-
Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
Current Off Shore Order ETDs
- Thread starter YYCHM
- Start date
I'm getting frustrated with Amazon, and it pre-dates Covid. I'm finding that in addition to not policing misleading product descriptions, they have become less transparent WRT delivery dates. You really have to triple check what you order from overseas; much of it doesn't even get manufactured until orders reach a specific quantity, hence the lengthly waits. Amazon takes the same hands off approach to the products they sell as Facebook does with content. You're on your own.
And I won't even comment on the arbitrage examples. Those drive me nuts.
And I won't even comment on the arbitrage examples. Those drive me nuts.
Richard G
Member
AliExpress does not refund the shipping charges if the product does not make it to your doorstep within their time-frame or at all. Amazon, I find expensive in most instances, The free shipping is compensated for in the inflated price. I would much rather see honest pricing for the item and again honest pricing for the shipping. Then I could make an educated decision about a tentative purchase. Cheers
AliExpress doesn't refund items that are never delivered?
Further development...… My AliExpress order with ETD of 15-30 days appears to have been mailed?? CP recognizes the tracking number. Unlike other orders, I never received email notice that it had been shipped. Not sure what this EPacket thing is now. My order also states that I can't open an undelivered dispute until Dec 2
I can't even begin to explain how much I've ordered off aliexpress (and Alibaba for that matter) and have only had one very small, very cheap thing not show up. All the others that were out of timeframe I disputed and had a refund for, and generally EVENTUALLY the thing would show up.
My recent experience with shipping times isn't good.. Still w/o things I've ordered 2 months ago so, like I always say, if you need it fast buy it on this side of the ocean or be prepared to wait. You're getting a discount mainly because of the shipping times, keep that part in mind when ordering from China.
My recent experience with shipping times isn't good.. Still w/o things I've ordered 2 months ago so, like I always say, if you need it fast buy it on this side of the ocean or be prepared to wait. You're getting a discount mainly because of the shipping times, keep that part in mind when ordering from China.
Dabbler
ersatz engineer
I'm currently waiting on a carbide burr via amazon.ca, but the delivery date says oct22-nov13 - fingers crossed!
A few months ago I disputed an order that was 5 months late - disputing every month or so, finally I got my refund. The parcel showed up a few weeks ago, and now I feel guilty!
A few months ago I disputed an order that was 5 months late - disputing every month or so, finally I got my refund. The parcel showed up a few weeks ago, and now I feel guilty!
When I (briefly) considered becoming an Amazon seller for an item I was going to make, I attended a local Amazon Sellers' Group. What I learned is that many overseas items use "vacuum pool containers" (vacuum in this case meaning they aren't full). Companies wait until they have enough orders, then negotiate space in an unfilled container that goes nowhere near you. It then sits in this country or region. Eventually their shipper negotiates space in another container that has space and may even go back to the original country it comes from. This iterates multiple times until it gets to you, which is why it takes so long. I learned that in the shipping industry not everyone ships knowing how it will arrive, as this is dependent on price. The distributors who sell at lower prices often use this technique and the result is a 5 month delay that looks like a lost package to you.
I have had the same experience, contacted the seller and been sent another item that arrived (because the stars aligned and its route went by way of containers that were closer to full, and thus got shipped sooner). Sure enough the original arrives months later. Once I even contacted the seller and offered to return or pay for the second (original) item. They couldn't be bothered for the price, which is quite a comment on the markup I guess.
I also learned that sellers can partner with other sellers to share container space purposely. There are data companies (or maybe Amazon itself sells the data) that look at where an item's COO (Country of Origin) is, its ratings on Amazon, its shipment history, etc. You then partner with a company that meets your needs and piggy back on their more reliable shipping strategy. Oddly enough, some companies purposely buy bad pool space knowing it will take months past the ETD. They do it not just to save money. Some companies have been known to buy and sell a small amount of competitive products and purposely ship them via a known bad pool route just to upset customers. In a market with only two or three brands, customers often don't differentiate by seller, and just associate the bad reviews with the brand name. Amazon tries to toss out reviews that reference shipping issues, but many people read between the lines and most reviewers can't separate their bias of the shipping time from the product itself. Case in point: I've never had an Amazon review rejected because I complemented the shipping speed, but have had multiple ones rejected because I criticized it.
Amazon is a fascinating business and there are a bunch of good books about it. I was also fascinated to learn in the user group that the reason why you see a box of wooden toothpicks selling for $6000 is because sellers know many people will buy a higher priced product thinking it is better than the similar item priced just slightly below it. Sellers set an algorithm that monitors their competitor's price and then increases their own price to a marginal percentage above it. But if the competitor has done the same, the result is dueling algorithms and a box of $6000 toothpicks.
