Pity the poor trader

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MikeAqua

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#1554159 17-May-2016 14:29

This probably why I have never bought anything from ebay/amazon/aliexpress.

richms:

Once the crap is with you, it is expensive to return it etc. Just puts people off buying online. IMO its a mistake how much random junk amazon let sellers sell on there.

Mike

richms

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#1554161 17-May-2016 14:37

Aliexpress has been the best for me for refunds on things that are crap and not at all like the pictures. Its amazon, with a reshipper involved then you are out that cost too, even if you do get a refund without returning it.

Richard rich.ms

Rikkitic

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#1554164 17-May-2016 14:50

I am not taking a position on this, just mentioning what my sister told me. I don't know if the crap sellers are just exercising their free market rights or not, or if the legitimate sellers should and can do something to improve their prospects. It does seem to me that the crap sellers in this case are being underhanded, but again I don't really know.

I don't do a lot of overseas shopping but I have done some. I have bought some items from Amazon and Ebay, and several things from Aliexpress. My own personal experience has been that the cheap Chinese crap that let me down was actually purchased in New Zealand on Trade Me. The stuff from Aliexpress was exactly as described and has performed well. Most of this was cheap electronics and I bought it for the low prices. I don't know how it was made but it wasn't counterfeit (no phony brand name stuff) and it seemed legitimate as far as I could tell.

The point being there are two sides to this. As a consumer I want the best value for money I can get (who doesn't) but I don't want to benefit from criminal exploitation of the weak and vulnerable, especially children, and I don't want my low prices to drive legitimate hard-working traders out of business. It is just really hard to know what is a bargain, and what is crap that people get hurt by, whether directly or indirectly. It is difficult to be an ethical purchaser, especially if you don't have a lot of money to spend.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

jmh

458 posts

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#1554167 17-May-2016 15:10

I'm not generally a brand person, but in situations where I can't judge quality for myself, ie. online, I would tend to go for a recognised brand or company that I know is good quality. There's an argument for the retailer to maintain the higher price and offer some sort of certification from the brand owner. Plus offer really good returns options. Building up referral business and recommendations can also help.

davidknz

41 posts

Geek

#1554193 17-May-2016 15:20

I'm a Luddite that still uses the venerable LIGHTSCRIBE technology to label my CDs / DVDs

HP have discontinued the technology, possibly as it was affecting their sales of CD capable printers.

So Lo, when I saw Alibaba specifically advertising Verbatim Lightscribe CDs, I signed up.

What arrived were standard Verbatim CDs (non lightscribe) at 1/3 the cost

There then followed WEEKS of exchanges with the seller featuring lies, threats, deceit and

intransigence, before Alibaba decided it was misrepresentation.

Finally I got 1/2 my money back and zip for the hours wasted

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#1554298 17-May-2016 17:28

If you want to see a ridiculous freight charge, see this auction.

It's not a misprint - they will deliver a kitset building anywhere in the country for just $6.... they will even combine shipping lol

I have no idea how they do it, but it's such a good deal it makes me want to buy one.

Batman

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#1554314 17-May-2016 17:54

Wheelbarrow01:

If you want to see a ridiculous freight charge, see this auction.

It's not a misprint - they will deliver a kitset building anywhere in the country for just $6.... they will even combine shipping lol

I have no idea how they do it, but it's such a good deal it makes me want to buy one.

Because it's included in the buy price. As the max fee tops up at around $150 that's way under the buy now price. So costing in the freight does not incur a commission penalty.

On the other hand if you want to milk back your commission sell the house at $500 and charge $5499 for shipping. But presumably they make enough money, there's no need to save $100 on commission, or worse, get banned.

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Geektastic

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#1554336 17-May-2016 18:40

I imagine it is quite hard unless actual trademarks are being infringed and the owners take action.

I remember here in NZ Sanitarium somehow managed to get Customs to prevent the import of genuine UK Marmite because Sanitarium have the right to the name here (what eejit let them have that in perpetuity I have no idea but that is beside the point) so despite entirely different packaging, different taste and zero chance of anyone confusing the two, Customs impounded some guy's shipment worth $15,000.

So if the fake stuff is coming to NZ to be sold, it might be possible using the powers in the Marmite example to stop them at the border. However I think only the trade mark owner would be able to do that.

If people are buying it overseas, I am not sure there is a way to stop them. If genuine merchandise costs $10 and knock off costs $5 then the buyer has a choice and IME here in NZ, that will almost always be to buy the cheaper option as the general trend seems to be to see value in price rather than quality.

Jaxson

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#1554383 17-May-2016 20:33

There are some risky items for sure, like sd cards. Items described fraudulently are a real issue.

But then there are the same items being sold here at ridiculous mark ups. The end seller might not be the root cause but they are stuck in a dated distribution chain.

Spark plugs sold her for $33 each, vs same spark plugs sold via Amazon as a set of 6 for $75 including shipping.

rhy7s

623 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1554391 17-May-2016 21:10

I almost got burned last night on counterfeit headphones, tired and I wasn't paying enough attention as the price was closer to genuine and had somehow got the impression it was a US listing. Alarm bells went off after the payment went through and luckily the seller refunded shortly thereafter.

dickytim

2514 posts

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#1554527 18-May-2016 06:21

Customs will stop counterfeit items however they need to know about them!

A little while ago Nike had them stop some containers of stuff coming in that was counterfeit, god knows how they knew about it.

1eStar

1604 posts

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#1554544 18-May-2016 08:16

Amazon is full of fakes now. I nearly got trapped last week, ordered a "Genuine Samsung Flip Cover" which showed it coming from Samsung on the original page, once I'd ordered it showed it being fulfilled by some dodgy trader, and recent feedback showed they were shipping fakes.
Cancelled order. Unlikely to be using Amazon again if they condone such underhand trickery.

Geektastic

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#1554617 18-May-2016 09:55

Compact Flash and SD cards are terrible for fakery.

I will only buy now from reputable dealers like B&H and Adorama.

dman

953 posts

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#1561154 28-May-2016 12:11

OP, is your sister selling on Amazon from here in NZ or is she located in the USA?

dickytim:

Customs will stop counterfeit items however they need to know about them!

A little while ago Nike had them stop some containers of stuff coming in that was counterfeit, god knows how they knew about it.

Yeah, I wonder too how on earth they got advance word of that to stop it??

Geektastic:

Compact Flash and SD cards are terrible for fakery.

I will only buy now from reputable dealers like B&H and Adorama.

Agreed, I only order SD cards from somewhere I highly trust.

As waaaaay too easy to take a cheap class 4 card and fake it as a Sandisk Extreme Pro

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

Rikkitic

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#1561165 28-May-2016 12:44

dman: She is based in the USA.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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