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Thread: buying stuff from Amazon?

  1. #1
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    buying stuff from Amazon?

    I need to buy a new mattress pad and have been looking at amazon as well as JCP and other stores. Seems like so much of amazon's merchandise is now from Asian vendors - descriptions are strangely worded and/or misspelled. Even many of the reviews are suspect with quirky grammatical errors. It does not inspire trust in buying the product but then again most of our consumer goods come from China, right? I stopped buying things like shampoo long ago from amazon when I received what was a watered down version. Do you buy things from amazon without concern?

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    I do look at where it’s being shipped from And avoid those Chinese vendors.I’m resigned to most of the crap I buy being made in China, but I don’t want to buy from Chinese vendors. Once in a while when I slip up and buy from a Chinese vendor it takes forever or the product is shitty.

    I fell for one of those clothing ads that scroll through my Facebook pages. These clothing places have really cute clothes, a very low prices. So a couple years ago I bought one a shirt and it took weeks for it to get here. Even though the vendor said in their ad they respond to buyer concerns immediately, they never responded to my concerns. When it got here it was decent quality I suppose, but two sizes too small.

    They steal photographs from other sources. An item that is $80- $100 in a US catalog will be $21 from these Chinese makers.

    Related to this—I have been considering using the Chinamen to commission copies of a couple of paintings. I should start a thread about that. Their copies are stupid cheap.

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    Possibly look at Ikea, I've heard good things about their mattresses anyway.

    I know what you mean about the shady Chinese product descriptions.

    Do I buy from Amazon without concern? Well maybe I used to (some) but they are getting shadier and shadier products it feels like. And one good thing about them WAS that there was a selection of stuff that wasn't at the ever cheapening big boxes and made in China. Well no more. It all just seems junkier that you would get at a big box now. Yea I don't buy it. I mean it depends on the product, used books yes of course I'll buy those usually through the marketplace, if a food item or a well known brand, that's kind of hard to counterfeit (though it's not like it doesn't ever happen) so occasionally. But other stuff not until I have looked elsewhere.

    A mattress pad sounds like the kind of thing you can find not made in China if you look hard enough, although it may cost more. Why? Because not all textiles are made in China, a few, though it's just a few, are even made in the U.S.. It's not an electronic item or most stainless steel (except a few pots like al-clad), because electronics and stainless steel items, that's ALL China. And things that used to be made not in China are going out of business by the year, I know products I like have disappeared.

    This may not have the mattress pad but it's one useful reference webpage for items not made in China:
    https://chinanever.com/

    (and hey here's an article from that site about Amazon if one wants an opinion piece: https://chinanever.com/blog/d8ljxngs...4zgegw57y9vjb5 )
    Trees don't grow on money

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    Senior Member Simplemind's Avatar
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    I buy a lot from Amazon but I look where it's coming from and definitely the return policy. I have no problem sending things back. As far as reviews, it is pretty easy to spot the fakes. I like to get into reviewers profiles and see if they give everything five stars or if they have a range which would be normal. I generally do the same for the negative ones. If they hate everything that's suspect too. So far so good that I've not purchased lemons. DH's ankle went out and he hasn't been able to do our daily walk so we just purchased a stationary bike from them that we can't believe the quality for the $175. Totally silent so it hasn't moved from the family room in front of the TV.

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    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    I think it is probably correct in saying most consumer goods are made in China. Of all the stuff I order from Amazon, I can only think of one small item that was actually shipped from China and any quality problems have not been significant, but it's certainly not like buying from a brick and mortar where you can actually see or try something out. If I were bargain shopping for lower priced things and had concerns, there are enough other options like Target out there.

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    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    Chinese company names are often nonsensical; witness my canvas bag from Hozee. There's a business opportunity for someone who can convince them that a well-thought-out trademark is a valuable investment.

    I try to buy mostly from established companies, resigned to the fact that their product will be made in China.

    I wouldn't buy an off-brand mattress; I would shop around for a reasonably-priced one. I would certainly consider Ikea.

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    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    My favorite Chinese brand name is Apeman. It’s the brand for cheap, but adequate GoPro knockoff cameras. I got one for $70 off Amazon a few years ago for diving.

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    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    DW buys much more from Amazon than I do. I tend to reserve Amazon for the items I can't readily find elsewhere, like ink cartridges for our old printers or new gaskets for our pressure cooker. I try hard not to buy knockoffs of those items, though, by checking model numbers and reading the reviews.

    DW generally has been happy with what she's purchased from them. I would say, though, that if she has an issue with something she's ordered, it's usually with clothing. She's bought herself some clothes and me a couple of shirts which were wildly inaccurate on sizing and returning them is a hassle. A time or two they've actually refunded her money and told her not to bother returning the item as it probably costs more than it's worth to have it returned, inventoried, refreshed, and put up for sale again. I guess that tells you the item's value.

    We try to buy locally if possible and then radiate out from there as far as who we order from. Even ordering on-line from Target (which i can consider "local") needs a little care as there are many items sold through Target that are not fulfilled/shipped by them. Same with Amazon (as well as Sears, NewEgg, and a few other vendors I know of). I'm particularly careful about ordering through them because I don't know that the host company is providing any customer service at all if there's a problem.
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    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tradd View Post
    My favorite Chinese brand name is Apeman. It’s the brand for cheap, but adequate GoPro knockoff cameras. I got one for $70 off Amazon a few years ago for diving.
    That's not a bad brand name. I kind of like Roselinlin, but a quick perusal of Amazon came up with IWOLLENCE, Farktop, USDisc't, NEYOUQE, MordenMiss, LOFBAZ, and BLENCOT. There are a billion of them.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveinMN View Post
    Even ordering on-line from Target (which i can consider "local") needs a little care as there are many items sold through Target that are not fulfilled/shipped by them. Same with Amazon (as well as Sears, NewEgg, and a few other vendors I know of). I'm particularly careful about ordering through them because I don't know that the host company is providing any customer service at all if there's a problem.
    Sears, Amazon, Newegg, even Walmart and many others, allow third party vendors to sell on their sites. My old company used to sell across all of these you mentioned plus, but we did our own shipping from our own location (very little FBA-Fulfilled By Amazon). Many of these online websites also have Fulfillment Centers - the third party sellers send their merchandise to, say, an Amazon Fulfillment Warehouse, then when a customer purchases that item, it is shipped from that Amazon Facility "for" the third party vendor. (FYI - Amazon charges rent/storage fees as well as some shipping fees back to the third-party vendor, even if it says "Free Shipping" to the purchaser.)

    Re: customer service - this prior workplace actually provided a phone number for customer service that was answered by a "live person" on location! Most people, however, seemed to prefer the "auto-refunds, free return shipping, etc" from the host site (i.e. Amazon), which, again, places those costs back on the third party vendor.
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