Dishonest reselling sites: examples

[Macro_Cosmos]

By the way, I have encountered annoying issues with sellers based in America.

1. Lightglass Optics
I recommend them actually. They stock some nice items at reasonable prices. The issue I had was the invoice. Since I use a forwarder, they have to declare the value. My items worth about $35, it was some brackets what-not. The invoice they included was $12,000 for some sort of machine weighing nearly half a ton. That was added to the customs and I had to pay not only the 10% GST, but a special kind of robbery from measuring equipment... It took me one week to get it sorted with the forwarder. Accidents happen, I'm happy with my purchase and I recommend the surplus seller.

2. This person: https://www.ebay.com/usr/prism_electron ... 2749.l2754
I made a reasonable offer on a used stage he has and stated that the stage is listed new for $320. He was very annoying and aggressive. I ended up not buying the item, instead I bought the new one. He said it's impossible and it's a "sh.. Chinese shenzhen clone". It's not. This person also had a spanner wrench listed which I wanted, I sent an offer and he accepted. Wanted to ask him about shipping and guess what, I got blocked. If I knew this beforehand, I would not have bought it.

3. This guy: https://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI. ... =peterhu03
He shipped the item in one layer of crappy plastic and it broke upon arrival. He demanded a positive feedback or no refund. Wanted me to send it back paying the $200 shipping, the item itself it worth $250.

4. Forgot
They lost my shipment, fixed in about 3 days. No apologies etc. The item I then received was not what I saw in the photos. Bait and switch.

Indeed, I've had as many problems with American sellers. The problems I've had with taobao ones could have been easily solved if I was in China. That's why I won't buy optics on taobao when I'm not in China, that's unless I really trust the seller.

[mjkzz]

Chris S, yes, as I mentioned above, I changed the title of the thread in response to mjkzz's concern. I don't mean to imply that Chinese sites are always bad, or especially bad. If I had meant that, I would not have bothered to single out the particular sites that were employing this dishonest practice.

But mjkzz, nothing I said was libelous. To prove a libel case, you have to prove (in the US at least) that the statement in question is not true. It is clear that the resellers I listed steal the photo of the item (you can see watermarks piled on watermarks), and deliberately imply that they have the item when they do not. Macrocosmos just revealed that their behavior is even worse than I thought.

This photo of the lens in question has four different watermarks!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-test-LiNO ... SwQQxctCX3

Sometimes these sites provide the only way for us to get some items. It can be a useful service. But the buyer should be aware of the risk.

I agree with Chris S, let's not make this into an argument. What I am saying is that people can use this post to start a libel suit, winning or not, it is a hassle for people involved.