Buying Accessories on Amazon and Ebay.

[McTablet_T2C]

I read reviews, but I've never found it helpful to read reviews on mom-and-pop websites (no offense to yours, which I've not used). I use Amazon reviews because they're generally robust. I don't mind paying a few bucks more if I buy stuff in person at a brick-and-mortar joint in my area, because I want to support local businesses. What I generally avoid is buying from small businesses online, because I don't want to deal with the possible hassle of return and exchange, or hunting down something that doesn't arrive. I've often paid several bucks more to go with Amazon, specifically because I know its service is reliable.

Would you consider sites like iLounge or CNET mom-and-pops websites? i think they got good review...
I think you will find that some small online business would go to greater length then Amazon or Ebay to make sure their customers are happy.
Altough i must say i have always found service on Amazon quite good, not so much Ebay. But both from a seller's point of view are a bit of a cartel ;-)

 

[Kaykaykay]

Would you consider sites like iLounge or CNET mom-and-pops websites? i think they got good review...
I think you will find that some small online business would go to greater length then Amazon or Ebay to make sure their customers are happy.
Altough i must say i have always found service on Amazon quite good, not so much Ebay. But both from a seller's point of view are a bit of a cartel ;-)

I've looked at iLounge, but haven't found the reviews useful. That's probably a matter of what I buy, and how focused the reviews are. I generally like Amazon because it has a bunch of reviews for the same product, which lets me compare perspectives. I've checked CNET on occassion, but for hardware I'm more likely to use other sites, which aren't involved in selling anything directly. With those, I like to compare a bunch of reviews across sites, and read comments.

I buy through sites like Etsy sometimes, because they have individual vendors with a specialized product. For me, it doesn't make sense to buy a commodity-type product and risk poor CS, even for savings. That's me, of course. I can't speak for others. But my husband and I buy A LOT online, and that's our pattern.

 

[McTablet_T2C]

Agree with what you said above. I guess over all it depends on the product, like when i buy a TV for example i would read lots of review and choose like that.
I think Amazon review are not always 100% honest as there is some amount of "fake" user reviews on there. I have also bought a pair of Ear Phone (Sennheiser CX300) from Amazon which turned out to be fake.
this would have probably not happen if i bought on lets say Bestbuy or something.

I do shop a lot on line but if i see something i like i probably just go for it, i think most shop know that CS is very important and that they will lose customers very fast if they don offer good CS.
I must say i also give my CC online at times, so far so good, took me a while to get over the "im going to sponsor a trip to Hawaii for someone" fear.

Long story short, i do try to give smaller businesses that offer me extra value in terms of user experience on their site the chance to take my money ;-)

 

[Kaykaykay]

Agree about fake reviews -- on all types of websites. I've seen ones on Amazon, Yelp and even something lame like local Yellow Pages website (was looking for landscaper and saw a bunch of fake reviews), for example. That's why I like a good number of reviews to check out. If anything smells funny to me, I just skip buying. I can't remember anything I had to have badly enough to override what I thought were suspect reviews, but maybe I've just been lucky.

 

[Gabriel1]

Agree with what you said above. I guess over all it depends on the product, like when i buy a TV for example i would read lots of review and choose like that.
I think Amazon review are not always 100% honest as there is some amount of "fake" user reviews on there. I have also bought a pair of Ear Phone (Sennheiser CX300) from Amazon which turned out to be fake.
this would have probably not happen if i bought on lets say Bestbuy or something.

I do shop a lot on line but if i see something i like i probably just go for it, i think most shop know that CS is very important and that they will lose customers very fast if they don offer good CS.
I must say i also give my CC online at times, so far so good, took me a while to get over the "im going to sponsor a trip to Hawaii for someone" fear.

Long story short, i do try to give smaller businesses that offer me extra value in terms of user experience on their site the chance to take my money ;-)

If I'm buying a TV then I like to see it first (as the screen may not be quite what I am expecting), but if I go to one of the high street shops to view I would also check online for prices. If shops want me to pay a few extra $ for a product then they need to give me a reason to. It's not good enough to say that they are a small business and can't compete with the big boys. It might be service or some kind of loyalty scheme but they need to provide a good reason.

As for reviews, I find that if a product has lots of reviews then you can extract the average out of them but if only a few then be wary. It's also worth noting that lots of people will only write something on line if it has gone wrong......just like why lots of folks join forums.....so be wary of a few bad reviews (not that I would buy anything which only has bad reviews!).

The Archangel

 

[exile]

I have also bought a pair of Ear Phone (Sennheiser CX300) from Amazon which turned out to be fake.
this would have probably not happen if i bought on lets say Bestbuy or something

+1

I got a pair of audio technica m50 off ebay and wasn't sure if they were fake or not since there is an abundance of clones.... Opened up the cans and found out they were real and not clones... Moral of story is, just got to understand what you're willing to put yourself through to get something

I ended up just buying a pair of iem's from retail, Fry's; so I wouldn't have to worry about that... Also price match.. love my se215.

