Understanding Gmarket's Smile Cash, Smile Point, Gcash, Coupon and Gstamp

For Gmarket users, you would be familiar with the various payment supplements or benefits that Gmarket has. Log in to your Gaccount and you will be greeted with a overview of your points, gcash, coupon and gstamps. With so many different types of benefits, I wished they would streamline some of them or expand them to make staying loyal with Gmarket more worthwhile.

I will describe the uses of each benefit in order of their value i.e. from most valuable to least valuable.

Smile Cash
This is cash. Your refund, compensation or shipping fee differences will be returned to you via smile cash. Another way of getting smile cash is through converting your smile points (I will touch on this later).

Gcash
This is similar to Smile Cash in the sense that they are both cash. However, you can only receive Gcash through events by Gmarkets. Another difference is that while you can withdraw Smile Cash to your bank account, you can't do that for Gcash.

Smile Points
Once you reached 10,000 smile points, you can convert it to Smile Cash. They have an expiry date of two years from when you first received the points. You can receive smile points through the daily lucky draw or applying for it when you clocked certain days of attendance.

Coupons
In most instances, you will only encounter coupons during your purchase. You can either exchange for it using Gstamps (refer below), through daily lucky draw or the basic monthly coupons.

Here's where you can download your monthly coupons:

You can check the conditions, expiry date and amount of your coupon in your Gaccount:

The coupons can be applied to your purchased product either on the product page or in your cart.

Gstamps

Basically kind of useless. You can only use it to draw or exchange for coupons. Like I mentioned earlier, in most cases there will not be lack of coupons, so I seldom have to use Gstamps. They are also one of the easiest to obtain - from daily lucky day to writing product reviews.

Review: Yuul Yie's YY Cream Pumps 16 Spring

When I first saw these pumps on instagram, I knew I had to get it. I love the shape of the toe box and the cream colours.

The price point seemed expensive for a brand that isn't that well-known on the international stage yet. I have heard of Yuul Yie from Kpop idols wearing it, however, there wasn't much international review of the quality their shoes. Their main line 'Yuul Yie' is the more lux version and also more expensive. These pumps are form their YY line which I think is their more affordable range. Still, it costs about US$150 for it.

After debating for some time, I finally placed my order at their international site. It wasn't the most user-friendly of sites. With a shipping fee of about US$20, I would expect the delivery to be faster. The status remained as 'getting ready to ship' for a week and I had to drop an email to them. No reply from them, but a tracking code secretly appeared beside my order status a few days after my email.

Here's a look at my pumps and a low-down on it.

I got the orange-red one. Accordingly to the specs listed on their website, the outer material is made of cow and sheep skin while the inner material is made of PU. Heel height is 6cm. I usually wear a Korean size 235 and YY's pumps are generally true to size.

Pros:

- design, when seen from the front and the side is love!
- orange-red colour (although more red than orange) is exactly like in the photos
- comfortable enough without causing major blisters on first wear

Cons:
- a bit pinching on the toes
- design when seen from the back not that great because of the chunky heel
- leather quality not that great

The reason why I said the quality of their leather isn't that great is a scratch line appeared after a gentle brush against the left of the table (see below).

Gmarket Haul #2

frankly speaking, this should be my 5th gmarket haul, but being the lazy me, i didn't blog about the 2nd, 3rd nor the 4th. this haul was ordered during the gmarket black week, aka 1111 (11 Nov). gmarket was having massive discounts, big coupons (20,000W off) and giveaways during black week.

i shall state up front that this was my most disappointing gmarket experience, and i will explain it shortly. before that, let's take a look at the items i bought this time round! shall start with the purchases that pleases me the most.

1) sleeveless turtle neck flare dress (US$15)
this dress fitted me so well! because of my long neck, i like tops/dresses with high neck or turtleneck. a very simple and classic little black dress. i'm on the tall side so many korean one-piece dress tends to be too short, but this was just nice. it doesn't look impressive in my lousy photo as it does when one wears it. i just hope it doesn't shrink after washing!

2) ecole lucy waterproof longwear eye shadow + roll-on makeup remover + lip tint (US$13)
this was such a steal! all these for only US$13, can you believe it?! it's a customizable set of makeup, and the makeup remover was the additional optional item. sorry, didn't manage to get a shot of the orange lip tint, but i will definitely do a makeup review when i try it on. these items were neatly wrapped in bubble-wrap and came in a big box.

3) IPKN starlight eyes (2 colours) + remover (US$9)
i couldn't find any english review of IPKN waterglow starlight eye shadow on the web, but decided to purchase it because of the subtle glittery effect it was supposed to give. their spokesperson is girls generation's tiffany! i did a swatch of one of the colours on my hand, seems pretty cool! again, like all korean cosmetics, it came neatly wrapped and in a big box.

4) henry tee (US$11)
a very simple looking tee, but i don't quite like the material. it doesn't feel like pure cotton and wrinkles easily. although it was neatly packed, but when i opened it, it was all wrinkly.

ok, now back to why i was disappointed with gmarket this time round. out of the 4 items, 3 were very good while 1 was just alright. the problem wasn't with my purchase, but those that i place an order for, but was subsequently cancelled. besides the above 4 items, i also ordered a colourful knit sweater (from same shop as the henry tee) and a checkered sundress. these two items were the most expensive out of the six, so naturally i applied the biggest discount coupons to these items.

for the knit sweater, they changed the status to 'preparing for delivery', only to change it to 'cancelled' a few days later. the money was refunded straight to my credit card. what makes me annoyed is i wasted my biggest coupon on this item which i could have use it on other stuff, and for a in-season item, i wouldn't expect it to be unavailable so soon. btw, they didn't give me the reason for the unavailability, and even after they refunded me, they continue to list the item on their page for people to order.

the sundress was still understandable because it is a off-season item and after they cancelled it, they changed it to "out of stock". the problem is they refunded me in the form of cash balance to my gmarket account. as i have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, such form of cash means you will have to make a purchase from gmarket again to utilize that money. sure you can withdraw it, but currently they only support withdrawing to a korean bank account.

11st Haul #2

following the previous 11st haul experience, i decided to on another spree on 11st! it was a much smoother experience this time round! placed the order for 5 items on 6 aug, received it on 14 aug.

i noticed that 11st consolidate and package the items very neatly and carefully, with bubble pouches to protect fragile items. i was surprised that it came in a big box even though i ordered only 5 items and with the exception of the shoes, the rest are small items.

a review of some of the items i bought from 11st:

rating: 4/5

fashion vintage sunglasses. true to image. comes with a pouch and a hanky. not much complaints except that it didn't look as good on me than i expected it to be. 

rating: 3.7/5

pleated mini skirt. what i like about this mini skirt is that it has an inner safety shorts. its comfortable and more suitable for outdoors and sports, although the material is slightly on the thin side.

rating: 4.5/5

strappy heels. my best buy this haul. its a decent quality shoe, nice design and great comfort! love the buckle part, which you don't really have to buckle, but just hook it over for easier wearing. highly recommend buying from this brand. if not for my budget, i would have bought another pair from them.

Editorial: Did Wonder Girls Yeeun (Ha:tfelt) flop as a solo?

for you guys who don't know about wonder girls, i'm sure you have heard of their hit single 'nobody' which goes something like 'i want nobody nobody but you'. if you still not heard of them, you can check them out on wikipedia. they are considered one of the top tier girl group in south korea and is currently on hiatus.

so... besides sunmi who left the group in 2010 to pursue her studies, yeeun is the 2nd member of wonder girls to turn solo singer. vocal-wise, she is definitely one of the stronger ones in the group. as the lead vocalists, she carried some of the more difficult parts of the song. that said, she was never the most eye-catching member in wonder girls. in my opinion, she doesn't dance that well, isn't that attractive and doesn't have the charms as compared to the many kpop idols out there. her obvious strength seems to be in songwriting, but could it be that there aren't many prominent female idol-songwriter?

the music

music is a piece of art, to me, its really hard to judge a music to its technical details. if i hear it, i like it and it speaks to me... that is a good piece of music to me. there are pretty diverging views on yeeun's album. truthfully, i only like 'iron girl' among all the tracks. i'm not feeling her title track 'ain't nobody'. it was a mess and has a raw-ness to it which i didn't like.

the performance

the performance is as equally important as the music. with a good piece of music but poor delivery will not capture people's attention. yeeun is not much of a performer even during her time in wonder girls. your eyes doesn't automatically go to her when you watch a performance. since she chose to perform on a stage, i would expect her to appeal to the audience's sense of sight, and not just sense of hearing.

there are many ways to make a performance worth watching. it could either be the music being sooooooooo good, interesting costume choices, elaborate set or amazing dances, for yeeun, i think she tried to impress with her dance and stage set.

there were many comments saying her stage was a joke to watch, which i sort of agree. it was funny seeing her going all possessed and being everywhere on stage. she was literally everywhere, moving from one end of the stage to another... which was too much and too distracting from her music. i have seen other singers doing something similar, but it didn't come out as funny as what she did. she seems to be trying too hard to impress. slow it down girl.

the results

the commercial success of a kpop album is dependable upon its 1) physical sales, 2) digital sales, 3) streaming frequency. physical sales prove the amount of die-hard fan support you have. digital sales and streaming is a sign of the mass-appeal of the song.

after 4 weeks, yeeun only sold about 2,400 physical copies, which is astonishingly low for an idol whose definition is having legions of die-hard fans. only topp dogg and dal shabet have releases this year that sold less than yeeun. other idol-turned-solos like gain, sunmi, jiyeon and hyomin fared much better. the only consolation is that wonder girls' album tend to fare poorly in physical sales, so it didn't really came as a surprise to me.

compared to physical sales, wonder girls has been a powerhouse in digital sales, with many chart-dominating hits. even sunmi's 2 solos were topping charts like nobody's business. looking at yeeun's title track, ain't nobody, i can't really say that it's a total flop. 'ain't nobody' and 'iron girl' did rank within top 50 in the first day on bugs (has the 2nd largest market share). bugs and soribada were the two major charts that yeeun's songs fared better in. it wasn't the same over at melon, which has the biggest market share. it was already out of top 50 within a week of release. she was on the fringe of top 10 on melon's real-time chart for the best part of the time. other than that, she was mostly outside of top 10. digitally, i would say she did not do as well as expected.

beyond commercial success, did she manage to prove herself and satisfy herself? i would say yes. she got the attention she deserved in the media. as one of the least popular member in wonder girls, she was never able to break out from other members' shadows (e.g. sunye who had better vocals than her, sohee who had more charms than her, yubin who does sexy better than her, sunmi who defines korean beauty better than her). turning into a singer-songwriter gives people a glimpse of her talent in that aspect. though her skills are still very raw now, but at least people are aware. the only problem is, besides proving herself, she needs to prove that the music she creates can sell and relate to many people and not just herself.

overall

i have been following comments on her music and album and was quite irritated by her stans who tried to put down anyone who said her album/performance wasn't good. comments like "you only listen to junk music", "this is contemporary dance which only artistic people will understand" and "she release this album not for the money, but to show herself" etc., doesn't make me change my mind one bit.

without any former definition of what constitutes a successful album, the only thing we have are chart rankings. if people like the songs, they will download or buy the album, and that helps in the chart rankings. going by this logic, not many seem to like her songs and this is further proven by comments left on her news articles. it is funny how her stans are suddenly claiming to be highly artistic people and shaming others who do not share the same opinion as them. anything can be an art these days.

i dont think any singer will say they release music for the money. but releasing a music by losing a lot of money is a different thing. her company needs to account to its shareholders and her losing the money earned by other artistes in the company is just... not appropriate. it was a good try, but she could head some of the business-analyst advise and package her album in a more appealing manner.

