June 3, 2008 at 13:12A bit of shopping experience on E-Bay — mainly for Muscovites
So, inspired by the success of the topic - kovalevvalery.habrahabr.ru/blog/43607.html
and the numerous requests of those who are interested to hear about the shopping experience on E-bay decided to write this "material". Well, at the same time, I started a blog of the same name ...
I’ll make a reservation, the material will not pretend to the perfect completeness of studying the issue. And only it can be paid attention to the implicit nuances that are not described in the numerous E-bay help, or simply briefly outline the essence of the issue.
Before you even get into the business of shopping on E-bay, you need to understand whether you are satisfied with the time frame. For those who are in a hurry, I recommend scoring on this venture. Which I myself do quite often. Sometimes the prospect of saving a couple of hundred dollars fades before the desire to become the owner of a device or feature as soon as possible. You can’t buy anything urgently on E-bay. Repeatedly ran into the dynamo of "sales promiseers" who violate their promises - "we will send it the next business day", or missed the weekend, or at the Russian customs "plugged holiday" or FIG knows what they have there, but always have to wait.
Estimated time (excluding customs clearance. About customs separately):
1.Amerikosov brakes on sending = 1 to 5 working days. The larger the seller, the longer you can expect an “ambush” from him.
2. Travel time by mail:
Regular mail ( Parcel Post ) - unpredictable. Because by parachute usually. From a week to 4 months. Depends on the weight of the package. More weight, more time. It will weigh up to 0.4 kg - they will drop it into AirMail and it will reach quickly. But an extremely cheap way to send.
By plane ( AirMail ) - from a week to a month. Also, weight plays a role.
USPS Priority Mail- a week, two and in Russia. Minimum 4 days. BUT! Since Priority Mail arrives after customs to the "bowels" of our USUAL Russian mail, parcels with this service take longer to reach Russia than they travel from abroad. The total transit time without customs from America is 14-23 days.
Departure by this service has limited “tracking” capabilities. On the website www.usps.com (this is America's Post :)) you will see when it was sent and when it left the United States. In more rare cases, then comes the date of arrival in Russia. All. Further not tracked. Pick up by notification in the mail.
UPDATE !!! (Thanks to beartamer for the tip) Now this service is also being monitored. Here and so -www.russianpost.ru/resp_engine.aspx?Path=portal/en/home/postal/trackingpo&BarCode=CJ288696822US
USPS First Class International Package - almost the same as the USPS Priority Mail, in relation to Russia (what Americans laid in Priority Mail doesn’t work very well in Russia, so it works out the same way). Will not be slower. But cheaper.
USPS Express Mail is the most expensive of the most reasonable, but the most sane service. Depending on the state of dispatch and weather :) appears in Russia on the 2nd or 4th day. Immediately queued at customs. The next day, after customs, he gets on a courier dispatch to your address (this is me about Moscow). Very rarely detained at this stage for two days. Tracked by number all the way. On the website www.emspost.ruor at the polite or not very operator of our “Russian Post” by telephone ALL-HOUR! .. In general, I prefer this service. Nothing was ever lost if sent by this service. And besides E-bay, I bought a lot directly. This service is called “EMS POST” in many countries. In China and many “attractive” countries for purchase, it exists and is searched by the name of the country and the phrase “EMS” (Express Mail Service). Show the seller the local EMS website and ask them to send it with this service. There are almost everywhere. In Germany, no. There is dominance of DHL.
Rates and transit times of all the above packages from America can be found on the website www.usps.com in the section “International calculator”.
The transit times indicated there are REAL, but do not take into account Russian customs and the Russian “last mile” of our mail, which in all cases except USPS Express Mail leaves much to be desired. Most sellers have a calculator on their product page. Depending on the selected country, he will calculate the amount of delivery to you. And when paying with PayPal, it will automatically add this amount to the invoice based on your delivery address registered in the system.
