Buying Luggage Online in Singapore: What to Check When You Cannot Touch the Case

Most people who buy a suitcase online have never held it. They have a handful of photos, a size in inches and a price, and a return window that may or may not be as generous as it looks. That is a fair way to shop, but only if you know which questions the photos cannot answer and what to do in the first week after the box arrives. This post is the checklist we would use ourselves before paying for a case we could not touch.

We sell luggage online, so we are not neutral. Every VOX figure below is copied from the published specifications and policy pages on our own shop, and where those pages say nothing we say so rather than guess.

The short answer

• Buy on numbers, not photos. Look for centimetres, litres and the empty weight. A listing that gives only an inch figure has told you almost nothing.
• The return terms matter more than the product page. Find the window, the condition the case must come back in, and whether the box is needed, before you pay.
• Keep the box and the tag for the first week. With us, a case that has been on a trip is not a return.
• Test the case at home inside the return window. Ten minutes with the lock, the wheels, the handle and the zips is the closest thing online buying has to a shop floor.

What photos cannot tell you

A photo on a white background shows the colour and the shape. It cannot show the things that decide whether a case works for you:

1. How big it really is. The inch figure is a size class. Different brands put different external sizes behind the same label, so compare the published centimetres and litres. We work through the sums in how big a 28-inch suitcase really is.
2. What it weighs empty. The case comes out of your baggage allowance before you pack a shirt. The two VOX 28-inch cases weigh 5.75 kg (magnesium aluminium) and 5.15 kg (RPET). If a listing does not give a weight, ask.
3. How the wheels feel. Wheels are one of the parts that take the most abuse. A listing can name the wheel type, but only rolling the case across a hard floor and a rug tells you how it behaves.
4. Whether the zips and the lock are easy to live with. Both VOX cases have a TSA-approved combination lock. Set your own combination and test it before you rely on it.
5. What the warranty actually covers. The headline number is only the start. Our VOX warranty is 5 years on the shell and wheels, registered to your email at purchase, and our servicing arrangements are still being finalised. We say so because a warranty you cannot use is not worth much, and reading a luggage warranty before you buy lists the questions to ask any seller.

The five things to find before you pay

1. The return window, in days, from delivery. Ours is 7 days from the day the case is delivered, started by email within that window.
2. The condition it must come back in. Ours is in original condition, with the original box, with everything it arrived with: dust cover, luggage tag, warranty card and any numbered plate.
3. How the return is handled and how long a refund takes. We handle each return case by case, so email first and we will agree the details, and once the case is back with us it takes 7 working days to process. We have not published a return fee or postage rule, so if that matters to you, ask before ordering. Whatever the seller, get the answer in writing.
4. Anything that cannot be returned. An engraved case carries your initials and cannot be resold, so a fault on an engraved case is a warranty matter rather than a return. Look for the equivalent rule on any personalised item you buy.
5. Where the case would physically go back. Our returns go to a working unit at 67 Ubi Crescent, #01-06 Techniques Centre, Singapore 408560. It is a light-industrial address rather than a shop, and we ask you to email before coming down. A seller with no address you can find is a seller worth a second look.

Delivery: what to check

For a bulky item the delivery terms are part of the price. Ours:

• Delivery in Singapore is free, with no minimum order, and takes 1–3 business days.
• We also deliver to Malaysia (S$55 per case), Hong Kong (S$100) and Japan (S$200) by tracked courier, charged at checkout. Import duty and tax in your country are paid by you when the case arrives.
• Tracking is emailed as soon as the case is dispatched.

We have not published an overseas transit time, so we do not quote one. Ask any seller for the delivery window, not just the price, particularly if you are buying close to a trip. If the flight is within the week, it is safer to buy earlier than to count on the last day of any window.

The first ten minutes after it arrives

This is your shop floor. Do it the day the box arrives, with the box still in the room:

1. Check the outside for dents or scuffs that were not in the photos, before you unwrap everything. If there is damage, photograph it with the box.
2. Set your own combination on the lock and test it open and closed several times.
3. Extend and retract the handle a few times, and roll the case across a hard floor and a rug. Listen for anything that grinds.
4. Open and close every zip. If you chose the RPET case, open and close the 5 cm expansion zip once so the first time is not at the airport.
5. Pack it with what you would normally take on a trip, and weigh it on a bathroom scale. This tells you whether the size is right far better than any listing did.

The longer version is in your new suitcase has arrived: what to check before its first trip.

Do not do these inside the return window

• Do not stick the luggage tag on, or write on the case. A tagged case looks used.
• Do not throw away the box. It is how a case travels back without picking up the damage that would stop a refund.
• Do not take it on a trip and then decide. A bag that has been on a trip is not a return. If you are unsure, leave the decision until you have tested it at home.
• Do not rely on a phone call. Send an email, so the date you contacted the seller is on record. On our site, the clock stops when your email arrives.

If you are buying it as a gift

The return rules matter even more when someone else will unwrap the case. Make sure the recipient knows to keep the box and the tag, and who to email. We cover this in giving a suitcase as a gift.

What we cannot tell you

Vox Journey is new. We do not publish customer ratings or reviews, because there are none to publish, and we are not going to borrow someone else's. We have not published an overall size with the wheels and handle included, so we have no linear total and will not guess one; if an exact measurement matters, email hello@voxjourney.com and we will measure the actual case for you.

What we can give you is the numbers. The VOX Magnesium Aluminium Voyage Box is S$590 at the founders' price (S$690 retail), 79.83 L and 5.75 kg. The VOX RPET Voyage Box is S$290 at the founders' price (S$390 retail), 96.63 L (113.29 L expanded) and 5.15 kg. If you would rather weigh up where else to shop first, where to buy luggage in Singapore: every option weighed lays out the alternatives.

Not sure whether buying online is right for you, or which case to order? Message us on WhatsApp and tell us how you travel, and we will tell you honestly whether a VOX case fits.