[Shop Review] TesterKorea

Here's my first major haul from TesterKorea! They're a well-known discount site that stocks a ton of Korean cosmetics at cheap prices as well as offering a huge variety of samples- so you can try a product before you shell out for shipping! I actually stumbled across TesterKorea early on in my adventures in Asian beauty. I went with them because their prices were drastically lower than most other places, and I love a good deal more than just about anything else.

If you're thinking about ordering from them, here's a quick rundown!

Pros:

• Huge variety of brands and products- especially items that are discontinued or sold out elsewhere
• Low prices
• Reasonable shipping prices
• Friendly and speedy customer service

Cons:

• Don't always have the newest items in stock right away
• Can take a long time to ship

Overall, I had a good experience ordering from them and I would do it again- even though there were a few minor snags.
I initially placed my order on January 2, 2015- a few days after the new years. Apparently they had just wrapped up a big Christmas sale, and they introduced a new discount system, too. I placed a pretty big order and got a variety of products from numerous brands, assuming they had ready stock of all items available and ready to send out.

It turned out, unfortunately, that this wasn't the case. After you order, TesterKorea orders your items from the manufacturer. Then they send them on to you once they've received them. I'm sure this is why they're able to offer a more competitive price than other places- since they don't have to maintain a warehouse or get rid of old or expired product, they can cut costs by quite a bit! The downside is, unfortunately, that they have a pretty long waiting time. I would strongly advise against shelling out for EMS unless you're getting a particularly large order (in which case it is probably your only or cheapest option). It can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks to get your items sent out, depending on their workload. Once they receive them, they do pack everything up quickly.

Unfortunately, because of the previously mentioned sale, my order took forever to process. It took ten days just to go from "Paid" status to "Standby" (meaning they started getting the items from the manufacturers). I finally emailed them two weeks after my order had been placed and they told me that they usually shipped 3-7 days after an order was initially placed. They were responsive to my emails but unable to provide me an estimate. In the end, once they tried to order my items, they discovered one was no longer being manufactured. This was on the 21st of January. They offered me the option of getting a replacement item or a refund. I had already had to wait for so long that I just asked for a refund. They then shipped my item out that same day. I just really wish they would have been up-front about this- I had to pester them for order updates, when they could have just posted an announcement on their site saying they were backed up! I felt pretty dumb paying for EMS when my order didn't even go out for three weeks.

When it came to the refund, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing, either. They emailed me with the out-of-stock notice on January 21st, and said they would refund me the same day. The refund hadn't shownup by 1/27, so I emailed them with a reminder. They told me they had shipped out my package "as is," so I replied with caps of their messages to me. They then said the package had gone out before they noticed the item was out of stock (which is super bizarre?), so it would not be possible for them to issue me a refund unless the item wasn't in there when it arrived. I emailed them back, let them know I had not, in fact, received the item, and offered up an unboxing video as proof. They then emailed me right back, issued the refund, and apologized for the trouble.

They were always very prompt to reply- the conversation about the refund consisted of a series of back-and-forth emails between us where they responded within 5 minutes each time. The longest I had to wait for a response was 24 hours. I was very impressed by this! I also appreciated the fact that their service representative was very polite and pleasant to deal with. I didn't dread emailing them or fear their responses. With that said, the level of service they were able to provide was a little lacking. I'm not sure if it was an issue of language barrier or what, but it usually took a few back-and-forth emails where I politely but firmly reworded my initial requests before they were able to give me the answer I was looking for.

I sadly don't have any photos of the packaging, but everything was super secure. Items were neatly wrapped in plastic, then in bubble wrap, cushioned by packing peanuts, and then finished off with a final layer of bubble wrap. They also packed items that would travel better, like sheet masks, on the outside- using them to cushion more fragile bottles and boxes. I really appreciated the amount of thought put into packaging.

Additionally, they sent me what I can only describe as a metric fuckton of samples, which I thought was really nice. They sent me two packs Etude House Smoothing Body patches. I did a ton of digging around for reviews of this, and it seems it's supposed to increase skin elasticity, even out uneven skin tone, and provide a cooling sensation (found from this shop page). These come in packs of five so I have a ton now! They also sent me an It's Skin snail mask that I'm a little bit afraid to use- snail still kind of freaks me out!

Overall, their prices are great and their customer service reps are friendly and responsive. Your items will come packed super-securely and you may even get a crapton of samples. But I can't wholeheartedly recommend this shop. Unfortunately, it's probably going to take a bit for your order to get to you (don't waste your money on EMS!), and if you run into any issues, it might involve a bit of back-and-forth with customer service. It's not a dealbreaker for me. I'll put up with inconvenience for a good deal, and I have enough products to try to keep me occupied for quite a while- so I'm in no rush!  I am happy to wait for slow shipping and I've even already placed another order through them! But if you are looking to get your items fast- try searching elsewhere.

Anyways, thanks for reading this far! As a reward, I'll share some pictures of my ridiculous haul~ I almost certainly placed this order while I was drunk- that's the only way I can explain the insane amount of hand cream I purchased.

First up, the room and organizational supplies! These are all from Etude House. From left to right it's a stand mirror, a makeup organizer, and a block calendar. I want to make my vanity cute!

Masks and one-time treatments! I got a box of different masks from TonyMoly, some nose pore strips, a set of sleeping packs from Etude House that I purchased solely for the spoon-shaped packaging, Etude House lip and cheek masks, more nose strips, more cheek patches, some yogurt masks, and a foot mask!

Samples and random junk- I purchased samples of Skinfood's Black Sugar mask, a sample of a Baviphat scrub, a ginger lip scrub from Aritaum, and a banana sleeping pack from TonyMoly.

 Makeup! Etude House's Drawing Show and Styling Eye liners, a bunch of random lip balms and glosses, Etude House's Dear Darling Tint, and Etude House's Tear Eye Liner.

Supplies~ A little spatula for all my creams, some brushes, some nail stickers.

Hand cream. I have a problem that I can't explain.

And finally, samples! I was really impressed with the number of samples they sent my way. This was so awesome.

Thanks for reading! I hope this will give you a better idea of what to expect when placing a TK order. It's an okay process but be prepared for a bit of a wait.

And please be aware that I purchased all products for my own use at full price. I wasn't compensated by TesterKorea in any way.