Title says it all. I'm pretty sure a lot of you have shopped online from a Chinese store at least once. I've had both good and bad experiences with these, and while the safety measures implemented by the websites are important, I've found out that its more about finding the right seller. I've had some that downright refused to repair/replace defective items, while others were prompt in sending a replacement as soon as they had proof that it was really defective. I've even had a seller replace an item that was lost at the post office when I only asked for a 50% refund (although it might be that they were still making a profit off it ). How about you guys?
I think that the prices are unbeatable, but the quality we know it's not. So if we want some piece of cheap plastic or clothes, sure, it's good, but we for example we want technology, forget it an go to a more reliable place.
I agree that dealing with Chinese stores is about finding the right seller. It needs some luck dealing with them. Some sellers are simply trying to squeeze most out of your pockets. Of course there will be no post-sale services can be expected. However, some are honourable sellers who are trying to serve your needs best.
I've never shopped at a Chinese store. Though a lot of the products I buy are made in China, sadly. It's hard to find anything that is made in America anymore. But as far as shopping online from a Chinese company, I have never done it. Don't really see the point. We have everything you could possibly want in this country.
I don't buy from Chinese stores very often, actually, as it is I find it really disappointing how much of our products *here* are made in China. But I have on a few occasions and for the most part my experiences ended up being more or less what I expected- fantastic prices, actually good on shipping as well in terms of price (not so much time, though) and the kind of quality that tends to go along with that kind of too-good-to-be-true pricing. For some things it's fine, but oftentimes it's worth it to me to pay just a little bit more for something that will last a little bit longer. Also, it can be really hard to get issues resolved. One store let me check out and buy an item, charged me for it and sent the confirmation and everything and after waiting long enough that it should have been delivered to me already, I contacted customer service to see what the delay was and over a week later they get back to me informing me that the item I paid for was actually out of stock before I bought it. No apologies, no offer for a clear solution- just that really lackluster explanation and then a lot of dragging heels in about giving me a refund. Just not the kind of experience I want to go through often, especially for products that are more often than not pretty cheap.
I shop in Ebay from mostly Chinese sellers, and they're satisfactory for me. I did buy a "brand new" phone that only lasted for 8 months, so now I won't spend over $100 on anything electronic from Chinese sellers. I did buy another "brand new" phone a couple of months ago, and the charger already had scratches. Oh well, what do you expect, right? Apart from that, you get what you pay for, since the items are quite cheap. Even the stitching needs improvement when you buy some pouches.
I have a big long list of reason why I refuse to buy from China if here is another option available. I have been burned by several Chinese sellers on ebay, so now when I go on there I only view items in North America to avoid them entirely. If you order something from China and the mess up, it will cost you probably as much as you spent on the item to return it, so it's not worth it. I also do not want to do business with China because they are known for cheating and being generally dishonest when it suits them. I do not trust them and feel they are trying to take control of our nation by buying up our ports and making us dependent on their products.
I've been burned by several purchases on Alibaba from Chinese retailers, and in almost every case they sold me counterfeit merchandise. To make matters worse, one of them didn't even send me my full order and kept giving me the run around on sending me the rest or refunding my money. Finally by that point I had switched banks and my original account was no longer in existence, so she claimed she could not issue me a refund any other way than to my old account. I had to chalk it up as a loss, but it was for $70 worth of merchandise. Never again.
The reason that is is because you probably buy products from retail stores like Wal Mart, Target, etc. Major corporations don't want to spend a whole lot of money on industrial labor so they send those jobs overseas so they can pay people there scrap wages to make a $300 coat. The only way you're ever going to buy anything that's made in the U.S. is if you buy from local stores or at farmers markets. Otherwise you're just going to keep buying things that are made in China because Nike won't provide jobs for people to make tennis shoes here in America.
They're not Chinese stores, because the U.S.A. isn't China - such places are leased to sell products that may come from China. Also, all of these stores carry different products from different countries across the world, I have never seen a Asian orientated store sell products from one country only. Counterfeit are not the problem, it's how much you pay for it and the quality of such a product; practically, most things at stores are copies or innovated products of a product, or a synthesis of products - nothing new under the sun. Honestly, I don't care if I'm selling counterfeit things, as long as it brings in revenue that will help my business grow and give me money to buy things to feed me and my family, I'm all in. It's one's attitude about an experience, that matters, because you can't change the past but you can learn from it... or not.
I wouldn't risk buying any electronic item directly from a Chinese seller, unless I were willing to risk 3rd degree burns! At least the Made in China/Korea electronic stuff which we purchase here has to go through some manner of quality control, but man there are some dodgy going ons, on the periphery of that quality control, that is to say the factory of the world, which is China, will manufacturer and export all manner of unsafe things for a buck, steer clear.
If I'm looking for a generic item, I don't mind going online and buying from a chinese seller. The prices are phenomenally low and people like me that can't afford expensive things will go to these Chinese sellers. If it's something like say... hair clips, I'd rather pay a few cents to a dollar to buy them from China than to pay $10 for the same thing in America. When I get something defective and it's that cheap, I don't often try to send it back or get a refund, because I know that buying something cheaper may sometimes result in a really bad knock off product. It's all good. Generally, I like Chinese stores.
I assume you mean stores own by Chinese people? I"m not sure what you are saying to be truthful. But, just because one person of a certain race behaves in a certain manner does not mean that ALL people who are of that race are like that by any means. Honestly I'm still not sure what you mean? What are the names of these stores? I'm not sure what a "Chinese Store" is referring to.
Yeah I'm not sure I understand that question either. Do you mean bad experiences with Chinese-owned stores? Hmm...well I have had poor customer service in convenient stores when I was a kid. The clerks would always yell at my friend and I in Chinese. That made me uncomfortable, but poor service can be anywhere...even Starbucks. The point is, if you continue to get poor service somewhere it's time to look elsewhere to take your business.
Visiting Chinese stores is very exciting. there are lots that you can buy from them... unfortunately, I always end up buying a low quality product despite heavy scrutiny before paying for it. it seems to me that Chinese stores are just for cheap quality products. that's only a personal opinion.
The thread is about online stores with Chinese sellers. You have webstores like eBay that have sellers from all over the world, and webstores like Alibaba or DHGate that are designed around Chinese sellers. These people tend to buy directly from the factories in China, which means great costs for the products. The downside is that they aren't guaranteed to work as well as they should. So you'll get defective items, or plain as day knock-offs. Like others have said, its not really a great idea to buy expensive electronics from them. But if you need things like fashion accessories, simple peripherals, or just cool gadgets, you will find some great deals there.
Horrible experience. I purchased a small laptop from a chinese based online electronic store. The displayed picture made the laptop look like a great buy. When I received my laptop I realized they got over on me. The "laptop" was literally a cheap android phone with a keyboard attached. It looked like a gameboy.
