Buying From Foreign Sources Has Its Pitfalls

During one of our recent modeling club meetings, one of our members brought in a kit he just received from China. He just couldn’t contain himself from telling all in attendance the great deal he got overseas. The first thing I noticed was he only had a baggy containing the kit’s parts and instructions. I asked him, “Where was the box?” He stated, “Oh, I didn’t get a box just this baggy.” Umm, no box. We then started perusing the kit and it was then I noticed there were two of the same sprue, the right side fuselage. We looked through the parts and it was quite evident that there was no left side fuselage.

That’s just a sample of what may be in store for you when you shop overseas to save a few bucks. Many manufacturers do a great job of quality control but some don’t. They sell defective runs to overseas online dealers that send them out to foreign buyers looking for a bargain.

A few days later our friend with the missing sprue informed us that he had made contact with the Chinese dealer only to be told they did not have a replacement part available. In the long run our friend had a kit that could not be built. He was out the cost of the kit plus the shipping. He was lucky that he had paid for the order using PayPal. He was able to re-coop his money after a hard lesson about purchasing overseas.

Now we all have seen or heard about identity theft and the nightmare it can create. Those in the identity recovery business will warn people to make sure they only purchase products overseas if it is absolutely necessary. Once you give out your valuable information to any foreign source you are setting yourself up for possible disaster. You never know who might have access to your credit card info.

Now there are some very reputable overseas operators out there but for the most part we recommend doing business with an American company. You have many more protections if there is a problem. Don’t get yourself in trouble trying to save a few dollars. It’s just not worth it.