Some Filipino eCommerce Sites

In the Internet world, we Filipinos are kind of still playing catch-up to the Internet users in the other side of the globe. I mean, we don’t have an Amazon.com here. Neither do we have those other famous sites such as etsy.com or barnesandnobles.com. Sure, we can always buy from these sites but then again, we need to have dollars for those and we need to cover the shipping costs (which are sometimes more expensive than the actual cost of the product). Or we can ask our relatives who are in the U. S. to buy them for us (but then again, there’s still the problem of shipping the product to the country). So we’re just kind of content to just buy what we want from the actual stores here.

But then again, never let it be said that we lack the creativity and the perseverance to get a piece of the pie called the Internet (or more precisely, the eCommerce world). During this decade, Filipino eCommerce sites sprouted up left and right, offering various products and services to its online audience and various payment options as well.

As a tribute to Filipino websites, featured below are just some of these sites that are gaining recognition (or have already gained the recognition) with Filipinos (and even non-Filipinos) around the world.

The FilVeggie Online Store

This is an online store where you can buy native delicacies from the Philippines. Right now, there are only a few products available but the site owner promises to come up with new products pretty soon. Just to give a heads – up on some of the products available there: special piaya (a flat bread with fillings made up of muscovado or raw sugar, very sweet), special cashew hot chocolate, tapang posit or dried squid, dried mangoes and pili brittle. The prices here are in Philippine pesos but the buyer can also pay in dollars using Paypal. Local and international orders are accepted.

MyBarong.com

This one is a very interesting online store. Barong or Barong Tagalog is the local term for the formal men’s wear here in the Philippines (much like a tuxedo). During (Filipino) weddings, the groom and his groomsmen wear the Barong. The Barong Tagalog sold by MyBarong.com is made up of either the Jusi fabric (fine woven silks) or the Pina fabric (made from a special pineapple leaf). Although this is usually a men’s wear, women and children have also adopted the Barong. Although the location of this store is in California and the prices are in dollars, the owners, the contents and the style of the products sold are 100% Filipino.

Divisoria.com

Named after the most famous shopping place in the country (Divisoria), this online store features hundreds of items found in the Philippines. It features music and movie CDs, Pinoy shirts, karaoke DVDs, magazines, books and souvenirs. You can even order and send flowers, real honest-to-goodness (mouthwatering) lechon (roasted pig) and cake through Divisoria.com! Prices are in dollars as this site also targets Filipinos who are working in other countries.

Kabayan Central.com

This is an online Filipino specialty store, which features books, music and video that are proudly made in the Philippines. It also sells personal care and beauty products (Splash, Belo Essentials and RDL products) and KC Gems, fashion accessories and jewelry creations, all made in the Philippines. Kabayan Central.com is one of the first Filipino eCommerce sites and it is already over 10 years old!

Local Auction Sites and Buy and Sell Sites

There are a lot of Filipino auction sites and buy and sell sites available out there and they’re receiving a respectable amount of traffic. We have our local version of eBay – eBay.com.ph. Other sites include auction.com.ph and sulit.com.ph, sulit being a local word meaning ‘worth it’. We also have the buyandsellph.com and pinoybuynsell.com. There are also buy and sell sites specific to some products such as cars (carfinderph.com) and properties (propertyfinderph.com). There’s also the buy and sell sites specific to a local place such as DavaoCity (davaoexchance.com and davaosale.com).

Other Online Stores

These are the Filipino online stores that are found in multiply.com. Although multiply.com is a social networking site, hundreds of Filipino entrepreneurs have set up their simple online stores in it. The Filipino users of multiply.com are so many that when we celebrated a holiday one time (making us all stay away from the computer and the Internet), multiply.com admin reported a sharp drop in the number of users of the site (this is true, believe it or not!). That’s why Filipinos choose to set up their online stores through multiply.com because of the sheer number of Filipinos using this site.

And that’s it. Like any other online entrepreneurs out there, Filipinos are striving to make their mark in the online world. And with the millions of Filipinos, here and abroad, it is no wonder that these sites are thriving. With Filipino ingenuity and creativity, I’m pretty sure we’ll see more such sites in the future.