Happy and blessed day to all the hivers 🐝 who make life in this magnificent community of #LadiesOfHive. As thinking human beings we must acquire the habit of always expressing ourselves, which is why I always love to participate in this kind of contests or initiatives that encourage free expression. Again, it is a great pleasure for me to participate in this incredible initiative of the week to know how well or badly we have done in the field of online shopping and talk about our achievements at a professional level, two items that I consider very important today after having gone through a pandemic that we did not see coming.

I then selected one of the two questions and developed the answer associated with this wonderful initiative.

With the arrival of the global pandemic, online commerce has grown into something routine. Do you like shopping online? Have you had a bad purchase, the product you ordered did not arrive on time, or was not what was expected? Tell us about your experience or if you still don't buy online, tell us the reason.

In my opinion, online shopping increased during the quarantine for the Covid-19 pandemic and after it. Here in Spain, during the quarantine in March 2020, many businesses of different items such as electronics, home, clothing store, among others; came up with a sales strategy that I considered super good: they started the offers and people literally went crazy buying because the prices were crazy.

I love to do my shopping in half, some online and others visiting the physical store. Why? Because I have been living in Spain for two years and some more, I have learned and noticed that when I visit the stores, I see products or clothes on sale that are not seen on the web or in the store's app, and this allows me to visit the stores to check what I can or cannot buy depending on my tastes and needs. Also, no matter how much I like an item or a piece of clothing, I like to see and touch the quality of the material they are made of and see if it is really worth the price, even if it is on sale.

Por ejemplo, las ofertas del año pasado me compré un short de cuero color marrón que tenía un precio normal de 12€ en tienda y en oferta lo conseguí en 3€, si mal no recuerdo. Mi short está aún intacto, y aunque no lo he lavado no ha cogido mal olor ni se ha escamado la piel de este. Para las rebajas de invierno de este año, realizadas desde el 6 de enero a mediados de marzo, pillé varias cositas. Mi presupuesto este año fue de 50€ o un poquito más, es lo que terminó gastando en las ofertas porque ajá, hay que ahorrar y aún estando en un país como España, la idea no es volverse loco y malgastar la plata, es saber comprar de forma inteligente. Mis compras fueron las siguientes: un peto (braga) de 4,99€ de Lefties, una franela de algodón de Betty Boop de 5,99€ de Pull & Bear, un set de 3 colas de cabello en 1,99€ de Pull & Bear, una chaqueta de cuero rosado de 14,99€ de Obbu y me alcanzó para comprarle unos lindos zapatos deportivos a mi mamá en 7,99€ de Pull & Bear y a mi tía en 4,99€ en Lefties para enviárselos en la cajita que envío a mi familia anualmente a Venezuela. Compré inteligentemente, no estuve tentada a comprar otras cositas porque me gusta comprar consiente, es decir, comprar prendas básicas o colores que no tengo en mi guardarropa y siempre espero las segundas rebajas donde bajan aún más los precios. Otra de mis plataformas favoritas para comprar lo que sea es AliExpress, que es como una especie de Mercado Libre, donde las cositas que pido llegan directamente de China y tardan entre aproximadamente un mes o dos en llegar. Con esta plataforma si he tenido uno que otro inconveniente 😜 pero he logrado que me devuelvan el dinero por el servicio de protección del usuario. Aún así, como todas mis compras, en su mayoría, han llegado sigo apostando por esta plataforma porque tiene precios insuperables.

For example, last year's offers I bought a brown leather short that had a normal price of 12 € in store and on sale I got it for 3 €, if I remember correctly. My shorts are still intact, and although I have not washed them, they have not caught a bad smell and the leather has not flaked. For this year's winter sales, held from January 6 to mid-March, I bought several little things. My budget this year was 50€ or a little more, that's what I ended up spending in the offers because aha, you have to save and even being in a country like Spain, the idea is not to go crazy and waste money, is to know how to buy wisely. My purchases were the following: a dungarees for 7,99€ from Lefties, a Betty Boop cotton flannel for 5,99€ from Pull & Bear, a set of 3 hair tails for 3,99€ from Pull & Bear, a pink leather jacket for 14,99€ from Obbu and I had enough to buy some nice sport shoes for my mom for 7,99€ from Pull & Bear and for my aunt for 4,99€ from Lefties to send them in the little box I send to my family every year to Venezuela. I shopped smart, I wasn't tempted to buy other little things because I like to shop conscientiously, that is, buy basics or colors that I don't have in my closet and I always wait for the second sales where the prices go down even more. Another of my favorite platforms to buy anything is AliExpress, which is like a kind of Mercado Libre, where the things I order arrive directly from China and take about a month or two to arrive. With this platform if I have had one or another inconvenience 😜 but I have managed to get my money back by the user protection service. Even so, as all my purchases, for the most part, have arrived I continue to bet on this platform because it has unbeatable prices.

