Buying JE goods online
Recently I've had several experiences with buying JE goods from online sellers. Living in Japan, I have a lot of options for buying JE goods. Yahoo auction, buying things from shops, or attending events to get con goods. But yahoo auction is somtimes iffy, especially for new buyers like myself, as many people will not sell things to those who don't have several good feedbacks. Also, buyers can change their mind at random about selling goods so even if you thought you won an item the seller can just say, sorry, I don't want to sell it anymore and you get nothing. So, I usually check out shops in harajuku, but can't always afford to travel all the way to Tokyo. However, I recently tried out buying goods from other fans via lj. I myself have sold 3 concert tickets to people I've met via lj, so I decided to try my luck and get some pre-order goods for the Nagoya Arashi 5x10 concert. Everything worked out fine and I scored myself an Arashi notebook and charm. I then picked up an Arashi countdown uchiwa and 2 other concert charms via another seller living in Japan. And that worked out really well too. Next, I agreed to buy a concert ticket for the currently running You and Jin concert from a friend of an online seller. I usually get my tickets via ticket.co.jp, but the girl offered a decent seat for the price of a not so good seat from my normal site so I agreed to buy it. It was very similar to how I sold tickets in the past but, it is now the day before the concert and I have no ticket and the girl has deleted her email account and lj. Guess third time is NOT a charm for me in this case. Luckily I'm not stupid and paid with credit card and thus can issue a chargeback and get my money returned. However, this girl apparently was taking pre-orders for concert goods and scammed a bunch of other too. I hope they can get their money back as well.
Anyway, I think I have learned my lesson and will stick with what I know; buying goods in person or though a trusted source. Either that or make sure that I can contact the seller via some means other that online only so that they can't just disappear overnight. I will now be much more cautions in the future. I just really badly wanted to go to the concert. I will probably still find a way to go, but it will most likely cost me more than 6x's the face value cost of the ticket to go as day-of scalpers are my only option now.
Lesson learned.....
Anyway, I think I have learned my lesson and will stick with what I know; buying goods in person or though a trusted source. Either that or make sure that I can contact the seller via some means other that online only so that they can't just disappear overnight. I will now be much more cautions in the future. I just really badly wanted to go to the concert. I will probably still find a way to go, but it will most likely cost me more than 6x's the face value cost of the ticket to go as day-of scalpers are my only option now.
Lesson learned.....