[harry10]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Ordered a non-essential item on Amazon, chose regular delivery. Last update was 19 Oct evening, showing package has left courier company location, no updates after that. Classic age-old dirty trick. Get people hooked by offering good stuff/service for cheap/free, then charge once they're addicted. The lemmings will pay up.

Well, this lemming has a good mind of buying the item locally and refusing delivery when it arrives (I chose COD payment)

Same here. Ordered power bank from fk and last update is on 19th as shipped to Delhi hub. Seems all sites are messed up this festive season.

I have never bought from snapdeal. Every time I think about it some or the other negative review stops me. At least with Amazon, eBay and fk I always get the stuff replaced or refunded.

[ashwin.terminat]

Now looks like MRF is washing theirs hands clean of any warranty claims from online tyre sales!

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Now looks like MRF is washing theirs hands clean of any warranty claims from online tyre sales!

Looks like some trye resellers and distributers were not happy and went complaining to MRF telling them that they can not compete with online prices.

Saw a deal on a "reputed" website offering 185/70 R14 XM2 for 14,500. Set of 4 tyres.

[Marauder]

Originally Posted by harry10

Same here. Ordered power bank from fk and last update is on 19th as shipped to Delhi hub. Seems all sites are messed up this festive season.

It seems that the delivery times vary according to the item and logistic service.
My experience in the past few weeks has been splendid; ordered a Seagate External HDD on Sunday on Amazon and got the delivery within 24 hours without selecting 1/2 day delivery.
Ordered a couple of items through Flipkart and both of them were delivered within 2-3 days.

Just a thought, it would be great if these sites started mentioning exact delivery dates during the checkout process. Mostly, they would quote a delivery time of 7-8 days even when they can deliver the item in 2-3 days.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Looks like some trye resellers and distributers were not happy and went complaining to MRF telling them that they can not compete with online prices.

Saw a deal on a "reputed" website offering 185/70 R14 XM2 for 14,500. Set of 4 tyres.

I'm not sure if this is a good trend that we're seeing here.

Brick & Mortar shops cannot compete with the prices offered online because they neither have a huge Multinational Company backing them, nor do they have VCs pumping in millions and billions to actually be able to offer products at below cost price.

Back when I bought the Lumia 720. Every shopkeeper I went to, said they cannot compete with online prices.

It is good for the consumer right now, yes. But I am not sure if this is good for the general populace in the long run.

I feel it is right on the part of companies to clamp down on tactics that will adversely affect their dealers. Live and let live after all. Keep your margins low, offer good service, create a level playing field and everyone wins. With competition at the dealer level, one can be assured of better service in due time.

Just my opinion.

But I also wonder, Amazon also functions in the US. Do shopkeepers there complain about this as well?

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Just a thought, it would be great if these sites started mentioning exact delivery dates during the checkout process. Mostly, they would quote a delivery time of 7-8 days even when they can deliver the item in 2-3 days.

eBay is just the opposite . In the order summary page, just before payment they say the delivery time is 2 days. As soon as you pay, in the track order page, they give 10 days grace time for seller to ship and 10 more days for transit. So you are looking at up to next 20 days to receive the stuff you ordered today.
But there are sellers on eBay, who ship next day and product will be in your hand in 2 days. But eBay grace period is just ridiculous in current competitive market.

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

But I also wonder, Amazon also functions in the US. Do shopkeepers there complain about this as well?

Showrooming is universal phenomenon .

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I am glad you waited patiently.

One consignment consisting of plastic tools took over a month for delivery. I had opted for the free shipping but looks like India Post took their sweet time in delivering it. In the meantime, I cancelled the order and the amount (5$) was refunded but I promised the dealer to pay if the consignment shows up. And it did! But the dealer isn’t responding now despite sending him a couple of messages.

Hi,
I had a similar thing happen to me, The Seller never responded. They think that we are trying to cheat them. So what I did was buy the item again and inform the seller and tell him not to really ship it to me because I already got it.
When I did this the seller was really happy. It wasn't a large amount - Rs 460 something.
This way I get what I paid for and the seller gets the money for his goods.

Another instance was on Ebay, I ordered 2 nos of a small item. 50 days and items didn't arrive. Seller was quick and gave me a full refund.
It took about 60 days and I got the package but our local postal guys or someone decided the keep one of the item! I only got 1.

