Risks Behind the Cheapness
Business bags and business card holders should be age-appropriate.
However, the reality is that brand-name products cannot be bought easily due to the recent rise in prices and the weak yen against the dollar.
You can find what you are looking for at flagship stores and department stores, but considering your family’s budget, you probably want to buy at a reasonable price.
This is where online shopping sites such as BUYMA, which allows local shoppers to purchase fashion items from around the world, come into play.
BUYMA allows shoppers to buy directly from individual buyers from around the world who list their items on the site, which is 15% to 30% cheaper than the retail price at department stores.
In addition, since the world’s brand-name stores also hold large-scale sales depending on the season, half the price is not a dream if the time is right.
However, what you may worry about is whether you will receive “authentic products or not”, or “what to do in case of quality problems.“
BUYMA sellers are categorized into “general personal shoppers,” “premium personal shoppers” certified by BUYMA, and “stores ” which are classified into three categories.
I have used BUYMA several times and have chosen Premium Personal Shoppers even if the price is a little higher.
The reason was that they felt secure with their extensive track record of transactions, and since they had established relationships with local stores, “there was a high possibility of getting bargains on sale and other items.“
BUYMA Appraisal Service Details
I visited the BUYMA site in January this year, thinking, “My bag is getting tired after many years of use, so let’s change it and buy a new one!” but the product I was looking for was not listed by a premium personal shopper.
The product was listed in the General Personal Shopper section at a 30% discount, but it was a bit pricey, so I was hesitant to buy it for a while.
So I checked online reviews and information on the BUYMA site and found that I could use the appraisal service as an “anti-fake sales initiative.”
The service is free of charge, although the shipping cost to the BUYMA office seems to be borne by the customer, and the results of the appraisal will be sent to the appraisal clients in about a week.
If the appraisal results are “fake,” the payment is fully refunded and the shipping cost is also refunded in points that can be used on BUYMA, so “this is a relief!” I thought, “This is a good thing!” and conducted my first transaction with a general personal shopper.
To be sure, before purchasing, I contacted the general personal shopper to inform them that “I would be using the appraisal service” and that “I would not be able to complete the transaction until I received the results of the appraisal service.” He responded that “there would be no problem”, so I proceeded with the transaction.
The product arrived safely, and I carefully checked it for scratches and initial defects, which seemed to be no problem.
I immediately put the “Appraisal ID” and a piece of paper stating “points of concern” in a cardboard box with the item and sent it to the Appraisal Service Section of the BUYMA Office at the Aoyama 1-chome Building in Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Within a few days, I received an e-mail from BUYMA Customer Support with the judgment result with only one sentence: “Covered by the Authenticity Guarantee.”
Since I didn’t know what I should trust, I asked the BUYMA office “what was checked” and “is it possible to issue something like a certificate of authenticity?”
The response I received was, “We are unable to provide detailed information on the checkpoints and judgment results of our judgment service for security reasons,” and “We are unable to issue a certificate, but we conduct strict judgment in accordance with the merchandise handling standards of the Association for the Autonomous Control of Distribution, Japan (AACD), so please feel confident in receiving your merchandise.
The reply is “Please feel free to accept our products with confidence.”
Although I felt the response was not very good for a company that advertised a reliable appraisal service on its website, I trusted the Baima appraisal and proceeded to complete the transaction because the seller would not receive the payment unless I completed the receipt of the merchandise, which would cause trouble.
Four security guarantees are useless
After a few uses, the bag’s skin suddenly developed a problem.
The color of the skin changed and the surface of the skin began to peel off under normal use, without any particular alcohol wiping or rain exposure.
I was so shocked that when I asked the brand’s flagship store in Tokyo to take a look at the situation, they told me, “We can’t say for sure since it is an item from another store, but we have never seen or heard of a situation like this before in several occasions.“
When we immediately contacted the BUYMA Customer Center about the situation, we received the unbelievable response, “Since the authenticity guarantee has been confirmed by BUYMA and the transaction has been completed, we cannot provide any assistance such as cancellation or refund.
They wouldn’t give me the details of the BUYMA Authentication Service, nor would I be able to reject upon acceptance a product that would not be faulty until I used it!” I told them.
However, the office made a single turn of phrase, “There is nothing we can do on the BUYMA side, so we would like you to talk directly with the seller.“
This is the worst customer center I’ve ever encountered, with a text that reads like a complaint manual and not a shred of sincerity.
I knew that I could not expect much from a seller who sells such a product, but just to be safe, I told him the situation with a picture of the problem and asked for a repair or a refund.
The seller replied, “My products are genuine. I do not accept any refunds or repairs after receipt. Also, I cannot disclose receipts that show the supplier.” The answer was as expected.
The common question from both the BUYMA office and the seller was, “Can the buyer prove that the item is a fake?“
This is quite difficult because the product must be sent to the factory of an authorized brand store to receive a “This is not our product and cannot be repaired” letter.
Also, some brands do not accept parallel imports for repair, so there is no way to prove it in the first place.
As a person who purchased a defective product this time, I felt that the BUYMA appraisal was completely meaningless, and that purchasing products through BUYMA, which does not provide any support in case of problems after receiving the product, was too risky.
Some of you may have encountered a similar situation on BUYMA and gave up in tears as a “life lesson,” but I would like to share with you the solution I took this time.
After consulting with the BUYMA Customer Service and the seller, “They are totally useless and a waste of time!” I felt that I could use my credit card shopping insurance.
It was a bit tedious to contact the insurance company investigator to inform him of the accident and to prepare the documents, but to sum up, I was covered for about one month for the amount paid, which was the purchase price minus 3,000 yen.
The card I used for shopping was the “Sumitomo Mitsui Card Platinum Preferred,” which I signed up as a payment card for my savings NISA, as described in this blog, “How to Become a Millionaire with Little Savings.“
The insurance company responded well and the compensation was transferred immediately so that I could buy the same bag with product warranty at an authorized store in Tokyo already.
In this transaction, I also had the “BUYMA 4 peace of mind guarantee“, but it does not cover anything for quality defects after use.
It is not uncommon for buyers to feel that “something is wrong…” when they actually use the product, or for problems to occur as the product deteriorates while being stored in a room or warehouse as inventory by an individual shopper.
In the case of online sales, where risk cannot be eliminated, I strongly recommend using a credit card with a shopping guarantee as a final peace of mind.
