Have you ever...?

Have you ever bought something online as it seemed to be a great bargain...but then you started to wonder if you had done the right thing. Remember the saying, 'if it's too good to be true...it probably is!'

Well this happened to me a little while back. A former student of mine is a physiotherapist and last year she recommended the Frankie 4 brand footwear. I checked out the website here after that recommendation and liked what I saw. Much of the business operates online but there are a few retailers who stock a limited range. The website's list of stockists showed a podiatry practice in a nearby suburb. But in March this year when I decided to look at buying a pair of shoes, they had obviously moved and the website needed updating. Now the range of these shoes is small and most retail at over $200...so it's a big investment in my view. My now battered Homyped Mary Janes, which have been my comfortable shoes since 2011 need 'retiring'; they had cost $130 and have been 'brilliant'. Regular readers would have seen them on my feet in most of our travel photos. 

I regularly get the Frankie4 newsletter and so it was, that one day an email arrived saying there was a sale. A small number of shoes in the range were selling for $59 instead of $209. What a great way to try out this brand I thought...so quick as a wink, I went to the website, a few clicks, and I had bought a pair.

It was next day I started wondering about the huge discount...was it a scam? I really thought that I'd been a bit stupid. This was the weekend...on the Monday a 'parcel man' delivered a package...

This box was inside the satchel...not just any old shoe box though...it slides like a drawer!

I tried on the shoes straight away...but they were a bit tight. But that's no problem with the Frankie 4 brand. Each pair of shoes comes with a series of inserts of different sizes and thickness (functional footbeds). The shoes had come with the full length insert already in place. I took the full inner soles out...

And I put the half inner soles in the shoes instead...still not quite right, so in goes the 'front' half inner soles in...one shoe needed 2 and the other shoe only needed 1 to be comfortable...

I decided not to use the ankle straps...

And then I walked around the house getting used to my new shoes...I loved them straight away...the instep support was just right for me and the rounded toe of the shoe meant my toes weren't squashed. 

Phew! So the bargain was for real and I got a very good deal. 

Today I went to Big W ( part of the Woolworth's chain but a department style of store) to buy a pair of slippers...I came home with 2 pairs...cheap and cheerful...and I love them too :-)

The tale of the Christmas Train...

A few weeks ago, DD1 announced that although 'she wasn't that fussed about Christmas', she thought that she might like one of those train sets that are meant to circle around the Christmas tree. As someone who is increasingly flummoxed as to what to buy these adult children of ours and usually ends up buying gift cards or stuffing cash into a greeting card, I was immediately on alert here...possible present???

DD1 had been checking out Ebay and other online options but said the trains were often quite expensive. Then just last week, DH and I popped into Big W...and saw these...

I took a photo with the phone and sent the photo to her...mmm looked okay but maybe she needed to see it up closer. Then a day or so later I heard about a Christmas shop at Virginia so suggested that she and I might take a drive there and look at train sets. We did that last Friday morning...it's a big shop!

It was a very large shop! It was filled with all sorts of decorations as well as paper plates, serviettes etc. We looked through all the display stands of baubles which were all grouped by colour...There were cuddly toys, nutcracker soldiers, wind up toys, bells, and what seemed like kilometres of sequins and tinsel ! lol

The blow up Santa pictured below would have been nearly as tall as our house!

There was one section of the shop that was filled with Christmas trees and all sorts of  Christmas lights...

 There were lovely animated Christmas toys/decorations...

And there were 2 types of train set...they looked beautiful...but were a bit expensive DD1 decided. 

Eventually we had done enough looking around the shop and we went to the counter to pay for a small pack of glittery snowflakes that DD1 had bought and this was my big purchase...lol

On Saturday, DD1 went to Big W to have a look at the train set there...she liked it so DH and I went to our local store and bought her one...this morning she came over to collect it as I thought she should have it before Christmas...

Firstly, a large flat surface is needed here for unpacking...

I think that she likes it!

This was her favourite wagon (below) with the elves and blogger and I are fighting over which way the photo should be...Blogger won!

 This is the back of the box...

DD1 then went home to set up her new Christmas decoration... she sent me a video via Facebook and you could hear train noises and also the train played Christmas carols. She also sent a video of the train travelling in a darkened room...and the headlight came on...cute as!

Result: one very happy daughter and a mother who has given a gift that pleased!
Now possibly the set at the Christmas Shack was better quality but possibly it was made in the same Chinese factory. Maybe Big W brokered a special deal as the box of the one we bought says 'Imported by Big W'. The bottom line is that the Big W one was just over half the cost of the other set. I guess only time will tell.