3.You all have a legitimate question - “Why does the author forget about such“ super ”express delivery methods as UPS, FeDex or DHL?” He doesn’t forget ... And the packages go on for three days ... But then a LITTLE nuance creeps out. All three of them = “Freight forwarders” and not “postal service.” Accordingly, the goods they bring do not fall under the preferential customs clearance rules for individuals and must be cleared in full. That is, the customs duty, the customs rate on the product code, and then VAT. Depending from the product code it is usually ((“product price” + “shipping cost ") +15%) + VAT. Expensive. And gimorno. Because these" freight forwarders "the customs procedure takes 4 hours, you have to go personally to Domodedovo or Sherema, in general I ran into a couple of times and tied to receive goods" freight forwarders " .
4. Customs.
About customs "freight forwarders" I told. It makes no sense to paint further. If anyone really needs nuances, then call any of them, they give their “customs brokers” phones and they, in a tired voice, repeat the customs clearance procedure and send samples of necessary documents to the soap.
Now about the Law on receiving mail for private individuals. He is very simple. You have the right to receive up to 10,000 rubles of customs-free goods once a week. provided that these products are "not intended for commercial activity." The order of this. On the Warsaw highway there is customs at the post office, where all the parcels flock, where the "brave customs fellows" look at their weight and rating and if the rating is up to $ 400 (shipping costs are not taken into account!) And they have no doubt about this rating, they cheerfully put The stamp “issued by customs” is handed over to our mail. Regional (Moscow Region and other parcels) go to the post office (or customs, if detained) at the address of residence, still stopping at this point. I really don’t know how things are with Sakhalin and similar “remote” regions = maybe they are brought there directly from America, and not through Moscow.
If suddenly “brave customs fellows” have doubts, they “delay” the parcel, send you a notification (or in the case of USPS Express Mail, the dispatchers will tell you this by phone) and wait two weeks for you to disassemble. For dismantling, you need to bring a printout from E-bay, a printout from PayPal about payment and a free-form statement - "let me go uncles." A list of documents is available at www.emspost.ruin the "documents" section. The procedure is short-lived - a few windows and usually a small tail of the line. I have issued a power of attorney for the driver for a long time and he drives and draws up everything by proxy. Usually fits in an hour. If the customs officers make sure that you are not deceiving them, they will issue the parcel without any problems. If you see that you are deceiving, you will be forced to pay 30% of the excess of 10,000 rubles. If you underestimated the cost of the invoice and delayed the parcel, then you will not be imprisoned. Write the real value in the application, write - “hell knows why the sender indicated it this way”, and after paying the due fees (30% of the excess of 10,000 rubles) you are happily released with the package. But if it’s not a gold watch, it’s obviously NOT something more expensive than $ 400, then it usually “skips” even with an underestimated invoice. The practice of "shaking" the seller to underestimate the invoice I will describe below.
Customs in Moscow has a queue for “passing” or “detaining” parcels through it. Usually 3 days a week. In the New Year - up to two weeks. This period must be added to the above postal.
5. Now, if you are not afraid of the deadlines and customs, then we will proceed directly to the purchase procedure:
1. We try to choose those goods that are not sold through the “classic” auction, but those that have the “buy it now” badge.
Everything that does not have such an icon cannot be bought "right now" (you have to wait for the end of the auction) + everything that really costs money and will be sold on E-bay for the money. Freebie type "mobile phones" for the dollar does not happen. Rather, it happens at the beginning of the auction, and by the end the price will be reached at 99% close to the real one. Therefore, I do not buy at such auctions. Naturally, here we are talking about a NEW product.
2. Immediately look at the delivery options. Many "blinkered" sellers sell current in their region. Type "America + Canada." You can of course write to him and ask - “will you send to Russia?”, But in 99% of cases they “proudly” answer = “no!”. If it is written Worldwide or Europe is listed in the list of countries, then this is “our client”. The Chinese, Japanese, Taipei quite willingly send from their regions around the world, unlike the Americans. If it delivers to us, then we go and read what kind of mail service it sends (remembering the information above) and if everything suits, then we go to the payment options described by the seller.
