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+1, i buy just the services. Products i prefer buying it from stores where you can actually "feel" it :D

I buy products online through Net banking transfer only. Never used credit card or debit card.IMO paypal is a safe way for online buying.

20North refunded bulk of my money after being unable to ship maximum items to my indian address (shipped to 'someone else') - but after 3 months and 10 emails.

I bought from the following places online and faced no issues till date. Touchwood.

- Amazon.com US (purchased form here , but shipped to a US addresss )
- Popcorn hour (shipped from china to India)
- ebay india used game CD from individual seller via paypal
- jjmeheta

-Fillmore

have been buying items from ebay india (including Mobile handset, GPS device, BBerry etc) and so far very much satisfied.

a lot of stuff from Amazon- Laptop, external HDD etc- timed to fit the arrival of my cousin from USA :)
Ebay- a big load of books and LOTR extended DVDs, also a few accessories for my DSLR- the only bad experience was when a seller turned rogue and did not ship a DVD set
Trademe- very very popular C2C trading site in NZ
Flipkart- books, usually lesser than the price at landmark and crossword- delivery got a bit delayed due to the courier messing up

But Paypal's forex conversion rates are very higher.

I used to buy many items from EBay and the service is very good. The best part is when you make a high value purchase from them; they will call you and confirm the quality and the customer satisfaction even if you post a positive feedback. Then only they will release the money to the vendor and that’s one of the advantages over EBay to avoid any malpractices from the seller. None other than EBay is following such a fool proof system hereclap:.

Most infamous service is from Indiatimes.com, very careless and no proper follow up or confirmation of delivery. Sifymall and Rediff are no exception for this but bit better than Sify. In fact these sites were listing their items in a very crude way compared to their old listing which was very comprehensive and with lot of variety and brands. I was one of the frequent buyers of these sites during 2004-2007 and later I switched over to EBay.

Best overseas portal is Amazon, very good pricing and the Daily offers on various categories with free door delivery within US. I’ve tried this system by paying from here by credit card and get delivered there at the convenience of my relatives and friends, so that they can carry it along with them to save the high shipping charges.

Deal extreme is another trusted site which offers free shipping anywhere, but most of the times I got fined from the Customs through the post offices which was always on a higher side:Frustrati.

^ I fully endorse Sajjt's view on ebay. My experience with ebay India also has also been good thus far.

One vendor did not supply the Cute LG external DVD ROM drive and the money I paid was credited back to my account. To that extent, one is fully protected.

(It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for then I stumbled upon the Sony -Optiarc External BD ROM drive on the same ebay, placed an order and got it at 35% discount. The price now is back to Rs.11700, though you can still get it for around Rs.7000 on Global easy-buy.)

Thanks for the support; one of the best things in EBay is buyer protection where no one is promising any of these services what EBay offers. No where having a seller rating with feedbacks like in EBay, so that the purchaser can make sure that the credentials of the seller from his ratings which are very unique and a must for online purchases where there’s no direct interaction between seller and the purchaser. Once the payment is made there’s no control or any interaction from the buyers side in most of the online portals. Obviously some crook sellers take a ride on the customers by sending sub standard/duplicate/damaged or whatever with the secret consent of the portal. This is what happening in most of these online purchases. This is cheating no doubt in that.

You will get decent deals mostly if you spend some time, and at times if the prices may be bit higher though, you will get the right stuff at your doorstep.

I have been buying for years. First it was ebay, then air tickets, then membership subscriptions, etc. etc. Just be careful that the site is secure, and you are on a clean private PC. The new security authentication makes life much safer, and now works on foreign purchases too.

Ebay.in, rediff and Indiatimes are my shopping companions, however Indiatimes had tied up with 20north, which enables us to buy any item across the globe with online deduction of custom duty and the shipping time is clearly defined at the time of purchase. From Mallory Ignition modules to FFE, from gadgets to watches at throwaway price.

www.shopping.indiatimes.20north.com

Pricing is very competitive in EBay than any other sites and the Buyer Protection is nowhere in any of these portals:thumbs up. Customer follow up is another plus points in EBay where others are just displaying a number but hardly get an answer if you make a call.

I find that it really convemient to buy online, hae been using ebay, indiaplaza.com & cleartrip for quite some time & till now no major complaints.
I always use my personal PC & HDFC Card for making online purchases.

Add one more to the list of dis-satisfied users of 20North. I have been buying online for years now but this is the first & most horrible experience ever.

I had purchased a GPS and after 21 days this is what i get, when I open the package. :Frustrati







Yes, 2 bottle openers instead of GPS

Now to top it off, the company website (Shop in the US from India @ 20North - Millions of products, Thousands of brands) mentions that if I open the product and then refund it, they will deduct custom duty, shipping charges etc.

Now, first of all, you ship the wrong product to me in the first place, how the hell am I supposed to know it is a wrong product inside without opening the courier???? And you expect me to ship it back to you, pay for courier charges again..

a TOTAL RIP OFF.. and they talk of a 'No-Questions Asked' return philosophy. Now the onus of returning it through trackable courier is on me, so that it reaches them within 4 days.:Frustrati

I understand that mistakes can happen while shipping but why do you expect me to pay for your mistakes???? You make the mistake, you should pay for setting it right -- whatever the cost. That's what customer service is all about..!!!

So, beware before dealing with 20North and do read the fine print.