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UK seller - or not?
gjd0496
Posts: 25 Forumite
I am fed up with ebay listings that show as UK sellers but are obviously not in the UK!
Last year I bought a radio from a UK seller in London that took ages to arrive. To be fair when I looked at the original listing the delivery was a lot longer than I would have expected but I hadn't noticed this, maybe because I'm used to items often arriving before the due date anyway.
When it did arrive, it had a customs sticker on it and was, in fact, from China. I have no problem buying from China, or anywhere else for that matter, but I don't like being misled. If it says UK, then the item should be in the UK when I order it.
These sellers have become very devious in recent times but the usual clues are in the delivery timescale - much longer than you would expect or with a wide range that covers a period of weeks.
Others can be spotted by their bad use of English but that's not uncommon these days anyway - how often have you seen someone type loose when they mean lose?
But sometimes they go all out to convince you they are in the UK and, of course, these listings still appear if you select the option for UK only when searching in eBay.
Today I almost bought an item but, as usual, I checked the delivery date which is 10 days hence. The seller is in Manchester and I live in Sussex so unless they use a carrier pidgeon, its hard to imagine why it would take that long to get here, especially when the listing says "in stock".
So I looked at the feedback, which is not brilliant as it happens, and here it clearly says "Based in Singapore". Needless to say I didn't buy it.
I think eBay need to look into this as their policy clearly states "You can only open an eBay account in the country you live in" but there are obviously many ways around this, like getting an 'agent' to create the account (brother, sister etc) in the UK for instance.
I like eBay and use it a lot and have held an account for many years now but this issue has put me off buying certain items through them, even if it costs me more to go elsewhere.
Others beware, check carefully before you buy....
Last year I bought a radio from a UK seller in London that took ages to arrive. To be fair when I looked at the original listing the delivery was a lot longer than I would have expected but I hadn't noticed this, maybe because I'm used to items often arriving before the due date anyway.
When it did arrive, it had a customs sticker on it and was, in fact, from China. I have no problem buying from China, or anywhere else for that matter, but I don't like being misled. If it says UK, then the item should be in the UK when I order it.
These sellers have become very devious in recent times but the usual clues are in the delivery timescale - much longer than you would expect or with a wide range that covers a period of weeks.
Others can be spotted by their bad use of English but that's not uncommon these days anyway - how often have you seen someone type loose when they mean lose?
But sometimes they go all out to convince you they are in the UK and, of course, these listings still appear if you select the option for UK only when searching in eBay.
Today I almost bought an item but, as usual, I checked the delivery date which is 10 days hence. The seller is in Manchester and I live in Sussex so unless they use a carrier pidgeon, its hard to imagine why it would take that long to get here, especially when the listing says "in stock".
So I looked at the feedback, which is not brilliant as it happens, and here it clearly says "Based in Singapore". Needless to say I didn't buy it.
I think eBay need to look into this as their policy clearly states "You can only open an eBay account in the country you live in" but there are obviously many ways around this, like getting an 'agent' to create the account (brother, sister etc) in the UK for instance.
I like eBay and use it a lot and have held an account for many years now but this issue has put me off buying certain items through them, even if it costs me more to go elsewhere.
Others beware, check carefully before you buy....
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Comments
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There are also a lot of sellers and business' who are actually in the UK but simply have all their products drop shipped from the Far East. As you say, it takes a bit of detective work before ordering sometimes.0
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I think eBay need to look into this...
There are a hundred issues that we think eBay need to look into, ever since its inception.
Yet here we are, nearly two decades later with many issues left unresolved, but that's okay as long as we're all still using eBay.
They're not going to "look into" anything, until it starts to affect their bottom line.0 -
If it's such a big deal to find that an item has been sent from overseas (and I often find China just as quick as items are genuinely posted within the UK!), either read the listing/feedback carefully or just buy from another site. You don't have to use ebay - plenty of other options. Might cost more, but at least you know the seller has correctly described where the item will be sent from. Your choice.0
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If it's such a big deal to find that an item has been sent from overseas (and I often find China just as quick as items are genuinely posted within the UK!), either read the listing/feedback carefully or just buy from another site. You don't have to use ebay - plenty of other options. Might cost more, but at least you know the seller has correctly described where the item will be sent from. Your choice.