3. Payment options.
Most "serial" sellers accept payment through PayPal. Firstly, this is the service of E-bay itself, secondly, it is convenient for the seller and the buyer, it has well-thought-out capabilities and postpaid service. Having paid for a PayPal purchase, you can always later demand the money back if something doesn’t suit you (according to the procedure described in the PayPal help). If the seller by that time is not hiding with the money, then everything will be returned to you if you have good reason. At the time of filing a complaint, PayPal blocks the amount of the purchase on the seller’s account, gives you 20 days to figure it out yourself, if you don’t agree, then it starts participating in your showdowns.
I initiated complaints several times, usually the seller, “scared” by the complaint, becomes sane and does not get to the “escalation of the complaint to the claims service”. Amicably everything is decided. Although once it dawned on me and all my 200 dollars were vigorously returned to me. In general, it is preferable to use PayPal. The only thing - some sellers write in terms of payment - "Only confirmed address". They further write that “there are no exceptions” or write “write to discuss”. Russian addresses are not confirmed. And can not be confirmed at the moment. This is not visible in the PayPal interface, but when the seller receives a notification of your payment through PayPal, there is the status of your delivery address - “UNCONFIRMED” and then they refer to PayPal rules, where they are told that in such a situation they can run into fraud . Therefore, you have to pay by bank transfer or look for another seller. Having a bank transfer with a bank account (and especially with the Internet Banking system) is easy to send. Limitations - up to $ 5000 per payment without submitting documents to the bank. Write in the payment what kind of goods and no one is bothering you. Purpose operation code = 13020. Current, this payment method makes you completely unprotected from the seller. So think for yourself.
4. Well, if the delivery is sent to us as we need, if the money is taken from us as we want, it is recommended that you carefully read what is still written and buy, if it comes to pass.
A few short tips:
1. Buy from "stores" or "private shops", and not from those who sell one item once a year. You can always look at the list of all lots of the seller and understand who it is. Trading is a normal or just a special case of selling one item.
2. I like to buy not from those with a tens of thousands rating, but from those who have it “average”. Conveyor McDonald’s has its drawbacks, and sellers with an average rating of at least not “templates” communicate. Much more soulful. The purchase should be pleasant :)
3. After payment after a couple of three days, prophylactically shout the seller with the message “Hello! You send my item? ” This is useful and necessary. I was faced with the fact that asking such a question a month later I immediately received the money back. As a result, I waited in vain.
4. If you ask the seller to underestimate the invoice, then write to these slow-witted people the phrase “With item there should not be nothing, except invoices on $ 399.95. NOT appraisal, other documents, advertising materials. " These “dumb” ones can write on the package that it costs $ 400, and put an estimate of $ 5,000 inside. Or put prospectuses with prices. Faced. It’s very difficult to explain to the customs officer later ...
5. If you underestimate the invoice, then understand that if the shipment is lost, the seller will not receive insurance more than what is written in the evaluation of the shipment. Accordingly, it will not want to refund you more than the invoice was written. This explains the reluctance of many sellers to do this. After all, if you pay a paypal, then you can then claim the full amount from them. And they will receive from the post office only what they wrote in the invoice. Therefore, many "super-power" sellers immediately say in the rules - "we do not underestimate the invoice amount." So that they are not bothered by stupid questions. Those with a lower rating are usually more accommodating. 50 to 50%. In one case, buying an expensive trinket, I persuaded to underestimate the invoice only in this way - I offered to pay two amounts from the paypal. $ 400 "for goods", and the remaining several thousand "for services".
6. Write DIRECTLY AT THE ADDRESS registered on PayPal (or when sending the receipt address to the Seller) a phone number with a city code. Often departures do not come to your mail, but in FIG knows what. Sometimes good postmen call. It makes life easier.
7. Do not forget that in some countries (America and Japan for example) 110 volts. Not all sellers know that it’s only with them ... Therefore, either carefully read the description of the lot, or keep in mind that sometimes you will have to buy an adapter 220-110V later.
