Celebrating Birthdays with Splitcha – Orders Across Borders

AD – This post is a review of Splitcha

Have you ever tried to send birthday gifts abroad? Challenging right? Not anymore!! I recently discovered a fab new service called Splitcha – that allows you to buy presents just like a local; taking advantage of their network of shoppers all across the globe. Stress free, efficient and with a very, very happy recipient at the end, I would definitely recommend Splitcha to take the hassle out of international postage.

Read on to learn more!

Long-Distance Friendship

I met my best friend Lisa on my very first day of senior school. I arrived, lost and late to our first ever Humanities class (is that even still a thing?!) and there was just one seat left, next to her. She smiled reassuringly as I sat down, even helping me scoop up all my pens when they catapulted out of my rucksack and landed all over the floor. Two peas in a pod, we very quickly became the best of friends and saw each other as often as we could, supporting each other through all of life’s ups and downs including break ups, make ups, birthdays, hen dos, weddings, funerals and even babies.

The only difference is, Lisa now lives with her family on the other side of the planet in Perth, Australia *sob*

Whilst our friendship is now long distance, we’re still as close as ever. I cherish the moments when once or twice a year she  heads back for 3-4 weeks at a time, but this year, sadly COVID has put pay to our plans. Her plans to visit this Summer were cancelled, so when I realised that we wouldn’t be celebrating her birthday together as we’d hoped, I wanted to send her a special gift instead. I had heard about Splitcha via Instagram, a site which promised shopping across the globe with ease – or their tagline – ‘orders across borders’ and was very intrigued! Could this be the answer to my international posting frustrations?!

The frustrations of mailing presents abroad

If you have ever tried to send gifts to someone who lives on the other side of the world, you will know just how frustrating it can be! With the current climate and the challenges of social distancing and restricted opening times, things have only got worse!

Here are some of my frustrations of sending parcels abroad:

• Limitations – First up, there are limitations on what you can send. Each country will have their own unique list of prohibited and restricted items – the most obvious one being you usually cant send alcohol – which lets face it – most parents need after working for home or in a COVID lockdown climate for some time!
• Lack of surprise – When you send a parcel to Australia, you have to write on the packaging whats inside the parcel, which is incredibly frustrating. Whilst you can try and be vague and write something like ‘clothing’ or ‘stationery’ it somewhat ruins the surprise!
• Time & Expense – Sending a parcel to Australia can be time consuming. First you need to search to try and find the cheapest parcel delivery companies and get quotes, stand in a long socially distanced post office queue or wait in for a courier to collect. International postage can also be really expensive.
• Packaging – As if the cost of postage wasn’t enough, you also have to ensure it is strongly packaged in order to survive its journey. Queue big boxes, parcel tape and lots and lots of bubble wrap! There is also a tendency to pick smaller items for your gifts, simply because they are easier to post.
• Delay – Posting parcels to Australia can be slow and take a significant amount of time, meaning you have to plan your purchases well in advance. With many of us struggling to remember what day it is (let alone month!) at the moment; this forwarding planning doesn’t come with ease!
• No Guarantees – When sending parcels internationally there is often no guarantee when your recipient will receive your parcel, if at all. If you want a guarantee that it’ll arrive on time, it costs even more!
• There is no doubt about it – It is EXHAUSTING.

In the words of Splitcha, why not let someone do all the hard work for you, and shop like a local – because they ARE a local? We decided to put Splitcha to the test using it to send Lisa a gift in Perth. Whilst this is a blog review, its worth pointing out here that the owners of Splitcha had no idea which sellers or location I would be choosing, and as such, is as authentic as an experience as you can get!

What is Splitcha – Orders Across Borders?

Splitcha is a new service that allows you to connect with shoppers all over the world to get whatever you want, where ever you need it – and quickly. Unlike relying upon international deliveries, Splitcha allows you to shop like a local and send from a local destination, meaning your gifts get to your recipient much faster and more efficiently than they would from home.

How does Splitcha Work? 

