im finding a bunch of stuff on alibaba from indonesia that i would love to get my hands on but they only take western union (which i have gambled on 1 and waiting for delivery) and the others only take wired bank transfers. i know most of the risks associated but are there any other tips on dealing this way, or a shortcut to checking legitimacy other than everything over there is a minefield?
Here is an analogy.
Let's say your in South Carolina visiting-you live in Arizona. You go to a flea market and there is a guy preselling the one item you know will make you money. Its at the exact price you want and the pictures the guy has shows a very high quality item.
He says, give me 500 dollars for a lot of 10 and I will ship it out to you as soon as it comes in. He says its due in about a week.
You say sure here is cash. The seller writes you out a receipt. Thats it. You don't ask for identification or get a license plate number. But you do write down his tent location in the flea market.
You go home and wait 2 weeks. Nothing. You call him from the number on the receipt. You get a voicemail but no one ever calls you back. You write him. Nothing.
So you call the police department in the city you were in and explain your situation to him. The officer starts audibly laughing and calls you a fool.
Thats what its like buying from an individual on the internet.
I know your a lot savior than that Voodoo. I'm just making a point.
If you read the first post in this thread. Orion gives a good description.
You gambled on one. And from your posts, you probably have some coin to lose. Not that you want to but could and it wouldn't break you. I don't have any other advice for buying from Alibaba.