Lolita Charm: Angelic Pretty Happy Pack!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Angelic Pretty Happy Pack!

So, after watching too much Sex and the City and still up at 2 a.m., I see the note on my friends' list - Angelic Pretty has new happy packs for sale on the English web page! I'm staring at the pink, impulse-buy goodness that could bring me untold value - but at the price of being an unplanned purchase. Should I? Shouldn't I? The endless debate.

Lolita shopping has an entire extra dimension that regular shopping mostly forgoes - the urgency and sense of a ticking clock. When I'm shopping at the regular mall, I might spot a top. I might look at the price tag, hem, haw, and then put it back. Three weeks later I'm back in the shop and hemming. Enough so that I think, 'Damn girl, just buy the shirt!' That's my preferred shopping method. But between the lolitas basic shopping options: online postings at 3 a.m., auctions, private sale, and the fact that quantities are limited or even one of a kind - the pressure is on. I feel like a girl on a game show, hand on the buzzer. Can I call a friend?

And as usual, there's a lightening round. Are you receiving an error message? Is there the possibility that there are twelve lucky packs hiding out in your shopping card, setting you up for unknown dollars of debt? It's like survival of the fittest - and by fit we mean both lucky and with funds. Will you be left packless and perusing the sales community, or will you be one of the blessed who can join in on the mass, virtual opening party?

Lucky Packs. They're just endless fun, aren't they?

I ordered my Angelic Pretty Happy Pack this season, but with a twist - I used the international/English website, a new experience for me. Almost all of my Angelic Pretty is bought secondhand or from other venues, like Starry Candybox. Here are my impressions:

The actual shopping process was decent. You used as drop-down menu and cart, and then checked out (other girls got error messages or various shopping problems, but as I didn't, I can't comment on that in this review). It's when it was time to pay that things got interesting.

The international webpage uses a third party shopping system called JapanStores. You'll need to make an account with them if you don't have one already, and they select both your username and password (which are just nonsense characters, so it's important that you save the email they send you and just copy & paste it to log in). After they confirm that your happy pack is in stock, you get an email saying that you have a JapanStores message. You must then log in to your JapanStores account (use your email, remember) and view the message. It gives you a total, Paypal address, and an account number. You send them a direct transfer with your Paypal, and must include the invoice and account number in the 'comments section' or else you've just sent them money for nothing. I'm slightly put out by the lack of invoice and the direct transfers. Confused yet?

After that, you wait with baited breath for the next week while Angelic Pretty mails your package to JapanStores' warehouse. When the warehouse receives it, they send you another special JapanStores message, telling you how much to directly send them for shipping costs. This really hit me for a loop. I paid $66 USD for shipping, which seems to be some sort of mafia-worthy crime. Then you are sent a tracking number when the package actually ships. I ended up with some kind of error and therefore had no idea when my package would arrive. But, it arrived less than three days after paying for shipping!

In my opinion, it is a very complex shopping system that charges extra fees for being a third party. I am definitely discouraged from using the international website again - hiring a personal shopper or shopping service is probably the same or cheaper, and without the run-around or insecurity of direct payments. The only upside was the very fast shipping, but that was offput by the amount of money I paid for it.

Here's the contents of my Happy Pack. It is a pink jumperskirt with net lace, a net lace detachable sleeves blouse, a pink cardigan with crystal buttons, pink socks, and a pink hairbow. It also came with this prototype Angelic Pretty bear plushie, who has some kind of product code embroidered on her foot! I named her Moko :)

And everything came in a giant, zippable eco-bag with the Angelic Pretty dotted-bow logo - perfect for me to take on overnights and on the plane, as it packs up and then could expand as an extra carry-on. Is it very odd that I'm just as excited about the packaging as I am the contents?!

I'm very happy with it. I desperately needed a new white blouse, and a new cardigan, and a new pink jumperskirt. It's hard for me to believe I didn't have any pink dresses for the past few months! The only thing I'm not found of is the matching bow - it's a head-eater, and doesn't sit quite straight.

Here's the result, by the way...

Have a happy Happy Pack time! ♥

Labels: review, shopping

10 Comments:

At January 31, 2010 at 10:33 PM , Mariko said...: That is so cute! I love the jsk.
At January 31, 2010 at 10:35 PM , Anonymous said...: So much pink- love it!
At February 1, 2010 at 1:13 AM , PinkJucie said...: lucky >< i am so poor right now
At February 1, 2010 at 4:09 AM , Darkmaid said...: I have the same LP but i dont fit... im to fat!
I hope ill lose some weigh and can feel like a princess too^^
At February 1, 2010 at 8:03 AM , ~NiKi~ said...: oh I dod not know that the process was as difficult. In that case I prefer to order in the japanese website with an intermediary. There are more stock and everything :3
Well, you are so cute with the pack!
Kisses!
At February 1, 2010 at 11:10 AM , Hello Naka said...: ahh im looking at some pinklolita clothes atm :3

i love ur photos ^^
At February 1, 2010 at 1:14 PM , Psu said...: How lucky! You got an adorable pack!

I've bought from the AP english site and YES, is so complex, and the shipping cost are just OMGITHURTS.
But well, when the package arrives, I forget everything ♥ ♥ ♥ lol
At February 2, 2010 at 3:11 PM , Anonymous said...: Yeah, I bought the Starry Night Theater pink headbow from the international site and had to go through that process. What a pain!

But the stuff you got is very cute ^.^
At February 3, 2010 at 2:55 PM , Nikki said...: Ah Victoria I love your pack, I wish I had money to buy one ;.; all the lovely cute and pink <3
At May 9, 2010 at 11:31 AM , Anonymous said...: I also got this AP LP. The shipping price was a shocker, I guess the bigger box and weight of the teddy bear made it more to ship? Here are my photos of the LP and me wearing it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arsenic_and_old_lace/sets/72157623457430462/
And more photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnittoli/sets/72157623970488280/

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Angelic Pretty Happy Pack!

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