Amazon Marketplace Sellers

[Petrushka]

Yet again an Amazon Marketplace seller fails to have the goods delivered on time despite claiming to have posted on Oct 25. The claim of 'lost in the post' is ringing increasingly hollow and when you send in a savage review they plead mercy. I only use sellers marked 97% or over so don't expect let-downs.

Anyone else having problems?

[vinteuil]

No - so far I have had no problems with amazon marketplace sellers - and I use them quite a lot. Occasional delays on stuff from the USA and France, but attributable to postal services, I think.

Sorry to hear you've been 'let down'.

[Chris Newman]

My history of Amazon Marketplace Sellers is much the same as vinteuil's. I did have a defective second-hand CD a few week's back but that must have been the only one in a hundred and you good guys inundated me with offers of a replacement, which was very touching. I received some scores today that I ordered on Friday night. I find most dealers keep you informed and the river people themselves send e-mails at the slightest hint of a problem with their own deliveries.

[Bryn]

I have been using a wide selection of Amazon Marketplace suppliers over the past decade. Until very recently the very few problems I have experience with one or two of them have been resolved quickly and most amicably through an exchange of emails. One order placed a couple of months ago was claimed to have been dispatched soon after the order was placed but never arrived. Two emails to the supplier went unresponded to. I then resorted to the Amazon Guarantee facility and was offered a voucher for the full amount of the order within a few minutes. This I accepted and used to order a similar (though not quite identical) item from another supplier. The original order was for a dual Blu-ray and DVD set of a recent release. The alternative was a five Blu-ray set of the same film and the previous three films from the same series. It cost a little under twice the price of the most recent film in the series as originally ordered. The set of Bu-rays arrived in under a week following the order. All in all my experience of Amazon Marketplace suppliers, and of the guarantee system associated with them, has been very good indeed.

[Don Petter]

I've also ordered very many things from Amazon vendors over some years without any trouble.

The only problem I have had lately is with a couple of them where, when I tried to email them through the Amazon system, I got a reply from Amazon saying in effect that 'we can't get through to them on the email they have given us'. In each case, I smelt a possible rat and launched an Amazon complaint procedure.

Actually, both vendors did subsequently contact me by email (so they must have got the message somehow) and the matters were resolved with them (one wrong item returned for refund and the other 'next day' delivery coming after about three days) and I cancelled the complaints.

[Curalach]

Like others, my experience of Marketplace sellers has been good and so far I have had no cause to complain. Long may it continue.

[hafod]

My experience is similar to those above. On those occasions when there has been a problem a satisfactory conclusion is usually reached and only twice have I asked Amazon to step in. If one buys from a classical music collector problems are almost invariably sorted out quickly and satisfactorily. The most common issue is cds not in the condition described or carboard cap boxes damaged. It is surprising how many sellers do not think that condition applies to jewel cases and boxes. Generally, broken jewel cases don't bother me as I have a stash of replacements (unless they are 4,5 or 6cd jewel cases). Some sellers are pretty clueless when it comes to packing and it is infuriating when a genuine 'like new' box set in a cardboard box is sent in just a 'jiffy' bag. About a quarter of these end up with a bruised corner. Incidentally, I see that HMV are now using jiffy bags for such sets - a retrogade step.

Items failing to arrive happens very infrequently and when it does it tends to be a multiple set from a particular seller whose price is appealingly very low. When this happens they immediately refund although I cannot help thinking that they realise they have underpriced and just don't despatch. Interestingly, this same seller will occasionally send an email saying that the item (usually a very low priced multiple set) failed its final quality control check and they are making an immediate refund. This happens sufficiently infrequently to make it still worthwhile to buy from them as, for the most part, there stuff arrives quickly and in the condition described. Only today I received Chailly's Mahler cycle from them for just under a tenner (plus delivery of course).

After a while one soon learns the reliable sellers and the advice of not using anyone with a feedback rating below 97% is good. I never buy anything below ‘very good’ and tend to go for the small scale seller whose inventory is mainly classical and is often therefore a collector.

Overall therefore my experience is substantially positive and I have acquired many gems in great condition and at good prices from the Amazon marketplace. The occasional bad experience is a small price to pay for this. I also sell a few as well.

[Norfolk Born]

Like others, my experience of Marketplace sellers has been good and so far I have had no cause to complain. Long may it continue.

Same here.

[Petrushka]

Thanks for replies so far. Perhaps I've just had a coincidental run of bad luck as most items I've purchased this way have arrived quickly and in the condition described. Recent examples of poor service include CD received past the estimated date; CD never arrived and the replscement was itself received past the revised estimated date; and today another CD never received. All of these have resulted in exchange of e-mails.

[Karafan]

Irritating for you, Petrushka. I sympathise.

I occasionally have problems, but being a seller on there myself I think I tend expect everyone else to match my standards of next day posting, which may be a little unrealistic (still I treasure my 100% feedback!).

What does irk me greatly though, is Amazon allowing third party sellers to select their own country of origin (when their IP address must surely be usable by Amazon as verification). In doing so, some unscrupulous marketplace sellers claim to be UK-based when in fact they're abroad.

One or two in Germany and Austria operate this way but the goods usually arrive pretty quickly anyway, so I am not overly perturbed by that. I always give a good star rating in review if I have been happy with the service, but usually put something along the lines of "delivery took only 4 days from Germany/Austria to the UK" or some such phrase, to alert other buyers as to where the seller is actually based. I have had this out with Amazon, but of course trying to explain a complicated point to someone in some far reaches of the world, for whom English is not their first language, is seldom a gratifying exercise.

It really gets my goat if the article is pricey (or, at least, say over £18*) and the seller claims to be UK-based, when in fact they are outside the EU. Muggins here then gets clobbered for import duty and VAT! This has only happened once some years ago as I am now very wary of that - but Amazon should really act against this happening in my view.

(*BTW, did I hear on R4 today on an article about the Channel Islands VAT-free loophole being closed next year for cheaper DVDs and CDs, that the limit for importing without getting clobbered is now £15 not £18?).

Karafan

[remdataram]

Same here.

And here....

[mathias broucek]

"small scale seller whose inventory is mainly classical and is often therefore a collector"

I'm one of those. The only risk in buying from me is that if I'm away for a few days with work then I might miss the two day posting deadline (altho in those circs I would mail 1st rather than 2nd class).

[Chris Newman]

"small scale seller whose inventory is mainly classical and is often therefore a collector"

I'm one of those. The only risk in buying from me is that if I'm away for a few days with work then I might miss the two day posting deadline (altho in those circs I would mail 1st rather than 2nd class).

You know your problem, Mathias? You spend too much time staggering around Hradčany after nights over a barrel in the Vikárka.

[DracoM]

Yes, karafan, they are indeed closing such a tax loophole.

[hafod]

"small scale seller whose inventory is mainly classical and is often therefore a collector"

I'm one of those. The only risk in buying from me is that if I'm away for a few days with work then I might miss the two day posting deadline (altho in those circs I would mail 1st rather than 2nd class).

It does not bother me where there is a genuine delay. Many collectors away from home simply email to say there will be a delay and if they have no access to email until they get home they do so on despatch. Perfectly reasonable to me. I have never understood the need for hurry but then I always seem to have a pile waiting to be played.