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Baby
Beauty
Computers
Education
Electronics
Finance
Health
Home & Garden
Local Places
Movies
Pets
Travel
Web Sites
more…
QVC vs HSN Review
Which Home Shopping Network is the Best?
Overall 5.00 of 5
(by 1 user)
The battle of the home shopping networks. Best bet: QVC or HSN?
a comparison shopper, an avid online shopper, a bargain hunter, a shop-aholic, expecting good, fair service, into finding great deals online, appreciative of good customer service
| Pros |
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| Cons |
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AUG
29
2008
You can go with this or you can go with that ...
Let's take a look at the two sites. I will focus on the websites because the shows are essentially exactly the same. They are on all the time, they both have a special value of the day, they both make you want to buy everything they are selling. They are excellent at making me believe I NEED those plastic bags that make 100 pounds of clothes into the size of a pack of gum and that croco purse hand painted by some artist I never heard of that I normally would give to the Rescue Mission if I got it as a gift. The sites are also very similar. However, they do have different brands on each site.
Brands
QVC seems to be a "younger" website as far as their brands. Naturally, I focus on beauty and fitness because that's what I like most. QVC has a much better selection of beauty, skin care, and fitness products than HSN. QVC boasts mainstream and high ends brands and has the exclusive TV rights to brands like Bare Escentuals, Philosophy, Bobbi Brown, Laura Gellar, and many more. They also carry much more youthful brands of clothing and footwear such as Aerosoles and Kenneth Cole in footwear and clothing by Nolan Miller, Denim & Co., and Spanx.
HSN has beauty products by Serious Skin Care, Signature Club A, and ybf. To their credit, they do have the wonderful Wei East line which I have to give them a thumbs up for. Fashion-wise, HSN boasts Donna Ricco, Faith & Zoe, and Howe II. I never heard of any of them.
But these sites don't just sell stuff I like. They sell everything from electronics to kitchen gadgets as well as high end and costume jewelry. Their electronics brands are vast but it seems HSN has more off brands than QVC.
In all, they both have a lot of different brands but I tend to enjoy QVC's variety of brands more. I have, however, bought many brands from HSN and have been satisfied. So how to choose a winner? I won't!
The Winner: A tie (with a slight bias toward QVC)
Prices
Prices on both sites are decent. Their specials each day are generally really well priced and nothing is extremely inflated in price. I have found a good number of deals on QVC but also have found some on HSN. The both have good clearance areas where their items are greatly reduced. I have gotten a number of deals on HSN in the clearance section but have been frustrated by their lack of stock. They will have just one size or one color and even then, it may be gone and I'll end up with a credit. I hate that. QVC's clearance section is a little less vast but they usually have what I want in stock. Prices vary widely on different items on both sites and, again, I have to wimp out and call this ....
The Winner: A tie (with a slight bias toward QVC)
Customer Service
I have dealt with customer service for both sites loads of times. Both are friendly and usually quite accommodating. I have really never had an issue that couldn't be settled by the CS reps of either site. QVC's reps are a bit friendlier on the phone but HSN's aren't nasty. They're just more business-like and to the point. I just had an encounter with QVC's online chat customer service and the rep fixed my shipping cost issue immediately. No muss, no fuss. HSN's reps also try hard to please me but QVC will actually just send out a new item immediately if one arrives damaged. I recently received a bottle of Daniel Sandler Liquid Blush that had leaked a bit. I called and they immediately sent me a new one and a new brush (It was a set) and told me to keep the damaged one or throw it out. Nice!
HSN has given me money off of defective items or offered free shipping back to them. I have no big issues with either service but I feel more at ease calling QVC and I tend to hang up more satisfied.
The Winner: QVC (by a nose)
Community
Both sites have user reviews which I find very helpful. I like that QVC's site doesn't make you click around to read the reviews. They are right under every product. HSN makes you click to see reviews but that isn't a big deal. These reviews are by real people and negative ones are as prevalent as positive. I have submitted negative reviews to both sites and they were posted unedited. Each product has an overall star rating on each site.
One thing QVC has that I have not seen on HSN is a set a forums. You can chat with other people from all over about things that interest you and you don't have to limit it to QVC talk. Members are actually telling people where better deals are and I just read a post about new makeup that Wei East is coming out with - that's sold on HSN! I like the fact that QVC allows people to talk freely about other sites and off topic things. They aren't afraid of losing a customer to another site. That's confidence.
The Winner: QVC (For its fun forums. Reviews are equally as helpful.)
Shipping
Here's where there is a distinct winner. I don't know what the heck happened to HSN but their shipping prices skyrocketed! I almost bought a product then saw that my shipping would have been almost $7.00 for a tiny item. Not gonna happen! QVC's shipping is much fairer. Both sites do have shipping specials. Both sites will give you half off shipping on every product after the first that you buy in one category. There are also some items that ship free and they have shipping specials as well. But for one item, HSN is more expensive.
To compare, one beauty item priced at $16.98 and weighing a few ounces at the most on HSN will ship for $5.20. On QVC, a similarly priced and sized beauty item will ship for $3.97. It gets worse as items get larger.
The Winner: QVC
Returns
Both are VERY easy about returns. You can send anything back and they aren't real strict about the item being worn or the amount of time that lapses as long as it isn't a year later. Both will pay for defective items to be shipped back and neither gives you any hassles when you call with an issue and need to return an item.
HSN does say you need to return an item within 30 days but I have not been hassled when my item was sent back after that time. They do want you to return items separately though, driving your return shipping costs up if you want to return more than one item at a time.
QVC also prefers to have returned items back within 30 days and they provide a label to return items. They deduct a shipping cost from your refund or you can just ship it back yourself. Really, both policies are the same. Both companies are good about returns.
The Winner: A tie
So here we are. At the end of my comparison and even I am on the fence. However, if I HAD to choose just one home shopping site to shop from, it would be QVC. I like their product selection, their specials, their quick delivery (although HSN is fast too) and their shipping is less costly than HSN's. It's a very close race and I will continue to shop with both companies but for the sake of this comparison ...
The Winner is QVC
Have fun shopping on both sites. I am watching QVC right now I'm almost convinced that I NEED this marble bracelet that was handmade in Ireland. Somebody stop me!
Thanks for reading and what's your favorite? HSN? QVC? Neither? Both? Let me hear ya!
Patty
QVC vs HSN is recommended by PattyTherre
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