If using other sites be careful with Amazon, there is serious misrepresentation going on there to the extent that I will no longer buy from marketplace sellers, only from Amazon and Prime advertised items.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
Ebay has been awful for me lately.
Looking for a particular light fitting, put UK only and you know the listings saying UKseller with UK flags are probably not UK sellers. I know that and that was not the issue.
The issue I had was the price... I looked at 50+ listings for a light fitting and not one of them had the actual item at the BIN price shown.
This was after ignoring all the cheap 99p listings and starting the listing at £7.50.
Enter the listing to find something else at £7.50 and the item I wanted at 2 or 3 times the price or not available at all.
And I had even ignored the 99p - £20 listings and only chose the BIN single price listings.
Off to Amazon and choose prime same day or next day, I know its going to be dearer, but not spending many hours trawling through fake listings, it will be worthwhile.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
forgotmyname wrote: »Ebay has been awful for me lately.
Looking for a particular light fitting, put UK only and you know the listings saying UKseller with UK flags are probably not UK sellers. I know that and that was not the issue.
The issue I had was the price... I looked at 50+ listings for a light fitting and not one of them had the actual item at the BIN price shown.
This was after ignoring all the cheap 99p listings and starting the listing at £7.50.
Enter the listing to find something else at £7.50 and the item I wanted at 2 or 3 times the price or not available at all.
And I had even ignored the 99p - £20 listings and only chose the BIN single price listings.
Off to Amazon and choose prime same day or next day, I know its going to be dearer, but not spending many hours trawling through fake listings, it will be worthwhile.
Why not try a 'branded' online retailer or even go to a shop...now there's a thought!0 -
Why not try a 'branded' online retailer or even go to a shop...now there's a thought!
The last time I needed a specialist part for an older style light I could not buy it anywhere at all except for a very expensive online store that had a minimum p and p price of something like £8.99 , when I could actually buy the same thing from an eBay UK shop for less than £8 delivered.
Most shops have an eBay presence and often the eBay price is considerably less than buying direct. It was exactly the same for some bits and pieces my husband needed for his hobby, same price on eBay or direct from the shop, but p and p considerably dearer buying direct. He even needed some old fashioned wire and Maplin was the only place that he could get it, but they were three times the price of an eBay seller.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
The last time I needed a specialist part for an older style light I could not buy it anywhere at all except for a very expensive online store that had a minimum p and p price of something like £8.99 , when I could actually buy the same thing from an eBay UK shop for less than £8 delivered.
Most shops have an eBay presence and often the eBay price is considerably less than buying direct. It was exactly the same for some bits and pieces my husband needed for his hobby, same price on eBay or direct from the shop, but p and p considerably dearer buying direct. He even needed some old fashioned wire and Maplin was the only place that he could get it, but they were three times the price of an eBay seller.
Fine - you pay your money and make your choice/take your chances, but perhaps more people need to accept that's exactly what they are doing, instead of constantly moaning about ebay. Given the vast number of perfectly satisfactory transactions experienced by ebay buyers and sellers, there's a decent chance all will be well - but sometimes not...0 -
Why not try a 'branded' online retailer or even go to a shop...now there's a thought!
Define branded?
The local specialist lighting shop closed many years ago which leaves errr B&Q or B&Q or you guess.
Who have some ugly contraption for £76, strangly it looks exactly the same as the £12.99 ones on ebay.
My transaction have mostly been good on ebay, been a member for long enough. The issue these days is the search or lack of... and even worse since they added the we are only showing you some results, would you like to see all of them.
And at that time the first one in the list suited my search perfectly. Yet the poor seller nearly lost a sale because of ebays search manipulation.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
If using other sites be careful with Amazon, there is serious misrepresentation going on there to the extent that I will no longer buy from marketplace sellers, only from Amazon and Prime advertised items.
Ebay (or their representatives) need to buck their ideas up before they start criticising others.
If you want loyalty - get a dog:rotfl::rotfl:
All my posts are my opinion, and the actions I would take.0
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