I learned a ton from this user group, much of which disgusted me. I must have looked pretty doe eyed when I joined.
Last edited:
Was that your skunk(?) trap endeavour?
I offered to re-refund an item that arrived way after it had been refunded only to discover there was no mechanism in place to do so.
Yup—insurance company threatened to cancel my homeowners insurance if I did anything commercial. It shut down my retirement business.
Pete, where was the Amazon group assembled or located? Like a Meetup thing? Are they still functioning? (I mean outside of covid issues). I've wondered a lot about the inner workings myself, both as buyer but more how people are marketing things when they have an invention or product. There is a lot of YouTube content but vast majority is useless. Usually USA based which doesn't work the same here. Or re-flogging Walmart sale items or they speculated on a carton of AliExpress items. Or out of date business model, or gateway to buy their How I made a Zillion$ from my Moms closet and a cell phone lol.
This is it here: https://www.meetup.com/Calgary-Amazon-Sellers-Meetup/
The guy who set it up is also the 3D Printer guru at UofC. The meetings used to be in the Alastair Ross Technology Centre at the UofC Campus ( https://www.platformcalgary.com/locations/artc/ ), but not sure if that is still the case. Last time I looked they had 400+ members, but only 20-30 showed up at any given meeting.
The guy who set it up is also the 3D Printer guru at UofC. The meetings used to be in the Alastair Ross Technology Centre at the UofC Campus ( https://www.platformcalgary.com/locations/artc/ ), but not sure if that is still the case. Last time I looked they had 400+ members, but only 20-30 showed up at any given meeting.
francist
Super User
Interesting. Is that because you would have been manufacturing items for sale in your home or just plain working out of your home to support your business? A ton of people work out of their home doing various things (author, artist, whatever) — what didn’t they like (other than skunks)?
-frank
Small artistic operations like writing, quilt making, painting etc., usually aren't an issue (zoning not withstanding). But commercial welding in a non-commercial space was the problem. Insurance companies don't even like hobby welding, which is interesting because hobby welding at home doesn't even make the top 10 causes of household fires (cooking is #1). Contrary to popular belief the insurance industry isn't 100% data driven. There are still a lot of myths and suppositions underneath premium costs (ask any male driver under 25). Before I started I engaged an insurance broker (not agent) to see if there would be an issue. I was told for a slightly increased premium I would be fine and they would allow the usage up to a certain area in the garage. Six months later when I went to finalize they had changed their mind.
I never intended to sell from my home; it was all internet based and I had a distributor in BC lined up. I also had all the City home occupation permits ready to go.
It was a huge lesson in business for me. I spent 10s of thousands on startup costs including patents, trademarks, and an e-commerce site, but still knew there was risk. I knew every part cost down to the penny, but my profit margin only existed because I had no labour cost and no workshop rental overhead. The second I priced out commercial space I was loosing money. It also defeated the purpose of the business, which really was to give me something to do in retirement—not become a millionaire.
I don't regret a penny. I feel like I got a fast track MBA. It was a great, albeit expensive, experience.
Having a forge in your garage is likely a similar insurance no-no, but I know people do it. If it were just me and my own house I would have taken the risk, but having homeowner's coverage voided on our house wouldn't sit well with my wife or family. End of sad story....
I never intended to sell from my home; it was all internet based and I had a distributor in BC lined up. I also had all the City home occupation permits ready to go.
It was a huge lesson in business for me. I spent 10s of thousands on startup costs including patents, trademarks, and an e-commerce site, but still knew there was risk. I knew every part cost down to the penny, but my profit margin only existed because I had no labour cost and no workshop rental overhead. The second I priced out commercial space I was loosing money. It also defeated the purpose of the business, which really was to give me something to do in retirement—not become a millionaire.
I don't regret a penny. I feel like I got a fast track MBA. It was a great, albeit expensive, experience.
Having a forge in your garage is likely a similar insurance no-no, but I know people do it. If it were just me and my own house I would have taken the risk, but having homeowner's coverage voided on our house wouldn't sit well with my wife or family. End of sad story....
Richard G
Member
Glad to hear that..! I had purchased an ER32 collet from AE and never received it. I got refunded but not for the shipping. I then bought the same on eBay for slightly more money but at least I received it. Not tht I dislike AE. I bought alot of neat stuff thee but I think twice about bigger ticket items .