SM Gift Registry for newbs

To be honest, I had five things left on my baby list before the baby shower question cropped up from my last post.

I’d decided beforehand to get only the minimum basics and add things as I needed them, plus I couldn’t decide what was a gimmick and what was a necessity in this over-saturated market targeted at kids. I mean, did I really need that towel with the embroidered giraffe just for babies? Or could I get by with a *gasp* normal, everyday towel? (You bad mother, you!)

When the organisers for my baby shower asked for a gift list, I had to turn to my good old friend ‘Google’ to come up with a list with more than five items. Many were things I’d decided to get down the track. Others were a luxury or I was surprised I even needed (Waist-slimming maternity belt anyone?).

While at SM Department Store, a gentleman handed me a flyer for their gift registry incase I was “having a baby shower.” I knew places like Mothercare and Rustans had gift registries, but not SM.

I forwarded a picture of the flyer to one of the organisers and asked her if she wanted me to register since guests received a discount (who doesn’t love a discount?). It turned out they were going to register for me since my original word doc list wouldn’t cut it (hey, I tried, but they insisted they didn’t want ten pillows to show up when I’d specified a plane).

I told them I’d do it instead (so I could stop twiddling my thumbs), and wow, I think they’d be glad I did with the time I saved them.

This was my first time using a department store gift registry, and also first experience of doing so in the Philippines. I registered online hoping they’d let me build my wish list from there.

The registration asked for basic information and it only took about thirty minutes for the login to become activated.

Next, I had to create the event. Unfortunately I couldn’t pick the actual event date since it was blocked out. Apparently they usually allow a one month lee-way, so my date fell too early for their system’s liking. (They can choose the earlier date if they do it in-store for you. My work-around was to pick the wrong date, since everyone knew the right one anyway).

NB: Name to appear in the guest card is the baby’s name in this case. I got a bit confused and put my own name in with my husband’s (which left the lady assisting me at SM laughing and stating it was like a wedding. Oh well, we learn, right?)

As it turned out, I had to go into the store anyway to choose the items. So I could’ve done all this in-store, with less mistakes on my part.

I also received a call from SM’s gift registry department thanking me for choosing them. Quite a pleasant surprise. I told the lady I’d drop in later with my husband so she could explain how the wish list part worked and hopefully fix my date and guest card name errors.

At the store, we went over my incorrect setup with a lot of laughs and decided just to keep it as is, since they couldn’t change the details without creating a brand new event.

The process for creating a wish list was quite archaic. I’d imagined the simplified version of walking around with a barcode scanner and just scanning barcodes. Instead, with husband and a store assistant in tow, I was to grab a trolley, literally fill it with the items I wanted, then return to the gift registry office so they could manually enter and photograph each thing.

This took forever since I had to navigate aisles of over-stimulating baby products (many of which I had no clue what they did) and the gauntlet of shop assistants pushing items in my face – none of which were on my list.

With the battle of the children’s section won, and my marriage somehow surviving my frazzled self, we pushed the overloaded trolley (with several items scrapped off my original list) into the gift registry.

An information pack, registrant card and sample of baby laundry powder awaited me, along with the promise that photos of my wish list would be available by the end of the day.

Relieved and feeling pretty excited, we headed home, leaving our trolley in the trusted hands of the gift registry department.

I logged in later and got to see exactly what the wish list would look like to my guests. They would still need to go in-store to purchase the items, but at least they got to check out the list beforehand.

Other things to note:

• Guests can shop at any SM Department store, not just your preferred branch. They just need to quote your ‘Gift Registry Number’ or ‘Celebrant Name’ at the gift registry department and staff will assist them.

• Guests can opt for delivery to your preferred address.

• Items that have been purchased off the wish list appear with the has/wants filled and the picture replaced by an SM image instead.

• Free gift wrapping is included in a wide selection of colours with a gift card attached.

Baby Showers – Is there such a thing in Manila?

Having your first baby is daunting. Having your first baby in a new country? Talk about upping the ante.

Outside of finding the right hospital and obstetrician, there are many little snippets of knowledge and experience we take for granted back home. It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing how things work here to what’s familiar, but the right attitude can keep the experience positive. It’s all part of the adventure and learning curve of being an expat right?

I was a little apprehensive about having a baby shower here, even though it was my first baby. At home, my friends would’ve sat me in the corner, and while I twiddled my thumbs, they’d sort it out. I had no idea how it worked here and when the question cropped up in the form of, “Are you having a baby shower?” the questions followed:

1. Did they even have baby showers?
2. Who organised it?
3. Who paid for it?
4. Who got invited?
5. Was it just an all female thing or did guys/husbands come too?
6. Do I have friends?
7. What’s with the blue and pink?

I’ve had a few discussions about it with different people here from various backgrounds and came up with the following answers (which is personal opinions, so forgive me if this is generalised or incorrect).

