Am I missing something?

wibblewibble

I've been buying on ebay for many years, and I can usually spot things that are seriously too good to be true and can figure out the catch so avoid any pitfalls, more often than not I choose to walk away even if I have even a teeny hint of something not being kosher.

What (if anything) am I missing here? Item is : 220415918145

Comes from China, a jade bracelet at 99p with free shipping and no hidden extras for insurance, sellers feedback looks genuine can't spot any obvious feedback padding or shill bidding.

Now I don't believe for one moment that it will be silver or that it's genuine jade - even so a fake silver/jade bracelet of that type is usually more than that bought in a market here how can they possibly be making any money on the item at those kinds of prices? They have fees to pay & shipping costs.

Am I being overly suspicious? Could the items they are selling that cheaply be loss leaders to entice you into buying the more expensive items with the full postage & extra insurance? If so that won't work on me but I certainly wouldn't mind the bracelet for 99p.

I pay via paypal I know I'm covered against loss of my 99p - not that it matters very much I'm just suspicious of whether this is some kinda scam to get identity details ... or am I really really way too paranoid??

Barneysmom

It could be, though they are selling some beautiful stuff aren't they?
I bought some silver wire (for threading beads) from China for £3.99 and it was really good quality.
I guess it's how much you are prepared to lose if it gets lost onthe way?

Norma_Desmond

It may well be real jade - it comes in different qualities like many other stones and the common mottled green form is not that rare or expensive.
Now if it's white jade, then it's worth a bit!

IMSOBROKE

I think the neg feedback speaks for itself!!!:eek:

steviebabes

A lot of these sellers from China struggle to keep their DSR's high enough for a powerseller discount or even high enough to avoid a ban so they offer lots of cheap freepost stuff. As the DSR ratings are not linked to the value of the goods a 99p 5* rating will often cancell out higher value items where buyers have marked them down for postage & dispatch times. With 99p free listing they probably dont make a huge loss when you take into account a possible 40% discount available to the big sellers.

NeilJung

Yeah, lots of Chinese sellers do this to boost their feedback. Nothing to worry about, but don't necessarily expect all items from such sellers to be exactly as described. In China they have a common phrase that means "equivalent to" or "pretty much the same as" that covers a multitude of copyright and counterfeit issues. They think nothing of it. It's just the culture they have. They more or less expect the buyer to know that if they are paying pennies for a silver bracelet that it's going to be silver plated. You get what you pay for, but I've had some awesome deals from Chinese sellers. Just be realistic about your expectations. Most to these sellers negatives are from buyers who had wildly overinflated expectations or who don't realize that shipping from China can take a little while. I buy off ebay from China as well and have made huge savings on lots of items I need by doing so, but it's not for everyone.

TurkishDelight

The stuff they sell is very cheap for them to get... because it's made in China

I've bought a few things from China, and not long after started getting chinglish spam... just saying.
They're good stuff though, mostly, and can be incredible prices.

Enterprise_1701C

I got some seriously cheap Jade when I was out in Hong Kong.