Did you get what you ordered?

Mail order is different from going down to the shop,
where you can see the "thing", pick it up, see it working, ask questions
etc and the most important question to ask is "what happens if it doesn't
work and I want to get a refund or replacement. Here in Australia you just
bring it back and talk to the salesperson. The glass business here is so
small that you probably know that person already.

To claim on warranty will require the "thing" to be returned to the
place of purchase, usually at the buyers cost. So how much did the
freight cost from the USA? It will cost the same to send it back. And
if the warranty is replacement only, who pays to send the replacement
to you?

The point is that there is a lot more to buying from the net than just
sending money. I've learnt this much from experience, warranty and
return conditions are crucial to all buying adventures.

There are savings to be had from buying online and here are a
couple of tips to, hopefully, help you.

The bigger the "thing" the more it costs in freight, so work out how
much it costs door-to-door.

Hand tools and such are not usually a problem. There's usually just
one way to use them so instructions are not crucial to their use. This
is important when buying from China where the instructions are only
vaguely in English.

I have heard of people getting tools which were a little different
from the advert or a wrong colour. That's part of the mail order
experience. The cost of returning them is not economical.
There is always the possibility of getting lost in the post overseas.
Will the post office or courier charge you gst when it arrives here?
Your purchase may attract gst. The overseas store won't be able to
help you with this. You can ask the Post Office or courier company.

Buying electrical "things" from overseas presents unique conditions.
They can be fairly big with a lot of packaging to protect the "thing"
The item may be delicate so ask the sender about the quality of the
packing. It's important that it arrives safely.

Don't forget that they are in a different country so It is very
important that you read their replacement/warranty conditions.
If it is an electrical "thing" it will have to be rated for Australian
domestic supply. American domestic electricity is totally different
from ours. Make sure you specify correctly. If you don't specify and
they send your "thing" with the wrong voltage, you will know very soon
after you plug it in, it will burn out.
Will it have a plug that suits Australian domestic sockets?
If so it will need to have the Australian standards mark on it.
If not you will need to get an electrician to look at it.
Will it even have a plug? Electrician again.
Will the instructions be in English, or Chinglish?
If you have anything on this subject I think we would all be
interested in your experience.