Incredible!

[littlesprite]

Firstly let me say this has nothing to do with Norfolk but thought I would share this as some may be interested.

 

So to continue with the story, has anyone ever seen an item for sale from China and wondered if there is a catch, I have often chosen to pay more for a UK sourced supplier rather than take a chance.

Anyway to make a long story even longer  it started with Carol beginning to knit a new gansey for me in readiness for next winter (forward planning)

and with it containing 300 stitches and being knitted in the round normally on 4 or 5 double pointed needles, losing a stitch is always going to be a problem. With this in mind I started to search on-line for needle protectors, a simple device that pushes onto the needle and prevents stitches falling from the needle, or, stitches for the knitter in A&E.

So there where many places to get them from and for the 16 I needed were coming up at around £12 + P&P as the best price, the one exception was a Chinese advert on ebay from newfrog, they were showing 16 for 99p including P&P! and as they looked identical to all the others I had looked at decided that for 99p using paypal I would take a chance and suffer the loss if it went horribly wrong.

So in conclusion (thank God I hear you say) having risked the loss of the massive sum of 99p they arrived this morning, 10 days from order to delivery by airmail all the way from China. How they can manufacture, package, airmail, cover paypal costs all for 99p I don't know but it's got to be one of the largest small savings I've ever made. I realise "largest small" doesn't quite sound right but I think you understand what I mean.

[Happy]

I was at work last year and started looking at e bay, as I do. (Don't tell the boss, I am the boss for my sins).  Any way I started looking a gents watches and a 'top rated' dealer had 10 for a starting price of £3 plus postage of about another £3.  I won the bid and wondered a, if they would arrive and b, what they would be like.  They arrived in about 10 days and they were quite flashy.  I gave most of them away for guys to wear at work (mostly in the motor trade) and quess what?  They are all still working and keeping good time.  Just how do they do it? Regards Alan.  

[Guest]

.......So in conclusion.........How they can manufacture, package, airmail, cover paypal costs all for 99p.......

 

 

It beats me Martin.

 

I've been using Ebay and buying new "buy it now" items from China for many years now. 

 

Tools, camera accessories, batteries, leads, computer spares, bike parts.

 

Whenever I get an eMailshot from Maplin (UK), if any new gadget interests me, I then search for it on Ebay, and often as not, find it much cheaper, including shipping from halfway round the globe.

 

I must have bought hundreds of items, and have only had trouble two or three times, and even then, usually got a refund from Ebay.

 

I've even bought electric bike parts for hundreds of pounds, with no trouble, everything arrived within two to five weeks.

 

You only have to be aware that above a certain value, you will subsequently be invoiced for Customs and VAT from non-EU countries, which the courier company or Post Office will charge for.

 

The politics of it are worrying though, the majority of things are made in China now, whether bought direct or via UK resellers. Not much we can do about it though, there are now so few alternatives.

[littlesprite]

As always I seem to be 10 years behind the times

 

So for those of you who have been doing this regularly a couple of questions.

 

Is the VAT charge the standard 20%?

 

Can you calculate the customs duty in advance i.e. is it a set percentage or variable on the type of goods? 

 

My 99p purchase didn't attract any additional cost

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Martin,

 

Welcome to the world of VAT in the EU and import duty. 

 

From Europe we are all charged VAT wether we have a VAT number or not, if you buy from within the EU and supply your VAT number you can claim it back, and yes it is 20%.

 

With regards to Import duty you can not claim any thing back other than any VAT charged by a UK carrier.

 

If you get anything from the USA there will be a minimum charge of around £17.50 to £20 and more as the qualue of the item increases.

 

Regards

Alan

[BroadScot]

With regards to "Screwfix" they are part of the Kingfisher Group (B&Q) and yes some of their electrical parts are IMHO at best average. However on certain bulk buys they often beat Electrical Mainstream Wholesalers. 

 

I saved a considerable amount on Door Handles at Screwfix. Must say the China option is something I must look into soon.

 

Iain.

[MBA Marine]

I can not condone doing this but as those low cost items from China are not tracked, after the maximum expected delivery date has passed if you complain the item has not arrived you get a refund!

 

I once bought a petrol chainsaw from Ebay, it was made in china and I bought it from a German seller for about £70 well it was crap, leaked oil everywhere and had a 'chocolate' chain, so I complained, and was offered a replacement or a refund, as the product was rubbish i opted for refund, I was not asked to return the item..  

