Shopping and Saving on Books at NoQ Store

It is no secret that I love buying books. When I see a good title, I simply cannot resist. With the proliferation of online bookstores with selections wider than you'd find in a physical bookstore, with lower prices to boot, I've been happily buying and (as I tell my husband) SAVING MONEY. Ah, love it when I can use that line!

So the latest bookstore that I've been saving money at is NoQ Store. For the uninitiated, NoQ Store is the online bookstore of the Times Publishing Group, one of the most reputable names in publishing, printing, distribution and retail in this part of the world. It shouldn't be surprising then to know that NoQ Store offers a touted 14 million titles and boasts the cheapest book prices in Asia. All your favourite books, stationery, and reading accessories are available at your fingertips without the hassle of heading out the the store and queuing. (Hence their name: "No Queue" - geddit?)

I made several purchases from NoQ Store and here is what I thought. 

What I like about NoQ Store:

• Wide Range
  One of NoQ Store's major selling points has to be the range of books and reading paraphernalia available. There are fiction and non-fiction titles for the whole family, sorted into 37 categories which you can readily browse. There are also two special categories that I found useful: 
  
  -- Special Feature where you can find the bestsellers and staff picks, and books of particular interest. Like Geronimo Stilton and Lego, for example, which my son love.
  -- Bargain Books need no further explanation. Here you'll find the cheapest books and the ones with the deepest discounts. 
  
  If you're looking for something specific, pop that in the search bar to call it out. Aside from books, NoQ Store also stocks textbooks and assessment books, magazines, stationery like notebooks, journals and notepads, diaries, calendars and e-book readers.
  
• Great Promotions and Offers
  The prices you find at NoQ Store are very competitive and lower than what you can find in bookstores around town. These are also frequently augmented by special discounts and offers, which come around fairly regularly. I scooped up a bunch of Little Golden Books during a recent Easter promotion and got a further 20% off the books, which were already very affordably priced at $4.19 each (before GST). I was chuffed to find that these offers make the already good prices even better!

• Free Shipping (with a minimum $25 purchase)
  Even with the low prices, shipping within Singapore is free with a minimum purchase of $25, which I believe isn't difficult to meet. If your order comes up to less that $25, shipping within Singapore is just a flat rate of $5. The books took about 14 days to arrive, which is comparable to other similar online bookstores.
• Doorstep Delivery
  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the even though shipping was free, my books were delivered via courier right to my doorstep instead of being unceremoniously shoved into my letterbox. The books in the box were beautifully wrapped in brown paper and arrived in pristine condition. I was also alerted to when they would be delivered via SMS.  

What I was not so keen on:

• Reflected Prices do not include GST
  Do bear in mind that the prices of the books reflected on the website do not include GST, which is tagged on at the end when you checkout. So if you're making a comparison across different bookstores, you might want to account for this in your calculations.
  
• Post-purchase Out-Of-Stock Notification
  I placed two orders and both times I was informed after my order had been placed that a book was out-of-stock. My order total was adjusted accordingly and I was not charged for the out-of-stock books and did not need to seek a refund. I guess I suffered no loss save the disappointment of having my hopes of getting a much-sought-after book crushed. I personally would much rather be told at the outset if a book is out of stock, but I understand that the reason for this later notification is that NoQ Store operates via a drop-shipping process, where books are only imported from overseas suppliers upon receipt of orders. Hence, NoQ Store is only able to inform customers of the fact that some books are out-of-stock after orders have been placed and suppliers have confirmed their availability. This process is a bit longer and more tedious but it is how NoQ manages to keep prices low. 
  
• Search Function
  The search function for the site is a bit difficult to use in that using a portion of the title is often insufficient to find a book. Your best bet is to use the full title, or the full author's name.

Overall, I think that while there are some blips in the shopping experience at NoQ Store, these are not insurmountable, and for me at least, the attractive offers do outweigh some of these setbacks.

And here's a special offer to sweeten the deal, just for readers of this blog! Simply use the coupon code "SMALLTHINGS" under the voucher and promotion code tab at checkout and get 15% OFF ALL PURCHASES! If you have yet to check out NoQ Store, this might be a good time to do some shopping. 

[P.S. While we are on the topic of books, do check back on Tuesday for a book review and giveaway!]

* I was invited to shop at NoQ Store for the purpose of this post. I do not earn any commission from the use of the coupon code -- it is purely an offer from NoQ Store to the readers of this blog. (Thanks NoQ Store!) All opinions reflected are my own.