differ at all in terms of delivery methods or ease of ordering. It all depends on the item you want to buy and the seller.
Prospects for Chinese supermarkets
In fact, such online stores selling a huge range of gadgets and various electronic devices, as well as accessories, are quite popular not only here, but also in Europe and the West. People want to buy cheaper and better everywhere. The only question is that the Chinese were able to organize such a sphere in their Internet business, while domestic companies could not do this due to a number of reasons. Who knows if they will ever be eliminated, and if we will see our supermarkets of mega-cheap goods with free shipping around the world. In the meantime, it remains to use MiniInTheBox.
