Homeshop18 beating Flipkart at its own game
Consumer Alert
Do you know that India’s leading online Retailer, Flipkart is charging up to 126% more than its online and on-air competitor, HomeShop18 for Books.
Please refer to the following Table to see a Comparison of Prices of Books offered by Flipkart and HomeShop18 after Discount and Shipping. In a random survey of 20 Books on Cooking, I found that Flipkart is More Expensive than HomeShop18 by up to 126% !!!
Before you order your next Book on any subject online, compare its price on the websites of Flipkart, HomeShop18, IndiaPlaza, Infibeam, IndiaTimes Shopping, Uread and Junglee (a price comparison service by Amazon). Check-it out for yourself and in just a few minutes, you will be able to get the Best Price of your desired Book and More Value for your Money.
(Click on Table for Enlarged View)
What’s more… Homeshop18 is delighting Book Lovers by offering an Additional Discount of 20% on purchase of Books worth Rs. 500/- using a Gift Coupon Code upon check-out. I shall be posting the Gift Coupon Code and its related details shortly on this site.
A quick comparison of the Quality of Packaging of books ordered to Flipkart and Homeshop18 reveals that Flipkart is far behind Homeshop18 on this front too.
Each and every Book shipped by Homeshop18 (including those costing below Rs 100/-) came in an EXCELLENT Triple Layer Packaging, viz. an outer Tamper-proof, well taped Plastic Cover for Weather Protection, a Cardboard Box and a Corrugated Covering over the Book. Each Book itself was shrink wrapped and accompanied a complimentary Ball Pen (can be a short-term offering), a Coaster and 2 decent Bookmarks.
Most Books shipped by Flipkart came only in a Plastic Envelope. Each Book was shrink wrapped, although I found a book to be full of dust in spite of the shrink wrapping. Apparently, the shrink wrapping of the book was done, after it had become dusty. Each Book accompanied a decent Bookmark.
To my utmost surprise and in clear violation of the Legal Metrology, Packaged Commodity Rules of India, Two Books purchased and received from Flipkart were advertised and sold above the stipulated Maximum Retail Price (MRP) printed on the Books.
Upon contacting Flipkart about the aforesaid issues, leave alone refunding the excess amount charged, disgustingly Flipkart’s Customer Service did not even bother to apologize for advertising and selling the aforesaid Books above their stipulated Maximum Retail Price (MRP). It seems Flipkart is abusing its market dominance and considers itself above the Laws of our Country.
The aforesaid has forced me to check the MRP of all Books and other Products purchased by me and my family members from Flipkart.
Before buying from Flipkart, I suggest you to cross-check the Pre-Discount Prices and Accessories being advertised by Flipkart with the Product Manufacturer’s website. You may get some Unpleasant Surprises.
To make sure that you are not cheated by Flipkart or any other Seller, prior to your purchase of any Product online, confirm the ‘Prices’ and ‘Standard Accessories’ included with the Product from the Product Manufacturer’s website.
For example, Manufacturers of most Laptops include and supply Carry Cases/Backpacks for Laptops as ‘Standard/Included Accessories’ and not as ‘Optional/Paid Accessories’. Likewise, Many models of Mobile Phones come with Memory Cards and at times even Carry Cases and Bluetooth Hands-free Kits as ‘Included Accessories’.
To make extra Illegal Profits, Sellers resort to Unfair Trade Practices by not informing the Customer about all the Accessories being supplied by the Manufacturer. They make extra Illegal Profits by selling the Included Accessories ‘Separately‘ or offer the Included Accessories as a ‘Special Offer‘ at an Extra Cost. By not including the supplied Accessories with Products like Laptops and Mobile Phones, the Sellers advertise the Products ‘Without Accessories‘ at slightly lower prices, make the customers wrongly believe that their prices are lower than others and also create unfair competition in the market.
If a Seller has not provided you with all the ‘Supplied/Included Accessories’ specified on the Product Manufacturer’s website, please post and share your experience here.
The above mentioned Price Comparison was also mailed to Flipkart. An extract of the reply received from Flipkart on 11 May 2012 is as under:
“Greetings from Flipkart! We regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you further discount on the books. This is the best price we are offering and please accept our apologies for disappointing you. Please write back to us should you have any other questions or need further assistance. Regards. Flipkart Customer Support”
To be concluded.
Coming Soon…
The truth about Flipkart’s Unfair Trade Practices viz.
- Non-Delivery of Ordered Products: Payments and Orders for which have been duly Accepted by Flipkart.
- Misleading Advertising and Sales of Multiple Products above their stipulated Maximum Retail Prices(MRP).
- Misleading Advertising and Sales of select Laptop Computers, without supplying the Accessories included by the Manufacturer.