I emailed the seller and informed about this and also told him that I wish to pay for the 1 item I got. The only way I could pay him was to rebuy the item and ask the seller not to ship it.

Generally sellers aboard don't have a very good opinion about us.

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

I'm not sure if this is a good trend that we're seeing here.

Brick & Mortar shops cannot compete with the prices offered online because they neither have a huge Multinational Company backing them, nor do they have VCs pumping in millions and billions to actually be able to offer products at below cost price.

Back when I bought the Lumia 720. Every shopkeeper I went to, said they cannot compete with online prices.

It is good for the consumer right now, yes. But I am not sure if this is good for the general populace in the long run.

Just my opinion.

But I also wonder, Amazon also functions in the US. Do shopkeepers there complain about this as well?

But tell me something do the dealers actually keep their margins low? Most dealers "READ" MOST - try and milk a customer to the very maximum possible.
They don't have transparent pricing.
Dealer A - Sells a product for x amount.
Dealer B - Seller same product for y amount.

Lets say I need to buy a LCD for my computer, its going to take me 5-6 hours away from my schedule.
Driving tension, Finding a parking spot, walking all the way to the shop, waiting for the product, bargaining with shop guy, Inspecting the product. Next if I want to pay by CC - extra 2%! After all this I gota carry the LCD back to my car, Pay for parking and drive home in nerve wreaking traffic!
Or
I could simply order it online for lower price (haven't factored the travel, fuel parking and time spent!) and have it delivered to me in 48-72 hours.
Which would you choose?

I was about to say this, it has worked and still does work very well in the US.
Why do our Indian retailers cry? Some time ago computer shops in Bangalore's SP road were upset with the so called "online trend" and they couldn't match the prices.
How did they react? they protested! and were against the online biggies selling the same thing at 10-15% lower prices.

Originally Posted by msdivy

But there are sellers on eBay, who ship next day and product will be in your hand in 2 days. But eBay grace period is just ridiculous in current competitive market.
Showrooming is universal phenomenon .

Yes Indeed!

[GrammarNazi]

I bought a Screen Protector for my phone from eBay.in and the package within was that of Snapdeal !

Flipkart & Snapdeal no longer supply a Hard copy of the Bill within the package as before. They only mail it to you after the product is delivered.

So, it looks like people buy stuff during a sale from these big heavily Venture Capitalist funded Companies and simply re-sell the products through eBay.

IMO Its quite possible that people who design & update the websites of these companies know of some software loopholes, and can *possibly* be fishing out the discounted products before we regular consumers reach them.

During the Flash Sale of a phone called Redmi 1S (the one previous to yesterday), when I tried buying - the phone went out of stock literally within a few seconds of the sale. (OK that was a FK exclusive product, but the basic analogy still stands).

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if these VC funded companies have deliberately turned a blind eye to such possible activities.

I know I'm making quite many assumptions, but IMO its quite possible and companies could be passively using this to benefit such elements.

Ofcourse I gave the seller a -ve rating in feedback. Products purchased from Snapdeal are NOT meant to be resold. And it robs us of the opportunity of buying at prices Snapdeal/Flipkart were originally offering.

Whatsay? Are you'll for or against the people reselling Flipkart / Snapdeal products through e-bay?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

.

Whatsay? Are you'll for or against the people reselling Flipkart / Snapdeal products through e-bay?

Difficult to tackle this issue since not all sellers on these sites would be filing proper taxes with everything on paper and bill. Technically, that's a smart way to make money sitting at home compared to working hard day and night

Anyways, it exists everywhere, not only online. For example, I found the shopkeeper opposite my house buying stuff from Auchan. He brought ten bottles of 2L soft drink since the hypermart offered a huge discount on it.

Some sites as well as shops have a maximum quantity per customer in order to prevent such bulk buying and reselling. But can it really be enforced well? I brought a product last week for 750 which retails now for 1700 and the MRP is 1500 for the batch I purchased. Now it can be sold for 1350 or even 1500 and that will make the deal the cheapest among the lot. That's how things are happening out in the market. End of the day I feel that small time traders are having a nice time at the cost of the VC funded companies' loss.

Guess this is only temporary and once the biggies start concentrating on profits than numbers, such things wont continue.