1. Find your Shoppers – To use Splitcha, you first need to search the network of shoppers for the location of your choice – in my case Australia. Splitcha have sellers based all across the globe, so chances are unless you are attempting to send somewhere really bizarre, they will have people who can help.
2. Message Shoppers – Once you have found some shoppers in the area you are sending to, pop them a message with what you are looking for, or ask them to recommend based on their knowledge and expertise. It is recommended you contact a few different sellers for suggestions. There is no commitment to buy, but this allows you to consider a range of ideas before making a decision about whether to proceed.
3. Wait for Shoppers to respond – Sit back and relax whilst waiting for your shoppers to respond. No research, no parcel tape, just let someone else do the hard work for you!
4. Review Suggestions – Shoppers will respond on Splitcha with suggestions based on your requirements. Here you can review and suggest any amendments you may like to make.
5. Review Order – Once you are happy to proceed, review the order confirmation sent by the shopper and process the payment via Splitcha’s secure on site payments. Reassuringly, you only get charged once the recipient has received their gift.
6. Order placed – Your shopper buys your order and delivers it where you want it.
7. Order Received – Your recipient will soon receive their gift – a lot sooner than they would have when posted from home!
8. Payment – Payment is taken and includes a 12% commission which covers platform fees and transaction charges and a small buyer fee.

Our Experience of Splitcha – Orders across Borders

I used Splitcha to send Lisa a birthday package to Perth. I had two rough ideas of what I was looking for and a maximum budget (including fees) that I was willing to spend. One of my options included alcohol, which I wouldn’t have been able to send from the UK.

I contacted 3 different sellers all based in Australia, two of which responded and one didn’t, so presumably they weren’t in the market to shop at that particular time. The other two responses were very timely and one particularly impressed me with her approach.

The shopper I decided to proceed with was called Rhonda and replied within just a few hours stating she would come back to me with some suggestions based on my requirements. She then sent back detailed ideas with specific products and all the costs broken down for both of my options. I was really impressed. She had clearly taken some time to select some products that matched my requirements and even thought about things like presentation boxes and a hand written card! This made it really personal and is something that I would have probably forgotten!

After deciding to go ahead with the 2nd of her suggestions (wine and luxury chocolates), I wanted a couple of changes to some of the products (she suggested some mint chocolate which I knew Lisa wouldn’t be keen on). She happily swapped this for something else; giving me a few options to choose from; and the choice was hard as they all sounded so lovely!

Once I was happy with the final order, I proceeded to make the payment, with buyer protection and peace of mind that I wouldn’t be charged until Lisa had received her parcel.

Rhonda then dropped me another message to say the parcel had been sent, and another to let me know when it was expected to arrive, and this was a really nice touch. She’d even taken the time to find out what would happen if Lisa wasn’t at home when it was delivered, which again I felt was a really thoughtful thing to do. It was reassuring to know I could message Rhonda through Splitcha messages at any time if I had any questions or concerns.

The delivery of Lisa’s present was AMAZINGLY fast, I arranged payment on the Tuesday and Lisa received it just 3 days later – clearly that would NEVER have happened normally (in all likelihood she would probably still be waiting now!!).

Lisa’s reaction was lovely and it was such a welcomed surprise. She was chuffed to bits with the wine (who wouldn’t be) and said the chocolates were a real luxury treat.

Once received, my transaction was finalised on Splitcha and I was able to send feedback to the seller to thank her for her time and support. 

Our Overall Thoughts on Splitcha

I was so happy with my Splitcha experience. It was all so easy and I found my seller to be really pleasant and helpful. There was no hassle, no stress and the postage itself was super efficient.

At the moment in particular, working from home with two kids in tow, I simply haven’t got the time to source suppliers, arrange packaging and queue at the post office and often my purchase decisions for birthdays are made right at the last minute.

I think the budget side is really important, and probably the only slight critique of Splitcha is that the cost side can get a bit confusing when buying outside of Europe. The products and prices given by Rhonda were in Australian dollars but you pay via Splitcha in Euros, but it’s really not difficult to do a quick conversion on google to keep an eye on what you are paying, so for me this wasn’t a big concern. I would however recommend giving a maximum budget to the shopper (in the local currency) to help them when selecting products.

Using Splitcha really took the pressure off and even with the admin fees and charges, I would definitely use it again, as I felt this was a small price to pay for the benefit! With shopper fees, Splitcha charges and postage (from mainland Australia) my total fees were £13.20, which is less than I would have paid to post and package a parcel here, but without any of the challenges I would normally experience.

I love the Splitcha concept, and with so many of us separated from the people we love at the moment, its a great way to keep in touch, stay connected and celebrate special occasions from afar!

You can learn more about Splitcha on their website HERE.