Buying off the internet - Overseas

[idrive]

I buy from a shop. I look at the item, touch it and then hand over money and walk out with it.

Its mine immediately and if there's a problem I go back and they sort it out.

None of this looking at it on a screen, punching in c/card numbers then waiting to see how much extra it'll cost and hoping that after all that, it does work and is exactly what I want.

I shop at Finish Whine Cycles!!

[The_Break]

I go to a shop, look at it, feel it, try it on, and then look at the price and walk out. Then I go to the internet and look at the price. Add some extra things, press a few buttons and then a few weeks later it arrives. Normally because I always get a better price, about 15-20% in real terms I buy the better parts that generally don't need returns or so. And if they do, I normally contact head office and they refer me directly to our local agents who are then obliged to help me with warranty claims as the sites I buy from sell officially. No worries, no fuss.

 

For me, it is either money in my pocket or money in someone elses. Internet buying means money in my pocket very often. So many of the times our local shops don't have what I want or take 4-8 weeks to get it and then it is wrong. I would much rather deal with the 1st world.

[bees]

eBay ROCKS !! No import duty and stuff goes for dirt cheap. Only problem is that it is "foetstoots".

 

how bad is foetstoots in your book? in my book it is closer to broken beyond repair that useable. what have u bought and was it according to u value for money?

[Li Mu Bai]

eBay ROCKS !! No import duty and stuff goes for dirt cheap. Only problem is that it is "foetstoots".

 

how bad is foetstoots in your book? in my book it is closer to broken beyond repair that useable. what have u bought and was it according to u value for money?

 

sure, thats why on ebay you should only buy a new item as you cant physically check it. remember that a lot of sellers on ebay guard their reputation rating and dont take chances, as it messes their future business. others unfortunately dont care.

[TrackCyclist]

Fair enough! buying from over the seas saves money, but when that item arrives you are worried about the time delay, if the model has been upgraded already because you waited so long, its AS IS, so is it going to work, and when that item arrived you could have bought it locally,, and used the item for days already, and now its second hand, and sold it to a D...S over seas with a NO COME BACK

[Li Mu Bai]

nope CRC took exactly 7 days to get here, all bundled neatly, and I could track its progress each day. 3 days to leave UK and cross the ocean and 4 days for the SA people to decide what to do with it.

 

if you are buying from CRC dont buy one item only as the shipping fee will sink your boat making it a very similar price to buying locally. wait till you have 4 or five must haves, or pool your purchase with mates and share the shipping cost.

[Minion]

I bought my Polar S725 brand new off eBay. It took 4 days to get here and cost R1200 less than the local price.

My latest CRC order took a month to arrive, but that was because Paypal messed up the payment. By the time they sorted it out, the stuff I wanted was out of stock and I had to wait for new stock. It took four days to get here once the stock arrived. I am happy to report that neither my saddle, seatpost nor tyre became obsolete in that time.

 

[Konaman]

I have bough 17 times from CRC in 5 years. Has never had 1 problem. Always buy enough to cover courier costs and  pay by credit card transfer only.

Only buy cheap day to day things locally and always have extra costly parts in my workshop at home from CRC, as we have 5 bikes to keep on the road.

There must be many other persons like me that would like to support local shops, but they charge ridiculous prices on things like cranksets, chainrings, wheelsets; tyres, seatposts, saddles; XTR groupset components;chains;pedals etc;

 I bough a Kona dualy frame last year from CRC for R6000 cheaper  than what I could get it locally in SA. This is madness. I just pray every night that the rand does not weaken, before my next order is due from CRC

 

 

[solly]

Well then , are there no good, resonably priced local online retailers that will oferr similar service without all the extra admin?

[4ph3X]

i've bought a couple of times off ebay before.  only new stuff.  saved plenty of money even with shipping factored in! 

yes, buying stuff via the internet was (ok, still is with some sites) dodgy back in the day, but come on, wake up people, it is 2009. 

 

edit : plus you get to shop naked!

4ph3X2009-02-14 12:01:48

[The_Break]

Yes, look down to your left. Chris Willemse Cycles. Cape Town based, bought from them hassle free, fast, cheap shipping, wide range and yes, their prices are probably the best in SA and are as good as most big european and american websites.

[Joker66]

Well I also was sceptical about this internet shopping untill recently I got myself wheels from CRC for 4.5k (50%) cheaper than I was quoted by a cycle shop in Pretoria. That includes all costs. Now thats money in your pocket. The service from CRC was also better than some cycle shops in SA.

[Schwynn]

Guys, I import a lot of my RC (radio control) stuff from overseas. Touch wood, I still have to have a problem with any of the shops I bought from. Order, make sure about your delivery address, pay online and wait. If you ask for express delivery you get a tracking no. If it is snail mail, you can wait a couple of weeks, even months.

 

Trust me, I'm a doctor!!!

 

Ask Klapperknop, he also knows!! He's not a doctor though. Schwynn2009-02-19 09:40:08

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

Solly, go read this. I'm ordering from overseas and all the numbers was posted here.

 

 

 

https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=21200&KW=Groupset&PN=1

 

 

[AndreZA]

Well then ' date=' are there no good, resonably priced local online retailers that will oferr similar service without all the extra admin?[/quote']

 

It is strange but it only takes about 3-5 days longer to get the stuff from the UK and I don't know about the "extra admin" you are referring to. YOu place an order, pay and a few days later you get a slip telling you to pick up and pay the Vat. Oh, and I don't think you can pay the Vat with a credit card.

[javadude]

I've ordered alot of stuff from overseas. Totalcycling, CRC, Sigmasport and about 20 ebay transactions from private and shop sellers.

 

Out of all those i have had one bad experience when a Specialized Toupe saddle went awol. I got a tracking number from Sigmasport but the saddle never made it to SA customs. I've got a feeling its sitting in the corner of a warehouse somewhere gathering dust. I had to take a R1000 hit, but in total i have still saved THOUSANDS from all my overseas transactions and i will definitely be buying more stuff.