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I`m not exactly a fan of e bay, i recently looked at a "spotting scope" for my archery, and bid on one on e bay. Needless to say, the one i bid on had doubled in price, so i looked around. I bid  £36 on it, and was the highest bid that day. The next day it doubled, so as i said, i looked elsewhere on e bay. To my surprise, there was exactly the same scope for a "buy iy now" price of £69 with free postage. This scope was advertised on about 5 different pages, with the same £69 price tag, so i looked at the sellers details, they were all the same seller, which was the same seller as the one being bid for.  I did a google search for the same scope, and found them on Amazon for £45 with free postage. My only problem is, i`ve only ever ordered one thing from Amazon, which was in the beginning of January this year, i`ve yet to recieve it, and i STLL keep getting e mails saying the seller has still not dispatched it.

 

Personally, i will always prefer to go to a shop so i can inspect and evaluate something before i buy it, AND i can do so in a couple of hours max.

 

 

Regards to all ..................... Neil.

[loribear]

 hi all, ive been using ebay for some years now, & never really had any problems with them, you can whatever you're looking for, as long as you're patient lol,  i can never seem to find what i want from amazon, as they seem to deal more with books than anything else & i don't EVER use gumtree, my sister was ripped off with them, as she sent some stuff to someone in nigeria, & t ,hat's a definitely a no no in my book, so i don't touch them,    lori 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

 hi all, ive been using ebay for some years now, & never really had any problems with them, you can whatever you're looking for, as long as you're patient lol,  i can never seem to find what i want from amazon, as they seem to deal more with books than anything else & i don't EVER use gumtree, my sister was ripped off with them, as she sent some stuff to someone in nigeria, & t ,hat's a definitely a no no in my book, so i don't touch them,    lori 

 

 

I was of the understanding that GUMTREE was supposed to be mainly a local thing, specialising in YOUR location?.

[ranworthbreeze]

I have also used Ebay for many years buying items we require from all over the world and have only had 2 incidents over that time.

 

A friend of mine has bought a couple of guitars from the far east. The quality is very good and equals if not betters the likes of the Squire copies. The last one he bought was a Fender Telecaster copy with a inlaid mother of pearl mermaid on the body . He won the auction at £8.50 but with delivery and import duty the final price was just over £100.

 

I have used Amazon just like Lori says mostly for books.

 

Regards

Alan

[MauriceMynah]

AS I UNDERSTAND IT...

 

The items from china are, more often than not, the same as those from the UK. However, when said items are imported for UK sale, Import duty is payable by the importer. This adds to the price. Also, (and this is the bit that concerns us) the importers quality control tests many of the units. with some things, mainly electrical, there is a fairly high failure rate, so some are discarded. This too adds to the price of the units that get through.

finally profit margins and appropriate taxes are added, leaving the goods at a substantially higher price than that which we 'eBayers' can purchase at direct.

 

I have received faulty items from China, but they were replaced by the seller making  'delay' the only issue.

Now if I order from China, I order two. If both work I have a spare. If one fails I have what I needed immediately and a spare arrives in due course. It's still frequently cheaper than buying from here.

 

Having said all that, Don't forget if you abandon the highstreet, you will eventually lose it, and that would be sad!

[BroadScot]

Maybe I have been very lucky, but, so far, I have had no trouble whatsoever with Amazon. All items have been delivered promptly, some very quickly, and all well priced.

As for EBooks, the Kindle ticks most of the boxes.

 

My wife likes SBC products and although QVCUK sell them, Amazon sell them cheaper and much cheaper P&P too.

 

Horses for courses as they say.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

 

 

Having said all that, Don't forget if you abandon the highstreet, you will eventually lose it, and that would be sad!

 

 

And that is the most relevent point made on this thread.

 

I would imagine we`ve all at some time complained about cheap Chinese imports, yet here some of us are blatantly, should i say. almost "bragging about doing it". I don`t want to sound offensive in that comment, but i wonder how many of us have a family member, or know someone who has seen their high street industry almost destroyed because of peoples desire to save EVERY penny and buy on-line, no matter who it affects. Many people complain that they can no longer get something locally, but then willingly travel to planet Tesco et al and buy everything from there, or from on-line shopping sites, which will eventually mean there will no longer be any high street shopping centres left, because they`ve all been converted into cheap flats.

