Testing testing: the Borderlinx concierge service

One of the drawbacks of online shopping is when you see something you like and click ‘Add To Cart’, and after you’ve painstakingly typed in your name, address and credit card number, they tell you that they’re sorry, but “this item can only be shipped to destinations within the United States”. Then comes the time for choice expletives. Worse, this usually serves to increase your desire for the unattainable object.

Familiar, yes? This happened to me over this clutch below.

That’s a Lauren Merkin Tatum clutch, in dark brown serpent-embossed lambskin, which I found on the Gilt Groupe site, but GG is another story for another day. Thanks to Chanel, I find that the word ‘lambskin’ now oozes buttery-soft, supple decadence, about on par on the swank scale with ‘foie gras entier’ or ‘Godiva couverture’. And Lauren Merkin - that’s a brand that makes bags and accessories. I’m very drawn to it because it uses rich and sometimes unexpected materials to create bags in clean, simple and classic styles. In addition to the usual lizard and croc prints, there are also metallic and woven leathers, in gridded, tiled or marbled patterns, as well as fabrics like silk, crochet and even raffia. Every girl needs a timeless and match-everything baggie that she’d proudly wear to leisurely lunches and weekend high teas, non?

Furthermore, Gilt Groupe has a sale on this particular clutch. Its original price was US$325, but it is now US$138. When I saw that, the Finding Nemo seagulls flocked into my head - y’know, the ones that go, “Mine? Mine?” 

So of course this had to be one of those sites that do not deliver outside the US. Not only that, they do not even accept credit cards with billing addresses outside the US. Grrr.

Enter Borderlinx, which is just the thing to combat this problem. This is a site that gives you a US, as well as a UK, shipping address, so that your favourite ang moh sites will have an address that they can send your stuff to. Then Borderlinx DHLs your purchases back to Singapore. Registration is free, and they charge only if and when you actually use their services. Furthermore, Borderlinx has a concierge service that acts as middleman if your card doesn’t have a US/UK billing address. You just leave details of the site and your object of desire, and they will process it for you.

There are caveats: first and foremost, only Citibank card members get to register on Borderlinx. Secondly, the concierge service only operates during office hours, so there is a chance that the apple of your eye might still slip away.

Still, that’s better than nothing, eh?

So, in the new Home Of The Manx style of bold bag-related adventures, I have actually placed an order with the Borderlinx concierge services for this Lauren Merkin Tatum clutch. I have no idea if it will come to fruition, because the sale started on the weekend, and I am crossing my fingers that Borderlinx gets there before the last piece runs out. It doesn’t help that the time difference between there and here makes things pretty much the other way around. Brrr.

Let’s see what happens.