ASOS is a mass retailer based in the UK. In the olden days (oh, 2005, how I miss you), shopping across the pound involves actually taking a 10+ hour flight. But now, it's just a few clicks away.
ASOS has a great selection of UK brands, like Reiss, Karen Millen, Whistles and All Saints, that can be a bit hard to find in the US. ASOS has really improved its website and customer service process so it caters to prospective buyers in the US. There are still a few pitfalls to watch out for if you're looking to purchase one of the many awesome items sold.
Sizing. ASOS now displays US sizes. Be sure to select your region as ASOS USA on top. Before you order based on your GAP size, be aware that UK sizes tend to run small, so order a size up. But do double check the size guide. One problem with ASOS is that size guide is not readily accessible on the products page. I saved you the trouble of digging around -- click here for ASOS size guide.
Discounts. ASOS will sometimes run promotions. I've seen up to 20% off all merchandise as recently as December 2010. However, do not expect massive store-wide discounts offers like GAP or J. Crew. You will more likely see discounts on ASOS brand clothing than on other designer brands. After Christmas sale is on-going right now with lots and lots of merchandise being heavily discounted (about 40% off).
PayPal available. I like it when merchants accept PayPal as a form of payment, especially foreign merchants. Many credit cards like my CitiBank card charge a fee for foreign transactions. I'd like avoid that if at all possible. So PayPal is a great alternative. Otherwise, use a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fee, like Capital One.
Watch out for late deliveries. When ASOS first offered free shipping to the US, I jumped on the chance to try its services. The items were scheduled to deliver in 10 days! For free! Reasonable, I thought. 3 weeks later, the items still have not arrived. Peeved, I tried to use its customer service function to find out where the heck are my clothes. First of all, the customer service link can be a bit hard to find. And, it was down that particular day. A phone number was nowhere to be found on its website either (not that I wanted to call the UK on my cellphone... just think of the charges!). So I had to resort to twitter. That's right, TWITTER. You can tweet to ASOS Here to Help for updates on your order if and when things go awry.
When I finally got a hold of someone via twitter, I was told that there are problems with the shipping carrier and my item should arrive in 2 more weeks! Imagine if you ordered a gift for birthday or Christmas, thinking that it would be delivered in 10 days! So 2 more weeks later, still nothing. I was pretty annoyed at this point. I contacted the customer service again (via its website this time) and got an automated email response within 6 hours stating "we're looking into it." About a day later, they FINALLY told me that the package was lost in the mail. Without giving me the option to cancel my order, they sent out a replacement package -- this time with tracking, thank goodness.
The replacement package came in time as promised (that's what tracking is for!). But the total process took about a month and half. By then I no longer needed the items.
Since then, I have ordered from ASOS once more and the experience is much improved. Now, ASOS ships orders with tracking, so you (and they) can locate the package if necessary. Delivery is still a tad slow. So allow more time for the package to arrive than stated
Easy returns. One great thing about ASOS is the free return shipping to a US address. The return UPS label comes in the package and it's pretty easy to slap it on and sent it back. In this respect, ASOS is much better than some of its UK peers like TopShop. Credit back to my account was processed quickly.
Overall, if you don't mind waiting for your packages, ASOS offers a good shopping experience with a lot of unique inventory that's not widely available in the US.
Discounts. ASOS will sometimes run promotions. I've seen up to 20% off all merchandise as recently as December 2010. However, do not expect massive store-wide discounts offers like GAP or J. Crew. You will more likely see discounts on ASOS brand clothing than on other designer brands. After Christmas sale is on-going right now with lots and lots of merchandise being heavily discounted (about 40% off).
PayPal available. I like it when merchants accept PayPal as a form of payment, especially foreign merchants. Many credit cards like my CitiBank card charge a fee for foreign transactions. I'd like avoid that if at all possible. So PayPal is a great alternative. Otherwise, use a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fee, like Capital One.
Watch out for late deliveries. When ASOS first offered free shipping to the US, I jumped on the chance to try its services. The items were scheduled to deliver in 10 days! For free! Reasonable, I thought. 3 weeks later, the items still have not arrived. Peeved, I tried to use its customer service function to find out where the heck are my clothes. First of all, the customer service link can be a bit hard to find. And, it was down that particular day. A phone number was nowhere to be found on its website either (not that I wanted to call the UK on my cellphone... just think of the charges!). So I had to resort to twitter. That's right, TWITTER. You can tweet to ASOS Here to Help for updates on your order if and when things go awry.
When I finally got a hold of someone via twitter, I was told that there are problems with the shipping carrier and my item should arrive in 2 more weeks! Imagine if you ordered a gift for birthday or Christmas, thinking that it would be delivered in 10 days! So 2 more weeks later, still nothing. I was pretty annoyed at this point. I contacted the customer service again (via its website this time) and got an automated email response within 6 hours stating "we're looking into it." About a day later, they FINALLY told me that the package was lost in the mail. Without giving me the option to cancel my order, they sent out a replacement package -- this time with tracking, thank goodness.
The replacement package came in time as promised (that's what tracking is for!). But the total process took about a month and half. By then I no longer needed the items.
Since then, I have ordered from ASOS once more and the experience is much improved. Now, ASOS ships orders with tracking, so you (and they) can locate the package if necessary. Delivery is still a tad slow. So allow more time for the package to arrive than stated
Easy returns. One great thing about ASOS is the free return shipping to a US address. The return UPS label comes in the package and it's pretty easy to slap it on and sent it back. In this respect, ASOS is much better than some of its UK peers like TopShop. Credit back to my account was processed quickly.
Overall, if you don't mind waiting for your packages, ASOS offers a good shopping experience with a lot of unique inventory that's not widely available in the US.
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