Apparently, I’m very susceptible to Facebook ads. In particular, I’m prone to click on the ones for the cuter than cute tops or swimsuits labeled with unbelievable prices. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER MEMORIZE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER. It’s just too easy to turn that late night online browsing into a click-bait shopping spree. Last night I succumbed to the pithy T-shirts. A few weeks ago, it was swimsuits. I was shocked the first time I ordered from one of these random sponsored ads to get a tiny airmail package hand-addressed from… China.
To this end, Facebook has turned me into a top-rate Chinese importer. Cuter than Target, probably made in the same factories, and a quarter of the price, despite the fact that it ships directly to me from 60,000 lightyears away. There are drawbacks. The biggest one, of course, is that you can’t try anything on when shopping online. I have become much less picky about exact sizing since post-baby body x2 and currently never able to frequent fitting rooms without an escapee. I have found the secret to ordering direct from Chinese companies. For women’s clothing, size UP; for children’s clothing, size DOWN. I bought the cutest Where the Wild Things Are onesie for S2’s 1st birthday party. It was a onesie, for sure… but it could have fit my three year old! I wondered to my husband, “Do Asian manufacturers have such an opinion of the overweight status of Americans that they even super-size our baby clothes?” That may not be far from the truth, ha ha.
I will say, though, that their customer service was the best ever! I emailed to ask about a replacement in a smaller size. They immediately responded with apologies, stated that a smaller size would be in the mail directly, and to keep the other! So nice. I guess he can have a “Wild Things” party for his third birthday, too.
(Side note: we had a strange package arrive one day. It was a tiny, square envelope, hand-addressed, direct from China. Inside was a solitary balloon, imprinted with number 3s all over it. Let’s just say we didn’t let the kids handle it. Any rumors about Anthrax balloons going around?)
I’m sure there are many economical, social, and environmental reasons why I should not be directly importing from China in such a piecemeal fashion. For now, though, I’m just saying that Target has a strong competitor right here in my newsfeed.
Now… where’s that one-click order for my latte?