That's all in short.
As far as memories I will edit this topic.
And colorize with pictures.
and the numerous requests of those who are interested to hear about the shopping experience on E-bay decided to write this "material". Well, at the same time, I started a blog of the same name ...
I’ll make a reservation, the material will not pretend to the perfect completeness of studying the issue. And only it can be paid attention to the implicit nuances that are not described in the numerous E-bay help, or simply briefly outline the essence of the issue.
Before you even get into the business of shopping on E-bay, you need to understand whether you are satisfied with the time frame. For those who are in a hurry, I recommend scoring on this venture. Which I myself do quite often. Sometimes the prospect of saving a couple of hundred dollars fades before the desire to become the owner of a device or feature as soon as possible. You can’t buy anything urgently on E-bay. Repeatedly ran into the dynamo of "sales promiseers" who violate their promises - "we will send it the next business day", or missed the weekend, or at the Russian customs "plugged holiday" or FIG knows what they have there, but always have to wait.
Estimated time (excluding customs clearance. About customs separately):
1.Amerikosov brakes on sending = 1 to 5 working days. The larger the seller, the longer you can expect an “ambush” from him.
2. Travel time by mail:
Regular mail ( Parcel Post ) - unpredictable. Because by parachute usually. From a week to 4 months. Depends on the weight of the package. More weight, more time. It will weigh up to 0.4 kg - they will drop it into AirMail and it will reach quickly. But an extremely cheap way to send.
By plane ( AirMail ) - from a week to a month. Also, weight plays a role.
USPS Priority Mail- a week, two and in Russia. Minimum 4 days. BUT! Since Priority Mail arrives after customs to the "bowels" of our USUAL Russian mail, parcels with this service take longer to reach Russia than they travel from abroad. The total transit time without customs from America is 14-23 days.
Departure by this service has limited “tracking” capabilities. On the website www.usps.com (this is America's Post :)) you will see when it was sent and when it left the United States. In more rare cases, then comes the date of arrival in Russia. All. Further not tracked. Pick up by notification in the mail.
UPDATE !!! (Thanks to beartamer for the tip) Now this service is also being monitored. Here and so -www.russianpost.ru/resp_engine.aspx?Path=portal/en/home/postal/trackingpo&BarCode=CJ288696822US
USPS First Class International Package - almost the same as the USPS Priority Mail, in relation to Russia (what Americans laid in Priority Mail doesn’t work very well in Russia, so it works out the same way). Will not be slower. But cheaper.
USPS Express Mail is the most expensive of the most reasonable, but the most sane service. Depending on the state of dispatch and weather :) appears in Russia on the 2nd or 4th day. Immediately queued at customs. The next day, after customs, he gets on a courier dispatch to your address (this is me about Moscow). Very rarely detained at this stage for two days. Tracked by number all the way. On the website www.emspost.ruor at the polite or not very operator of our “Russian Post” by telephone ALL-HOUR! .. In general, I prefer this service. Nothing was ever lost if sent by this service. And besides E-bay, I bought a lot directly. This service is called “EMS POST” in many countries. In China and many “attractive” countries for purchase, it exists and is searched by the name of the country and the phrase “EMS” (Express Mail Service). Show the seller the local EMS website and ask them to send it with this service. There are almost everywhere. In Germany, no. There is dominance of DHL.
Rates and transit times of all the above packages from America can be found on the website www.usps.com in the section “International calculator”.
The transit times indicated there are REAL, but do not take into account Russian customs and the Russian “last mile” of our mail, which in all cases except USPS Express Mail leaves much to be desired. Most sellers have a calculator on their product page. Depending on the selected country, he will calculate the amount of delivery to you. And when paying with PayPal, it will automatically add this amount to the invoice based on your delivery address registered in the system.
