Rakuten’s Play.com is an online market place offering a huge range of products from a huge range of merchants, all conveniently located in one place. You can find a huge selection of music, films and games, but they also sell gifts, gadgets, toys, books, clothing, baby products, electronics, sports goods and home appliances. Whatever you are looking for, will most likely be available to buy through Rakuten’s Play.com. Searching for a particular product brings up all merchants who offer it for sale, or you can shop directly at a particular seller's shop. There is free delivery across the site, which is safe and secure meaning you can shop in confidence.
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| A 3D Film for Kizzy £13.10 |
At first, I was slightly intimidated by all the different sellers on the site, all selling the same products at different prices. However, I soon twigged that that would mean I'd get the cheapest price possible from the merchant offering the best deal Win, win! It really was quite easy to search for the DVD, CD, game or band merchandise I was looking for and pick the best priced item from the results list. The listing tells you whether the item is in stock, its condition (some second hand goods are available from some sellers) and the vendor's dispatch details. So you know exactly what you're getting.
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| The Best of Keane £9.04 |
Each seller is given feedback from previous customers and their positive feedback score is displayed as a percentage, inspiring confidence. Each product has a description and you can see reviews left by other buyers, which can be helpful.
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| The Killers T-shirt for Ian £5.00 |
Each purchase earns you SuperPoints, which are redeemable against future purchases. Every £1 gets you 1 SuperPoint which is worth 1p. You can redeem them as full or part payment against any other purchase you make. Special offers are often available allowing you to earn even more points on purchases. It is really easy to redeem the points at the check out where you are given the opportunity to put any number of your accumulated points against your purchase price.
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| Now That's What I call Movies £13.97 |
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| A Chart CD for Megan £11.41 |
My account was credited with some SuperPoints giving me the chance to experience the Rakuten’s Play.com website firsthand. I searched for each product I wanted, which brought up a list of the merchants offering that product. It was completely straightforward and efficient. When you click on the 'Buy Now' button the item is added to your shopping basket. This means that every item you buy, regardless of the number of merchants you have used, goes into the same basket making checking out and tracking orders really simple.
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| A game for the boys to play £14.66 |
Payment is taken for all items together, but you receive separate confirmation from each merchant via email detailing your purchase and keeping you up to date on the delivery. The pricing is all very competitive, and having the choice of merchant means you get the best possible value. Free delivery is standard which is a real bonus.
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| A T-shirt for Ella £14.95 |
Within a few days the packages began arriving at my door, individually sent from each seller I purchased from. This means you don't have to wait for your whole order to all be ready before it is sent, so you receive each item as quickly as possible. Some sellers are faster than others, but by logging onto your account you can track your parcels.
All the items that have arrived are exactly as described and have come well packaged. After four days since ordering, I have one package that is yet to be dispatched from the warehouse, but everything else has arrived or is in the post.
Overall, the Rakuten’s Play.com shopping experience has been excellent. The site is easy to navigate and to search, checking out is very user friendly, communication and service is outstanding and delivery is good. I loved browsing through the different stores such as The Works, The Entertainer, Bigjigs, Joe Browns and Zavvi via the Merchant Directory, but tended to shop via searching for a particular product. However, earning SuperPoints is a great incentive to click through to your favourite shops through Rakuten’s Play.com and something I'll be using now I know about this perk.
My best bargain was The Killers official T-Shirt which cost just £5.00, a tiny price to pay for official band merchandise! There are some real bargains to be found through browsing the site.
You can find all the items that I bought (pictured in this post) plus thousands more at Rakuten’s Play.com with free delivery in the UK. Rakuten’s Play.com really is a great one stop shop for Christmas shopping and I am very happy with my experience and my brilliant haul of family gifts!
Thanks to Tots100 and Rakuten’s Play.com.