Would you purchase item from Singapore?

my3girls

Hi everyone, hope you are well. I'm just after a bit of advice really. There is an item I really want to buy and cheapest I have seen online is in the region of £70. There is a seller on eBay who has the item for £25 and £20 postage from Singapore so would be considerably cheaper. They have almost 800 feedback at 100% from all over the world, but I still feel a bit cautious.
Would you buy this item?
Thanks
X

ThinkingOfLinking

Yes, but I'd pay only by Paypal so I'd have buyer protection in case of any problems.

my3girls

Thanks for your reply. I had asked the seller a question and they responded by asking for my personal email address :-s

starrybee

I wouldn't risk it. I've bought cheap under £5 items from HK before but I wouldn't do it with anything higher value than that. Is it electronic? Overseas sellers are notorious for selling cheap fakes and sub-standard products. Even with paypal protection, in order to get a refund for a faulty product, you will need to send the item back tracked at your own expense so you may find if it does end up breaking it could end up being more costly than it's worth.
I would spend the extra £25 to get it from the UK with a proper guarantee on it. That's assuming it's electronic of course, if it's something else then it could still be worth considering depending on what it is.

my3girls

Thank you. It's a well branded toy.

trukdiver

my3girls wrote: »

Hi everyone, hope you are well. I'm just after a bit of advice really. There is an item I really want to buy and cheapest I have seen online is in the region of £70. There is a seller on eBay who has the item for £25 and £20 postage from Singapore so would be considerably cheaper. They have almost 800 feedback at 100% from all over the world, but I still feel a bit cautious.
Would you buy this item?
Thanks
X

I've bought lots from Hong Kong etc but usually things that aren't likely to go wrong.. You won't get a UK warranty and you'll be liable to VAT and a clearance charge. By the time you've paid for the item, postage, VAT and customs clearance, you'll be close to the UK price but without the benefits of a UK purchase.

EssexGirl

I wouldn't. There are loads of fake toys around it's not worth the risk to your child should it be a dangerous fake.

porto_bello

In theory, if you pay with paypal, you are covered, but if you had to launch a case, the cost of returning it, via a tracked, signed for delivery would probably be quite a few quid.

For that sort of money, I wouldn't buy anything electronic, as it probably won't last long - particularly if it's a toy that's going to take a few knocks.

Basically, I wouldn't do it.

Like Trukdriver, I do buy things from the Far East, but only low value things that don't go wrong, e.g. a camera case for a specific camera, that retails for 4 or 5 times the price in the high street (ok it may be a fake, but we are talking about a camera case - not the camera itself).

soolin

I buy a lot from the far East but I would not touch electricals or branded items at all.

ThinkingOfLinking

Now I know it's a toy, I wouldn't take the risk either.

terra_ferma

I don't buy from the far east, never did even before becoming a seller myself. not worth the risk.