I'd really like to know if any of you have ever bought anything from outside of the U.S, since I've been told not to buy from e-bay because they never send the items to Hispanic countries and that sort of thing people always say. What do you recommend me?
I don't think ebay's the problem actually. IT depends on the courier service as well as the country where the item is going and what kind of a custom system they have. So, if an item is sent using fedex or dhl or something, it will reach the end of the world with ease. But, if the sender mailed it using usps or something, chances are that they don't or won't have a supporting infrastructure in the target country. For example, I had bought 2 used servers from ebay. One of them I had sent to my friend in LA who flew home with the server machine. The other one was sent directly via USPS. The second one was stopped at customs, but no one told me about it until I tracked the thing and went and paid the custom duty. Later on when I bought a 3rd one, which was sent by fedex, the server was stopped at customs, but fedex contacted me, sent someone to my home to get my signature on a form, and then got the item released from customs themselves. See the difference?
I live in the United States, and I purchase from overseas quite often. I sometimes purchase from Canada, the UK, occasionally from places like Croatia, Latvia, France, Australia, and often, from China. The items from China/Hong Kong seem to take the longest, and I have had an occasional issue with not receiving the item, or not receiving the item described. I've found that the tracking numbers given by shippers/sellers in China are often fake. I guess they just make them up so they can plug in information to show that the item has been shipped (assuming it has), and eBay seems aware of this, since they are the ones who first informed me several years back that the shipping number I was inquiring about was fake. I recently had another item that didn't show up, but the seller was quick to refund my money once I filed that I wanted a refund.
I have been on eBay for years and have never had a problem buying from anywhere in the world. The problem is in not looking into the sellers, their shipping methods, their reviews and ratings etc. If you're selective, you should have no problem.
I really am the kind of person that's always looking at the sellers profile just to check how relieable they are. I've seen a ton of "good sellers" or "qualified sellers" that have a lot of negative comments and they still have 99,9% of ratings, it's kinda difficult when it comes to trusting them, but sometimes we just have to take the risk.
I would contact the buyer beforehand to see if they ship to your location, one you will have proof that you asked if a problem does arise. I am an ebay seller (in the U.S though) and it drives me crazy when I hear about sellers that scam, it gives us a bad name! Like you said before that you do check their profile I would take it a tad further and message them to see if they ship to your location, if it seems fishy don't do it.
Yes, see how sneaky it can get? Lol. I won't buy from someone with a high rating and bad reviews unless the bad reviews are about shipping, which is out of the seller's hands for the most part. Before I buy I look at the whole picture. No problems.
It's not the country, but the seller that is important and what kind of shipping you choose. Generally ebay stores have a good system and will avoid any bad reviews. It also depends on what you are buying. I know a friend bought things from China and it took a long time to arrive due to customs. These are things that a seller cannot predict, so you need to be more understanding on that front.
Hmm, well, I forgot to mention that most of the bad comments are regarding shipping and used items that were sold as new items, however, I will try to dig deeper to find better sellers, thank you.
Yes, I agree with the others that Ebay isn't inherently the problem, but the postal services and the seller whom you are buying a product from. Even though you aren't in the United States (presumably), it's important to remember that not all Ebay sellers are in the United States. I live in the States and have had items shipped from other countries, like China and Canada. Personally, I have never had an item from a foreign county NOT arrive at my door, but everyone's experience is different. Just remember to check the seller's rating and comments to make sure that you are buying from someone trustworthy.
Well, thank you for your opinion. Personally, I was thinking on buying from US sellers since these look more reliable and also closer to my country (Venezuela) China sellers seem to be quite careless about this sort of thing, but I really have to worry about where I'm getting my shipping from.
I am based in Nepal and I buy things from the sellers based in various countries. When it comes to buy things, location of seller does not matter to me. I have bought things from Chinese sellers who have given me 100 percent satisfaction, where as one seller from the UK almost scammed me. When ever you buy from ebay always look for top rated seller.
Well I don't think that Ebay is reliable when shopping inside the U.S., so I would have to say no. That said, though, a lot of the issues that make me say this stem from individual sellers, and the company or the site itself, so that is just in their defense. I would just say be extra extra careful you are choosing a good seller, and read some reviews.
It's good to hear that you've had such a good experience buying from E-Bay, I really will consider your advice, however, you're right, sometimes the sellers are not realiable enough, no matter what country they are from.
I've bought many items from countries outside of the US. You have to check out the reviews to see that the items are good and not cheap. I had one that sent me a very pixelated poster that was folded. But that was my fault, when I looked into it, they had bad reviews and the product description already told me it would be folded to save on the shipping. The next one I bought, I did proper research past the cheap price and it was fine. So you can get great deals on things that are from out of the US if you do your research.
Well, actually, I'm the one who's outside the U.S, however, that's such a good advice, thank you for sharing it, it definitely will be useful for many other buyers, of course.
The only times I've had problems buying on Ebay were actually purchases from U.S. sellers. I have bought from U.K. and Chinese sellers with no problems. Shipping from the Chinese sellers to the U.S. was remarkably fast.
The last time I bought something on Ebay was a year ago, but when I was active in buying there, I mostly bought stuff from China, and only 1 item from the UK and some items from Lithuania. The shipping was a bit long, like you have to wait for 2 to 5 weeks to get your item, and some even longer. I was scammed at times too by other Chinese sellers because my bid was too low for their taste. I got some of my money back, while in other times I didn't. But with the 180 day allowance for you to file a complaint after you paid for the item, I don't think you will still get scammed of you money.
Most of the time buying outside the US was ok. Once it was awful. However , ebay can be really safe no matter where the vendor is as long as you observe a vendors rating. If they have been in business for a long time and are rating well, you are most likely in good shape. In my experience, if someone is not such a hot seller, it is obvious in some way you can see.