3.You all have a legitimate question - “Why does the author forget about such“ super ”express delivery methods as UPS, FeDex or DHL?” He doesn’t forget ... And the packages go on for three days ... But then a LITTLE nuance creeps out. All three of them = “Freight forwarders” and not “postal service.” Accordingly, the goods they bring do not fall under the preferential customs clearance rules for individuals and must be cleared in full. That is, the customs duty, the customs rate on the product code, and then VAT. Depending from the product code it is usually ((“product price” + “shipping cost ") +15%) + VAT. Expensive. And gimorno. Because these" freight forwarders "the customs procedure takes 4 hours, you have to go personally to Domodedovo or Sherema, in general I ran into a couple of times and tied to receive goods" freight forwarders " .
4. Customs.
About customs "freight forwarders" I told. It makes no sense to paint further. If anyone really needs nuances, then call any of them, they give their “customs brokers” phones and they, in a tired voice, repeat the customs clearance procedure and send samples of necessary documents to the soap.
Now about the Law on receiving mail for private individuals. He is very simple. You have the right to receive up to 10,000 rubles of customs-free goods once a week. provided that these products are "not intended for commercial activity." The order of this. On the Warsaw highway there is customs at the post office, where all the parcels flock, where the "brave customs fellows" look at their weight and rating and if the rating is up to $ 400 (shipping costs are not taken into account!) And they have no doubt about this rating, they cheerfully put The stamp “issued by customs” is handed over to our mail. Regional (Moscow Region and other parcels) go to the post office (or customs, if detained) at the address of residence, still stopping at this point. I really don’t know how things are with Sakhalin and similar “remote” regions = maybe they are brought there directly from America, and not through Moscow.
If suddenly “brave customs fellows” have doubts, they “delay” the parcel, send you a notification (or in the case of USPS Express Mail, the dispatchers will tell you this by phone) and wait two weeks for you to disassemble. For dismantling, you need to bring a printout from E-bay, a printout from PayPal about payment and a free-form statement - "let me go uncles." A list of documents is available at www.emspost.ruin the "documents" section. The procedure is short-lived - a few windows and usually a small tail of the line. I have issued a power of attorney for the driver for a long time and he drives and draws up everything by proxy. Usually fits in an hour. If the customs officers make sure that you are not deceiving them, they will issue the parcel without any problems. If you see that you are deceiving, you will be forced to pay 30% of the excess of 10,000 rubles. If you underestimated the cost of the invoice and delayed the parcel, then you will not be imprisoned. Write the real value in the application, write - “hell knows why the sender indicated it this way”, and after paying the due fees (30% of the excess of 10,000 rubles) you are happily released with the package. But if it’s not a gold watch, it’s obviously NOT something more expensive than $ 400, then it usually “skips” even with an underestimated invoice. The practice of "shaking" the seller to underestimate the invoice I will describe below.
Customs in Moscow has a queue for “passing” or “detaining” parcels through it. Usually 3 days a week. In the New Year - up to two weeks. This period must be added to the above postal.
5. Now, if you are not afraid of the deadlines and customs, then we will proceed directly to the purchase procedure:
1. We try to choose those goods that are not sold through the “classic” auction, but those that have the “buy it now” badge.
Everything that does not have such an icon cannot be bought "right now" (you have to wait for the end of the auction) + everything that really costs money and will be sold on E-bay for the money. Freebie type "mobile phones" for the dollar does not happen. Rather, it happens at the beginning of the auction, and by the end the price will be reached at 99% close to the real one. Therefore, I do not buy at such auctions. Naturally, here we are talking about a NEW product.
2. Immediately look at the delivery options. Many "blinkered" sellers sell current in their region. Type "America + Canada." You can of course write to him and ask - “will you send to Russia?”, But in 99% of cases they “proudly” answer = “no!”. If it is written Worldwide or Europe is listed in the list of countries, then this is “our client”. The Chinese, Japanese, Taipei quite willingly send from their regions around the world, unlike the Americans. If it delivers to us, then we go and read what kind of mail service it sends (remembering the information above) and if everything suits, then we go to the payment options described by the seller.
