why is ebay cheaper?

[streetboy2007]

for an example, i wanted to buy a sony dsc h5 digital camera. when i went to vijay sales (supposed to be cheapest) in mumbai they gave me the mrp of rs.29,990 less 500 bucks.

someone suggested i go to alpha 3 at irla in parle(west). i went there and the camers was being sold at 18,400 but without bill. with bill it comes to 29,990! (does the govt charge 50% tax? if so they are purposefully making me go for the no-tax option!).

but i wanted bill so someone said go to ebay or indiatimes or sifymall etc. at ebay this camera has different prices but quite reasonably below 21,000 bucks. it looks like that isn't the whole story. it seems i may have to pay octroi to the courier (and the courier may give me a sob story of how the octroi is 3000 bucks and the underhand eschange is another 3000 bucks!).

so...i decided to go back to vijay sales and shell out 29990 (sob! sob!(tears...not the other one)).

and considering all the fraud stories posted here, i might at least keep my head on my shoulder in control instead of having to go to a doctor and spending another 30,000 bucks for depression treatment!

[bloke_in1]

Most of the so called bills are all meaningless bills. The resellers just make a computerised printout and claim them as "original" bills.Of course they are original with no sense in them.
Like the shop you mentioned in irla, these people also pay less customs duties by underinvoicing their product values at the time of importing.
The so called billed products donot have any local warranty.That is the reason they can sell cheap.
The said shop is also refurbishing used products and selling as new. So be careful of buying anything from them at all.
You did a wise thing by buying from Vijay sales. Their prices are the most reasonable.

[karanambalaji]

I think you have taken a good decission.

[digital_das]

Hi Pals

I agree to what the members have posted here.
But the case is not the same for all selling here.

In my city Kolkata, there are also a lot of shops selling cameras in 'grey' market, none of them of course give a bill or waranty. However they give you a 10 days replacement/testing guarantee which does give you some peace of mind, since within those 10 days I'd have my camera used to the fullest extent to discover whether it has any kind of fault.

I know very few people who have actually purchased their digicams from Authorised-Distributors here. Even I haven't. When I bought my camera 2 yrs back, it was from an eBay seller! There are plenty of sellers on eBay today and it is really difficult to judge whom to trust with 30 thousand rupees, but if you are well-informed and keep your eyes and ears open 😉 , it's not difficult to make a choice.

Regarding octroi, I don't think you'll have to pay tax if your seller has the simple common-sense of marking the item as having 'no commercial value' on the declaration form. Of course, you can't force him to do so, so just ask before purchasing.

Do keep writing,
BYE!! :^O

[s1ur1v]

What makes you think Vijay Sales or for that matter the manufacturer is not refurbishing old. 😉

[bhushan.mehta]

My experience with electronic items on ebay is also shaky. The bill or warranty is a joke. Only in very few cases do you have a genuine warranty with dealer's stamp, and in this case the price is only marginally less than retail shops. So better to go to retail shop and get a feel for the product before buying. Unless you live in a remote or small town. If an item is much cheaper than its retail rate, then 9 times out of 10 it is an OEM version or refurbished. Sellers have a good profit margin in case of these products even at cheaper rates.

For small use-and-throw kind of electronic items, ebay is OK but better to buy from retail stores otherwise.

One advice: If you are buying from ebay, always ask what kind of warranty is provided before buying. If seller says it is dealer's warranty or 14-day money back or something like that, then it is surely OEM version or grey market item. -- Signature: I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

[jewel2009jewel]

i agree wth ur comment tht it was safe tht he bought it frm vijaysales,first of all let me tell u one thing as i'am also a buyer frm ebay and a regular buyer what i do is before purchasing any thing i send a mail to the seller and collect all the information i want frm him and also check wth his feedback and if something goes wrong wth the product after it arrives i try to contact the seller by sending him a mail and if he is not in contact ebay has a resolution center it there in the my ebay on the account option every ebay buyer has right to file a dispute against the buyer in the resolution center and it resolved thn and there.

[amitava123gems]

Hi jewel2009jewel,
That is matured behaviour.
Thanx,
Truly,
Amitava

[orignalgadgets]

HI ,

ALL ,

I AM AGREE WITH ALL , ITEMS ON EBAY IS CHEAPER THAN RETAIL MARKET , BUT IT CAN BE MORE CHEAPER THAN CURRENT PRICES ON EBAY INDIA , BUT ITS NOT CHEAPER BCOZ OF FOLLOWING REASONS


1. IF A SELLER DEAL WITH 200 BUYERS , THAN ONLY 50-70 WILL LEAVE POSTIVE FEEDBACK , FROM REST 130 MAY BE 2 NOT SATISFIED , THEN THAT 2 BUYERS MUST LEAVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK ,AND HIS FEEDBACK SCORE BE THAN NEAR 92 .
IF 200 OUT OF 2 LEFT NEAGTIVE THAN ITS MUST NOT BE A BAD PERFORMANCE , BUT DUE TO THAT EBAY MAY SUSPEND SELLER
THATS WHY SELLER FEEL PRESSURE , AND WANT GOOD MARGINS , BCOZ ITS A VERY DIFFICULT TASK TO MAINTAIN GOOD FEEDBACK ON EBAY INDIA

2. PRICES CAN BE MORE CHEAPER THAN PRESENT PRICES , IF ALL BUYERS LEAVE FEEDBACK TO SELLER , BUT THEY NOT DO



, I MADE 250 TRANSACTION THIS MONTH BUT RECIEVE ONLY 65 FEEDBACKS ,I SEND MIN. 2 MESSAGES TO ALL BUYERS BUT STILL RECIEVE ONLY 65

MY REQUEST TO ALL BUYERS TO LEAVE FEEDBACK FOR ALL TRANSACTIONS

[unitedengineers_in1]

Sir I do not agree with u. I have just purchased mobile phone which was 6000 cheaper then else. I recived a brand new product along with all the accessories promised by seller before promised time. Regarding Octroi are charged where applicable only and u have to pay against the octroi challan paid by courier. This will never be more then 4 to 5% of ur product value. Further nobody asked any additional amount for my further. Luckily there is LBT in my place hence no octroi was collected. I think I have taken right decision and saved my hard earn Rs 6000.