Live zero line: √

I've just looked in my history and one of the 3 is coming up as not found, the other 2 are around £5 so either it's sadly been withdrawn or price has amended.
The note I made at the time: ... 3005 12p 169 ... 3005 & L 543 ... case 114 ... lead 24p
Fair enough but, even at around £5, still pretty cheap. However, as I implied (to sort of '#make a point') is that you may well have felt more confident about the product had you paid £51.38, per the listing I posted.

That 'point' is that many people still work think on the basis of very cheap' equating to 'rubbish' and 'very expensive' relating to 'excellent quality' :)

This reminds me of a 50+ year-old story which I may have told here before. When I was in the sixth form at school, we traditionally had 'Saturday Night Dances', in collaboration with our sister girl's school. However, despite several people having tried all sorts of measures and gimmicks, there were 'falling into decline (very poorly attended), to the extent that we were seriously considering stopping them altogether. I somehow found myself 'volunteered' to try to reverse this downward trend and, like others before me, tried all sorts of incentives and gimmicks, but with little effect.

As a 'last resort', I dramatically increased the price of tickets (by a factor of about 5 if I recall !), to a level which was verging on the 'unaffordable' for most school pupils - and attendance of the dances sudden;t increased just as dramatically. It appears that the tickets were so expensive that many people concluded that "they must be very good dances"!

.. which all goes to show that there were, and still are, plenty of naive and gullible people around. Not all 'Chinese tat' is 'tat', and a good few much more expensive products sold by 'reputable Western companies' are essentially the same products as the Chinese -badged ones, but 'enjoying' a vastly greater profit margin :)
 
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I have just bought one for €0.91 and free postage. ... Delivery in 8 days on the 18th ?
Let us know!

It's hard to see how some of these things work, given that it's difficult/impossible to 'post' anything these days for as little as that, even assuming the product costs zero to manufacture :)
 
Yes, will do.

I have bought things in the past from China which were so cheap it makes you wonder why they would not charge more anyway.
 
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.. which all goes to show that there were, and still are, plenty of naive and gullible people around. Not all 'Chinese tat' is 'tat', and a good few much more expensive products sold by 'reputable Western companies' are essentially the same products as the Chinese -badged ones, but 'enjoying' a vastly greater profit margin :)

Which is why, when I take a fancy to buy anything like that, I tend to look at what's available in the UK, then look on the Chinese market too. The ceiling fan/light unit I bought a few weeks ago, is sold in the UK for between £70 and £90. I found the very same unit, delivered from China, for <£30. Ordered and they cancelled three times, without explanation, so I gave up, but then found the new item of FB, for £45, delivered in person, to my door. Installed, and working very well indeed, though <£30 would have been better :)

There was nothing comparable available in the UK, with the facilities and functions of it. Just plain old, fan on/off, light on/off.
 
I too have had several things cancelled on alibaba and had incorrect items sent, I suspect where their multiple listing function has been incorrectly priced: For example in the item we are discussingthey may have inadvertantly put the price of the lead against the meter. Of course the original listing is well gone by the time the error has been discovered.

I have used the service only a few times, some things are an absolute bargain but there are also items which are cheaper in UK. My experiences so far are somewhere around 50:50, Including getting a pallet of sewing machines mixed up with a few electronic components (which fortunately we were able to head off predelivery with the carriers).

The cost of postage is sometimes added post sale and a second payment taken without notice.


So no I don't rush to look there but I do look.
 
Fair enough but, even at around £5, still pretty cheap. However, as I implied (to sort of '#make a point') is that you may well have felt more confident about the product had you paid £51.38, per the listing I posted.

That 'point' is that many people still work think on the basis of very cheap' equating to 'rubbish' and 'very expensive' relating to 'excellent quality' :)
In a nutshell yes.
 
The cost of postage is sometimes added post sale and a second payment taken without notice.

They are also required, when supplying to the UK, to add on and collect the VAT. Better than the postie demanding the VAT, when (s)he delivers, along with all the extra charges.
 
They are also required, when supplying to the UK, to add on and collect the VAT. Better than the postie demanding the VAT, when (s)he delivers, along with all the extra charges.
Yes but that's now listed at POS rather than the warning about additional FOB costs, I've had 2 or 3 packages arrive and the only way I've known I've paid additional postage cost is the credit card bill at the end of the month including the 2nd transaction which may be after the goods have arrived and been soldered into place.
An example was 2 40mm loudspeakers, ~£4 each including VAT etc in a free delivery bundle:), arrived and fitted, job done. CC statement arrived and additional ~£3 taken.:(:confused:
 
My order has arrived but it has turned into just a set of leads for a multimeter.
Not sure if my mistake or theirs.

Never mind; still worth it.
That's what I was suggesting would happen to Sunray. I have been buying from AliExpress a fair bit recently and have learnt where to click so as not to get caught out.
(They call it Color: )
 
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I heard from someone that the Chinese Govt wants businesses to increase overseas sales, so subsidise the postage rates, but I don't know if that's true.
 

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