Online Shopping from Pakistan: An Overview of shipping options

You must be Overseas.. if you are reading this …

Sitting in walaet means you look forward to your annual visit back to Pakistan, to stock up on clothing essentials. While long shirts and pants are easily available here in Canada, there is no such thing more fun like walking the market, and getting dazzled by prints and combos. Of course, this luxury of annual trip back home is more a reality for people in the Middle East, than the ones in North America and most of the west.

Present day brings us to the wonderful miracle of ‘Online Shopping’. Though a little late, Pakistani designers have caught up with the trend, and often offer lucrative incentives like ‘free shipping’ to get you to purchase an item online. This does pose as a benefit for many, including myself, who sadly has not visited Pakistan in the last few years.

A quick trip to the websites of well-known Pakistani Brands allowed me to browse the shipping offers at various top Pakistani brands. The ones I checked out are:

Khaadi , Sapphire ,  BeechTree , Elan, Gul Ahmed , Bareeze , Chinyere

International Shipping Overview

To simplify, I decided to check out the rates and deals on shipping on some of the common brands shipping Internationally. All charges are in USD: United States Dollar. At this specific moment, this is what I found:

•  BeechTree
  • They offer free shipping on a purchase of 100 USD. Sadly no option to mark it as a ‘gift’, so no clarity on the custom you will be charged on arrival.
• Khaadi
  • They offer free shipping on a purchase of 200 USD. There is however an option to write a gift message, and to leave a comment. You may use that to write them instruction to remove tags and mark it as a gift. Again, no clarity of the custom you may get charged on arrival.
• Sapphire
  • They offer free shipping on a purchase of 100 USD. There is a comment section, so you can use that to write an instruction to remove tags. There was option to use regular mail or DHL (with additional charge) .Again, no clarity of the custom you may get charged on arrival.
• Elan
  • This is a premium point price brand, so they have not kept any minimum for free shipping. That said, the regular mail costs approx. 20 USD, while DHL express is for about 115 USD. For such special clothes, I would stick to DHL.
  • I did not find any place for special instructions, so could not ask it to be marked as gift. That said, maybe an email to them would help with this.
• Gul Ahmed
  • I did not find any information on free shipping globally.
  • On adding items to the cart, they offered me 24 USD charge on using DHL to ship my items. However, this was minimal. When my purchase exceeded 200 USD, the shipping went up.
  • Again, no option to give instructions or choose gift option
• Bareeze
  • This website is what you are looking for, if you want just plain fabric. No stitched items are listed.
  • Honestly, I did not go into their shipping, as I would rather check out stitched items.
  • No information on free shipping internationally.
• Chinyere
  • One of my favorite formals, they offer no special shipping offer.
  • Their shipping rates start from 15USD, and continue upwards as per the price of the item in the cart.
  • There is however, ‘Order notes’ which you may use to give instruction to make it a gift.

Of course this is not a complete list, and I am sure more brands are there. Do leave a comment below, so I can check and add other brands who may be shipping to Canada.

Tips to a better online Shopping

• Considering that the price of most formal shirts is under 100 USD, you might feel pressurized to buy more than one item.As most shirts and bottoms come seperate now, you may be able to reach the 100 USD figure by buying both.
• Another trick can be to purchase with a friend. This may save you both in terms of shipping and total amount paid. This works well if you are only planning to purchase one item.
• Take the opportunity to purchase for the family. I am able to reach the free shipping limit by adding in items for the hubby and kids.
• While on the website, take the opportunity to look for other items. Sometimes the Sales will have items that you are getting a good deal on.
• Another way to reach the limit is to look at the other collections offered. I see that most brands are now offering Accessories and Home Decor. You might find a unique piece which you weren’t even looking for!
• Finally, why not use that moment to be an entrepreneur! If you see that there is a demand for a certain brand, make your purchase with that in mind and use social media like Facebook to sell it when it comes. A good tip is to stick to size ‘Medium’ as those sell quickly. Plus, you offer the convenience of not waiting for the shipping to come in.

So here you have it ladies! Lets get shopping before Eid, to rock the new look of the season this year, without waiting to first go to Pakistan to stock up!