"UK" sellers on eBay who aren't

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rogerzilla

Legendary Member
They know many people don't fancy buying from China because of the shipping time, potential customs charges and the impossibility of returning faulty items, so they just say they're based in London or Manchester and eBay lets them do it.

I got a couple of cheap bike bells advertised as suitable for 22.2-24mm bars. When they turn up they are manifestly unsuitable for 23.8 bars. Seller (in broken English) first asks for photos to show the problem then says I can have £2 off if I like but it will cost "me" too much to return them! I'll get a refund through eBay, of course, but surely they ought to exercise a modicum of due diligence?
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
If I am at all suspicious I usually click through to the sellers business details which often reveals a far eastern address even when they have claimed to be a UK trader. Buyer beware, etc....
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
I still purchase from these guys when I want something faster than the 3-4 weeks I have to wait from China itself. My assumption is they get a daily drop ship and they just forward it on, so I generally wait a week rather than a month. If you do have problems with the product I find that they are so worried about negative feedback that coming to an amicable agreement is pretty easy.
 

Jody

Stubborn git
I got stung with this a few days ago. Filtered specifically for UK items only, the postage is marked as being sent with Royal Mail and the item picture even has a picture of the Royal Mail logo. Bought the item and shipping time is 8-10 days. It's coming from China.

It's really starting to put me off E-Bay now and they don't seem bothered that people are doing this.
 

Chris S

Legendary Member
Location
Birmingham
I bought a Stirling engine from a 'UK seller'. When it arrived it had been sent by airmail from China. It had still arrived within a week, was by far the cheapest on ebay and was identical to other models. It makes me wonder how they could have done it for the price.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
I once ordered an HR monitor from Ebay. It didn't work so the seller offered me some money off, as if I would be happy with a non functioning heart rate monitor if it were just a bit cheaper. That was a manifestly Chinese seller pretending to be in the uk.
 

sleuthey

Legendary Member
There is a normally a postage time quoted in the listing which tends to be longer than uk post so we don’t mind buying from them if it’s not urgent. In the past iv had the whole “we will give you 40% back crap” but if you just say “no I want you to authorise the return request for a pre paid label and refund” then they just give you a refund and let you keep the item as they don’t want eBay to find out they are shipping from China via airmail
 
Location
Pontefract
There is a normally a postage time quoted in the listing which tends to be longer than uk post so we don’t mind buying from them if it’s not urgent. In the past iv had the whole “we will give you 40% back crap” but if you just say “no I want you to authorise the return request for a pre paid label and refund” then they just give you a refund and let you keep the item as they don’t want eBay to find out they are shipping from China via airmail
Did that on an item, wasn't useful for it's intended purpose, but found a use for it.
 

sleuthey

Legendary Member
last week I received £70 worth of Bitumen roofing sheets which have an 18” crack in one corner(on all 6 sheets). They have refunded me via PayPal and today said I can keep it ! because it’s only for a shed and the cracked bit is overlapped with the adjacent piece by one groove and also the sheet above by 12” I intend to glue the crack and fit them. Free shed roof!!! 😀😀😀
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numbnuts

Legendary Member
Chinese exporters get subsidised postal costs from Royal Mail. RM is forced to charge China Post far less than the real cost of delivery within the UK. This is due to outdated rules imposed by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) agency of the United Nations.
This is because the United Nations classifies China as a "developing country" .
 
D

Deleted member 26715

Guest
What is the incentive for Ebay to stop it, zilch which is why they do zilch about it.
 
I believe they do have UK warehouses? and they should arrive just as quickly as a UK seller BUT if it's not in stock they will have it sent from China with normal Chinese delivery times. Then there is a possibility of paying the import duty and the post office fee. Worse still there's a good chance it's a pile of shite. I got trailer that fits that description. I demanded all my money back and if he wanted the trailer he would have to pay the return postage. The first compensation offer was a fiver. His final offer was you can have all your money back and keep the trailer. I accepted.... begrudgingly.
 
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Guzzi

Active Member
I ordered a set of letter and number stamps for leather, it came with 2 letter Ds and no S, they offered me 1/35 of the cost off and were a bit stroppy. I replied at length missing the letter S out."I'm orry I mu t refu e you uge tion" the humour didn't translate.

I've had sellers contact me and offer a credit to remove a bad review.

Now I just say I'm disapointed because I specifically chose a UK seller even though I could have got it cheaper from China and they run a credit rather than admit they lied in the listing.

Ebay are never going to do anything about it because they are making money from it
 
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