hi there, to the person that ask me on internet sales for the camera items
when buying online, please do follow the guides that i stick to
1. the retailer accepts paypal payment, i only pay by paypal payments.
i paid via mastercard once, outside of paypal payments, where i was conned.
payment by paypal means that the store is a proper business which takes on paypal controls, as paypal would clamp on the retailer if they are fraudent. thus, unless the retailer is in it for a one time deal only... otherwise... don't worry
2. the retailer has over 100 transactions.
maybe he / she has 100 friends? then, make it 1000 transactions.
i am assured if the retailer has over 1000 transactions on ebay with >95% positive feedbacks.
looking for 100% is kinda idealistic, as sometimes misunderstandings happen.
3. make sure they include shipping charges.
as a rule of thumb, i choose buy it now options and not screw around with bidding. but i send them an email to let them tell me the final price with shipping inclusive.
4. value of product : *** IMPORTANT
declare as SG$400, more than that, u would be taxxed with GST.
and write the description as gift. (not you, tell them to write it as gift)
ok?
hope it's clear.
generally, i buy alot of things from internet, i don't really go to local shops, as
1. they don't know what they are selling
2. they don't know the pros and cons of the items to educate me on a better choice
(ok, this pt is same as pt 1)
3. they attend the global school of mormons when they sleep at night, (very persistant in trying to get u to agree and in this case, buy the item u enquire on)
4. a small percentage of them are rude (this occurs at the ah-beng, ah-lian stores. BUT i am glad that john 3:16, is not one of them, i am not christian nor catholic btw)
5. most importantly, they are not photographers, so they are not passion-driven...
do i pay more?
unfortunately yes.
i pay more when i shop at places where the sales people are users and we communicate our different areas of interest for the subject.
the singapore market is small, bringing in the niche items brings an element of risk.
for such shops, i have tipped them (>$100) as a sign of support to keep them going.
why do i take on the jack-ass approach for the local camera stores then?
because their approach has not evolved to be user-centered, where they pretend to be mildly interested in the products they sell.
is it a tough request on my end to demand that they be users?
to earn my money, it helps if they are, so that they would be more credible.
i went to courts (the furniture store, not the legistrative one) to buy a 42 inch TV recently.
the 40ish old (ex-contractor) male sales person pitched me, buy a TV that is appropriate for the size of your living room.
sound advice, i carried on listening to him,
though i sit less than 1 metre from my existing 42 inch.
next, he said, if u sit too close and look at the TV screen, it overwhelms u and u will feel giddy...
ok, this is when unfortunately, i am a rational kid... what nonsense is he talking about?
i sit less than 1 metre from the TV for as long as i can recall ( i got near 6/6 eyesight btw, thanks for caring. to the uninformed, it means i got almost perfect vision)
i don't remember feeling giddy all these time that i sit about 1m away from the TV, and it's not unique...
i am not part of the "heroes" in the american drama serial....
my whole family sit that near too...
hmm, now now... maybe, my whole family and i are heroes...
nhmm, jokes aside.
you see, my point is this, when i am a consumer, i am very particular about the sensibility of the sales pitch i received from the salesperson,
be it a tv salesmen, a camera salesmen or a (irritating) religion evangelist
so if the talk don't make sense, thanks for insulting my intelligence, the salesperson would be excused from my attention.
