A warning about Buyee
I've been using buyee long before James was being sponsored but my recent experience has probably turned me off of using them ever again and I just thought the community should be aware of something.
I bought a lens sold as functional. Turns out that was a lie. It is broken. So I try and initiate something with buyee and that's when I learn about this little policy.
"we are afraid that the following item/scenario is not acceptable for compensation, regardless of the plan applied
* When items (such as electronics or machines) do not function properly."
So if you ever wanted to get full price for your broken gear, and don't have morals, here's a seemingly very easy platform to do that since their policy is seemingly "so sad, too bad"
I can't trust any further gear purchases from Buyee knowing I have no recourse being sold a lemon. Shame as this is the very first problem purchase I've had but it's kinda a deal breaker when it comes to gear and even their shipping plans wouldn't have saved me. Ebay went to bat for me over $40 because a seller clearly didn't understand what they were selling as good as I did when selling me gear under false pretense. Now I'm out $200 and all I've got to show for it is a piece of junk.
Ah, that's a big bummer. I didn't know about that policy either. I knew they wouldn't check that in inspections, but I didn't realize it was a catch all as well for returns.
Here's the page for everyone to reference the terms and conditions: https://buyee.jp/help/yahoo/guide/caution?lang=en
That's very different from eBay, where it's very easy to return for basically any reason.
I understand why they are saying that, but I feel like it shouldn't be a catch-all for ANYTHING functional. At least accept returns for very basic problems (won't turn on) even if they didn't for more nuanced things. Or better yet, like eBay, just hold the seller to the description/photos like a contract. If they said it there, it's gotta hold true.
Thanks for the heads up.
In general, I think most of the Japanese auction sites themselves have this sort of policy, which is probably part of why the sellers are cheaper on there than on eBay. It isn't just the domestic audience/less hassle, it's also that you can really sell junk on there without much a buyer can do.
Fingers crossed I don't end up in a similar situation.