1. Do they have such a thing?
   • Baby Showers are more common in the middle to upper classes. I put this down to the fact that a large percentage of the population is struggling to make ends meet in the day to day.
2. Who organises it?
   • In my case, my church friends are organising it as a joint baby-shower with another girl due around the same time – and they have me sitting in a corner twiddling my thumbs. Love it!
3. Who pays?
   • This is a case by case basis where you can host a giant bash – wedding style with a buffet (because buffets are the thing here), or your friends enjoy the opportunity to host you.
4. Who’s invited?
   • Anyone and everyone really. It’s up to you. I kept mine within the group of church friends hosting it since I’m not doing anything other than showing up, and it is a joint one.
5. Do the guys join in?
   • This was up to the organisers. They didn’t mind either, but in my case since we’re all couples, the husbands will be there.
6. Friends? What friends?
   • This might sound funny, but hey…expat, new country, new culture, language barrier, adjustments and finding new social circles…I rest my case!
7. Pink anyone?
   • When baby shopping, I noticed pretty quick the blues for boys and pinks for girls here. I had a hard time finding neutrals that looked as nice or as a cute. Not to say I’m not loving the cuteness overload, but I’d love some options in cyan, mint green, yellow, orange or purple that didn’t look like someone’s afterthought (just incase there were weird people like me).

Risky Business? Online Shopping with Lazada

Buying online in the Philippines is a lot more difficult compared to Australia. The reliability and ease of eBay shopping feels like a luxury nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, there is an eBay.ph floating around, but I’ve yet to try it and I’m not particularly inclined to risk the surprise customs fees and post-office parcel release fees other people have experienced trying to get their items into the country.

Instead, I’ve turned to the local equivalent aka Lazada. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen and hosts listings from various suppliers both local and international.

A quick online search about the site aren’t encouraging. Hundreds of negative reviews call the site a scam marketplace with items not being delivered or issues with customer service. COD (cash on delivery) payments seem to have the best outcomes, while credit card payments aren’t recommended – with delays in refunds or orders being cancelled. Overall, the results are off-putting.

Unlike eBay, which displays supplier ratings based on customer feedback and experience, Lazada, though displaying supplier ratings, don’t appear to be up-to-date with customer feedback. So it can be hit and miss whether the supplier is reliable or not.

I decided to try it out anyway since it was cheaper than purchasing the items from the department store, and ordered a pet carrier (for around php 2,100), and some foam EVC play mats (php 600) from two different suppliers.

Unfortunately, since my items were coming from international suppliers the COD option wasn’t available. Instead of paying straight with my credit card, I chose the PayPal option. My reasoning? PayPal has a ‘supplier protection guarantee’ for items purchased online. This translates in my head to more peace of mind in the event something goes wrong with the purchase.

Once ordered, I received a confirmation on screen and via email. It provided a tracking number, listing of items, estimated delivery time and progress on the processing and shipping.

My pet carrier was meant to be delivered a week later, while my foam play mats would take three weeks.

Within twenty-four hours, the progress of my pet carrier changed from “order received and pending verification” to “order verified”. Three days later the progress changed to the item being packed by the supplier.

The estimated delivery date for the pet carrier passed and the status remained the same – still awaiting supplier packing and shipping. I had decided to give both items a month before I worried about having to dispute, so I ignored the itch to query Lazada.

Several days later I received an email from Lazada stating the order for the pet carrier had been cancelled due to “issues acquiring the product”. They promised a refund to my credit card. I wasn’t holding my breath.

To my surprise, I received another email, this time from PayPal, who advised they had been informed of a partial refund back to my account, which they would return to my credit card.

With the order for the foam play mats still pending, I was surprised when Lazada emailed to say the pending item was on the way and provided a shipment tracking number.

Two days later, a text message informed me that delivery would arrive between the original estimated dates. However, the next day I had the foam play mats in hand. These showed up a week earlier than the estimated delivery date, were well packaged, in good condition, and exactly as described on the listing.

It’s possible I was one of the lucky ones in this case, since my Lazada experience was pretty positive compared to what I’ve read from others.

I would use Lazada again, but here are a few things to consider:

• Take the displayed discount prices with a grain of salt. I’ve seen items in shops that are equivalent or cheaper than what’s showing on Lazada even after their discount.
• I wouldn’t recommend using supplier ratings as a basis on deciding whether to order or not. My pet carrier supplier was four and a half out of five stars and my foam mats supplier was only two and a half.
• Delivery texts might not be accurate with the date of arrival. I happened to be home when my delivery came, but I didn’t receive anymore messages to say when the item would actually be delivered. This may be a courier issue rather than a Lazada one.
• You can get a discount code by registering for their e-newsletter or doing a quick search online for active codes.
• Use PayPal or COD options if you can, and for big-ticket items (or if in doubt), it might be best to give this site a miss.
• Be patient.

NB: Incase I need to state this somewhere, I have no affiliation with Lazada whatsoever.