Why People buy goods OS

[Hagar]

I often get asked by the local post master why I purchase a lot of gear and goodies from over seas.

To be honest I usually make purchases based on price and availability but a purchase I made about 4 weeks ago from a clock company in Sydney really has me wondering why I bother buying anything local. I placed an order for a relatively small item valued at $25 plus $9.90 for postage and handling. I wanted the package quickly for project I have been working on for quite some time.
The order was placed with John Knowles Clock company on 21st May. I waited until 15/6 before ringing them to find out what has happened to it. I was told that the company had moved home a week before I placed the order and that they were a bit behind. The gent on the phone assured me he would get my order in the mail on Monday afternoon and I would have it before the weekend. I should have asked which weekend.
Well this morning I checked the mail and of course no parcel. Again I rang the company only to be told they were out of stock and I would have to wait for stock to arrive. I was told these things happen.

I then demanded they credit my credit card and cancel the order. I rang another company and have the item on the way I hope. I also placed an order for the same item including delivery from a Chinese company I deal with for a total price of $9 delivered so I will be interested to see how long the free delivery takes from Hong Kong. Even had I ordered it from China and payed for courier/ Air freight delivery the overall price would have been cheaper and I would have had it in a week. The Chinese item is the same make as both are made in China anyway.

[astroboof]

Your postmaster (contractor or postal employee?)is to busy to buy anything from anywhere ?

[Hagar]

Can't be too busy as Australia post just suggested we only get a delivery 3 days a week and then if you live in one half of the town it is only to Post office boxes anyway. From the outside looking in he is not doing it to hard.

[LewisM]

Cuts both ways. I have been lucky in purchasing locally - only ever 1 item missing, but the seller was a well known shonk.

On the other hand, I have been ripped off 4 times by Chinese sellers - either a product that was counterfeit and not even working or simply not delivered at all. I also have had 3 US suppliers give me the exact same run around as your Aussie clock supplier.

Anyway, I still prefer to buy locally when I can. I only buy from 3 astro supply shops locally - myastroshop, Kunama Enterprises and Flashdrive Express :)

[FlashDrive]

:rofl: :clap:

Flash .... :D

[Hagar]

I have also had a few unpleasant experiences over seas but in all cases I have had Paypal to fall back on. Paypal do make purchases a lot easier and reduce the risk. The problem is that a lot of local suppliers only use credit cards and if you have ever tried to get a refund through Visa you will find them a world apart from Paypal.

[LewisM]

Well, the ONE business I mentioned does Paypal :) Never had a single issue with Steve, and nor do I expect to. I just placed another $320 order with him, and I can guarantee it will be dispatched registered post on Monday.

I too pretty much won't buy any more unless they accept Paypal - one of the main reasons I buy VERY VERY little from Bintel.

[gregbradley]

Free Chinese post usually takes about a month.

Greg.

[Ausrock]

I just read this and am surprised.........Jonathan Knowles has had a great reputation for a long time and I can't imagine what has happened to explain your experience.

Re buying from o/seas.........between 8 and 12 years ago I/we purchased approx., $30k worth of audio recording gear and music instruments from the US and did not experience one problem, just as when approx., 3 years ago I started purchasing astro gear.......eg: a C9.25, etc., absolutely no problems.

[Hagar]

Lewis, When purchasing Astro gear I have almost exclusively made all my major purchases within Australia. I have dealt with Steve at My Astro Shop time and time again without fault and have likewise had the same dealings with Bintel.
It just seems that a lot of companies seem to be getting slack in Australia yet spruce the fact that the internet is killing their lively hood. Perhaps a few could look a little closer to home to discover the real cause of their demise.
China post and particularly the free post can take anywhere from 7 to 25 working days to arrive but from experience it seems 14 to 21 days from order seems to be pretty much the norm. 28 days from Sydney did seem a bit long without any email or other notification. Say what you like about Chinese dealers but they do keep you informed and they do know how to keep you coming back.

[Nico13]

eBay purchase of of some small Neodymium magnets from Sydney.
17 Days to get to Geelong.
Hard to tell when it was posted as no Post Marks.
Items from Hong Kong, normally about ten to fourteen days, one recent purchase took six weeks.
Items from mainland China almost always six weeks.

Australian service can be crap sometimes but is it just Aus Post????

[Alchemy]

I tend to buy all over the place, china for me takes about a month, I pretty much just stick to PayPal nowadays, and given I can buy the same product at a number of places, if they don't do PayPal I simply just go elsewhere.
The local vs overseas things always difficult, on one hand it's nice to have local service and backup, on the other the pocket does complain if you spend to much. The world is changing and if it's price alone it's hard to justify local, but if the locals can value add.... That means information, service etc they can continue quite easily if they get some feeling of loyalty. Frankly I'm surprised astronomy stores don't have regular inhouse training for astrophotography etc.... Maybee they do now, but not locally when I started.

I can say this and it's not an astronomy thing, Australian businesses so often I feel like I have to beg them to take my money, they are apathetic about service ( try getting a tradesman to turn up when they say they will) , my dealings with US in comparison is they can't do enough for you, and when the item is sent you are notified, after it's arrived you get a follow up to make sure all is well, perhaps there economy has made them hungry enough to work at it.

There are Aussie buisinesses who do give good service, theo with his qhy products always looked after me well, as a result I'd buy from him again in a heartbeat. ( just so you don't think I'm anti Aussie )

[Renato1]

Simple electrical stuff is so much cheaper overseas that it is ridiculous. I wanted a wire cable to connect an MP3 player to an amplifier. Cheapest cost here was $14, though I did see it for $17.