- The facts about the ‘Terms of Use’ of ‘flipkart.com’.
Note for Readers: Other than being a Customer, I, my family members, or talkabouttech.com are NOT associated/ affiliated with any online or on-air Retailer. This post has been written only for the benefit of Consumers at large. Please share this Post if you like it.
i have used flipkart only till now…need to rethink
So did I. I had also ranked it as the best. However Sellers and Companies change after becoming big, from Best-to-Worse and vice-a-versa. Do a quick comparison before your next purchase between HomeShop18 and Flipkart and on the price comparison website, Junglee (a service by Amazon). It will help you in your decision making.
Its not only on Books, you will find mobiles and other electronic products on homeshop18 at a much lesser price when you compare with flipkart.
Stands true for other category books as well. Got the book I'll Do It My Way : The Incredible Journey Of Aamir Khan @ about Rs.297 from HS18 while the same was priced at Rs.371 @ flipkart. And the delivery was decent with awesome packaging!
Super Like Labib Bhai!!!
Flipkart is expensive, quick delivery is their only selling point.
agreed, Flipkart also provide incomplete information on website about product
Had ordered Two Books to Homeshop18 on 15 May 2012 afternoon.
As a pleasant surprise, received One Book on 16 May 2012 morning itself, in EXCELLENT Triple Packaging (an outer Tamper-proof Plastic Cover for weather protection, a Cardboard Box and a Corrugated Covering).
The Book was Shrink Wrapped and accompanied a complimentary Pen, Coaster and 2 Bookmarks.
Watch Out! Flipkart and others, the manner and speed at which HomeShop18 is improving its Pricing, Packaging and Delivery, it will be sooner than later that they will be the #1 in winning Customers Faith and Repeat Orders.
I convey my Compliments and Good Wishes to Homeshop18's Books Category Head and his Team for doing a Great Job.
I have only used Flipkart so far. Have been rather happy. Not really sure of other websites – may be Infibeam but that is about it.
Try Homeshop18 once, then post your feedback. Before buying compare prices on Junglee.
For price comparison of books in India, consider using http://isbn.net.in I love this nifty tool, and have saved hundreds with it.
whoa… this is news. guess here is one point wch gets flipkart down. good article Udit.
harkirat @ overlightdrinks.com
Thanks Harkirat, More facts about the Unfair Trade Practices by Flipkart are coming very soon.
for price comparison, koolkart.com is a very good site
Am not personally impressed much with the site though. Had checked some IT products, most were end-of-life or discontinued models. The ‘KoolKart’ it Bookmark Button also does not return comparitive prices properly. Perhaps it is still in Beta or the Developers have not tested the App across newer versions of Browsers.
Always check the edition/year of books in these sites(especially educational, academics, exams etc).
Sometimes they have old edition;and that can be cheap but not latest…
Always check the edition/year of books in these sites(especially educational, academics, exams books etc). Sometimes they have old edition;
wonderul article again.
another good way to check and compare prices is mysmartprice.com.and yes home shop 18 replicates the flipkart experience At a far lower cost.
Yes it seems to be a good price comparison site, but one needs to understand how it works. After your comment, I briefly tested it for a specific Book title by “Sanjeev Kapoor”, instead of displaying the specific Book Title, it returned many Books by “Sanjeev Kapoor”. It was only after clicking on the specific Book, it displayed the prices across multiple sites. It is fast. The small glitch may be addressed by the Developers in due course of time.
whoever the writer of this post is…u seem to be curiously addicted to homeshop18…and still u mention u r not affiliated to any other online website. ur post and replies are mired with 'homeshopt18' and not any other online portal.
strangely out of place! or rather a rigged website…just to promote negative news about flipkart.
Dear Mr. Singh, You may be surprised to know that I and my family members have been regular customers of Flipkart and have ordered over 100 products to Flipkart till date. Till early 2012, Flipkart offered very competitive pricing, excellent packaging and delivery. However, now their service has deteriorated across multiple fronts; they do not deliver orders duly accepted by them even after receiving full payments in advance, advertise and sell products above their stipulated Maximum Retail Prices (MRP), do not respond to complaints and are resorting to many other unlawful and unfair trade practices. For multiple reasons including unfair trade practices and poor service, many businesses fail, fall, merge, close or disappear; some sooner, some later. Letsbuy.com is an example. Their competitors and followers improve themselves and take-over by offering customers a better overall purchase experience. I and my family members have purchased about 20 Books from HomeShop18 and the experience has been an absolute delight. We have also had good purchase experiences with Futurebazaar, Myntra, Zoomin, StarCJ, Jabong, Learnnext and other online Retailers. Based upon our good, bad and bitter experiences with Flipkart for the 100+ products bought by us, I stand-by everything mentioned about Flipkart by me in my post . You will get to know more unknown and dirty facts about the illegal and unfair trade practices by Flipkart soon. Do check-out and comment.
