Buying parts/items online

[smokestack23]

Hey everyone...post #2.

So while doing a ton of reading in the forums I see a trend. It seems that a lot of people are reluctant to make online purchases...oh...let me first say that I DON'T have growing items for sale online...
People say things like they're nervous about receiving damaged goods, not receiving items, being ripped-off, or sellers not honoring return policies and warranties.

Well I can testify that EVERYTIME I purchase items online, and I have to often because I don't live in a city and the nearest grwoshop is a couple hours away, I get phenominal service. The service I get online beats local service HANDS DOWN!! I don't mean most of the time or sometimes...I mean ALL the time. 100% of the time.

Here are just a couple of examples.
I bought a 600W "kit". Came fast, was cheap, and works like a charm. A couple weeks later I won a 1K "kit" from the same ebay seller. When IT arrived it had some extra pieces in the mounting hardware bag. I let the seller know and in two days a box arrived with a mounting hardware kit for the 600. These were pieces that I didn't miss or use.

I ordered a whole bunch of items from Chinese ebay sellers. Items like RFCVs for airlines, manifolds, sintered airstones, temp gauges, digital ph stick, ppm stick..on and on..
Well..the PH meter was a bit sketchy.At times the numbers would not stop changing while testing. I felt that I couldn't trust it. I let the seller know and about a week later I received a replacement. Postage paid, didn't want the old one back, and, threw-in a $10 coupon.

The dude at the growshop that I DO go to when I can said....don't order stuff online..there are hidden shipping costs, no warranty, and the stuff you get on ebay is all chinese garbage.

WELLL..s&h amounts are listed, they ALWAYS (for me anyway) honor warranties, and....what ISN'T made in China???

So...don't be nervous to order online. DO start with small items because you WILL make mistakes...like..not see the shipping amount, buy from sellers with poor feedback ratings, overpay, get involved in a bidding war... Maybe start with some Chinese check valves at 10 for $.99 plus 2 bucks shipping. how can you lose?

What inspired me to pen this was that a couple weeks ago I won a 55w airpump for like 25 cucks. 2 weeks later (today) it's starting to rattle a bit. I informed the seller and after apologizing profusely, he said that he has only had two problems in over 300 units sold. He informed me that a new one is on it's way for FREE and that I can keep the original as a spare or for parts. He said that the diaphram might come in handy one day down the road.

Yet another ebay love story.

 

[mastacheeser]

always recieved great service whenever buying stuff online
i think these people make so much that they just want everybody happy
i recomend a hyrdo store that makes so much they just wana keep everybody happy
not really sure about the rules of the website but wana throw up some good links to sites not ebay? or do you just ebay it

 

[smokestack23]

Welll...I won't put up any links...and 99% of the stuff I buy (for this hobby) IS from ebay. What I WILL do is to say the names of some sellers and some items they sell for s "steal".

Again...I'm not affiliated with any of these people but they have given me GREAT service, provide FAST shipping, and have WICKED prices.

Gasbikeshop and Powerkingshop (I think these might be the same seller or at least affiliated..same products, one in Vancouver and the other in Blaine Wa...a stone's throw from each other). I got some lights from them. Ex: a 1K HPS and MH "kit"-ballast, bulbs, cooltube reflector, free timer, free yo-yos,..$183.00 plus $28 shipping. Shipping takes like 2 days. Oh..the brand is "LUMA". I asked who that is and they "said" it's Lumatek's sister company. I don't know about THAT but..they work great.
600W kits I've been getting for about the same price..$170-$180 plus shipping
They also have Carbon cans WITH 8" 450cfm fan AND 30' of ali ducting. They go in auction style for about $160 for the works...shipped FREE. They have them listed with buy it now prices too. They're listed as $209 OBO. I can barely find activated charcoal for that cheap...with shipping. These are also branded LUMA.

Nice commercial air pumps...aerationstation is a GREAT seller. a few weeks ago they had more listed in auction style listings. I won my 55w for like $23 (plus around $25 shipping...still a great deal). I've seen 105w and 185w units go foe under fourty bucks too. There is no factory warranty on these pumps but they offer a 30 day in house warranty.

PH and TDS/EC meters, air manifolds, airstones, RFCVs, aquarium temp gauges...search ebay for these items and don't be nervous about buying from Hong Kong or China. No matter WHERE you get these items they will be made in China. Might as well cut out the middle man. Shipping CAN be a bit long and some of these cheap items might be faulty (as they can wherever you get them) but they will replace them fro nothing.

Now...the only downside of buying online is that you aren't giving local businesses your $. I don't have any problems sleeping at night because..a) we don't have any hydro shops here, and b) when I DO goto my favorite shop in the city, they want over $450 for a 1K Lumatek kit without reflector, timer, yo-yos...
$400 for the can and fan...without free ducting...and the same exact fan and can btw.
He wants a buck and a half for the same 3/4" Ts and elbows that the hardware store sells for $.68.
Mention the words "I can get that online for less" and the answer is always.."oh yeah but that's chinese crap and there are hidden costs and they will NOT honor warranties. I had a guy in here last week buying 10 new ballasts cause the ones he bought on EBAY all broke"
Yeah OK there Chong Lee (an Asian you can barely understand)...you telling me that your Lumateks are NOT made in China? The Luma units have a FIVE year warranty!!!!
When I say...hey I can get these fittings for half this price at the hardware store...he says yeah but those leak. Mine have 3 barbs and those ones only have one. They WILL leak!! So when I said...no, they are the same...he says...oh yeah well that's because they buy THOUSANDS of them.
WELLL...I understand buying power but....if you priced yours properly, you would sell thousands TOO!!!

