The First Post!

Welcome to the first post on the "BlingBuzz for Shangby.com" blog! My name is Stephanie Brown and I am a Senior in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas. I am also currently working part time as a marketing specialist for a jewelry website called Shangby.com.

Shopping at Shangby is a unique experience because it allows you to shop via video at jewelry stores accross the world in Shanghai, China. 95 percent of the worlds pearls are harvested from China. Tourists visiting China, especially Shanghai, for years have been snatching up beautiful pearl jewelry for a fraction of what they cost in the US and other countries. Steve Bell, our CEO was one of these tourists. While shopping with his son in Shanghai, he decided to bring the ability to shop in these jewelry stores to people in the US, saving them the expense of traveling all the way to China for the experience. This is how Shangby.com was born.

Between 8pm and 10pm CST (becuase of the time difference in Shanghai), you can go to our website, call a toll free number, and shop via your own private video feed in a jewelry store in Shanghai. Our camera crew, which is set up in the store, allows you to view whichever pieces interest you. Claire, our spokesperson and personal shopper, is standing by trying on items for you or suggesting different pieces while you talk to her on the telephone. In China, bartering and bargaining is how you decide on the price of the item(s). Once you decide what you want, you can directly bargain with the seller to arrive at a final price! The item(s) are then uploaded into the Shangby inventory for you to purchase and other eCommerce visitors to view and/or purchase.

I have been working for Shangby since the beginning of the year. I decided to dedicate this blog to Shangby because I love our website, the awesome jewelry, and working here. It is an awesome idea and I hope to be able to get the word out to others about our company! It rocks!

-Steph