Who Are You Really Buying From When Shopping Online?

I think when buying online, it’s important to consider the “race to the bottom” aspect. I won’t buy from Amazon because I don’t like their business model or the way they treat their workers. If an identical item costs more on ebay, so be it, I’ll pay up.

If everyone scrambles for cheap, cheaper, cheapest all the time, that impacts working people across the globe, whether that be child labour in the Far East or warehouse/courier staff in the West.

If we want sustainable employment opportunities with acceptable conditions, we need to invest in that. Once the bottom is reached, there will be no way back up and generations to come may look back on Victorian-era labour practices as the height of employer benevolence.

 

A very sensible approach but some of the bigger sellers just set up addresses here to get around it. I tend to read the comments first and many will often hint at the origins of the seller by the delivery times. I also get a little wary when the feedback is in various languages because I don't think many in Europe or further a field would be buying from a Britain based seller.

 

A Chinese seller can say their item is based in the UK on their listing, but if you click on their name and “about”, it will give you their registered location. Also Chinese sellers often have feedback numbers in the low hundreds, as they dump an account as soon as they fall below standards at which ebay allows them to continue, and promptly start another.

Another clue is many listings for exactly the same item all at the same price. Dig deeper and often all the sellers are the same person or registered at the same address.

I’m not saying never buy from a Chinese seller, but choosing one with an established account going back yrs and thousands of feedbacks is safest.