I order two such cables from Hong Kong, and I got them three weeks later. Total cost including postage =$1

Similarly, getting a watch battery or CR2032 battery typically costs around $2 to $3 in a shop here. For that same amount, I get 10 batteries from overseas (though recently I've been able to get six batteries locally from Australian Ebay).

Regards,
Renato

[Regulus]

Buying Chinese can be exceptional value, and also a waste of money.
If it is something none electrical with no moving parts, a TMount adapter for example; it can be a satisfying purchase.
Otherwise, cheap is not always best. Hardly ever. 3WIFI dongles: two worked, one didn't. One failed after a month, the other is intermittant. Not worth the cost of return postage.
Also note the increase in prices on the chinese vendor sites now. A tripod I could have bought for $40 two months ago is no $80 across the board. This is in US dollars, so the AU dollar increase is not the reason. Just that they are finding we will pay for it if it's a bit cheaper.
This will eventually work out better for local businesses, and harder for the buyer.
We live and learn.

Trev

[Hagar]

It is always a catch 22 when buying from overseas but with Paypal you do feel quite a bit safer and in most cases if the OS import proves to be junk they don't even want it sent back for a full refund.

Another interesting company to deal with is Carbotec. It seems everything they sell is considered back ordered and they send you an email saying
Some of the product lines from Order #12345 placed on Wednesday 17 June, 2015 which had been placed on back-order are now available.

These items will normally be shipped within 2-3 working days, at no additional shipping cost.

An invoice and full description of the order can be viewed online at If you wish to cancel the remaining portion of your order which is still on back order, please contact us via email or telephone.

The following products included in your order are now available: List of goods they are sending.

This same email comes out for every order you make with them.

At least you know what is coming from your order.

It does seem very few companies keep any real amount of stock anymore and almost rely on day to day orders.

[LewisM]

Agree Trevor - have not bought a single electrical item from China off eBay that worked for longer than 6 months apart from ONE memory card reader that has been solid for 8 years now. I sometimes feel the online stuff is their non-QC or rebadger QC rejects.

I did even get caught on the 1GB USB memory stick scam - back when 1GB for one of these was unheard of, my wife saw one for $18, and bought it for a present for me. Plug it in, windows sees it. Then you try to explore it or add anything to it. NADA. You open it up... just a USB plug with a simple circuit that is obviously enough to tell Windows it is there. I often wonder how many THOUSANDS of dollars they scammed from people. We got our $18 back anyway.

I also got caught with a portrait ring speedlight (ring flash). Didn't work at all. Open it up, and just a battery connected to a switch and an LED. Got every cent back through Paypal.

Or the more recent Chinese seller that sold GoPro cams - well, he sold the cases rejected at manufacture anyway, with NIL internals! Made a fortune and disappeared just before Xmas last year...

The funnier ones was a recent GIFT from Virgin for loyal membership for so many years. It was a mobile battery pack - just plug it in to your flat phone and away you went. 1 week after they sent it out, they sent urgent emails and letters urging everyone to dispose of them since they were faulty and liable to overheat and ignite! Seems even a big corporation can get caught out with dodgy merchandise.

You can get some good Chinese stuff off eBay...but you can get an awful lot of crap too.

[Regulus]

Another cautionary tale about Chinese 'stores'.They are sometimes impossible to pin down.
I had articles returned to an ebay store through a fault of my own with my PO box and when I contacted them to find out if they had received them back I was told that they wouldn't. That they had no idea where they would be returned to since they were just the sellers. Not the owners. Not the suppliers. Just the sellers. So there is no hope of tracking it.
Looking at the address of the sender and getting it translated from Chinese I found that it was a retirement fund for a small group of workers in a factory. Who couldn't help either, since they didn't know anything about the business end.
A set of macro ext tunes, a ring light, and a remote for the camera, all written off.
But I take heart from your story about the ring light Lewis. I expect it was never going to be high quality.
I think with Chinese tech you have to go with the closest you can get to Brand names. Some have 'crossed over' to near respectibility and are being reviewed in western press, like Yongnuo, and Meike. And consequently pay the extra. Although that is rapidly approaching a parity price with Nikon/Canon/Pentax prices.

[Vallie_Beaurega]

I don't want to sound racist but what you said is true. Buying Chinese is a huge waste of money.

[clive milne]

Well... you were pretty much unsuccessful if that was your intention.

[Hagar]

It's obvious you have to be selective when purchasing from China but I do purchase an awful amount of hobby gear (RC models and astro) and in all fairness most of it is really quite good quality, in fact much of the gear we purchase from shopfronts in Australia is made in China.
When I have a problem I just contact the seller and in most cases they just replace the goods or give you a full refund or both.

[julianh72]

I agree - I buy heaps of stuff from China (electronics parts and gizmos, phones, tablets, etc), and most of it lives up to my expectations. If I am paying only $1 - $5 (including postage), my expectations are pretty low, but if I pay a "reasonable" price, I expect - and get - "reasonable" to "very good" quality.

The main thing I would caution is if it looks too cheap to be true, it could be a scam, so I tend to stay away, unless the amount of money is so small that I won't cry if it turns out to be a complete dud. (I may be missing some real bargains, but I prefer not to find out the hard way.)

Also, don't pay any attention to the brand labels, especially main-stream brands (Samsung, Sony, Apple, Celestron, etc) - many Chinese manufacturers will happily put any brand on if they think it will help it sell. I tend to buy stuff that is not being passed off as brand-name items, as these are usually reaonable quality items at a very good price.

One site that I can recommend is Chinavasion https://www.chinavasion.com/ - I have bought quite a few items from them, and all of it has been good stuff.