China: Ipods For $50. PS3 For $75. Wii For $100. PS3s and Xboxes For $150. Who You Kidding?
Who doesn't love "the Holidays?" Snow. Ice. Frenzied shopping. Fake Santas. In laws. Scams.
Not sure if "the holidays" actually brings on an increase in scams but I do know that my firm is getting a massive increase in calls/e-mails from people who have been scammed by Chinese suppliers. Each of the calls/e-mails sounds the same as the last:
"I bought x number of [ipod, PS3, Wii, Xbox] from a company in China that I found on the Internet and they [pick one or two]:
- are not sending my product
- are not responding to my e-mails now that I have paid
- sent me a box with just packaging materials
- sent me a product that is obviously not want I ordered
"When I placed my order, I thought this company was reputable because it is on such and such site, but I now see that it has been pulled due to complaints. " "They were offering such a good deal I just could not pass it up."
Bottom Line: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If someone is offering to sell you big name brand electronics for way under market, that product is almost certainly either stolen, fake, or non-existent. There is no China price on these things. There just isn't. And if you really think there is, then you should not mind spending the money necessary to conduct proper due diligence on your seller.
And if this has happened to you, unless your damages are in the six figures (in dollars), it probably will not make economic sense to pay lawyer rates pursuing such claims. This is not because of flaws in China's court system, but because the likelihood of tracking down criminals and collecting from them is low everywhere in the world, China included. International fraud cases are, almost by definition, going to be complicated. I am actually working on two such cases right now, both of which have millions of dollars at stake and both of which involve China and Russia and, as in nearly every such case on which I have worked, much effort needs to be expended in piercing the various shell companies set up in an effort to protect the perpetrator. This can be accomplished, but rarely easily or quickly. The criminal sophisticated enough to commit international fraud is usually sophisticated enough to have set up good camouflage.
Your best tactic obviously is to avoid being taken in the first place. Fruitcake anyone?
Comments (13)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endKevin S. - December 2, 2006 5:24 PM
A $100 Wii! *Sigh* I was at a shop yesterday in Beijing that had an imported Wii, one originally intended for the US market, for 4300RMB.
michael webster - December 3, 2006 3:04 PM
I wouldn't bother with the shell companies; trace the money through the banking systems.
Where it ends up, is where you and who you sue.
China Law Blog - December 3, 2006 3:57 PM
Kevin S. (Wiefang Radish) --
Thanks for checking in.
I guess I am not sure which is worse: paying 4300 RMB for the real thing or paying 1000 RMB for air.
China Law Blog - December 3, 2006 4:01 PM
Mr. Webster --
Thanks for checking in. I checked out your site and you know this stuff, but so do these thieves. Finding the bank account only does so much if the company that maintained the account no longer exists. At that point, you have to start going after individuals, but nine times out of ten, the individual whose name is attached to the bank account will claim ....
Davejm - February 26, 2007 6:02 AM
Hi
I am going to buy from this site using bank transfer.
Can you tell me whether this is real or not?
Cheers
Dave
China Law Blog - February 26, 2007 7:47 AM
Davjm --
I do NOT know. You will have to do the research yourself. One of the things you might want to do is compare the prices on this site with those on sites you know to be reputable. For instance, are there reputable sites selling 57" Sharp LCDs for around 400 Euros?
Also, you should run a search on the internet to see if anyone has been cheated by this company. In the end though, the best way for you to determine whether these people are legitimate or not is to have someone go to their office in Beijing to find out. No matter what you do, you will be taking some increased risk when you buy direct like this from China.
Gavin Chapman - March 8, 2007 3:18 AM
I have also been approached by this company and one other I have looked through there shipping methods etc and cant see a problem is there anyway of sending a payment that is insured so that if you company does sting you you can claim it back?
Has anybody bought from this site and recieved the goods?
Anonymous - March 9, 2007 8:02 AM
Hi Dave,
did you ever order from this company ?
elemarket6688.com
One thing I noticed on their site is the Hendrix Stratocaster. I thought it only came in white ?
Cheers,
Gary.
China Law Blog - March 9, 2007 9:38 AM
Gavin --
There is such insurance out there, but it tends to be expensive and I think it is not for small quantities.
If the price is too good to be true, it probably is.
Dima - March 31, 2007 6:32 AM
Hmm i placed the order and the payment methods are a little bit strnge-ot a pay pal, but western union, bank wire and money bookers, not gd,but i still want to try them what if they are honest people=))))
China Law Blog - March 31, 2007 9:06 PM
Dima --
Did you play with fire when you were a kid? Let us know how it all turns out.
brian skoda - April 26, 2007 6:37 PM
last week i decided to take a chance an order from a chinese company favordigi.com i mailed them out 1700d, for a dell xps computer and a panasonic 65 inch plasma tv. wire them the money waited 3 days to get a tracking no. when i finally got the tracking no the next day a packaged arrived , it was a empty envelope. then about the same time i was purchasing from them i was selling a product on ebay.a company(elec-mall.com) emailed me saying that they have many discontinued items for sale still with the warrenty,so i thought i would purchase some items from them this time about 3000d worth. it is now the 3rd day again with no tracking no.so i ask myself am i going to get another empty envelope? this is very disapointing to me,for i do buy products from some of my other companies over there and never had a problem. now i am 5000 in the hole i have to refund mt customers money and take a big loss it is going to crush my business i will not be able to stay afloat i will sink quick. please everyone read this before you purchase anything if this can sink a business what could it do to a consumer thank you brian@b-e-energy.com
China Law Blog - April 26, 2007 7:00 PM
Brian Skoda --
Thanks for this information. I feel really bad for you, but I cannot help but ask a few questions.
1. Did you order this stuff before seeing this post?
2. Did you not wonder how this company could sell that stuff for so unbelievably little? Did you think they get them through the factory's back door? If so, did this give you any reason not to trust them? Do you even know that these TVs are made in China? Are they?
3. Did you notice that there is no address on its site? If so, did that give you pause?
How are you able to sell those 65 inch televisions for so much less than market? Where are you getting them?