The mind boggles! (and the ebay minefield....)

[I like Skol]

Just trying to buy something for one of the kids that he has been mithering about for months. It's a £60 Rc buggy and a lot of the sellers are based/shipping from China so I don't want to risk being landed with any duties if customs decide to stop my package.
There was one seller apparently based in the uk and selling just the single item (not xx items sold of 300 available, etc) which made me suspicious and only 2 items of feedback, both in the last few weeks. Steer well clear of that one!
Another seller openly admits to being in China so I checked the feedback and found this in the first couple of pages...…

The mind boggles!

Eventually found a seller claiming item is located in Manchester (now that is a coincidence ) but business details are Singapore. Have decided to risk this one as delivery is around a week instead of the 1 month+ for the China based sellers. I will be amazed if the item arrives with a Manchester postmark but I suppose they could be telling the truth?

 

[Salar]

I've bought and sold quite a few bits and pieces from China, (not bike orientated, mostly photographic) found them very helpful and polite and never had problems with customs etc.

Just be careful that it's not a fake.

 

[numbnuts]

Many Chinese seller on ebay have a warehouses in the UK, I bought something the other day and later found out I bought from China ….bugger I thought two days later it arrived postmark Bristol

 

[Levo-Lon]

Many Chinese seller on ebay have a warehouses in the UK, I bought something the other day and later found out I bought from China ….bugger I thought two days later it arrived postmark Bristol

Yes that's often the case.
Ebay can be a gamble But its all geared to buyer protection so not really a problem if you follow the rules.

 

[cosmicbike]

In my past of model aircraft/helis, I found HobbyKing to be half decent...

 

[simonali]

Ebay? May as well use Wish or Alibaba dot com these days. All Chinese tat anyway...

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Ebay? May as well use Wish or Alibaba dot com these days. All Chinese tat anyway...

Many of our favorite cycling sites have an Ebay outlet

 

[simonali]

I find it too much hassle nowadays unless I'm looking for something very specific, like a rare CD. Ploughing through thousands of listings trying to find a reliable seller based in the UK is too much faff.

 

[Chromatic]

Re thread title, there's a member of this site who was in a band called The Mind Boggles.