I've always loved sitting at home leisurely flicking through a mail order catalogue, creating mental lists of all the things I want to buy, so I have accounts with several catalogues, with whom I shop online. Very is currently my favourite of these, though that's not to say it doesn't have it's down-points.

The site has quite a modern look to it, with a lot of black. It looks quite sleek and streamlined, unlike many sites which tend to look cluttered with too much info going on all on the same page. The site can sometimes be quite slow to load, but not slow enough to be frustrating.

Very is basically a department store, selling everything from clothes to home-wares, sports equipment to children's toys. It's arranged by department to make finding what you want easier, though things aren't always where you would expect to find them.

The prices are generally pretty good as catalogue shopping goes (if you look at very and great universal together they're practically exactly the same except for many of the prices being lower on very), but you will easily be able to find a lot of items cheaper elsewhere online. You're paying a premium for the convenience of shopping from home and being able to buy on credit. Obviously this is not for everyone, but for people who find themselves needing something they can't immediately afford the credit terms can be a godsend.products

They stock a good range of brands, from their basic and own branded products at the lower end of the scale, to fashion and designer brands at the higher. There are some very well-known and some lesser-known brands, and in general they offer something for everyone and every budget.

I buy mainly clothes from them, as I hate shopping and love the convenience of being able to try on items in the comfort of my own home (and in normal lighting conditions as opposed to the horrible changing room lights) and returning them free of charge if they're not right.

Most items have a good amount of information displayed on the product page, however some have none at all and this can be annoying when you want to know something specific about a product and all they have is a picture. The checkout process is quick and easy, and I love the fact that they show pictures on the checkout page so you can easily see what's what instead of having to try and remember what the product name relates to.

I find their delivery times are generally very good, with in stock items usually arriving next day. There can be very long delays on some items though, which is sometimes very frustrating. Returns are really easy to arrange either online or by phone, and I've never had any problems at all with any of my returns.

Also if you order, for instance, a lingerie set which is classed as 2 separate items, 1 item may turn up straight away and the other be delayed, so you can't try them on together to see if they're right, and you're left wondering whether to wait for the other item or send the one you have back just in case the other 1 isn't right and you end up outside of the 14 day home approval period.

When you have an account with them they send regular statements which are clear and easy to understand, detailing what you've spent and when you need to pay. They also regularly send 'Buy Now Pay Later' deals, so you can order items and not have to start paying them for a few months. Using your account you can buy on interest free terms under what they call a 'take 3 payment' which simply spreads the amount over 3 monthly payments. Alternatively you can choose interest-bearing terms which means you will have longer to pay and lower monthly payments, but you'll end up paying much more. I would not advise anyone to buy on the interest bearing terms as it's simply not worth it.

I've always had prompt, helpful replies to my emails to customer services, and the staff have always done their best to help and got any problems sorted out quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

All in all I think this is one of the better online 'catalogue' stores. I've used many and it's the only one I've yet to have any major problems with.