I've come to realize that American shoppers seem a little more "patriotic" when it comes to shopping locally. I have the attitude that ...I'll buy locally if I'm not getting robbed. I'll buy locally when I get the service I deserve. I don't want to walk into a store and feel like I'm "BOTHERING" the salesperson..who, when I ask if they have an item, she tells her girlfriend on the phone...ahhhh..hang on...there's someone HERE, puts down her nailfile and rolls her eyes and looks at me and says....yeah I don't think we have any of those. I say..yes you do they're right there. Another roll of the eyes, she tells her phone friend that it'll be another second and then charges me the wrong price....THEN won't honor the return when it breaks.

Anyway...unless it's something I need NOW...or can't find online cheaper...THEN I buy local....well..make the two hour drive to the city.

Again...I'm not affiliated with any of the sellers I mentioned. I don't get a commission, deals, or special treatment for saying what I say. I don't have ANY grow items for sale on eBay and I have NOTHING to gain by saying any of this stuff.
I DO sell stuff online (music stuff) and I live in a small town. I have NO problem competing with everyone else in the world selling the same stuff that I do...in fact, I beat everyone's prices usually and still make money. And..when one of my buyers has a problem I rectify it IMMEDIATELY. I have to. There is SO much competition and a single negative feedback, or one pissed-off person in a guitar forum can ruin me.
even if you DON'T buy online you are reaping the benefits. It keeps the prices from being TOO ridiculously high and local dealers know what's out there.

So...again...I hope I haven't broken any rules by posting this and I hope I haven't ruffled too many local sellers' feathers. The fact is that money is tight and I have to stretch mine as far as I can. I can't afford a 100% patriotism mark-up.

 

[Seamaiden]

I vote with my dollars. If the local people aren't giving me what I want, I vote for the other guy. That's how it works.

 

[IndicacannaJone]

I used to be in the same boat, but have had a series of bad experiences in recent months - including two reputable outlets: Amazon and Attitude Seed Bank.

I placed an order for a Secret Jardin tent on Amazon, which was shown to be in stock. I received an e-mail about 6 hours later stating that Amazon was cancelling the order due to the item being out of stock. No big deal, right? Well, what they had done was place the hold for the cash on debit card for the item. To make a very long, frustrating, story short, after a week of phone calls, e-mails to them and the bank, filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, etc., my money was finally available to me, along with my cancelling of my Amazon account, which also was delayed due to the fact (not opinion) that Amazon is the biggest piece of shit around.

Shortly before the whole Amazon disaster, I placed my first order with the Attitude Seed Bank. The tin I purchased was missing, along with two missing freebie seeds, and one crushed seed (which would've been avoided had they been in a tin). They agreed to replace the seeds, and ship my tin for free with "my next order". My next order? For free? I already paid for it this order. Why do I have to place another order to get what I paid for this order? It's not free, because it's already been paid for. After a couple e-mail exchanges, they made the point that the missing/damaged seeds were free seeds, as if to imply that I didn't have much ground to stand on with my expectations. The thing is, that was the main reason I ordered from was because of the bonus freebies, so in terms of them getting business in the first place, the freebies matter.

Although the Attitude situation ended better than with Amazon, they really rubbed me the wrong way. You would think after inconveniencing your customers when a problem is obviously the fault of the retailer, they would go above and beyond their own fuck up, and try to make it worth your while for waiting over a month after the initial order to receive what should've been received weeks ago. This is a trend we see less and less from retailers, and it really sucks.

I should say that I'm in no way trying to discourage anyone from ordering online. What I'm finding lately is the smaller retailers are providing much better service. It seems once a company becomes so successful, they lose the desire to make sure they're retaining a customer. Amazon used to provide amazing customer service years ago. Now, they're a bloated, ineffectual juggernaut with a customer service department based in India that read scripted responses, and lacking any ability/desire to fix your problem. I had never filed a complaint with the BBB before in all my life. If you ever read retailer reviews on Amazon that are less than shiny, you'll see stories similar to mine.

 

[smokestack23]

I agree. As soon as an outfit gets so big that individual customers don't rate, you're in trouble.

It's too bad about Attitude. I got beans from them and was pretty surprized at the packaging. IIRC, it even said seeds on the customs declaration. There are so many bean peddlers out there you'd think they'd be a little more careful. Just your paragraph about your nightmare WILL cause them some losses in sales..and deservingly so.

I was kind of expecting the same non-willingness to rectify a malfunctioning PH meter that I got from a Hong Kong ebayer who has sold and who sells tens of thousands of items. He treated me as though I was his only customer.

My point is that people don't have to be QUITE so nervous as they are when it comes to online purchases. For the MOST part.
If money is no object and you have access to the items you need locally then going that route WILL save you some stress at least. Ordering something online causes SOME stress from the moment you hit the "confirm payment" button.

In FACT, it's Monday and I'm expecting several items. Will they arrive today? at all? should I stay home so I don't miss the delivery of the big item I'm waiting for?? I AM saving hundreds though and a rocket will alleviate some of my anxiety ;).

 

[NatrlHgh]

hey indicanna i just made my first purchase with them as well. used a pre paid from money tree. its been three days since the transaction, but when i go to track the package it says that payment is still pending and that there is no info on such #.. did you have any problems like this?