 

[McTablet_T2C]

+1

I got a pair of audio technica m50 off ebay and wasn't sure if they were fake or not since there is an abundance of clones.... Opened up the cans and found out they were real and not clones... Moral of story is, just got to understand what you're willing to put yourself through to get something

I ended up just buying a pair of iem's from retail, Fry's; so I wouldn't have to worry about that... Also price match.. love my se215.

Moral of the Story is that people have this impression that all on Amazon is gold, which is not always the case.

 

[McTablet_T2C]

If I'm buying a TV then I like to see it first (as the screen may not be quite what I am expecting), but if I go to one of the high street shops to view I would also check online for prices. If shops want me to pay a few extra $ for a product then they need to give me a reason to. It's not good enough to say that they are a small business and can't compete with the big boys. It might be service or some kind of loyalty scheme but they need to provide a good reason.

As for reviews, I find that if a product has lots of reviews then you can extract the average out of them but if only a few then be wary. It's also worth noting that lots of people will only write something on line if it has gone wrong......just like why lots of folks join forums.....so be wary of a few bad reviews (not that I would buy anything which only has bad reviews!).

The Archangel

Wouldn't you say that the fact the a Shop has dozens of TV on display showing the same feed for you to compare would already be some extra value? keeping in mind that their price is reasonable, they give you a much better shopping experience where you can see\touch the tvs. Also you have the reliability of a shop, someone\where to go back to.

I remember not long ago i read somewhere about a campaign some shops did together under the title "Buy it where you try it"
I do agree that they need to provide more value, the can compete with your buying experience, and help you choose the one you like, but very hard to compete with price (as for the above example, they have rent, dozens of display models, sales people to help you, etc)
Buy it Where you Try it: Little Independent's Response to Amazon (this is not the one i read last time, just goggled for it now)

 

[Gabriel1]

Wouldn't you say that the fact the a Shop has dozens of TV on display showing the same feed for you to compare would already be some extra value? keeping in mind that their price is reasonable, they give you a much better shopping experience where you can see\touch the tvs. Also you have the reliability of a shop, someone\where to go back to.

I remember not long ago i read somewhere about a campaign some shops did together under the title "Buy it where you try it"
I do agree that they need to provide more value, the can compete with your buying experience, and help you choose the one you like, but very hard to compete with price (as for the above example, they have rent, dozens of display models, sales people to help you, etc)
Buy it Where you Try it: Little Independent's Response to Amazon (this is not the one i read last time, just goggled for it now)

The last TV I purchased I did get from the shop but only after checking the price, I could have got it £50 cheaper on line but I paid extra for the service......but if it had been £200 cheaper on line then I would have walked out of the shop and ordered from Amazon or wherever, I'm not going to give my money away for nothing.

The Archangel

 

[McTablet_T2C]

Agreed

 

[Kaykaykay]

Moral of the Story is that people have this impression that all on Amazon is gold, which is not always the case.

Actually no one on this thread has looked on any reviews as gold. What I do know is that Amazon has a good number of reviews to filter through, and that its service is such that if I have a problem, it's likely to be resolved to my satisfaction. For that type of service, I will even pay a bit extra, even if I can find it elsewhere online cheaper.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Wouldn't you say that the fact the a Shop has dozens of TV on display showing the same feed for you to compare would already be some extra value? keeping in mind that their price is reasonable, they give you a much better shopping experience where you can see\touch the tvs. Also you have the reliability of a shop, someone\where to go back to.

I remember not long ago i read somewhere about a campaign some shops did together under the title "Buy it where you try it"
I do agree that they need to provide more value, the can compete with your buying experience, and help you choose the one you like, but very hard to compete with price (as for the above example, they have rent, dozens of display models, sales people to help you, etc)
Buy it Where you Try it: Little Independent's Response to Amazon (this is not the one i read last time, just goggled for it now)

I don't shop for TVs, or maybe this would matter to me. When I buy computers, I actually prefer comparing online from the comfort of home, and not limited by what is on hand in the store. Even with clothes, I prefer knowing that I can order from the same stores over and over and they have my size in stock.

When I buy locally, like from Fry's, a large chain, I expect price matching and selection.

 

[Seadog]

I make a lot of purchases from Amazon. The key is to be careful when not buying directly from Amazon, and avoid certain items. Cables and batteries are always good buys from Amazon if you watch the fine print. I would never buy a television or printer from Amazon because some items are not worth the risk of shipping. I have never found any problem buying those items locally when they are on sale.

 

[kingnba6]

i dont think i ever bought an accessory from the apple store. or any local store. i always use ebay. those deals from china are great. and they last!

 

[McTablet_T2C]

i dont think i ever bought an accessory from the apple store. or any local store. i always use ebay. those deals from china are great. and they last!

Why Ebay and not Amazon ?