How many members of the general public in England know about Chinese Single's Day? Taking a stab in the dark, I'm going to guess not many, and I don't blame you. If I didn't work in the industry I do, which is Affiliate Marketing, I wouldn't have a clue what it was either.
However in 2015, Chinese Single's Day surpassed Black Friday in regards to revenue generated through online shopping in China. In 2016, Chinese shoppers spent £14.2 billion in 24 hours. Now if that's not a pretty mammoth statistic I don't know what is. Bearing this in mind, it does make it even more surprising how this monumental online event still flies relatively under the radar in the minds of most.
So what is Chinese Single's Day exactly? Well the premise behind it is actually pretty cool, and one I can totally get behind. Chinese Single's Day is an 'anti-Valentine's Day' if you will, an occasion when the Chinese youth of today celebrate being single by treating themselves to new clothes, killer beauty products and beautiful luxury items. I told you, pretty cool huh? Even the very date, November 11th, or 11.11, reflects being single (with each '1' standing alone within the date).
Now it was clear to me that 2016 was the year which attempted to bring Chinese Single's Day slightly more into the Western world, which makes sense seeing as how hard we embrace the likes of Cyber Weekend and seasonal sales etc. This was evident in the number of British and American brands who ran heavily discounted promotions through the likes of Weibo (basically China's very own version of Twitter). With a little bit of tricksy navigation, and Google Translate of course, these offers could be reached, and taken advantage of, by anyone at all. This is the beauty of the event, not only does it cater to those residing in China, but also the significant Chinese population in the likes of the UK, USA and AUS, effectively meaning these offers were present on the British/American/Australian versions of websites such as Benefit Cosmetics, Charlotte Tilbury, Apple, Sony and Victoria's Secret, to name but a few.
Alongside Cyber Weekend, it goes without saying that if you want the biggest discount available on the market, the best time to shop is most definitely Chinese Single's Day. It was with this in mind, that I was reading through various Weibo feeds, searching for deals on products I had been keeping my eye on, or those which were very rarely discounted, such as M.A.C Cosmetics for example. After scrolling through, I spotted 11% off all orders over £250 on Vestiaire Collective.
Vestiaire Collective, for those who haven't heard of the site before, is effectively a premium version of eBay. Private sellers can sell their luxury fashion goods to a discerning audience, and buyers can be assured in the authenticity and quality of each product they purchase, with each item undergoing rigorous authenticity checks before being released to the seller. If these tests are not passed, the seller receives a full refund, no questions asked.
So it was on this day, that I decided it was now or never when it came to making a purchase I had been considering for a while now - a Cartier LOVE ring. Whilst searching through Vestiaire, I found the perfect white gold version, in my size, to match my watch (which you can read more about here), which came complete with original Cartier ring box. I thought hard about it all weekend, and eventually made the purchase during Chinese Single's Day Weekend, taking full advantage of the relevant discount on offer. This really was the best time to purchase, as I noticed that Vestiaire Collective actually ran a slightly reduced discount during their Cyber Weekend promotion, more than likely due to the latter being more widely available across the internet to a larger audience.
My ring arrived a couple of weeks later, with a full authentication statement in its original little red and gold box, adorned with the cursive Cartier logo. Like its turquoise Tiffany's counterpart, the best things really do come in small packages...
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