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

I bought a Screen Protector for my phone from eBay.in and the package within was that of Snapdeal !

Ebay provides packing material (envelops, tape, etc) to it's sellers.

Snapdeal also provides packing material to its sellers.

One seller can be selling on ebay as well as on snapdeal.

IMO, it is possible that your ebay seller used snapdeal packing material if his ebay packing material was exhausted.

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Difficult to tackle this issue since not all sellers on these sites would be filing proper taxes with everything on paper and bill....

Guess this is only temporary and once the biggies start concentrating on profits than numbers, such things wont continue.

Maybe, maybe not.

Just sending a printed invoice packaged within the box to the buyer could do quite a bit.

IMO Unauthorised online sales could be curbed, unless its deliberate.

And they're damaging the markets quite abit with their discounts. Once the competition perishes and they get stronger & larger, I don't think consumers will still be winners then.

Anyway

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

...IMO, it is possible that your ebay seller used snapdeal packing material if his ebay packing material was exhausted.

Branded packaging means quite abit. I don't think anyone would do such a blunder just for some boxes.

It isn't tough to buy cardboard boxes & simply put company branding with a pamphlet or even a simple rubber seal on it.

Yet, what you're saying is possible, but very unlikely IMO.

[akhil_007]

Ordered two pairs of shoes in myntra on Saturday and delivered yesterday inspite of festival rush. Extremely satisfied with myntra. Icing on cake was the price. 30% cheaper than all other sites.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Now looks like MRF is washing theirs hands clean of any warranty claims from online tyre sales!

Yesterday, I was seriously contemplating buying MRF ZLO from Snapdeal (the price was 150rs lesser than the quote I got from a brick and mortar shop), but decided to get it from the local shop since I kind of liked the shop and the deal was good. In this light, I think it was good that I did not go ahead with the online purchase.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Whatsay? Are you'll for or against the people reselling Flipkart / Snapdeal products through e-bay?

There are many sellers who have listed their stores on multiple sites, and sometimes, they do use packaging materials from other sites, inside the main package. I have had same experience couple of times from different sites and once or twice, I did follow up and got this same explanation. May be it is correct or may be it is not correct, but as long as I am getting the best deal, I am happy.

--Anoop

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Now looks like MRF is washing theirs hands clean of any warranty claims from online tyre sales!

Now this ^^^ is an example of an unfair trade practice if there ever was one.

Manufacturers should learn to distinguish after-sales obligations with sales channels.

If MRF feels so strongly about not letting Snapdeal sell its tyres online, it should supply tyres only to its 'approved' distribution / sales chain. What happens to a tyre once it leaves that chain by virtue of a sale to an end-user (i.e. motorist) is an entirely different matter. Warranty obligations are owed to consumers who bought the product legally and in good faith and such policies can backfire legally on MRF (I, for one, would not vouch for its sustainability). Don't forget even purchasors of second hand / third hand goods have a right to a warranty (within the time period).

The appropriate course of action would be for MRF to obtain a court order preventing online sellers from selling their tyres and then ensure online sellers follow that order -- but they can't because deep down they know such a plea will never be entertained by a court. Hence this sound and light show to coerce buyers against going online.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

But tell me something do the dealers actually keep their margins low? Most dealers "READ" MOST - try and milk a customer to the very maximum possible.
They don't have transparent pricing.
Dealer A - Sells a product for x amount.
Dealer B - Seller same product for y amount.

I agree with you completely. But I guess with the advent of Online Sales, they would've cut down their prices as well.

But yes, by how much, is something I cannot answer.

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Yesterday, I was seriously contemplating buying MRF ZLO from Snapdeal (the price was 150rs lesser than the quote I got from a brick and mortar shop), but decided to get it from the local shop since I kind of liked the shop and the deal was good. In this light, I think it was good that I did not go ahead with the online purchase.

Yes. And I think a difference of Rs. 600 isn't worth the trouble at all.

Originally Posted by Kumar R

Now this ^^^ is an example of an unfair trade practice if there ever was one.

Manufacturers should learn to distinguish after-sales obligations with sales channels.

What you say makes a lot of sense. But then, it seems that the only way Brick and Mortar shops can stay afloat is if they too go the online way.

Surely there has to be some way they can co-exist?