Buying my dowry set from Taobao

Hey there!

I'm back again to share on my dowry set that i bought from TAOBAO!
Dowry set 嫁妆 is something that the female side would have to prepare during the 过大礼 as a 回礼.

Why did I choose to buy my dowry set from Taobao?

Dowry set in Singapore is expensive!

For those dowry set that some shops are selling, I feel that they are not comprehensive enough to cover everything that I want. If I buy ala carte, they would add up to quite a significant sum, so I would rather buy the whole set that I want from Taobao and I would be able to slowly pick the things I want from the comfort of my home (:

Of course, if you are lazy you can purchase the whole set from singapore GDL shop.
Attached is the dowry set from shuangxile that cost $169 and $189.90.

Why did I not buy a 2nd hand dowry set from Carousell?

Undeniably I did consider finding 2nd hand dowry items from Carousell.
However, my aunt advised me not to as she mentioned that 2nd hand dowry set is considered inauspicious. Better safe than sorry, so i decided to buy a new set for myself (:

What am i going to cover in this post?

I am going to do an item by item comparison for some of the things I have purchased vs prices of the items that can be found in Singapore. It may not be an apple to apple comparison but it will be a good gauge of the price difference.

Tea set + Bowl set

Shuangxile is selling these 2 at $39.90 + $25.90 = $65.80SGD

I bought this from Taobao for $95.40RMB (including china local shipping)
Conversion to SGD would be $21.70SGD

Prosperity Lamp (添丁灯）

Shuangxile is selling this at $42.90SGD
I bought this from Taobao (mid size) for $68RMB
Conversion to SGD would be $15.50SGD

Sewing Kit

 

Shuangxile is selling this at $29.90SGD
I bought this from Taobao for $29.80RMB
Conversion to SGD would be $6.80SGD

Slippers

 

Shuangxile is selling this at $13.90SGD/pair
I bought this from Taobao for $9.50RMB/pair
Conversion to SGD would be $2.20SGD/pair

Some other items i purchased from the same shop:

I would think that these few items would have been a good comparison for you to do a reference on the price difference. The only thing that I have decided to buy in Singapore is the baby bathtub (too bulky to taobao i feel) ;p

All in all, i think i only spend like $81 for all these dowry items (excluding shipping to singapore) and I managed to get all the designs I want! The quality of the items are SUPERB too! Totally love them!

So to give a summary to what I have prepared for my dowry:

Tea set x1

Prosperity Lamp set x1

子孙尺 x1

Fan x1

Spittoon x1

Face basin x1

Comb Set x1

Face towel x1

Slippers Set x2

Cup Set x1

Chopsticks x2

Sewing Kit x1

Pyjamas Set x2

Baby bath tub x 1 (buy in Singapore)

Toothbrush toothpaste (buy in Singapore)

bed sheet set x 1 (Shuangxile is selling a set at $139 whereas Taobao is selling a set for $23!)

Cute cute couple pyjamas!

节省是美德！I saved so much money for my mum and future hubby~ 

My hubby is so lucky to marry me! :D

My Honestbee experience

Honestbee has been around for quite some time and my perception of them has not been very good because of the bad experience of my cousin had previously when Honestbee just started. In short, she bought groceries from honestbee and the delivery was delivered late with all the groceries she purchased in bad condition (melted frozen food causing all the items in her purchase to be wet).

As such, I never really wanted to try Honestbee.

However, as my friend shared with me the promotion code for Honestbee just this week, Bee and I decided to give them a try as we wanted to utilize their promotion of having $40 off $120 purchase for our Martell purchase for GDL. I mean.. what can go wrong with the purchase of just 2 bottles of Martell right?

We made an order right away on the Honestbee website and everything was fuss-free.
Just key in my details, discount code, choose the delivery date and place the order, as simple as that! We placed an order on the 25th January and had arranged for the delivery on 28 January.
$40 off our $200 purchase! What a good deal!



On the 28th, I had received a call from my personal shopper.

Guess what?
For the Martell that I ordered, there is 2 different packaging and my personal shopper called me to verify with me which one I prefer. He even went to the extent of whatsapping me the photos for both the external packaging and the internal bottle to let me choose.

His service is truly impeccable! 哪里有人这么好的！




That aside, as NTUC has in-store promotion ($9 off per bottle of $100 Martell), Honestbee did an adjustment to my purchase and I only paid a frigging $142 for 2 bottles of Martell! That's a $58 cost savings for me off the original price of $200! $71 per bottle of Martell!




I am truly satisfied with my purchase with Honestbee!

I don't have to squeeze in NTUC with the CNY crowd and can get the items delivered to my doorsteps in good condition at such a good price! I honestly don't mind trying Honestbee again. Maybe next time Bee and I can order our canned pig trotters for GDL via Honestbee, then we won't have to carry the heavy canned pig trotters home! ;p


This post is no way an advertisement for Honestbee and I am in no way affiliated to them.
Just want to share the good experience I have with them this time round.

Where to get discounted hard liquor for Guo Da Li

Hi All,

For the traditional chinese Guo Da Li, the groom would normally have to bring along 2 bottles of hard liquor to please the father-in-law. For my mother, she specifically requested for Martell (smart choice because Martell has a standard price HAHAS)!

If you are going overseas or have friends going overseas, you can ask them to help you get Martell from DFS. But if you are like me, stuck in my job with no leave for overseas trip and feel too paiseh to ask your friends to help... I'm going to share with you some tips on how to find discounted hard liquor to please your future-in-law and at the same time have some cost-savings!

1) Festive Season Discount

This festive season there is discount at NTUC.
$9 off the original price of $100! 9% off!
If you purchase 2 bottles, it would be a total of $18 savings.
But this offer will end on 29th February 2016 so take note (:



Update: I just saw that sheng shiong sells the Martell at $88!
Even more worth it than the promo price of NTUC!

2) Warehouse Club



Warehouse Club beside Joo koon MRT station sells Martell at a whooping price of $85!
That's $15 off the original price of $100!
If you purchase 2 bottles, it would be a total of $30 savings.

However, warehouse club only allow members to make purchase (membership cost $50 a year).
If you have any friends that has the warehouse club membership, then you need to grab this deal!
Just a tip for you, if you do not have the membership you can try asking any of the shoppers there if they can lend you their membership. Most of the time, people are willing to help (:

1 Joo Koon Circle,
Levels 2 & 3,
Singapore 629117





3) Online shopping

Honestbee is having a promotion now!
If you spend $120 at NTUC online, you will be able to get a $40 off!
Just use the discount code HB785038 when you shop at honestbee.
Discount only applicable for per household this January 2016

So for per bottle of Martell, you will only pay $80!
20% off the original price!
You get to save $40 for 2 bottles of Martell and they will deliver the Martell right to your doorstep.
I'm in no way related to honestbee or trying to advertise for them but this is too good a deal that I have to share!

Update: See my review for Honestbee purchase here

I'm sure every single cent saved is important for couples planning for their big day.. so really hope this post helps (: