wahlau's online hut

sometimes i do enjoy living at where i am here now, in Germany.

looking at my mails and my account transactions, i noticed i have made quite some purchases from Internet for the past months. Books, electronic stuffs, music related stuffs and etc, online, direct, no more shopping. It is more like knowing what i need, search around, make purchase then wait for it to come.

The best thing is: they come pretty fast. Amazon, for example, delivers most of them within the next day, and i get my goods usually within 1 to 2 days from the moment i press "confirm". Ebay sellers are usually equally good. As soon as money is transfered, i get my stuffs within the next 2 days. Systems are also made in such way that i can choose and watch who i can trust to do my business with. Risk? yes, i believe there would be some. But again,  even with real life shops you need to be careful of con man too...

i wonder how is this lifestyle would be like back home in Malaysia? i know decade ago i have played/used lelong.com.my, and that is all i buy from. And many a times i pick things up personally. Reason? lower chance of fraud, and faster delivery. Pos Malaysia's service was earlier not really that trustable - reports of lost and broken packages are common. Compare to the German post service, i think years ago we have lots to catch up with. Anyone who can tell me how efficient Pos Malaysia is today?

There are quite some e-businesses that are  doing pretty well in Malaysia, as far as i know. But they are still limited to specific categories of products. I don find something so big like amazon, offering vast varieties of products. Even shops who are specialising in books, such as MPH, are not really keen in pushing their books via online portal. I don think many would prefer to buy books from mph.com.my (do tell me that can be untrue today, would love to hear that!). Prices are what everyone is considering. In Malaysia people are willing to travel 20 minutes to get something that is RM2 cheaper (kind of exagerating, but can be true). I personally do think convenience does come with a price. If i can sit in my office or home and make the purchase come to me directly, i don't mind paying that RM5-RM10 to get it online. I save on time, petrol and also maintainence for my vehicle... why not?

i am slowly pampered. Now let me see where can i fecth that new TFT screen and perhaps some other gadgets i've been eying on :p