Online shopping in Malaysia

Lazada seems to have everything.
Very good delivery
Good customer service.
Cant go wrong really.

Stuart

I do a LOT of online shopping, but my experience in Malaysia hasn't been all that good. I still do it because I had a minor stroke back in April and shopping (esp for computer hardware) is a bit of a hassle. My main issues with online shopping is that it seems that most of the vendors really don't have local stock and only orders from overseas when they get an order. Thus delivery can be up to 4-6 weeks, whereas back in the US Amazon would never take more than 48-72 hours (sometimes only 24) for pretty much anything you order. The second issue is that unless you live in a condo that has someone to accept delivery on your behalf, have the items sent to your office or someone is always home you end up going to the post office or courier office to collect the item much of the time. If I end up having to go out, fight for parking (remember I had a stroke and walking in Malaysia isn't easy) and queuing at the counter - I might as well go to the shop and buy it myself (which isn't easy at times, esp for something hard to find).

Boy I miss Amazon, probably what I miss most about living in Malaysia.

ETA - Lazada doesn't even come close to Amazon. Their selection is great, but different vendor charge radically different prices (their search engine doesn't help at all in finding the best deal, actually horrible search engine) for the same item. And again delivery time is horrible with some vendors, and great with others. Very inconsistent.

Lazada offers an item from many "shops".  I just got tablets in 2 days     Bought from overseas. Before and had a threatening government letter saying it is illegal and next time I will be fined

So I use lazada exclusively excellent results. Pay with paypal extra security

Ok, several things to say.

Years ago, Lelong.com.my was the only way to buy online and they got quite a bad reputation for cheating customers--you might get something other than what you ordered, or not at all. Lelong as a company offered, and still offers very limited help when you get in trouble. That said, when I bought things from Lelong in recent times, the sellers were more accommodating as to returns and refunds. Lelong has greatly improved due to better selling policies but its not so up to the mark that it can be trusted fully. One of the ways to help ensure a good experience is to ask the seller a question and see how and how fast they reply.  A good answer (and fast) is a very good sign that you have a good seller and will have few problems. One thing bad about Lelong is that sellers sell many fake and cloned items and Lelong doesnt seem to care too much. You have to ask to ensure you are buying a geniune item. Please be careful about this, they are cloning absolutely everything these days.

Lazada was another bad one but they have hugely improved. I buy regularly there and here is why. When you buy and return on Lelong, you pay shipping both ways. On Lazada, most items are free shipping, the same or lower prices than Lelong, and Lazada pays to return the item. After your return, you get a full refund back to you bank account in just a few days. Its pretty efficient, and they have live chat all day to help you. As to who is selling there, its a mix of local and overseas sellers. You can easily see who the seller is and look them up on facebook and see if they are local. The longest I had to wait for an overseas delivery was about 3 weeks and Lazada updates you by email and SMS as to the status of the process. Sometimes I get overseas deliveries in just a few days and have no idea how they did that.

Recently, I found another way too and thats Ebay in USA. When comparison shopping I check local prices with Ebay and noticed that something that sells for RM30 on Lelong, the exact same item is RM5 on Ebay--with free worldwide shipping. Oh yeah? Lets test that. I complete the purchase using my Malaysian address and pay by Paypal. Then I shuttup and wait for the rejection. But it doesnt come, instead I get the item! Well, well! Not only that, sometimes you will see the same seller for RM10 on Ebay, as the seller on Lelong for RM25! Huh? Yes, same guy. So I write to him HERE and ask for a discount and sometimes they agree. Recently, on Ebay I found a set of (6) glass beakers I need for vape mixing. In Malaysia, they dont have the same ones and if you can buy one beaker, its about RM30 plus shipping. The multiset on Ebay was about RM24, free shipping. Mind you, a US-based Ebay seller will not send worldwide for free, but the China sellers do, even though when a China seller says "free shipping" they mean to USA only because the US subsidizes China mailings. But I have done this at least five times in the past few months and got the items.  When looking on Ebay, check the location of the seller and shipping situation. If you are an Ebay member and the advert says china-based and free worldwide shipping, go for it!

