After numerous questions regarding my online shopping through
YesAsia.com, I'm finally providing a shopping guide for all noobs. But first things first:
What exactly is YesAsia?
In the YesAsia.com website, you can choose from a vast range of products, including books, electronic goods, music CDs, videos in both DVD and VCD formats, comics, video games and accessories, and gift items such as posters, photo albums, calendars and collectibles.
YesAsia mostly specializes in Asian CDs and DVDs and actually has a sister site called Yesstyle which features Asian fashion for men and women.
What do you like most about YesAsia?
Their customer service is excellent, they respond to your questions quickly and they address all your concerns before and after purchasing. There are also many payment options and they offer FREE SHIPPING if your order is more than US$39.
Any downside to YesAsia?
A lot of people may find that the site has more expensive goods than other online shops like
GMarket, but what makes up for it is that it is so much easier to browse and search for the product you want to buy.
Let's get on with the guide!
STEP 1: GOING TO YES-ASIA.COM. On your browser, type in
yesasia.com/global and proceed to either SIGN IN (if you already have an account) or REGISTER (if you still don't have an account).
Note: The YesAsia website for international orders is different from the one for US orders. So if you reside in the US, make sure you do not go to the global site and register instead in the US site.
Step 2: SIGNING IN OR REGISTER. Proceed to SIGN IN or SIGN UP NOW. Choosing the latter option will lead you to a short sign-up form that's pretty self-explanatory. Just completely fill out the necessary details then you might have to confirm your email address. After confirming, log-in and proceed to Step 3.
Step 3: SEARCHING FOR YOUR ITEM. On the search box placed on the topmost part of the website, enter the keywords of the item you're looking for. For example, I want to buy SNSD's Run Devil Run album so I type in 'SNSD' as my keyword.
Note: Remember to uncheck the box which states "Include Out Of Stock Item Results (#)" as not to make a mistake of ordering an out-of-stock item. Even if you choose an out-of-stock item, YesAsia will not allow you to order this.
Step 4: FINDING YOUR DESIRED ITEM. Scroll down and look for the product that you want. Ah, here it is! Click on the name of your item and proceed to Step 5.
Step 5: ADDING TO CART OR SAVING FOR LATER? Clicking on your item's link will lead you to this page. You can either choose to add the item to your cart OR choose to save it for later.
Step 6: SAVING FOR LATER. If you click (2) or save for later, this pop-up would appear and there will be a notification that you have already saved this item for later. The benefit of having this save for later is that it doesn't immediately go to your shopping cart and you wouldn't make a mistake in purchasing it if in the end you don't want to.
Step 7: VIEWING YOUR SAVED ITEMS. When you view the items you have already saved, the page will show you that your shopping cart is empty. But you have the option to add your saved item to your shopping cart OR deleting it. I suggest saving the items you want prior to adding it to you shopping cart so that you are sure of your purchases.
Step 8: ADDING TO YOUR SHOPPING CART. If, however, you choose to add the item to your shopping cart, this pop-up would appear stating the number of items in your shopping cart.
Step 9: VIEWING YOUR SHOPPING CART. From either the item page or your saved items list, proceed to view your shopping cart if you are ready to make your purchase. Review the items first prior to clicking PROCEED TO CHECK-OUT. If you want to view the gift card options as you are giving the item as a gift, do not forget to check the box below the PROCEED TO CHECK-OUT link.
Step 10: ACCOUNT SIGN IN FOR CHECKOUT. One of YesAsia's protocol measures before payment is that they ask you to sign in again prior to checking out your item/s. You can either sign in on this page if you are paying through
Credit Card, check/money order, or direct deposits. But if you are using your
Paypal to pay for you items, click on (2) SIGN IN & CHECK-OUT WITH PAYPAL.
Methods of Payment:
YesAsia allows credit card, Paypal, check/money order and direct deposit as the various modes of payment.
Credit card - you would have to enter your credit card information in your account page. Make sure that all the information is correct. It might take some time for your card to be validated so be patient. Remember, its for your own security!
Paypal- if you have a Paypal account or have plans of making one, you can use this to purchase your items.
Check/money order- if you choose this option, you can send your check or money order to YesAsia's office:
YesAsia.com Limited
(Attn.: Accounting Department)
9/F., Watson Centre
16-22 Kung Yip Street
Kwai Chung, N.T.
