A few weeks ago, one of the buttons on our Foxtel remote stopped working. The up button. On reflection it is not a surprise to me as that happens to be the most used button on our remote. I used it constantly it to flick through the channel guide without changing the channel.
When it stopped working, I had to switch to the down button. Unfortunately this means you miss out on all the channels above the one you are watching. So I have been typing in channel 176 and then flicking downwards.
Channel 176 is the TV Shopping Network. I’ve mentioned on the blog before that it is sometimes very entertaining to me to watch these people try and sell things. They do sometimes have deals worth buying, and I have mentioned those too. If you happen to own one of the products they are selling, sometimes you can learn an awful lot by tuning in, as I once did re Laura Star.
I do keep an eye on their website because there are sometimes excellent clearance deals but in general I do not visit the channel itself very often. For weeks now, I have ended up there several times a day, and the channel stays on while I continue my flick through.
One day I happened upon a Travelon show. Travelon is a brand of travel bags. They contain some pretty awesome security features. I wanted to get a new handbag for our upcoming trip and I love the lobster clasps, the carabiner, the cut proof straps.
First I did some googling and searching to see what deals were around on Travelon. I could not find anything around the prices TVSN had, nor could I find the items they had. I could find them on the main travelon website where they were priced higher than TVSN were offering them but in USD. Our dollar is so bad right now, it is not very cost effective to buy from the US at this time.
In my experience, sometimes TVSN sell out older stock, sometimes they do a deal with a company for exclusives, sometimes they just buy everything of an item so it cannot be found elsewhere. So I put in an order.
The shipping time on this was frankly UNBELIEVABLE. I ordered this on a Friday night. It arrived 2pm Monday. Someone posted it on Saturday morning! TVSN service is pretty amazing. The Travelon I ordered is brilliant. I am switching to cash free as much as possible and carrying as little as possible but that is a tale for another post. :)
Some of the items they sell are incredibly ridiculous. For example –
Do not get me wrong, I deeply love this kaftan, the colours are gorgeous and it has sparkles. It is everything about me wrapped into one kaftan package.
I’m sure in the world of Silk Kaftans this might be reasonably priced. A Camilla will set you back more $$ than this and will likely be less sparkly. There is no way I would ever pay this kind of money for one outfit, unless I was going to wear it everywhere forever, until it disintegrated. ;) If I wore it for 479 days, that would be $1 a day. Plus, silk is a fabric I would kill very quickly.
However someone is buying them, because I never see these on clearance at all. I often see Kelly’s Kloset kaftans on clearance, but never the Silk Islands. If you ever saw The Bold and The Beautiful, Katherine Kelly Lang plays Brooke on the show.
The shows with shoes always crack me up, because the shoe modeling is hilarious to watch. Overall, the channel is entertaining with occasional moments of usefulness. I’m loving my new little bag, it is super cute.
I used to watch QVC sometimes. I liked their cooking show until I bought several duds that were their own brand. And they had the best bargains on Birkenstocks when I was obsessed with them. But sometimes, like you, I just enjoyed watching them shill some very strange products.
Wil Foxtel replace or repair the remote free? I am a “switch to the guide, page up/down” selecter myself. I have never watched any of the shopping channels because it would probably be dangerous but these bags sound like a good deal and if you NEEDED it, then hey, you probably saved money.
I loved this post! I think I need to get my Foxtel back, if only for the home shopping channels. The bag you bought was a great find.
SSG xxx
I love silk, but that’s a lot of money for one kaftan!
I buy very little online these days, since Amazon raised it’s shipping price to Aus.through the stratosphere.