I completely accept. At this point of time most items on Flipkart like books, Home Appliances are more expensive than Homeshop18. I recently started buying books and even delivery time for Homeshop18 was also within three days which is acceptable to me….
While HS18 may be offering more discounts, I once got a footpath quality book from HS18. I.e. rough pages, slanting prints, most probably pirated. Never had that problem with FK.
Abhishek, If you believe that the Book received by you is pirated, bring it to the attention of HS18 as well the Publisher of the Book. If you are not certain about Piracy and you need a replacement/refund for the book, send a complaint to books@homeshop18.com and omscase@gmail.com. I had ordered a book with HS18, I received its Hindi edition instead of English edition. After my complaint, HS18 mailed me the correct edition. The replacement reached me in ~10 days of my complaint. I believe, in your official capacity, you would also be in touch with HS18, since piracy is a serious issue, you can also directly communicate with the Category Manager-Books at HS18 about your complaint. Pls. do post your feedback from HS18 here.
Rakesh, will definately take it up, but all this effort for a 150 Rs book seems unnecessary.
Abhishek, Piracy is a serious issue, it is not about Rs.150/-. It is about your trust in the Retailer. Put HS18 customer service to test and let all of us know the feedback from HS18. A single email of yours to HS18 will help hundreds of readers here.
The data set above is too small and insignificant to form any opinion. And who is to say that HS18 is deliberately not undercutting Flipkart to promote itself. Keep these lowest prices and free goodies going for at least one year and then we shall talk. Firms bigger than HS18 or Flipkart have engaged in price war and failed terribly.
(Disclosure: I have never ordered from HS18, but have ordered several ones from Flipkart. I have never been disappointed. I have no vested interest in Flipkart).
Arnab, You are right that the above Data Set is small. To get clear, correct and significant information, check the prices yourself for a broader range of Books on price comparison sites like Junglee.com, Mysmartprice.com and Isbn.net.in. Iin a just a few minutes, you will discover which site stands where in terms of its pricing of books. Remember the old saying that 'money saved is money earned'. For a student with limited funds the money saved online can mean getting an extra book for his studies. I had been a regular customer of Flipkart and have made a few purchases from HS18. Like you, I also do not have any vested interest in Flipkart, HS18 or any other retailer.
Rakesh, you missed the point. I am not arguing about which e-store is least costly. The point is, are the low prices on an on-going basis sustainable?
Arnab, Although our discussion goes out-of-context of this Post, I have to say for Low Prices to be sustainable in the long run/ on an ongoing basis, the Seller needs to manage "All Functional Areas" of his business very efficiently. Otherwise other High Margin Products will have to subsidize the Low Priced Products. It is a Tightrope Walk. The Key to Success for maintaining Low Prices on an ongoing basis lies in the "Successful Implementation" of the Business Ideas and Plans of the Retailer. As far as Low Pricing of Books by any online Retailer is concerned. Books are a "Good Bait" for acquiring new Customers for any Online Retailer. Books are sold by online Retailers not just because their is a huge market for Books in India (I believe it is roughly Rs.5K Crores) but also for the fact that Books come with High Margins (50%+) on MRPs, do not suffer quick obsolescence like IT/ICE Products, require negligible engagement with the Customer, are not easily damaged in transit and are generally affordable by most Online Customers. The Low Pricing of Books coupled with satisfactory Packaging and Deliveries of the Books makes the Customer believe that the Seller's prices are reasonable and his Service is Good. The Customer for Books then puts his Money and Trust into other Higher Margin Products offered by the Online Retailer. The Low Profits/ No Profits on Books sold get neutralized with orders of Products from other categories such as Apparel, Fashion, Footwear and Lifestyle which offer High Margins of 25%-50% to Online Retailers. As such, No Online Retailer does any favor to any Customer by offering Books at Low Prices even on an ongoing basis or over a long period of time.
Rakesh Malhotra about homeshop1 8 worst thing after sales service
i have got a order of 14 book from homeshop 18 for rs 1022 but one book have 3 chapter miss i tell it to support staff og homeshop 18 by email because no customer care number for book is provided by homeshop18
the support staff tell me that they will refund the cost of book that is 60 rs by check but i tell him just give me book but they say we just refund money you have to put the order again.
Flipkart selling books at a price more than MRP is an impossible event. If they find a decrease in MRP after you order the book, Flipkart returns you the difference in the amount collected and MRP.
Delivering shop-soiled books by Flipkart is the rarest event because there is a stringent quality check that happens before shrink wrapping a book.
