internet trading

[colin_jones]

We are researching, for possible early publication a feature on the pros an cons, pleasures and perils of buying electrical and electronic equipment via the internet, either direct from overseas, or from UK sources who have bought abroad for re-sale in UK.

There are obviously considerations of legitimacy of source, reliability of delivery, carriage, import duty, vat , warranties and European type approval. (USA has not heard of the kite mark)

My own experience of internet trading has varied from excellent, via mediocre, to catastrophic.

A number of people have already contacted me about this, but If anybody else has traded through this medium and would like to share their experience and comments, we should be able to assemble enough material to give really good advice to those who might be considering dipping their tootsies into what can be a benign pool, or one filled with sharks.

The narrative an advice could be published here or, if you prefer to keep your anonymity, please PM me. The topic has been aired before, but I do not have a reference to the thread.



<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[trouville]

Dont buy from French .coms! anything under 200euros you wont get as it cost more that that to get your money back.Even ebays naff i bid and got a replacement laptop,just they dident send it as we were in the south and them in Paris.We contacted ebay fraud but again it was just to expensive and ultra time consuming to get all the papers and certified bank thing(very expensive)

<hr width=100% size=1>liveaboard

 

[Sea Devil]

I buy quite a lot of stuff on the net - ebay and amazon - because I live in France I frequently buy ex UK and from France - couple of things have come from Hong Kong or China???? One cd did not turn up ex asia - emailed them after a couple of weeks and sent a replacement - had good experiences up to now but over around £100 I either telephone or email to make certain what I want is what I will get.

found it to be very good system.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.michaelbriant.com/sailing>http://www.michaelbriant.com/sailing</A>

 

[30boat]

I have had good experiences so far but on two ocasions I was charged too much for shipping and for no apparent reason.
Lewmar once charged about £12 for sending a hatch seal(cost £10) that would have fited a smallish envelope and recently Maplins charged over £15 postage for £3 worth of LEDs that weighed only a few grams.I live in Portugal,by the way.
I complained but to no avail.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jonjo]

Following one disappointing experience of buying online I now stick to making purchases from businesses that focus on their internet trading. It is best to deal with a business who's reputation sinks or swims based on how it deals with its internet clientele.

I believe small general retailers who dabble with internet sales are tempted to shift B grade stock to remote internet customers who are less likely to return poor quality goods.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Sea Devil]

Maplins are a pain or greedy or very old fashioned - I need a small buzzer for my radar alarm 85p! Will fit in a tiny envelope and weighs nothing - Maplins will not send it to me in France or anywhere outside the UK without charging £12 post and packing!!!!!!

Still have not got the buzzer and Maplins say this is the only way they are prepared to send to all europe - what's wrong with them?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.michaelbriant.com/sailing>http://www.michaelbriant.com/sailing</A>

 

[abraxus]

I buy quite a lot via the internet and in general I have to say that my experiences have been positive, with much cheaper prices, a wider choice and largely efficient delivery. As noted, some companies make up for lower advertised prices by bumping up delivery charges, but I always insist on confirmation of this upfront and if unreasonable I buy elsewhere.

I have only had one bad experience, due to incompetence more than anything else, where I bought a £1200 ( about £1400 everywhere else) projector from a large online supplier. The first projector arrived and I was initially pleasantly surprised as a spare bulb was in the box (worth about £250) by mistake, but I soon discovered it had a couple of faulty pixels in the middle of the screen. After a number of phone calls discussing whether this was a valid fault or not they eventually agreed to replace it. Several weeks later the replacement arrived, but without a power cord. I was going to ignore it as I got a new one for a tenner, but I realised that no cord was supplied as this was a US specified version, which although working perfectly, was illegal in the UK.

I contacted them again, and again several weeks passed with nothing happening until I contacted the MD. He then sped things up and also offered me a £200 rebate for my trouble, which was nice. Eventually the replacement arrived and again a spare bulb was shipped by mistake, but the projector was fine. So in the end I finshed up with the projector for a grand and two free bulbs worth about £500, so it all worked out well.

This was all due to incompetence on the part of the company and knowing what margins they work to, suspect that they ended up considerably out of pocket on the whole deal.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[npf1]

I've bought upteen new and used things for my boat on eBay, have had an excellent experience so far and saved a bundle. Some items I have bought have been 30% of the price in the UK but you do have to be careful to know exactly what you want before bidding as well as only buying from sellers who have a good history. Also, bought a USA ICOM handheld on whim without doing my homework - so I screwed myself with that one.
In general, I would rather buy online but obviously one needs to watch the shipping costs.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[trouville]

It seems postage is a problem from the UK. I was anoyed when i needed an engin part. Pacel force charged £12 to France the supplyer wanted £47 via DHL in the end i paid £25 for the super slow DHL---all of them get discounts for shipping--its a very ineficent way of putting the price up

Why not just give a resonable price and correct shipping???

<hr width=100% size=1>liveaboard