by Ethel Smith

Created on: April 22, 2008

* BACKGROUND *

A few years ago we had an on-digital box. Remember those ? It was one of the forerunners to the current Freeview, which is available in the UK. When we were using this box I came across QVC, a home shopping channel. I used to regularly have a look at this channel but never actually ordered anything.

So a couple of years ago when we had purchased a Freeview box, we found that it gave us access to about 30 channels, one of these being QVC.

All I really know about this company is it began in America , where it has been up and running for many years. It stocks over 15,000 products and it is the largest electronic retailer in the UK, but I suppose it could have been overtaken now. QVC is supposed to stand for Quality , Value and Convenience, but does this channel provide any of these? .

* QVC IN ENGLAND *

On our Freeview box, QVC is found on channel 16. On sky it is on channel 630 and on cable channel 740.

I have ordered a variety of things in the last 18 months and up to now have not experienced any problems.

You can watch the programmes on TV or live on their website at : www.qvcuk.com.

On the Internet you can browse stock that is current or from previous shows. Everything is divided so that you can search for, say, shoes in general or a particular item. The pricing is just the same. Without watching the live shows on the Internet you can still search for stock. They also have a clearance section, so really there is more choice online.

However this is the armchair review really aimed at the TV shows.

Each programme runs for one hour but they do sometimes run the same company (e.g. Indigo Moon)at say 7pm and then at 8pm. This would be stock from the same firm or type of show, but it would be different items. Viewing starts at 6am and runs through to the early hours of the morning, seven days a week .

The presenters are all very amiable and professional, which makes for easy viewing. Some of them you may think look a little familiar and you may remember as previously appearing on mainstream TV. This must be their graveyard then I guess. On the downside you could easily be persuaded to buy, get sucked in and overspend. There is usually one presenter and a representative from the manufacturer being shown . Sometimes it is the head of a company, as in "Kim and Co", where it's usually Kim Mendlesonn herself jointly presenting the show.

If the scheduling was for "Winterwear" there would be a range of winter clothes from all different retailers. However if it was for

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