Balaji, Flipkart advertises and sells not just books but Office Supplies also above MRP. The rarest event of the spoiled book reaching the customer has also happened, after the stringent quality check by Flipkart.The same book was also advertised and sold above MRP. Sceenshots of Products advertised above MRP and copies of Invoices of for the same shall be available on this site for everyone to view shortly.
Was only a matter of time become Flipkart became an asshole.
Sooner than later I see.
i bought a shampoo from flipkart with mrp 221.it has a discount of rs.40 but they covered that discount part with a flipkart sticker and cheated me for that amount even though they had a turnover of 100 crore
I bought a beetel woofer from homeshop18 at 3am on 13-10-2012 . As there was no cod so i paid the merchant through Internet Banking after that the transaction was successful and amount has been debited but homeshop18 mailed telling that the payment has been denied and when i contacted my bank they told me that the transaction was successfull and they also gave me the payment receipt number which is (MUTI2828334703) for order number #917535551. I hav mailed them phoned them but they are not to respond what can i do now how can i get my money back should i file petition…
Due to Technical Errors, there are times when Online Transactions are not completely processed/communicated to the Merchant's System by the Payment Processor/Payment Gateway. Such Transactions generally get reversed automatically within 5-7 days. The HS18 Representative would not be able to see your Payment on his System, since its Receipt does not reflect on his System. We suggest: 1.) Get Details regarding your Transaction from your HS18 Account >> Order History. 2). Call HS18 Customer Care Department (Tel.: 0120-4455918) 3). Provide your HS18 Order/Transaction Number and other relevant Details and ask for Specific Procedure to get the Amount Reversed/ Refunded. 3). You can also raise a Support Ticket from your HS18 Account >> My Support Tickets 4.) If within 5-7 days the Amount does not get reversed automatically to your Bank Account, mail a Scanned Copy of your Bank Statement/Passbook containing the Details of the Transaction and ask them to initiate a refund. This can take up to 3 weeks. You can mail the scanned copy to: contact@homeshop18.com and omscase@gmail.com . If you don't have a Scanner, you can use a Mobile Phone/Digital Camera. You can also escalate your complaint on phone to HS18 at: 0120-46911981.
Yes i hav phoned them mailed them to all their mail ids but there is no response from their end neither through mail nor by call.
@Pramod, I understand from your comment that you had placed your order earlier today. We are not aware about Netbanking Payment Settlements but for Credit Cards, payments are settled at the end of the day/ mid-night. While, I do understand your anxiety and concern about your payment, as a Customer I suggest that you wait till Monday morning. The first number that we gave you is a 24*7 Customer Care Call Centre Phone Number. The second number that we gave you is the HS18 Noida, U.P., Office Phone Number for its Customer Care Department (not Call Centre). Being a week-end, the second number might not get answered today. By our experience, HS18 generally replies to mails within 72-96 hours. Do keep us posted here
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Flipkart For Sure has gone Bad now a days, its services were even better earlier.
Never tried homeshop18 to make any comments.
Flipkart is very expensive for books.I have stopped buying from flipkart.I started buying from homeshop18.They deliver in 3 days.Their prices for books are cheaper than physical book shops.
Oh please… Network 18 is known for planting negative stories for its own benefit in every domain. This comparison is rigged for sure. I've been buying products from flipkart since day one. Of course I compare and sometimes buy stuff from other websites also. But homeshop18 has been my worst experience.
Don't know about books on cooking, but for novels, Flipkart is better. Ordered these books from Flipkart yesterday.
Te Amo.. I love you: Flip- Rs. 187 HS18- Rs. 203
Back Seat: A Mumbai Tale: Flip- Rs. 116 HS18- Rs. 117
FK was good when it launched but now they are cashing their popularity.
Not just books, I find almost all products cheaper on HS18 then FK and they deliver it in far better packaging.
Moreover, I get freebies and gifts now and then from HS18 for my past purchase, eg I received two aluminum mug after 2 months of purchase as a gift.
I am big fan of HS18 since than.
till yesterday I was always using flipkart never even tried to check same product on other websites, as I was very happy with their service, but yesterday I got wrong product, they provided incomplet info on website, when contacted they said products once buyed are not replaceable. Then I saw other websites they had same product, complete information and better pricing.
That's a good one for books, Kartik. The only limitation is that you need to know the ISBN / EAN of the Book first.
That's not really a limitation in that I have managed to save over 100 bucks by comparing prices through this tool. Most online book sellers provide ISBN number in their book description – so we need just a single copy paste to use the tool.
Have you tried to check-out with a few random titles, which Online Retailer is the cheapest for Books?
I have checked not with random, but with many titles I actually needed; these days it's mostly homeshop18.com but this might be because isbn.net.in's developer has stopped supporting too many stores (17 earlier to just 5 now). I have got good deals earlier with uread.com too.