Thread: Frustrated with member profiles

I have to bring this up and see if I’m the only one who is hung up on this issue.

Twice this week I’ve been excited about an item in the classifieds. Both times the sellers had no member location in their profiles. Again, both times I did a search for posts by each member. I choose to do this because I prefer to purchase within the states. I just feel more comfortable with the transactions and shipping distance/time within the states. I was successful on both accounts where I found mention of their locations. However, both times, the items were sold by the time I made it back to the classifieds.

I know I could PM or comment with questions but time is usually of the essence (regarding the classifieds) and if the seller is not online… too late again.

Perhaps I am in the minority about basing a purchase decision partly on a seller’s location? Is this simply a situation where I need to “just deal” because it is my hang up? Maybe international shipping through the SRP classifieds is done on a daily basis without incident or delay?

I am therefore reaching out to the SRP community for your opinions, experiences and preferences.
Do you care whether or not sellers disclose item location in their ads?
Is it in fact safer/faster to purchase within one’s own country? Anyone have any horror or success stories?
Chime in and let us all know.

International shipping to the US isn't that big of a deal. If it's a trusted member, go for it

there are few issues here

the classifieds system is not really fully integrated to the rest of the website and has its own profiles which are essentially empty.
you could probably copy the member's name and look him up on the forum side where the profiles are a whole lot better. but even there the locations are not always clear.

most of the members are inside US, the classifieds has two options that indicate shipping US and International, which the seller can check off or not (i bet i sometimes forget). of course if the seller is outside of US that is even more confusing for them - what is the appropriate thing to check of if a seller is in UK and wants to sell to UK only....

i don't think there are much problems with international shipping. yes it's a bit slower, typically between a week and two, compared to 3 days for shipping within US, but even within US my last purchase is going to take a week because the seller used UPS ground.

so, I don't think much will change with the classifieds system just because of the technical work that it requires to do so, and it's up to you to decide whether you would mind too much getting an international pirchase (the chances are indeed small).

One thing you could do is message the seller and
say, "I will buy this item if you are in the States".
If they are, then your message should be considered
as an offer to purchase at the time that it was
sent. If not, no big deal!

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

One thing you could do is message the seller and
say, "I will buy this item if you are in the States".
If they are, then your message should be considered
as an offer to purchase at the time that it was
sent. If not, no big deal!

- Scott

That could get ugly if the Seller has "Buy it Now" enabled.

Ohhh Buy-It-Now -- that's too new-fangled for
me. Very good point.

- Scott

I for one would like the members location visable to all. Gives one something to latch on to. Buy it now, is dangerous, especially if you have an item listed FS on more than one site.

Hmm, I see the problem. Normally though, I recognize a sellers name and know they post here and then I trust them. If they don't post regularly, I don't normally find anythign I like so it hasn't been a problem for me.

The problem isn't so much lacking location information as the buy-it-now option. I hate it. Apart from being impersonal and preventing gentlemanly exchange, it essentially discourages asking questions. And asking and answering questions is what this whole forum is about.

I agree, What's the big deal listing what country your in? I prefer to buy things and ship within the US due to shipping costs. I can be pricey. I sent an expensive item from Flordia to Canada. It cost me about 30 USD, that's a bit pricey, and it was the most economical way to go with insurance.