Gmarket Haul #1

this was my first time using gmarket but navigating through the gmarket website was a breeze. since it was my first time, i didnt really have any strategy and it was really to get a feel of what gmarket has to offer.

after placing my order and paying for it on 4 march, the vendor proceeded to ship the items to the gmarket warehouse. one of the vendor informed me right away that his item will only be available for shipping a few days later. thats fine with me. most of the items were received within

the package arrived neatly packed. each of the item was either wrapped up in plastic wrapper or in a box. i hvae no complains on the delivery or the package in general!

so here's part of my haul! sorry, might not have real photos of some of the items because i have no time to take photos of them!

1) leggings with mini skirt (US$ 11)
i have a wide hip so the H-line skirt version doesnt suit me well. opted for this flare skirt instead. i was so satisfied with this item. its not too thin, the quality is good and it fitted me so well. initially i was afraid it will be too short, like many leggings which i have previously bought, but this was long enough without the leg ends keep moving upwards. you can wear it with a sweater, long blouse or a jacket!

2) knit sweater with bow and split back (US$ 22)
quality is there, nothing major to complain just that the cutesy-ness of the bow makes it feels like a cheap wear at times.

3) sweater with ruffle collar and ends (US$ 24)
saw this style on korean tv often so i guess it was the trend there. it gave off a more feminine look as opposed to your usual sweater. wore it twice ever since i bought it... comfortable and warm enough for spring weather. the only bad is the ruffles part seems to form creases easily as the material is not good quality as the sweater part.

11st Haul #1

a month ago i wrote about my first experience with 11st, but i havent had the time to update on the final outcome of that first experience.

after receiving that email notifying me of trying to push for a quick delivery from the seller, i received a call from 11st. the customer service guy informed me that one of the delayed item was out-of-stock and asked if i wanted to cancel or wait. as i was going on a overseas trip soon, i decided to cancel the item. the guy sounded apologetic over the phone and told me the money will be refunded to me. his english was clear so thats a plus point. i would have been satisfied if they just email me to confirm, but the fact that they did this long-distance call showed that they were more responsible. the problem this time round was quite minor, but imagine if im having major issues, i would think them initiating a phone call would be easier.

ok, so things really did speed up after that phone call. within less than an hour, i received another auto-message email informing me that item has been cancelled and the money refunded. i paid for my order by paypal, so the money was refunded straight into my paypal. this, to me is very important. i know of e-commerce websites, especially korean sites, refunding back to your account which you can either withdraw it to your bank account or use it for future purchases. i dislike the idea of the refunded money being left in the site's account because it sorts of force me to have to buy something if not my money's going to be just left there. the other option of withdrawing to a bank account is very troublesome and most of the korean websites will only support korean banks or credit cards.

my order then proceeded to ship out by ems. ems is usually very fast. from past experiences, shipping by ems will take no longer than 5 working days (on average it was 3) to reach my doorstep. if the parcel reaches singapore at 2-3am on a working day, i can receive it on the same day (by noon). if it reaches singapore in the afternoon, im able to get it the next morning. really fast!

items i bought

rating: 4.7/5
mint green flare skirt. i bought this as a working attire and it didnt disappoint! my most basic expectation of such skirt is that it shouldnt crease or crumple easily. this skirt doesnt. in fact, the material used was above average, though there was minor fray ends. the skirt ended up slightly above my knee (im quite tall), so its still length-appropriate as a working attire. i have since wore it once to work, and my friend complimented it! the mint green is a lovely pastel shade!

rating: 4.7/5

grey glitter slip-on. i really have nothing negative to say about this shoe! its comfy and fits snugly on my feet. i wore it twice so far, never gave me any blisters. its well crafted, shimmery without being too bling. no flaws that are obvious to the naked eye. the only reason why i didnt give it a 5/5 was i think i saw similar slip-ons going at a cheaper price but of cos i can't be sure of the quality of those.