Hong Kong
Remember that it may take up to 7 days for your check to be cleared and you can only make your payment in either US Dollars or Hongkong Dollars, they don't take other currencies.
Direct deposit- ONLY AVAILABLE FOR HONGKONG DELIVERY!
Step 11: GOING OVER PAYMENT DETAILS. Go over your payment details, such as your shipping address, your credit card billing address, etc. Make sure to double, triple check this! (Sorry, no more screenshots after this because I'm sure you guys know all about security, right?) During this step, you will also choose the type of shipping and delivery.
SHIPPING AND DELIVERY:
As I said before, YesAsia offers FREE STANDARD SHIPPING for orders more than $39. Unfortunately there is no free express shipping regardless of how much you order. Here is a
shipping calculator so you can compute how much you might be spending!
STANDARD SHIPPING- takes 6-14 days. Around $5, but it depends on how many items you're ordering. For us living in the Philippines, my experience had me waiting for a month for the goods to arrive. But you can always message the people from YesAsia if you have haven't received your goods during the said time and they will re-ship your product without extra cost.
(NOTE: the 1 month waiting was my experience BEFORE, when I recently ordered, it arrived within the promised timeframe. I think they changed couriers or something, so choosing FREE STANDARD SHIPPING is now highly recommended!)
EXPRESS SHIPPING- takes 3-5 days. Aroudn $13, and also depends on how many items you're ordering. The good thing about this is that you're given a tracking number and you're not left wondering where your package is. But beware of extra charges that the shipping company might charge you when your package does arrive.
Step 12: CONFIRM YOUR PURCHASE. Finalize your purchase and WAIT. I suggest waiting for the orders to be shipped out and letting those number of days pass before you contact YesAsia looking for your package.^^
MOST COMMONLY ASKED Q's:
Here is a compilation of the questions you asked me from my 1st blogpost about YesAsia. If you have any other questions, please do feel free to ask!
1)
Q: hi ate!!! pwede po ba malaman kung pano ung process and mga kailangan para mkapag order sa yes asia?? gusto ko po kc mg order eh,, pls reply po ,, thank you,,
lovinia viloria
A: ordering in yesasia is pretty easy, but you should first get an account by registering in their global site if you're from the philippines. there are instructions from there.
the basic premise is that like any online shopping, you first choose the product/s you want then you have the option to have it shipped through standard or express. express will be pricier (esp bec DHL puts in some extra costs that aren't suppose to be there when your package arrives). my 1st order was standard shipping and it arrived within a month rather than the 7-14 days which is "normal" daw. but anyway if you don't get your package within the said number of days, yesasia will re-ship it free of charge when you inform them.
btw you also need to have either a credit card or paypal account to pay for your item.:)
2)
Hi there! I'm also interested in buying stuff from YesAsia, and I'm also from the Philippines. My main concern is if your package gets delivered to your home personally, or if you have to pick it up pa from the post office. (When we ordered stuff from Amazon, we had to go all the way to the post office to get it!)
I'm presuming yours got delivered on your doorstep even with standard shipping?
:D
A: if you choose standard shipping, you have to pick it up at the post office. you also can't track your package and won't be receving a tracking number. if it's express, they deliver it to your house with an extra charge. ganun talaga with DHL, they have weird charges for "handling". but you can track your package all the time with the tracking number they'll be giving you.
i honestly don't know why it takes so long for the package to arrive since its supposedly from HK, but i guess that's just the way philippine customs handles it.
3)
Q: HMM,thank you po.. so sa jan 23 po kc expect arrival nung cd so,,jan 23 po kaya tlga xa darating?? sa nman pong post office kukunin sa main po ba or ung pinkamalapit smin?? my nkpagsabi din po n may darating n notice from post office pag ready to pick up n po ung package,, is it true.. thank you again
A: if its express, yes it will arrive by that date. if its standard, you have to wait for the notice from the post office to arrive so you can pick up your package from there.
4)
Q: matagal po ba talaga ung process ng card verification sa credit card pag first time mg order sa yesasia.. it's been 3 days na po since ng order ako(sat-mon) credit card verification pa din ung status ng order ko,, thank you po,, again,,
A: try inquiring to yesasia why its taking a long time, sometimes you have to call your credit card company to let them allow yesasia to process it. for me, it only took a few minutes to get my credit card verified.
That's it! I know a lot of you are emailing me asking about
GMarket, I'm going to try it out by next month, I've already made a Paypal account so stay tuned for that!
