Buying from Hong Kong on Ebay

[Jade--x]

Has anyone got any experience buying from Hong Kong or China or similar on Ebay?

People keep telling me not to because I'll get ripped off or there'll be extra charges that make it ridiculously expensive and that's why the stuff is so cheap in the first place so now I'm abit unsure whether to buy from them

I'm trying to find a wedding dress as cheap as possible (its for a trash the dress shoot) and they have them for about £20 which is perfect, but if with extra charges its going to work out over £50 then its defeating the point really :/

 

[Ceejay123]

I've bought USB sticks, some Tibetan charms for a bracelet I made, and a few other small bits from Hong Kong and china..

My mum bought a sat nav.

They're all absolutely fine, though they take a couple weeks to arrive. X

 

[Jade--x]

I'm not in any hurry for it realy, I just don't want to pay loads for a dress thats just going to get ruined as soon as its put on with a paint fight and I feel bad using one someone already got married in lol

 

[Kate&Lucas]

You might get customs charges (though I think, if you ask them to mark it as 'gift', customs won't charge you). I've bought a couple of things from China/Japan on eBay and not got charged though. Did with a package from America, nearly cried

 

[Louise88]

I bought a dress from Hong Kong it took about 2 months to get to me then when I got it looked nothing like the picture lol it was still a nice dress though so can't complain but il not order from there again just because of the time it took to get to me.

 

[greenbeans12]

You may get charged customs but I doubt it since you product is so cheap. If it were a good amount of money's worth of product then I could see them charging a customs fee but it's not. It will also most likely take a bit of time to come in so if I were you I would order now to be safe. Have you thought about going to a second hand store? I don't know if they would have wedding dresses but they might? Or perhaps but a cheap dress in a knock off store. I can't really advise you too much since I am in the US and only know the stores over here.

 

[tinystar]

my friend bought a wedding dress from Hong Kong it was amazing and very well made. Took a while to arrive and there is always a chance of getting the custom charges (she never had to pay them in the end)

 

[alicecooper]

my wedding dress was a made-to-measure £99 one from hong kong which I bought from ebay, and it was BEAUTIFUL. I worried about not being able to try it on beforehand, but I needn't have worried at all, it fit perfectly, didn't even need any adjusting, and the beadwork / sparkly bits on it were so so pretty.

I didn't have to pay any customs charges, but they did cut it a bit close sending it. It arrived about a week before the wedding. But still it got here lol.

 

[JessicaAnne]

I have, but nothing "big" so haven't been charged

 

[tina3747]

Has anyone got any experience buying from Hong Kong or China or similar on Ebay?

People keep telling me not to because I'll get ripped off or there'll be extra charges that make it ridiculously expensive and that's why the stuff is so cheap in the first place so now I'm abit unsure whether to buy from them

I'm trying to find a wedding dress as cheap as possible (its for a trash the dress shoot) and they have them for about £20 which is perfect, but if with extra charges its going to work out over £50 then its defeating the point really :/

Can you find one in a charity shop?

 

[little_cookie]

All the time- if they are marked as certain things on the customs declaration then you won't be charged custom fees- although obviously if customs are suspicious they do have the right to open and destroy the item if they think/it isn't what it says it is.

Have you looked on the likes of preloved, gumtree and freecycle too? Maybe put a status on facebook and look in charity shops and car boots. Don't just go for what you see straight away as a) in this case it will take a while to come and b) you will likely find a bargain elsewhere.

 

[bumpy_j]

I have bought a few things from Asia - as long as you're savvy about it (e.g keep away from fake electronics, always check their feedback) then you can score some real bargains. I get my BB cream from Malaysia regularly as it's a Korean brand that you can't get here; it's the best make-up I've ever had!

 

[Jade--x]

Thanks ladies

I've been to all my local charity shops today and around town and the only one I found was a size 16 and was still £45, Gumtree and Freecycle don't have any in my area either, and there isn't really any used ones on ebay really because I need size 6 and don't really want to pay out to have it altered, I even searched bridemaid/prom dresses. But I'm not in any particular hurry for it, I just don't get how the customs charges work

 

[mara16jade]

I've bought lots of cell phone cases and wedding decor from Hong Kong/other areas around China. No problems.

Not sure about wedding dresses since you can feel or see the quality though.

 

[lindseymw]

I bought my wedding dress from Ebay from China, no customs to pay.

Also, cloth nappies as well. Again no custom charges were paid either.

 

[LuckyYem]

My wedding dress came from China, it was AMAZING it cost £83 and I didn't pay custom charges took 6 weeks to arrive.

 

[amandad192]

I've ordered a few bits but usually go through one of 3 website I trust (one of which was really helpful when my parcel got lost in the post, they managed to track it down and get it back on track)
Never had any customs charges. My dad's ordered a few bits from china on ebay too and never had any charges