I made my first order from ASOS (UK) on the 20th and it arrived today! The 28th! Eight days from the UK! And I only paid $9 for shipping!

Ok, enough with the exclamation marks. Shipping time and costs is one of my biggest peeves from retailers outside Canada. I was just so impressed.

ASOS had a huge markdown in their plus size CURVE setcion and I got some great deals. I had a hard time with their shopping cart when I was placing my order.  The website had an additional 10% off coupon which went through beautifully at first. I ran into trouble when I tried to pay with Paypal. For some reason I got an error message and it said to go back and try again. When I went back to the shopping cart I got a big red message saying that I already used the coupon and couldn’t use it again. This error message wouldn’t let me pay. After some choice swear words and twitter complaints I saw the tiny print that said “remove coupon”. Once I did that I was able to place the order but missed out on the additional $5 discount. This is obviously a technical error of some kind on their site because even after emailing customer service, I was told the coupon was still good and I could use it until the 22nd. But I really couldn’t.

This leads to my next “technical” error that Canadian shoppers should be aware of IF they are going to shop using Paypal. Most of the money I have in my Paypal is U.S. dollars but I do get a small portion of Canadian Funds occasionally. I have always used U.S. funds for any kind of online payments and have never had a problem. Apparently when you shop anywhere where the currency is not U.S. or Canadian your Paypal account automatically draws funds from your country of origin first. So because I live in Canada, this order drew from my Canadian funds first. Which at the time of the order was $6. Because I didn’t have enough Canadian funds to cover the purchase it then took the remaining funds from my credit card. This is incredibly annoying as I had more than enough U.S. funds in my paypal account to cover the purchase. Had I wanted to use my credit card I would have just used my credit card. The suggestion from Paypal when I called them all pissed was to, in the future, transfer some of the U.S. funds into Canadian funds to cover the amount of the purchase beforehand. I still think it is completely ridiculous but that is the only way around it.

After my order was placed, ASOS maintained great contact via email. I received a receipt for my order and another email when the order was “dispatched” so I wasn’t left wondering what was happening.

I had a fairly small order so there were no customs charges. Phew! I opened up the ASOS plastic shipping bag to find a delivery and returns note and the seven items (I told you it was a great sale) I ordered individually packaged in tissue and plastic wrap. Most of the stuff I bought were light dresses (like the one shown above which was £5 or just over $8 CAN. I probably live in that one for the rest of the summer.) and a tank top. I love everything and they fit better than I expected.

Despite the initial pissy experience with the shopping cart I am happy with the experience which I am sure was increased by the short shipping time, low shipping costs, and great sale prices. If you are looking for some place new to try, check them out. If you have tried them already, then share your experience in the comments.

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Topic Links
* Get your own plus size clothing from ASOS
* Figuring out the exchange between United Kingdom Pounds and Canadian dollars