Buying big-ticket items on-line-experiences?!?!

[shazdee]

I hope I'm not asking a question that's been asked many times before, but I couldn't find it in any searches! I'm looking into buying a new pram as the one we have is a hand-me-down and not in great condition. We are planning another bub in a year or 2 and are pretty sure it won't last that long and it has no toddler seat option anyway! Living in a rural area I don't have a lot of options-we just have Target, Big W and one specialty baby store to choose from! Target and Big W don't have anything I like so I've done some research on-line and have fallen in love with the Love n Care Uni Coupe. The local baby store are far more interested in selling what they have in stock than ordering one in for me so I was considering maybe buying one on-line. I've looked all over ebay and they are all local pick-up only-with the nearest one being 5 hours drive from here! So I was wondering what experiences other people have had with buying big ticket items like this on-line?! Any recommendations for stores worth considering? I'm aware that I may be up for large shipping costs, but if I can get exactly what I want then I think it's worth it!

[Lisa]

I've bought bassinettes, change tables & safety gates online with no worries at all. Actually the postage wasn't too bad either.
I used pram warehouse... google them.

[Tiff+2]

I bought out cot/ change table set brand new from a business on ebay... It is fantastic and is still in great condition ready for bub when it arrives. The only prob I had was, the lady didn't realise she didn't have it in stock at the time of my purchase, therefore I had to wait 4 weeks for her to get it... 4 weeks turned into 8 and I was getting closer and closer to my EDD, but from the beginning she was upfront and everytime I requested an update she got straight back to me and the offer of a refund was always on the table. I also bought a few smaller things online and had no probs there either!

So all in all, had pretty good experiences!

[Salad]

I brought our cot change table/matt and cot mattress from a store on ebay with no problems at all, a friend of mine has also brought a pram online. I think if you do a little research first then you should be fine obviously with ebay you just check their feedback etc.

[Trillian]

The only problem would be if you needed a warranty replacement it will be a PITA to organise it as you will have to send it somewhere and be without a pram for a while

[mummato1]

I brought my pram from an online store and I am very happy with the service, delivery etc

I also live in a rural area too but I was not happy with the service I received from our nearest baby store an hour away (they were incredibly rude!!!!)

I ended up buying the same pram they had in store (Maclaren), but it was actually cheaper online by $100.00, and postage only cost me $20..(but guessing that would depend where you are) so all up I was still $80.00 better off. Not sure if the store I used stock love n care, but you could google them Glenhuntly Baby Carriages.

[Tygress]

We bought our pram from Glenhuntly Baby Carriages too, the service was great, pram arrived within a week and we got it alot cheaper than stores up here in Qld (including the postage)

[melbel]

I just bought a peg perego pram from Baby Kingdom in Sydney and had it couriered to Melbourne as Baby KIngdom were $550 cheaper than any store here in Melbourne......It cost me just over $70 to have it couriered down fully insured option so I still saved close to $500 at the end of the day......and it was here within days! I highly reccomend e-go as a courier company......

[Jenny1234]

I too have used Glenhuntly before, as it was recomened by a firend, good prices and reasonable postage, reasonable delivery time also.

[shazdee]

I just bought a peg perego pram from Baby Kingdom in Sydney and had it couriered to Melbourne as Baby KIngdom were $550 cheaper than any store here in Melbourne......It cost me just over $70 to have it couriered down fully insured option so I still saved close to $500 at the end of the day......and it was here within days! I highly reccomend e-go as a courier company......

WOW! What a bargain! I've checked Baby Kingdom out, along with Glenhuntly and Pram Warehouse and sadly none of them have the Uni Coupe I have my heart set on. So I've gone back to our local store and finally found someone willing to look into ordering it for me! They got prices for me, then I came home and searched for it on-line just to compare. Some places have it as much as $150 cheaper on-line so I am definately going to go that way, I just have to narrow it down to cheapest postage, delivery times etc so I can decide which way to go! Wish me luck!

[Ellee05]

All of my shopping was done online as where I live we have a small rural IGA and that is it. Being quite remote means shipping prices are often out of the question. I got my pram, car seat and a few other things from pram warehouse online and they were fantastic. However the shipping costs for the cot, changetable were too expensive (the staff were upfront in telling me this, apologising soo much). I ended up getting my big items from better baby deals online as they have free postage anywhere in australia and while you can find things a bit cheaper else where the postage definatley helps. They too were very helpful. I just had a look and they stock the love n care uni coupe and adiva sports.

Hope this helps. Good luck and let us know how you go

[shazdee]

I have to admit I was still nervous about buying something like this on-line despite everyone's praise, but I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go-and I am so glad I did! I got myself a Love n Care Uni Coupe from BabyCare Nursery in Sydney for $171 cheaper than my local store. So even with shipping out here to Western NSW it was still $152 cheaper! I am so pleased with it, so thanks for boosting my confidence-I will definately be recommending on-line buying and doing it in the future!

[Ellee05]

Glad to hear Shazdee!