There is also 11th Street, eCrater, Etsy, Shopee and other online venues and they should be checked too. Also, in Malaysia there is Carousell.com and they have a lot of stuff, as does Mudah. ALSO, for sure check Facebook because many local sellers with no capital for a website and who want to avoid Lelong and Lazada fees use Facebook for selling, and the same goes for Instagram too. The Facebook sellers tend to be new and less professional but they are hotly competing and want to please customers as best they can.

As for Amazon and other US-based websites, the international situation is always improving and local friends tell me they do get deliveries from US.

There is one more way too, and thats to contact the sales department of the factory that makes your item. Im doing that right now for items I need and they quoting me lower prices than I can buy online in traditional ways.

Personally, Im most interested in the lowest price, not the fastest shipping. If I can save, i'll wait. I realize that many people are the opposite and thats difficult to fulfill. Some sellers are highly motivated for customers and will strive for fast service. But over time I learned here to be patient about shipping and thats from where I got the idea that if I had to wait a while, why not go for lowest price since if I pay more I have to wait anyway!

You might wonder why anyone would buy online instead of in a shop. Many of the prices are lower online, and also the items are not easily available in a shop. Why? Because the sellers dont have the stock. It takes an open eye to see, but whats happening online is that items are advertised where you cannot see that there is no stock. Its just an advert. When a customer comes, the sellers scurry to find the item among their other selling friends and thats how they fulfill orders and why it takes time to get. I just bought some items from KL and it took three weeks to arrive. The seller wasnt lazy to ship, he plain didnt have the stock and had to locate it. Thus, they have no capital investment in their business. Is it cheating? Is it wrong? Well, i always get the items....and save money....

It really pays to shop around. In time, all this will improve to the customers benefit and I definitely have no plan to stop shopping online. It works. Just be careful, ask questions, soon the honest and trustworthy sellers emerge and there are many. People continue to have bad experiences of one kind or the other but they are becoming less and less as the creeps, rascals and liars are steadily pushed out. Not only that, but Malaysia knows it must improve to compete in the world. Maybe soon Amazon will have warehousing on all continents and fulfill orders fast, too. Its all constantly evolving as competition grows and companies strive to stay alive and succeed.

One tip is not to buy from sellers based in Israel, as the goods purchased will not be allowed past customs in Malaysia.

1. www.lazada.com.my.
- New &  Refurbish Item with warranty
- Fast and on time delivery, Return and refund policy during certain period.
- I use for electronic Items as laptops, hard Disk. SSD etc
- having Mobile Apps for IOS and Andriod.
- 100% secure, No cheating.
- Doesn't Allow to contact seller.


2. https://shopee.com.my/
- Any items you can get on cheap and fast  delivery.
- I use this for cloths and shoes.
- having Mobile Apps for IOS and Andriod.
- 100% secure, No cheating.
- Allow to Contact seller and go to their store and buy.

3. www.mudah.my[b]
[b][b]- 2nd hand ( used)/ Brand new item
- Deal direct with seller.
- Warranty by seller individual.
- Pay and collect Item ( COD) or use Post.
- 100% secure  on dealing but warranty I cannot grantee.
- must have knowledge of Item quality before Buy.
- many stores also use this site to sell items. If  Seller have store then its secure. Individual may not be secure on warranty.
- Have Apps for IOS and Andriod.[/b]

4.www.lelong.com.my
- This is same as mudha.my

Hope infos can help to other expats

My favourite site is Lazada. However, there are many inconveniences about their delivery service (Such as the deliver guys do not call me somehow or the items are overdue delivery, the system is slow to update). However, so far, my experiences with them are very good. I likes their interface, and their wide good products. I bought shoes and furniture only in Lazada and they are all good quality.  (mostly they are from international stores so it takes quite long to receive the items but if it is local store then the delivery is fast). What I like most about Lazada is their payment method, you can choose to pay via Alipay, 7Eleven, Samsung pay, etc which is very convenient for me. Their official brand Stores are safely guarantee. Recommended.


