Buying from China...

[LynetteScavo]

I know this has probably been asked 100%....but what problems could I encounter?

I've seen some really nice looking things, that I fancy, but not sure if I want to risk it....

Wouldn't buy toys as they aren't properly checked or carrying safety marks (and if they are its false anyway)

Electricals can be really dangerous

Some things I guess there is very little that can go wrong with it (I have recently bought a hairband for myself and an apple slicer)

Yes the sizes are absolutely tiny

It may come with 925 stamp but its not real silver

I've ordered various things boots, hair stuff, earrings, bracelets, the odd top some arrives quickly some takes ages.

My teen DD learnt not to take pictures of items literally as she found out when her bag arrived the size of a stamp

Clothes sizes miniscule and quality pretty atrocious I have found.

Cheap costume jewellery ok, and hair bits are often good. And the epistick too.

You're not persuading me to part with my cash!

I've been surprised at how quick I've received things.
They say the item is from China, but there must be warehouses here somewhere where they are constantly shipping stuff to.

I ordered a pair of yoga trousers.... I was quite pleased with them until I went to my parents' house and DM informed me she could see my spotty knickers through them!
I will proceed with caution in the future.

This is just one thing I've been considering

What do you all reckon?

I bought this bag last year.
I understood that compared to me, that model is probably pretty tiny and checked the measurements etc. When the bag came I was happy with it.
But I will say it didn't last long.
It just wasn't up to the job of actually carrying stuff.

I bought some tshirts for less than a fiver each inc p&p. Took just over a week to arrive and they're bloody marvellous! Washed great.

Buy at least one size up, I'm a 10/12 and go for xl and check feedback.

That bag ok but notice how tiny the model is so it looks huge. Defiantly check measurements

Sometimes stuff arrives quickly (1-2 weeks) sometimes it takes ages (6 weeks +) and sometimes it never arrives.

I did however, buy a beautiful black silk embroidered jacket a few years ago and its beautiful, wore it to a show at the Lowry and a woman asked where I'd bought it from.
The sizes are tiny though, you have to go up one or two sizes, I'm a 12 and the label in the jacket is xxl .

Im ordered a corsage brooch, the kind you see catlwalk models wearing on the Chanel shows, a bit like a gardenia. It was made from a tweedy fabric (not really Harris, obviously) but very nice and a fraction of what I'd have paid in accessorize etc. Obviously no size issues with accessories.

I have ordered small-ish bits (long armed gloves, a wig (!!)) and had no problems, but they were only for World Book Day and did take some time to arrive. I factored that in, though.

I buy all my doggy sweaters and blingy dog collars from China and only usually wait about 7 days for delivery,just becareful your order isn't over £15.00 (I think) or you could be charged extra for delivery (import duty).All the items I have bought my Lhasa Apso have been their large size and fit nicely they must have some very small dogs in China according to the measurements I have seen for sweaters and collars.lol.

Yes....beware as we bought a skating dress from a Bristol listing which turned out to be via China.( this was not at all clear in the listing).....size 6 was actually age 6 and stank of cigarette smoke. Got charged £20 import duty too....so an expensive waste of time as it then had to be returned to an address in Europe!

I've had costume jewllery, hair bobbles, phone cases and stationary (6p pad of fancy post its) from China. Am currently waiting on an elephant shaped phone stand I ordered ages ago, but as it cost 99p I'm not excatly stressing about it.

The quality is very variable but most of what I've had has been at least worth the cost and sometimes a real bargin.

Both my DSes are really into Mario, so I have purchased quite a bit of stuff over the years from China and Hong Kong (100+ items). As pp have said, quality varies, but have never had a massive issue with quality.

I bought a made to measure wedding dress. It was very cheap but wasn't made to measure at all and looked nothing like the picture. I knew it was a gamble though. I sold it on a second hand website to a woman that loved it so not much money lost.
Took ages to arrive as well

Dd got a swim cap from china that has been sucessful. I agree that you need to order a size up if you are buying clothes.

As far as quality goes, you get what you pay for. I am surprised that the low prices cover the postage.

Prices confuse me too ReallyTired, sometimes I don't see how the price I have paid covers postage never mind anything else! Most recent item was apple slicer for about £1.29 I couldn't have sent it somewhere else in the UK for that price (excluding packaging costs!) Never mind internationally

their postage to the uk is dirt cheap, and their living expenses are considerably less than us - hence our money buying a lot in their country.

Even if their postage is dirt cheap, how can international postage cost less than national UK postage.

I wouldn't consider buying anything from china on eBay because of the toys that were found to have banned chemicals in the plastics. I'm really paranoid cx