eBags.com

Full review
I recently needed to get a bag to carry my new laptop. I did an internet search and located a great leather bag that would fit my laptop perfectly at ebags. While shopping around, I also located a great soccer bag for my daughter.

MERCHANDISE

Ebags carries all types of bags, including laptop bags, purses, luggage, backpacks, sports bags and almost any other type of bag you can think of. There are bags for for all family members, including children. There is also a decent selection of small leather goods including portfolios and business card holders.

The merchandise is right up the middle for price. There is no prada or fendi here. There is also limited fashion stuff. If you want a black leather laptop bag or a samsonite diaper bag, look here. If you want the latest trend, look elsewhere.

WEB SITE

The web site did a good job of sorting items so you could find what you are looking for. The site itself has limited graphics and is not the most beautiful site out there. My one complaint is that product descriptions were missing from some items so I had to go to another site to find a description of the item I was looking for. There are some independent customer reviews of some items but many of them seemed suspiciously upbeat.

ORDERING

I found that the ordering process was pretty easy and I only had to enter my information once.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I got an email acknowledging my order. I also got an email when my items shipped. My items were sent in two shipments from two different warehouses.

SHIPPING

I ordered two items on October 29. After I placed my order, I got an email that stated one item was supposed to arrive on November 5 and the other on November 9. Already I was disappointed because 11 days is a long time to wait for an internet purchase. My items seemed to leave the warehouse within 1 day based on my shipping emails.

My first item arrived on November 4 - only 5 days after I placed my order and ahead of the schedule Ebags predicted. My second item arrived on November 8, nine days after I placed my order and also ahead of the date Ebags predicted.

Overall, I was a little disappointed in the shipping time. In my view, if I pay for shipping, particularly when I pay a markup on shipping, I think my items should arrive in less than a week. Nine days for one item is rather long.

PACKAGING

Packaging could not be more minimal. My leather laptop bag came in the manufacturer's packaging. There was no additional plastic or cardboard to protect it. The manufacturer's packaging was thin cardboard. It arrived crushed but intact. The contents were not breakable and arrived in good condition.

The second item arrived in a thick plastic bag. The item was not breakable so this packaging was sufficient.

STEALS AND DEALS

This is a site that offers lots of internet coupons. I searched around and easily found coupons for 10% off, 15% off and free shipping. The trick is to find the coupon that works best for your purchase. Sometimes it is better to get a percentage off, sometimes it is better to get free shipping.

Upromise is also currently offering a rebate of 6%, but these things change frequently, so check the rebate sites before making a purchase.

I signed up for email notifications and almost immediately got a coupon for free shipping.

Overall, the coupons issued by ebags are confusing. Most can't be combined and, if you search around, you can collect quite a variety of offers. Collecting coupon codes and figuring out the best deal for my purchase took an extra 15 minutes of shopping time.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

My experience at ebags was pretty good. The shopping and ordering process was easy. My items took a little longer to arrive than I expected but it wasn't too bad. The packaging was a little disappointing but my items arrived in good condition so it worked out all right. I would recommend the site.




DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP ON THE INTERNET? HERE ARE SOME MORE REVIEWS OF WEB STORES:

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Clothing and Home Goods: Land’s End; Bluefly; Soft Surroundings; Garnet Hill; Sundance; L.L. Bean.

Home and Garden: Smith & Noble; Restoration Hardware; Gardener’s Supply Company; Unicahome; Homeclick; FaucetDirect; Gardens Alive; West Elm; Crate & Barrel; MyKnobs.

Books and Magazines: Amazon.com; ValueMags; Magazine Values; Dover Publications.

Office Supplies, Furniture and Services: Staples; Officemax; Topdeq; Efax.

Electronics: HP Shopping; Buy.com.

Travel: Amtrak; Hotwire; Orbitz; Hotels.com.

Discount: Overstock.com; Target.

Photo Developing: Shutterfly; Snapfish.

Baby Stuff: Babystyle; Baby’s Here Birth Announcements; Baby Universe; SoZo.

Miscellaneous: 1-800 contacts; Movie Tickets.com; Drugstore.com.

Rebate Sites: Upromise; Ebates.