Sellers with overseas "branches/outlets/warehouses"

[Miss Jewels 10]

There is a tendancy to advertise that goods are coming in from "our international branches/warehouse/outlet" and hence the expensive import fee/postage and sometimes delayed delivery time. I feel that if this is the case, sufficient proof should be submitted to BoB to support this statement. Currently, I'm under the impression that the "warehouse/outlet/branch" is simply the supplier. Delay with delivery time could also be to collect the monies first and then pay over to the supplier before he releases the order. Not dropshiping as the goods are not sent to the buyer but to the purchaser. I also do not think that all the sellers are misusing this term, and that there are genuine sellers who have overseas branches, but aren't they very limited? Any feedback regarding this will be highly valuable in eliminating misrepresentation in the future.

Edited December 16, 2010 by Miss Jewels
delivery time

[lilythepink 10]

What gets my hackles raised is the seller who states that he/she charges R145.00 for postage/shipping because he/she has had to pay such costs when acquiring the items that get sold for a mere R1.00 (most of the time), which means that BoB is only getting commission on R1.00 and the seller is getting R146.00 (of which R18.50 is the shipping/postal cost within SA).

 

Now, if BoB can allow this one seller to do this, why do they not allow all buyers to up their shipping/postage costs to over R100 as we also incur delivery and other expenses in acquiring our goods which we list?! (Although I, for one, would never take advantage of ripping buyers off!) If all sellers were to follow this route, we would have very few buyers on Bid or Buy.

 

But why is it okay for one seller to do this? I don't care if the seller acquires his/her goods from the moon - why should buyers have to pay for those costs?

[Miss Jewels 10]

But why is it okay for one seller to do this? I don't care if the seller acquires his/her goods from the moon - why should buyers have to pay for those costs?

Thank youLilythepink. My exact thoughts! Most of us aquire our goods from the "moon", but do not charge the "world" for our items. And then some of the R1.00 sellers are on the top 10 list. This is the biggest joke.

[Digitrade 10]

Most of these sellers will start buying a few items to get ratings. Then they will start selling items that are locally available. Then they suddenly start selling from "their warehouse in Asia".

 

Another seller that I just reported. If he has permission to dropship, and there was an icon indicating this, then you would not have to report them. You would know that they have permission. All their cellphones suddenly gets shipped from "their warehouse in Asia."

 

Items for sale from GAMU Trading on bidorbuy.co.za

[dstorm 10]

Hello all

 

I agree 100% with everything that was said in the above posts, especially with what lillythepink said “allow all buyers to up their shipping/postage costs to over R100 as we also incur delivery and other expenses in acquiring our goods which we list”.

 

While I fully respect the fact that I am a guest on BidorBuy and that BidorBuy can do as they please, I really hope that something would be done to bring these sellers into line.

 

I think that (due to emigration) we all have friends in Australia, Canada, America or the UK. So it is very easy to supply an overseas address. Be it a “warehouse”, and “outlet” or an alleged office.

 

You only have to sell 500 items a year to make an additional R35 000 in “postage” – commission free. Enough for that lovely holiday in the Bahamas.

 

I can say a lot more, but I think that the above posts summed it all up.

 

I hope that things will change.

 

Thanks and regards

 

Jacques

Edited December 16, 2010 by dstorm
spelling mistake

[dstorm 10]

Hello all

 

I forgot to add the following: Customs duty is part of the PRICE of n item. It should be structured into the PRICE of an item. It is NOT part and should never be part of the POSTAGE!

 

Regards

 

Jacques

[mellowred 10]

I'm, slightly off topic here, but it does relate to sellers with high shipping fees. There seems to be a trend of including a "book" full of T&Cs. If regular buyers have to read all the gumff they would only manage to purchase one item a day while consuming a pack of ciggies and a bottle of Jack

 

The T&Cs are basically covered by BoB's policies. So all us sellers need to add is the following:

 

• Grace period for payment
  
• Shipping charges
  
• Grace period for shipping
  
• Guarantee terms (if relevant)
  

If these terms are in clear concise English they should not be more than four paragraphs long.

 

I believe the unscrupulous sellers hide the facts in a load of waffle. An unsuspecting buyer is then caught out because they did not read the "fine print".

[dstorm 10]

[quote name=purchase one item a day while consuming a pack of ciggies and a bottle of Jack

 

[/quote]

 

What a good excuse to buy from these sellers!

Regards

Jacques

[mellowred 10]

In your case a bottle of Whiskey (?) :smile:

[lilythepink 10]

 

I absolutely agree with you! And now a certain seller states that the R145 postage will be because the items come from overseas. It would be interesting to buy from that seller and see if the package comes from an international destination and how long delivery takes!

[Miss Jewels 10]

I absolutely agree with you! And now a certain seller states that the R145 postage will be because the items come from overseas. It would be interesting to buy from that seller and see if the package comes from an international destination and how long delivery takes!

 

I bought from them....it was a local address (a while back, but what has changed?) Not a nice transaction. I refused to pay the R290+ that they wanted for postage, because their auction description and shipping charges were not the same. One read R145.00 and the other R290.00 I paid the R145.00 and they filed an SCN against me. Was rejected because of their double "standards" (shipping charges). Then they did not want to supply to me. I demanded my item and then got a different size (spiteful?) And I see they've changed their wording to "originates from overseas" on some of their listings...LOL...so do most items. What makes this seller so unique?

[lilythepink 10]

What makes this seller so unique?

 

Perhaps when he/she puts her pants on the sun goes out?

[FromSa 10]

I agree with this. I bid on items from carltonphones about a month ago and initially did not notice they were from overseas as I previously bought from this seller and he was in Joburg. Nevertheless I won the auctions and paid including postage of R449 per item TIMES 4 items. I still have not received the goods and am awaiting a dispute resolution. There are numerous sellers like this on BoB and their locations should be identified by a big flag icon on top of their listings or headings so that buyers can be made aware as soon as they view the item. This must also apply to sellers who say they are in SA yet ship from other countries and the buyer has to pay customs duties even when shipping is free!