Chinese Sellers with UK addresses?

[richardsuperstar]

how come there is at present so many Chinese sellers on here who are allowed to put their despatch location as here in the UK?

I've found loads of items which are undercutting most UK sellers and they all show their location as in the UK but then have their registered company address details as in Hong Kong.

its pretty clear that these sellers dont have offices in the uk and are just putting this to stop them being filtered out when someone clicks on show uk only.

surely there should be some check done by ebay to ensure that if a company claims to be in a country the address needs to be verified..

[manicphonic4]

But there are many that put far faster delivery times than they can actually support, that is much of what was said earluer in this thread. The claimed delivery time is false in many cases, it's what happens when you pay that is more often the problem.

[manicphonic4]

Once again I check and verify all possibilites and buy from a seller stating very clearly goods post from LINCOLNSHIRE Royal Mail Tracked 24 with a delivery date given at point of payment of 5 days. Acceptable. However, it turns out that the goods aren't even in the UK and are on their way to the RDC Atherstone which will deal with international parcels as and when they arrive. 

This is typical of the lies and deceit they do. Next was the email, overnight, asking me to 'Dear valued customer...   ....please be patient and the parcel will be with you in 5 days"

Delivery due TODAY, goods not in this country and started in Lincolnshire, apparently, 

This must be stopped as it's just lies, lies and more lies while they sit their with our money that's NOT in the pockets of GENUINE British traders.

I have requested a return if they are not here on Saturday. Oh, these were batteries for a video doorbell and an essential security item to put someone's delicate mind at peace.

[myronk7]

It's a growing problem and something needs to be done. I've had all kinds of late delivery tactics from changing the expected delivery date once you have paid, to bare faced lies about when it will arrive, and I've been quoted delivery times of 2 - 6 weeks for an order supposedly coming from a UK address. The latest ruse for these Chinese sellers who claim that the goods are coming from a UK address is not to include any delivery times at all.

I'm so sick to the back teeth with all this that whenever I can I order things through Amazon Prime. OK, sometimes it costs a little more, but I get it the next day and if I have a problem I request a return and it's collected from my house by a courier. Compare that with having to go through all the rigmarole with eBay... Waiting a long time for the order to come, (that's if it does come), contacting the seller if you have a problem, (which is most of the time), then the laughable offer of a partial refund for an item that doesn't work at all, (that's if they reply at all), and then you usually have to open a case with eBay and wait the specified time to escalate the case.

[manicphonic4]

Yep, a continuous problem that's getting worse and worse by the day. The worst part is is that if nothing is done we will be expected to accept this as standard because they get the money first and getting it back is a long and difficult process with delaying tactics that help THEM keep the cash no matter what. This way most people are already accepting the inevitable outcome and staying quiet.

Can we start a Facebook page asking for petition signatures or something to build up a move to try and alter this?

They simply lie and get away with it and that needs to be stopped

[ucsl2003]

The only way I find where it's actually coming from is by clicking on the seller to show where they come from however they could fake that. I try my hardest to find a uk seller and also like to support the local high street however more sites like wish, amazon, etzy, are swallowing the market and all profits will go to the seller in a different country. I would suggest the only way to combat more uk sellers is someone to set up a website purely for people selling in the uk. Ok things might be marginally more expensive but I believe in the faith of some good people In this country that dont mind paying the extra to help our home turf.

[nekanvy]

Well I finally got item delivered, Stone chisels, bought on amazon uk after waiting 5 months. Thought they were in UK. when I bought them, as it said UK seller. Never again will I buy something, unless it says delivery within 6 or 7 days.

[chris.booth]

i rather hope that boris does scrap the no vat below £15  , because what peple dont realise is royal mail add £8 handling charge on top of the vat , so things from china may only atract £1 vat but also a £8 royal mail charge 

[jpdabnis]

I have just received an email from Ebay stating that the time the buyer has to return an item has been reduced to 10 days.

If you have to return to China, that's not always possible within 10 days.

Plus I've yet to receive anything from one f these 'UK' Chinese sellers within 10 days.

I am closing my account as Ebay has been manipulated by the Chinese due to Ebay's hunt for profits.