3. Payment options.
Most "serial" sellers accept payment through PayPal. Firstly, this is the service of E-bay itself, secondly, it is convenient for the seller and the buyer, it has well-thought-out capabilities and postpaid service. Having paid for a PayPal purchase, you can always later demand the money back if something doesn’t suit you (according to the procedure described in the PayPal help). If the seller by that time is not hiding with the money, then everything will be returned to you if you have good reason. At the time of filing a complaint, PayPal blocks the amount of the purchase on the seller’s account, gives you 20 days to figure it out yourself, if you don’t agree, then it starts participating in your showdowns.
I initiated complaints several times, usually the seller, “scared” by the complaint, becomes sane and does not get to the “escalation of the complaint to the claims service”. Amicably everything is decided. Although once it dawned on me and all my 200 dollars were vigorously returned to me. In general, it is preferable to use PayPal. The only thing - some sellers write in terms of payment - "Only confirmed address". They further write that “there are no exceptions” or write “write to discuss”. Russian addresses are not confirmed. And can not be confirmed at the moment. This is not visible in the PayPal interface, but when the seller receives a notification of your payment through PayPal, there is the status of your delivery address - “UNCONFIRMED” and then they refer to PayPal rules, where they are told that in such a situation they can run into fraud . Therefore, you have to pay by bank transfer or look for another seller. Having a bank transfer with a bank account (and especially with the Internet Banking system) is easy to send. Limitations - up to $ 5000 per payment without submitting documents to the bank. Write in the payment what kind of goods and no one is bothering you. Purpose operation code = 13020. Current, this payment method makes you completely unprotected from the seller. So think for yourself.
4. Well, if the delivery is sent to us as we need, if the money is taken from us as we want, it is recommended that you carefully read what is still written and buy, if it comes to pass.
A few short tips:
1. Buy from "stores" or "private shops", and not from those who sell one item once a year. You can always look at the list of all lots of the seller and understand who it is. Trading is a normal or just a special case of selling one item.
2. I like to buy not from those with a tens of thousands rating, but from those who have it “average”. Conveyor McDonald’s has its drawbacks, and sellers with an average rating of at least not “templates” communicate. Much more soulful. The purchase should be pleasant :)
3. After payment after a couple of three days, prophylactically shout the seller with the message “Hello! You send my item? ” This is useful and necessary. I was faced with the fact that asking such a question a month later I immediately received the money back. As a result, I waited in vain.
4. If you ask the seller to underestimate the invoice, then write to these slow-witted people the phrase “With item there should not be nothing, except invoices on $ 399.95. NOT appraisal, other documents, advertising materials. " These “dumb” ones can write on the package that it costs $ 400, and put an estimate of $ 5,000 inside. Or put prospectuses with prices. Faced. It’s very difficult to explain to the customs officer later ...
5. If you underestimate the invoice, then understand that if the shipment is lost, the seller will not receive insurance more than what is written in the evaluation of the shipment. Accordingly, it will not want to refund you more than the invoice was written. This explains the reluctance of many sellers to do this. After all, if you pay a paypal, then you can then claim the full amount from them. And they will receive from the post office only what they wrote in the invoice. Therefore, many "super-power" sellers immediately say in the rules - "we do not underestimate the invoice amount." So that they are not bothered by stupid questions. Those with a lower rating are usually more accommodating. 50 to 50%. In one case, buying an expensive trinket, I persuaded to underestimate the invoice only in this way - I offered to pay two amounts from the paypal. $ 400 "for goods", and the remaining several thousand "for services".
6. Write DIRECTLY AT THE ADDRESS registered on PayPal (or when sending the receipt address to the Seller) a phone number with a city code. Often departures do not come to your mail, but in FIG knows what. Sometimes good postmen call. It makes life easier.
7. Do not forget that in some countries (America and Japan for example) 110 volts. Not all sellers know that it’s only with them ... Therefore, either carefully read the description of the lot, or keep in mind that sometimes you will have to buy an adapter 220-110V later.
That's all in short.
As far as memories I will edit this topic.
And colorize with pictures.