PETALING JAYA: Online shopping should be easy and convenient but if you live in Malaysia the experience can be anything but that.

Many US webstores — often considered as the best places to shop online — and eBay sellers refuse to ship their items internationally. And when they do, the shipping cost can be quite exorbitant.

Adding to the complexities are webstores that only accept credit cards issued in the United States and clearing local customs, said Tricore Pte Ltd general manager Wong Yee Huei.

As an active online shopper himself, Wong said that there is an amazing range of brands and products available on the Internet that are not found locally.

He also noted that there are plenty of products which are significantly cheaper online even after factoring in the shipping cost.

However despite these interesting facts, many Malaysians shy away from conducting online purchases, he said.

Frustrated, Wong and business partner Lok Kwok Leong, decided to establish vsHub (short for Virtual Shopping Hub). It is a local parcel forwarding service aimed at reducing the hassle of online shopping in the United States.

Once users become a vsHub member they will get a physical US address, which is used as the local shipping address when shopping online before getting the products re-delivered to their home in Malaysia, he said.

Registration is free and you will only be charged once you start using the parcel forwarding service, Wong said.

The costs

vsHub provides two shipping options — standard and express.

Users who opt for the standard shipment option will receive their parcel in six to eight working days from the time shipping payment is received by the company.

For those who can’t wait that long, the express shipment delivery only takes between one to two days.

Shipping costs start from RM76.55 (standard) and RM185.39 (express) for a minimum 500g parcel.

vsHub also allows users to consolidate all their purchases from various websites and get them shipped all in one go to save on shipping costs, he said.

Wong claimed the service rates are competitive.

“If you request shipping directly from a webstore, it could cost you more,” he said.

Plus vsHub uses international freight forwarding services under a corporate rate account, which means cheaper international shipping costs to get the items delivered to Malaysia, he claimed.

Another reason why customers should use their service is because vsHub will help to resolve matters if an item gets stuck in customs, without any extra charges.

“This is unlike purchasing individually where customers would either have to go to the Customs Department by themselves or pay others such as Pos Malaysia to do it on their behalf,” he said.

A concierge service

The company also plans to introduce a concierge service to enable customers who don’t own a credit card to purchase items online.

“This will also alleviate the problem of buying from US webstores which do not accept non-US credit cards,” he said.

Once customers pay the amount to the company (cash, cheque or local credit card), vsHub will purchase the item on their behalf and get it shipped to their doorstep.

Thanks to mostly word of mouth advertisements from satisfied members, vsHub has a membership of about 1,000 currently, Wong said. He expects the number to swell to 5,000 by year end.

The company was established in Singapore as the duo wanted to take advantage of tapping into both markets simultaneously.

It plans to extend its current services to include webstores in Great Britain, Taiwan and South Korea to enable Malaysians to buy and ship items directly from these countries.

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www.vshub.com