Oversea eBay Sellers

[Eternal Squall]

Hola Beta-ites!

I like collecting figures. (6-9 in. anime characters)
I see figures on eBay I like. (Urahara in squad 12 gear )
Sellers are from places such as Taiwan, Hong Kong(home of Donkey Kong?), China....

Sooooo.....what experiences have you guys had when dealing with cats from above places? Good, Bad? Any Recommended Sellers? Should I just forget about it and run?.....

Horror and love stories welcomed......

[MidniteKitten]

IF anything avoid Hong Kong! Not to say there aren't good sellers from over there, but the majority of the time they will display legit goods on the auction page but send bootlegs. They are notorious for bootlegs, Thailand too, but as far as I'm aware that's more for resin kits. This happened to me with some gashapon from Sailor Moon, they showed the real set but sent me bad imitations that couldn't even stand correctly and were made of a cheap plastic, and it sucks because paypal wants you to have an "accredited" person tell you its bootleg, when I own the non-bootleg and could easily show them the difference, so getting your money back in these situations is very difficult if dealing with paypal. Now for my boyfriends horror story.

He bought an Optimus Prime Leader Class Figure from the 09 line for a seller in Hong Kong about 2 months before it's US release. The seller claimed it was in hand and ready to ship, and even had 90% feedback! So he bought it for about 3 times the price it would be when it hit the US becuase he wanted to have it before anyone else (boys XD). We patiently waited for the item to arrive. Well 2 1/2 weeks later it still hadn't arrived and while I know its international and may take a bit, he contacted the seller. No response. Tried again 2 days later. Still no response. So he went ahead and opened up a paypal dispute. 4 days after the dispute had been opened he gets notification that it's been shipped. 2 1/2 weeks after we paid! That's ridiculous! So then he patiently waits for him to arrive...well guess what? The tracking supplied was false and just so paypal wouldn't take the money back. Eventually he provided a real tracking number to paypal and the item got here 2 1/2 months later....he'd already bought one in stores and got his 1/2 a month after it hit shelves. Horrible experience.

Therefore I at least do not ever deal with anyone from Hong Kong unless the few places I post in verify the seller as trustworthy or they have spotless feedback.

[MidniteKitten]

Idk how to delete a post and it double posted, so I just edited this one. Mods if you see this please delete!

[kamidake]

Yeah, have to agree with MidniteKitten. If you just want cheap cheap kits and figures to knock around, then go for it. A lot of the times they'll even throw in shipping. But if you want licensed Japanese stuff, chances are you won't get them from Hong Kong sellers. The several I've inquired about their items with was pretty upfront when I asked if their projects were the official stuff, and they said no. At least they were honest.

[Eternal Squall]

Thanks-a-bunch guys...

I was not sure, but now I know.....and knowing is half the battle!!!!