The 11st Shopping Experience Thus Far

made my first order with 11st on 19 apr (sat). a total of 8 items that are available for worldwide shipping.

it is now 23 apr (wed) and the order status on 6 of the items is still stuck at 'paid'. a description of the status from 11st website is shown below.

the 'paid' status was there ever since i paid i.e. on 19 apr. bear in mind that since this is for international shipping, the 'completed (shipping)' shown above only equates to 'delivered to 11st logistic center'. 11st will then shipped out the entire package of 8 items to me. with the exception of 2 items, the other items seemed to have not been acknowledged by the seller.

i received an email from 11st informing that they have sent an email to the sellers 'pushing for quick delivery'. i guess this is their standard when an order hasnt been acknowledged for more than 3 days. this calmed me down a bit knowing that there is someone to rush the order for me instead of my having to draft a message to tell them to do it. since most of the sellers are presumed not to be well-acquainted with english, we might not be able to communicate well.

11st also mentioned about the option of cancelling the order if the seller takes too long. personally i dont like the idea of cancelling what ive already set on ordering. i usually spend quite some time weighing my options of the different items so having to cancel it annoys me. and then theres also the problem of where the refunds will go. will it be credited to my 11st account? which means its hard to withdraw and i will have to make another 11st purchase? or will they refund it back to my paypal which im not sure if they will refund the transaction fee too.

since this is my first experience with 11st, i just hope things speed up from here on and leaves me with a favorable impression.

11st Get K-beauty for Free!

11st was having a k-beauty contest/promotion and i managed to win a banilo co cc cream!

this was the parcel i received. i was surprised that a 30ml cc cream came in a large parcel.
turned out that besides the cc cream, there was also a pretty cosmetic pouch.
thank you 11st!

click here for k-beauty contest!

Korean Online Shopping Malls

no doubt, i love korean fashion. they have really unique yet asian-focused items which suit me. there's also a wide variety of items and the attractiveness of korean fashion can be partly attributable to the 'natural' feel their models pull off. with korean pop (kpop) being so popular and internationally recognised these days, it is hard not to get attracted to their style.

being one of the most wired country in the world, korea has many online shopping malls and domestic delivery is usually quick and comprehensive. you can deliver anything from food, snacks, groceries to fashion items all at a click of the mouse.

problem
despite the huge number of online shopping malls (blogshop equivalent), it is hard for people living outside of korea to purchase. here's some of the reasons why:
- some websites require verification of korean identity in order to register
- webmasters can't speak/communicate in english and website are in korean
- items for sale are usually made in small quantities, not enough for international demand
- selling to international customers require certain approval from authorities
- parcel forwarding service for korea products is rare

my experience
i have looked into many of the korean online shopping malls. there's so many beautiful items which i would love to have, but only a handful of such malls cater to the international community.

most of the malls require you to verify your korean identity which makes it impossible for non-koreans to register. although the main page of the mall is usually full of english links/words, but once you clicked in on the item, you will realised the details are all in korean. i have sufficient knowledge of korean to navigate through the website and to purchase, but as i have said earlier, most of these sites are not opened to international customers.

if you really really want to get the item, i supposed emailing the webmaster might work, provided they can speak decent english. the downside is that because they have no structured delivery system for such adhoc international orders, the delivery is usually expensive and payment mode might be limited (e.g. wire transfer which is extremely troublesome). additionally, you will miss out on any loyalty programme that website had to offer as compared to korean buyers.

i did bought a shoe directly from one of the korean sites before. i had to do wire transfer and the entire cost (including the shipping cost) was not worth it. i specifically told the webmaster to give me a brochure (which has my fave idol on it), he agreed, but ended up didn't packed it in the package.

this kind of situation frustrates me. that item looked really good, but yet i cant buy it. sad.

this prompted me to source for more effective way to get similar items... but i shall talk about it another day!