Wish I could warn you...

[jellybirddesigns]

Wish I could warn you guys about my latest buyer:

16 negs left for sellers, with lots of "did not arrive"

Must be Australia's unlukiest buyer.

She's just bought from me, so I have yet to send her item.

I will, of course, add tracking at my expense.

Fingers crossed.

[justkidzbiz]

I buy Instax film from the Chinese sellers, 20 plain pack at Harvey Norman $34.95, bought 70 rainbow, spotted, and Mickey Mouse for $48!

[englishrosegardens]

(not just aimed at lyndal)

From my time spent trawling through feedback of Chinese sellers, I came to the conclusion that some of the bigger sellers' products are mostly okay, but 99% of their problems come from a very small percentage of their products, so most of the time you might get exactly what you paid for, but there's always a chance you could be one of the unlucky ones.  

It was just as the MBG was starting that I was trying to buy certain items so maybe they've all lifted their game now.  I gave up and didn't buy because of the dodgy feedback, and unfortunately they were the only sellers who stocked what I wanted.

It's not just the big Chinese sellers, it's other huge sellers that have a wide range of products.  There are two big US sellers (and I mean BIG) in one of the craft categories I occasionally buy from but I wouldn't touch either with a barge pole because they're as bad as the worst of the Chinese sellers.  They have way too many items not arriving and then they often send the wrong thing.  If someone leaves bad feedback they always leave a response indicating they're working with the buyer to resolve, but way too many buyers leave a further response to indicate this just isn't true.

I thought the person referred to in the OP left more negs about size than anything else, but I didn't make a record of it when I looked.  For the number of feedback she's left, I didn't think there were that many "not received, not happy" comments to be overly suspicious.

[lyndal1838]

There are always two sides to every story when the Chinese sellers are involved.

I suspect I have been lucky in that my items have for the most part arrived safely, but on the other hand I do not expect top quality when I buy at cheap prices.

I don't go into a transaction with a Chinese seller expecting a problem....I look on the bright side and it is rare that I am disappointed.

[englishrosegardens]

A lot of what's sold in b&m shops is made in China so they certainly don't just make rubbish. B&M shops must get their stock a lot cheaper than they sell it for so there's no reason we shouldn't expect good (or at least reasonable) quality when we buy from there.

I know in certain categories sellers are very wary about posting to China because of the number of lost parcels, so it's quite feasible that a fair percentage get lost coming this way as well.

I think there are two sides to a lot of transactions on ebay! I've left my fair share of negs in my time but they were all justified. At one stage I bought a LOT of Royal Albert china from the UK and US - and I came to the conclusion that 95% of the sellers were either fluent liars or had very poor eyesight and couldn't see the cracks, or that half the gilt trim had been rubbed off. There's no excuse for missing cracks even if they were blind because you can do the 'ping test' and a crack will always alter the sound. Lots of them had excellent feedback for packaging too but sent fragile cups in a box with only one layer of bubblewrap and nothing else - and they'd blame the postal service. I gave up buying in the end because feedback was no indication of what to expect!  Most of the time I never received a reply when I contacted the sellers.  One woman ignored my email but then tried to get Square Trade (?) to remove my bad feedback when I left it.

[lyndal1838]

I know what you mean about the packaging.

I have had 150 year old antique plates sent in used pizza boxes with no packing whatsoever and another antique plate from the US sent with a layer of bubble wrap in an plastic satchel.

I quickly learned not to trust US sellers with their descriptions or packaging and stuck to a few sellers in the UK for my china addiction.

[englishrosegardens]

I bought a few Avon Hummingbird crystal glasses and most of those also came with a single layer of bubblewrap and fairly loose in the boxes.  Even the ones I bought in Australia were handled just as much in the postal system as the ones I bought from the UK, and I really took my hat off to AP for the fact they arrived intact.  The worst part is that all these sellers boasted about their wonderful packing!  Actually, the worst part is that other buyers praised them for their packing in feedback.

I found the UK sellers were often worse than the US ones for packing china.  I bought a teaset of a hard to get pattern and she packed the plates and saucers in one box and the cups in another box - all with their handles facing outwards so they took the brunt of any bumps.  I think one of the six arrived with the handle still attached.  Saucers on their own are practically worthless and small plates not much better so I pretty much did my money.  I soon figured out why so many Aussie china resellers listed odd plates & saucers, and why so many teapots for sale here had chips or repaired spouts!

The best seller I bought from was in Canada.  Nearly everything came by surface mail and some of the boxes were really beaten up but nothing was ever damaged.  He fitted much the same amount in his boxes as everyone else did but he used scrunched up newspaper as padding.  I've sold most of the china now and didn't even keep my favourites because they reminded me too much of all the broken ones I received.

[lyndal1838]

I did not buy much in the way of sets.....I needed them like a hole in the head as I worked in china and glass importing for many years, including working for the importer of Royal Albert.   And I dislike the Old Country Roses pattern as much now as I did when it first came out.

I basically had access to every wholesaler in Sydney....it was a case of asking around to see who was importing the items I wanted and off I went to order it.  I was very lucky with my cutlery....the agent even ordered several pieces from Germany for me as they did not usually stock them in Australia

I mainly bought one off antique plates or at the most pairs so there was not as much chance of disappointment.

I don't think I would have coped very well with every item in an order being broken.

[curraone]

thank you for the hint - I didn't know that, very handy

[springyzone]

I wouldn't say she is Australia's unluckiest buyer because I have seen others who have to be total scam artists.

I think she is a genuine buyer but she is very much on the fussy side. Jumps in with a neutral or neg quite regularly & often in places where I might hesitate.

 I noticed several of her negs were about size so maybe she should be wary about buying clothes & underwear.Or buy a larger size if buyign from Asia.

You should be right with cushion covers. all the same, wise to add the tracking.

As for Chinese sellers. I would be wary about buying eg electrical items from them but have bought some items (both on ebay & aliexpress) with excellent service.

In one case I bought little diamante trims for wedding invitations. I had bought about 50 from a local seller as they were advertised as first class, top quality. And they came quickly, were lovely.

Then saw what looked like same/similar thing from China at a quarter of the price. Bought them as spares & to my untrained eye, they looked identical in every way. Maybe they weren't, maybe the 'gems' weren't the same grade or something but I think often it depends on how critical something is. For something like wedding invites, they would have been fine.

But... if I had a string of bad buying experiences from China or ebay generally, I would change my buying habits. So many unlucky buyers on ebay never seem to.

[englishrosegardens]

I've always hated Old Country Roses too, but I made quite a bit of profit buying it from the UK and selling it here.    

Teasets I broke up and sold as trios.  Not literally broke up, though the senders often did that for me.