IF THE ITEM IS IN CHINA THEN THEY ARE NOT UK SELLERS.

Shame on you Ebay.

[myronk7]

VAT is paid on items imported from non-EU countries with a value above £15, so scrapping VAT on items under £15 will make no difference as far as importing goods goes.

[chris.booth]

it will as royal  mail charge £8 on top of the vat

[ucsl2003]

New website that only deals uk sellers, and some way that eradicates asian sellers.

[powakaddypartsplus]

If you look at their delivery times the drop shippers are obviously shipping from china . Two to four weeks delivery from London, I don’t think so.

[isgrauzk95]

Im annoyed because they set fast and free as next day delivery,you order and then what,you waiting for week over,its not nice for local and legit sellers

[manicphonic4]

When they advertise that I cancel the order immediately there's a delay and email them daily with both updates and the details given at the time of purchase. I then press to get the order cancelled, which they won't or can't which is not my fault, then make them accept the return when it finally arrives. I will order from elsewhere and go through the same process until I get what I believe I am paying for and entitled to. In the end they have to accept the return and at their expense. I know this is not always convenient for 'us' but if they keep having to pay for returns of items they can't store they will eventually stop and do things properly. I don't care how many times I have to do this and they cannot refuse the return once they've broken their side of the agreement and their 'COVID' related excuses are no longer valid and in truth, never really were.

[myronk7]

I used to work for Royal Mail, so here is an explanation of why these problems with with Chinese sellers have been allowes to get to where they are.

It would be a financial nightmare if each country had to work out and pay a postal charge for each item sent to another country, so  to keep things simple, under The Universal Postal Union act each country agrees to delver mail sent from another country free of charge.The sending country simply puts all the mail on a plane and sends it to the receiving country who then has all the work of sorting it, sending it to different areas of the coutry, where it's sorted many times again and finally delivered. This wouldn't normally be a problem because after all, it's a reciprical agreement, i.e. you do the same for us. The Chinese government saw an opportunity to exploit this to increase trade and so they charge literally pennies to send international mail, so we now have a situation where the Royal Mail is duty bound to sort and deliver hundreds of times more mail coming from China than we send to China. This is the reason why we are flooded with cheap Chinese imports.

The increase in problems, including late delivery and not receiving it at all is probably due to customs regulations. Any goods over a value of £15 sent from a non-EU country is subject to 20% VAT. A lot of item sent from China get through and some are misdeclared,  customs are overwhelmed anyway so most of them get through. Those that are discovered are sent on their journey to Royal Mail with a sticker on the packet telling Royal Mail how much VAT to collect. The postman then delivers a card to the intended recipient telling them that they are holding the item at the delivery office and they need to come and pay the VAT plus £8 handling charge.

Have you ever wondered when after a few weeks you contact the seller and tell them that you haven't received the item and they refund you straight away? That's because they already knew before you told them that you hadn't got it and you won't be getting it. Let me explain. If you get the card telling you to come a pay the VAT and you tell Royal Mail you don't want it, or just even ignore it, then it's sent back to the sender free of charge. So the seller, in this case in China, knows that he will eventually get the goods back courtesy of Royal Mail.

[chris.booth]

you would be supprised by how little power they have , i reported a unit that was dangerous and was very likly to kill someone , they told me untill it does harm someone nothing they can do other than send a warning out to other offices

[manicphonic4]

My comment said the order was cancelled and returned. The return is at their cost as they have to submit postage labels etc. I didn't mention refusing to accept deliveries etc and appreciate your comments but that is a different matter and not what I was discussing.

[myronk7]

Sorry, my comment was in response to another post and also for general information.I must have clicked on reply under your message by mistake.

[chris.booth]

i now feel like ebay does not want any uk selers , firstly as talked about here help chines selers pretend to be in the uk , next charge uk selers an extra 5% if people even open a return but that does not apply to china , and then today they now put a badge if your item is good value wicth surly will put chinese sellers top , we en the uk have higher posting costs and higher ebay fees , but now make it difecult to pass that onto the buyers

[manicphonic4]

About time we looked at boycotting eBay en-masse