Tuesday 7 February 2012

International ebay sellers: worth the risk?

A couple of weeks a go I posted a very quick post saying that i'd brought 2 kitsch rings from ebay, naive and attracted by the 99p price tag i purchased right away only to find out after that they would arrive in around 2 weeks and were coming from Hong Kong. I wasn't particularly worried because of how cheap they are, and I wasn't purchasing them with a specific outfit/date in mind so the time of arrival didn't bother me - if they didn't arrive i'd pester Ebay all day long and if they did its a bonus - and after all whats £2 anyway right?
well they arrived today...

The first a 'cat ears' ring which I've seen knocking around the blog-sphere for ages now, but some being brought for ludicrous amounts from £5 upwards! this ring came from here
It cost 99p with no postage and packaging fee, coming from Hong Kong with an expected delivery of 11-23 days, I purchased mine on the 26th of jan and it arrived this morning .. (12 days) The ring itself is actually really good quality, its fairly heavy metal, made well - its sturdy and has a nice gold finish, its only avalible in one size and mine fits my ring finger perfectly, 99p well spent!

However the second ring i ordered was a Rhine stone Betsey Johnson inspire skull ring with a pink bow, in the photo it also looked high quality and the ring itself looked sturdy and well made. I purchased this ring on the 14th of jan and it also arrived today (24 days) slightly over the given arrival guidelines and it cost £1.01.. unfortunatley when it arrived it wasnt well packaged (the ears ring had bubble wrap and padded postage bag) and the skull had actually broke off of the ring, the ring was thin and adjustable - something i don't really like on jewelerly, and the skull itself was alot smaller and thinner then i think the picture describe here.. the rhinestones are off where as in the picture they look perfectly aligned at the bow looks tacky and rushed. Not happy atall BUT it was a risk I was willing to take and I have contacted the seller and will update when I get feedback..

All in all i DO think international ebay sellers are worth it when it comes to less expensive items, I think the only way we will be able to tell if sellers are worth while is if people keep reccommend sellers and items through blogs etc. I'll only be ordering simple items from now on to avoid a long wait with disapointment!

What do you think of international ebay sellers? was this post useful to you?

4 comments :

  1. I've recently placed an order with an american ebay seller, and brought 6 opi nail varnishes.. they were roughly converted to £3.50 each!
    I'm still waiting on their arrival but my friend has ordered from them plenty of times :)

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  2. I buy lots of camera gear from Hong Kong. Always a risk sending big amounts of money abroad but so far always worked out ok and delivery tracked and very fast!

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  3. Love these rings!!! they are fantastic!

    kikikeeeks.blogspot.com

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  4. cute rings ! shame about the second one tho :( xo
    cupsofteaandbeautybits.blogspot.com

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