Considering cheap prices from Cash Converters - is there known pitfalls of buying stuffs from CC?
In particular electronic gadgets, or electronic hardwares in general. I know not to buy consumables, wearable things (basically everything are 2nd hand) or things that have short shelf-life or sensitive components. But I'm interested on your experience on dealing with CC. What should I look for, warranty, shipping, shady branches/stores, any experience basically.
re:trademe, i know but however their prices on the website starts up much cheaper, usually half of trademe's. Should I worry about buying direct from their website?
You get minimum 90 days warranty which isn't much but better than nothing , purchased a S20 from them earlier in the year that turned out to be blacklisted & they were quick to refund.
Less risk purchasing second hand from them than purchasing second hand on facebook or trademe in my opinion.. Also it's often cheaper to purchase direct from their online store than their trademe accounts
Also it's often cheaper to purchase direct from their online store than their trademe accounts
My whole point of making this post. I know their trademe's store, but always normal 2nd hand prices. Their website though, always start up much cheaper, seems to me.
The good:
CC itself is good to deal with in general when purchasing from them and will honour a refund without question within the 3 months following your purchase.
Always (always always) negotiate a price with them before purchasing instore. They only allow over the counter negotiations, not on the phone.
The bad:
I have purchased a number of things from them which have turned out to have been stolen (found out through reselling items). Police reports, upset owners, accusations, threats… The problem comes from the owner having not reported a theft to the police. CC check everything against the police database, but if a report hasn't been filed then obviously it's not stolen according to CC.
Their stores are often in lower socioeconomic areas… I went to pick something up that I had won online and in one store in particular and the sales agent told me to get to the car as quickly as possible to avoid being harassed by thugs and possibly having the item stolen from me.
Their online "auction" is a not an auction. The reserve is set to generate interest, but the reserve price is the same as the buy now price.
I haven't purchased from CC for at least a couple of years as I no longer live in Auckland.
Would I still purchase from them? Yes, but only if the deal was unbeatable.
re: nego price - tried that with my local CC, I asked for 30% off (old hifi/speaker set) the manager only dropped 5% off sticker price, so no deal. Maybe i don't have the face, or my local shop's manager really have a hard back side. idk.
thanks for the input about stolen items. will pay attention on that.
One issue I have had with them (online, TradeMe) is that they won't disclose serial numbers. This is important for some items to check version, year of manufacture, upgrades available, recall notices etc. When pushed further about why their only response is "store policy." In reality I guess they are worried people are going to claim rightly or wrongly that an item is theirs that has been stolen…….
They sell on trade me a fair bit, I have brought several items in the past via their trademe stores and its been a good experience. Few second hand Nintendo games, brand new ps4 slim in sealed box etc.
With electronics its really hard to know if something is a safe buy second hand, just so many factors or not visible things that could have happened to it in its previous home/life.
One downside of cashies opposed to just general second hand jo-blog sellers is that if there is any remaining warranty on the product they generally wont have the receipts etc. For things like computer components which carry 2-5yr warranties for some parts you should consider whether the cashies price with no receipt or warranty pathway is worth it compared to buying off someone who does have the documentation and can supply it to you at the time of sale.
Its just like buying anything second hand, do your research, weigh up the options and be informed before taking the risk.