I am trying 11street now (mostly they charge shipping fee 6-7RM West Malaysia) while Lazada took care of the shipping fee (most the time). I found that 11street is good for cybersale, or promotion for some items. Not yet saw their delivery service.

Lelong: This is one of the biggest 2nd hand retails, however I find that some used items are higher than Lazada (especial furniture) - Phones and electronic items are cheaper. And I can contact directly to the seller which I can keep track on the delivery of items. Since there is no guarantee, you have to be careful a little bit when buying. I used this to compare price between Lazada. Delivery is faster if the seller is in the same state.

Ezbuy: The shipping fee is very high unless you are in prime list. They are taobao items, so nicely designed products but I am not sure of the quality. I think cheaper products are from home living categories ( comparing to Lazada). I do not recommend for fashion products unless you like very much their designs.  But Furniture, home living decors and office products are especially cheap (+8RM shipping - if you are in prime list - 15.8RM member fee for 5 days and 180RM for whole year). Delivery service takes long since it shipped from oversea (similiar to Lazada international shops).


Shopback: Anyone tries discounts from Shopback. I just found that you can cashback from Shopback when you shop online in Lazada and several official stores. I have not yet tried. Anyone can give review?

Isabella_bell wrote:

I more prefer to buy things on carousell because it has good features which makes our purchase journey more easier like in-app chat reply, recommender and search system. Do u know that Carousell now is planning more artificial intelligence features, such as pricing suggestions and visual suggestions to enhance buying experience?
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=719388

I mostly purchase preloved items on Carousell, but never heard about the new artificial intelligence features. How do these pricing suggestions and visual suggestions enhance our buying experience?

Recently, I found that more and more people like to purchase things on Carousell. I'm curious what is special about Carousell? Is the things sold over there cheaper? Is its app more advanced?

Ive been using Carousell for the past three years to sell stuff, new and secondhand. Ive sold many things but overall im disappointed.

Unlike other platforms, there is no charge to buy or sell there, and no shopping cart or anything.  As a result, sellers and buyers make their own negotiations and have no commitment to doing the right thing or adhering to any rules. They act how they like. Sellers dont always answer messages, buyers promise to bank-in their payment but never do, sellers take their sweet time to ship.

The trouble with things in life that are free is that you get what you pay for. Carousell should be great, everyone should flock there, but instead people arent showing much gratitude for FREE by acting in the most professional way, they take advantage instead or just dont care or something.

I sympathise with the earlier poster who misses Amazon. I am really surprised Amazon has not entered the Malaysia market as I think it would force all the other providers to significantly improve. Coming from the UK I miss the simplicity and customer service with companies like Amazon - their customer service is excellent aswell as their logistics and delivery. But having excellence in the market also means all other companies have to up their game and they do in the UK and US markets.

Here one thing is ordering from companies Lazada and Shopee - their websites are badly designed and the ordering process complicated. The product quality is often questionable and reviews don't really help.

Second is the logistics - I gave up with Shopee as basically the courier POS Lajau I discovered would never call me at the Condo and therefore never deliver and decide to leave it at some other location which would be frustrating.

Lazada - I have to tell them do not use POS Lajau otherwise I cannot order from them because I know I won't receive the item. Even then its not a guarantee that the driver calls me and I get the item.

Third - if anything goes wrong and you want to return it because its faulty or not quite right - then thats another headache and not simple.

Actually most of my neighbours were curious when I ordered online because I feel that most people here don't trust it still. Coming from the UK I am used to buying practically everything online and it being pretty efficient and easy to manage.

To me all of this says there's a major opportunity for companies like Amazon (I am gutted that Uber was bought out by Grab since Uber's customer service was 10 times better but that's a separate discussion) to enter the Malaysian market and I cannot imagine why they have not done it already.

Frankly I simply buy more items when I am in the US or UK and bring them back though since I will be moving back to the UK later in the year I won't need to do that anymore!