Every year, whenever the 1st of September comes along, it never fails that one of my friends (and I’m sure one of your friends as well) will post a status update in Facebook of this now famous line, “BER months na! What’s more, Christmas songs are heard everywhere – from the radio stations to the shopping malls.
Welcome to the Philippines, the country with the longest Christmas season.
We at the De Leon household, start our Christmas gift buying early as well. But we do it the hi-tech way.
For the past two years, we have been doing it using these apps and sites:
1. Amazon – The largest retail store in the world. This is my most favorite website. Amazon is where I buy all my gadgets, shoes, ebooks, books, toys, etc. The reason? Price. Because Amazon (again) is the biggest retail store in the world, they can command the lowest price from their suppliers plus they have practically eliminated the middle man. But, I’m sure you are asking, isn’t it expensive to have the items shipped to the Philippines? The answer below.
2. Pobox.ph – I have all my orders shipped to a central location in the US, the Pobox office. Pobox collects all my items for a maximum of 30 days. When all your orders arrive in their office, you can then instruct them to start shipping your box. Because the box is “shipped”, it will take about 4-5 weeks (maybe longer now with the Manila port issues). That’s why for Christmas, it would be best to start ordering as early as September.
3. App Store – Don’t give up, give app! 🙂 Many of you may have bought tons of apps for your iOS device from the App Store. But do you know that you can also give an app as a gift? I did that during the birthday party of my god son. In fact it was a spur of the moment thing because I was not able to buy a gift for him when we attended his party (how many of you buy gifts at the last minute like me? 🙂 ) So, I just asked for my kumpare’s email address and with a tap of a button, instant birthday gift! Watch how I did it here: https://itunes.apple.com/en/genre/ios/id36?mt=8.
4. iTunes Store – For the older peeps, you can also give gifts from any item in the iTunes store. Songs, albums, movies, etc. Just watch this video for tips on how to do it.
For more details on how I use the apps and website above, please watch this video from Freelance Blend’s newest YouTube channel (while you’re in YouTube, why don’t you subscribe to the channel as well 🙂
Hey, Freelancer! Do you have any tips on where to buy the most popular gifts? We would love to hear your stories in the Comment Box below.
Do you want to become a freelancer but don’t know how to start? Then please attend our “Freelancing for Beginners 1.0 – The Rerun” Workshop.
Event Details:
Date: Saturday, Sept 27, 2014
Time: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Venue: vOffice Philippines, 10-L Fort Legend Tower, 31st Street and 2nd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (Across St. Luke’s BGC)
To register, please go to www.freelanceblend.com/beginners1.
Special Discount for Freelance Blend members!
Just use the Promo Code: “Blend” to avail of the special rate of P1,000.00 (originally P1,800,00).
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Photo credit: Enol Chen