 

As i said above, i much prefer to go to a shop to buy something, so i can evaluate it, and decide if it`s right for my requirements, but the sad thing is, with evrything going on-line, soon, i won`t be able to do so.

 

Thank God Maffett Cruisers have decided against on-line booking. It`s much more personal to actually talk to someone on the phone.

 

 

Regards to all ....................... Neil (the grumpy ludite)

[BroadScot]

Austerity has a lot to do with buying online, that, and human nature to sniff out a bargain.

 

I live in a time warp town where we have lots of privately owned shops, and often find I can buy what I am looking for there, and I do.

 

However, there are items that you just cannot buy localy, and that is where the internet can and does help the consumer.

 

As a Scot we know all about saving a bawbee or three!

 

 Iain.

[Guest]

......r, there are items that you just cannot buy localy, and that is where the internet can and does help the consumer.....

 

 

When you live out in the sticks, that is almost inevitable already.

 

I would love to buy everything locally, and still do whenever possible, but most of the suppliers have already gone.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

When you live out in the sticks, that is almost inevitable already.

 

I would love to buy everything locally, and still do whenever possible, but most of the suppliers have already gone.

 

 

That`s basically the point i`m trying to make Strow.  

 

 

The likes of Tesco and co have very much taken over out of town, so now all the town centres are rapidly filling up with charity shops and pound stores.We are very lucky down here to still have a local indipendant elctrical retailer, which we always use to buy household appliances. Yes, they are a bit more expensive, but the staff are of a more mature age, and have knowledge of the goods they sell. and we could go to the likes of out of town stores like Currys, or Comet, but we usually find the staff in them have little knowledge of the product, and are more often than not, more interrested in selling some type of store card.

 

One other issue i have with buying on line is the inherrent problems with deliveries being during a working day, so in most cases, you`ve waited a while for it to be delivered, then when it is, you`re not able to recieve it, due to being at work, and you have to collect it from the local delivery centre, which could be miles away.

 

 

Regards to all ........................ Neil.

[Guest]

That`s basically the point i`m trying to make Strow......

 

 

Me too Neil.

 

I find it's unfortunately already too late to be able to support most of my useful local businesses.

 

The Internet has already done the damage, and specialist local businesses have already folded or stopped stocking the wider range of goods that they have done previously, so frequently our only recourse is to buy many things via the Internet/Ebay/China. I tried very hard to keep them going myself, but the loss of business was inexorable.

 

When I try phoning around local shops, even in a city like Norwich, to get a particular mechanical or electronic item, the assistant often has no knowledge or understanding of it, let alone being willing to stock it.

[ranworthbreeze]

Strowager is correct re the lack of knowledge of some retailors about the product they are selling.

There is some good shops still in the high street but in many cases they are teetering on the edge.

 

The guys in the phone shops usually know their stuff, but would you talk them about any other subject.

 

One of the problems is once finding the article you want is find someone that has it in stock, the right colour and does not turn up damaged in transit.

 

If you still have a local hardware shop use it the staff will know all of their stock and may give you some tips, they may well be cheaper than the usual, B & Q, Screwfix (same grout and can be dearer than B & Q) etc.

 

I went to a local decorators shop £20 a tin cheaper than B & Q for varnish, and the reason I did not get it from B & Q was that they only had the self serve tills on, so I left the £40 tin and a couple of other items on the top of the self serve till because they would not open a till for me. So £70 in a lost sale.

I only go into that branch when pushed.

 

Regards

Alan

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

That`s a good point Alan.

 

The superstores don`t nessecarly offer the best value, or the cheapest price for that matter, and the same goes for SOME on-line sale.   Yes, you CAN get sausages very cheap from the likes of Tescos Asdas etc etc, but the reason they`re cheap, is because they are EXACTLY THAT, "cheap". Look around for the superstores"finest" etc, and you`ll more than likely be able to buy better quality from the local farm shop cheaper. That`s exactly what we did down here.

 

A lot of the cheap stuff in places like B&Q et al are actually of a much lower standard than from the major brands, with them selling the major brands no cheaper than a local DIY shop. They have to recoup all that investment in huge buildings, TV advertisments etc somehow?.

 

 

Anyway, how did turn this thread about chinese imports into sausages????????

 

 

Regards to all....................... Neil.

[BroadScot]

 "Anyway, how did turn this thread about chinese imports into sausages????????"

 

Err perhaps Neil you were trying out a new LINK? ...Nah thought not..will go back into my corner!  

 

  Iain.