Después de la pandemia, se me hizo más saludable y práctico comprar de manera online. Me da ansiedad los lugares con mucha concentración de gente y como no sé si en algún momento cogí el virus (aún estando vacunada) porque a lo mejor estuve asintomática, evito totalmente salir con frecuencia a la calle de manera innecesaria y ahora más por mí condición, mi embarazo.

After the pandemic, it became healthier and more practical for me to shop online. I get anxious in places with a high concentration of people and since I don't know if I ever caught the virus (even though I was vaccinated) because I may have been asymptomatic, I avoid going out frequently and unnecessarily, and now even more so because of my condition, my pregnancy.

Imagen de mi propiedad 📸 // Image of my property 📸

Para mí, la mejor forma de ahorrar viviendo en otro país es aprovechando todo lo que esté en oferta para no comprometer la única entrada que existe ahora mismo en casa: el sueldo de mi esposo. No compramos nada de marcas costosas, siempre optamos por marcas más accesibles y sostenibles como Lefties o Pull & Bear. Pasa igual con las compras de nuestro mercado de productos mensual. Cuando un detergente como es el caso de la reconocida marca Ariel de 1,42 L que rinde para 26 lavados cuesta 6,20€, el de la línea blanca del supermercado que nos gusta (Mercadona) cuesta 3,90€, es de 3L y rinde para 46 lavadas. Se nota la diferencia y se ahorra.

For me, the best way to save money living in another country is to take advantage of everything that is on sale so as not to compromise the only income that exists at home right now: my husband's salary. We don't buy anything from expensive brands, we always opt for more affordable and sustainable brands like Lefties or Pull & Bear. The same thing happens with the purchases of our monthly product market. When a detergent, as is the case of the well-known brand Ariel of 1.42 L which yields for 26 washes, costs 6.20€, the white line of the supermarket we like (Mercadona) costs 3.90€, is 3L and yields for 46 washes. You can see the difference and save money.

Collage de imágenes capturadas de la app móvil del supermercado Mercadona // Collage of images captured from the Mercadona supermarket mobile app

Para las próximas ofertas que son en verano, específicamente empiezan en Agosto; quiero probar la plataforma de Shein. He creado mi usuario en su aplicación y quiero probar sus productos. Tienen piezas de ropa, zapatos, carteras, artículos de maquillaje, cosas del hogar hasta artículos de fiesta 😍 Entrar es querer comprarlo todo, pero como ya he dicho anteriormente, hay que saber comprar inteligentemente.

For the upcoming offers that are in summer, specifically they start in August; I want to try Shein's platform. I created my user on their app and want to try their products. They have clothing pieces, shoes, handbags, makeup items, home stuff even party items 😍 To enter is to want to buy everything, but as I said before, you have to know how to shop smart.

Collage de mi propiedad realizado utilizando la app de Inshot 📸 // Collage of my property made using the Inshot app 📸

Para cualquier plataforma de compras online, yo sugiero siempre: revisar primero si hay diferentes vendedores ofreciendo un mismo producto y hacer un sondeo de precios antes de elegir, las calificaciones de otros usuarios, la reputación de los vendedores, y además de aprovechar los envíos gratuitos. Esta serie de pasos me da confianza y seguridad en mis compras online 🛍️🌐

For any online shopping platform, I suggest always check first if there are different sellers offering the same product and do a price survey before choosing, other users' ratings, sellers' reputation, and also taking advantage of free shipping. This series of steps gives me confidence and security in my online shopping 🛍️🌐

Me gustaría invitar a participar mi estimada Hive account@sacra97

I would like to invite my dear Hive account@sacra97 to participate.

Para obtener más visibilidad de esta publicación, su apoyo a través de upvote y reblog es muy apreciado. Además, siéntase libre de compartir en sus cuentas de redes sociales. Gracias por tu tiempo ❤️🌻✨

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Este texto es redactado por Hive account@royvego55 y traducido utilizando el traductor de DeepL / This text is written by Hive account@royvego55 and translated using the DeepL translator.

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||| Todos los derechos reservados / All rights reserved / Hive account@royvego55 |||

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Todas las fotografías fueron tomadas y editadas desde mi XIAOMI REDMI 9T / All the photographs were taken and edited from my XIAOMI REDMI 9T