I'm an avid online shopper, but last year I had an online shopping first: I made several purchases through third-party sellers on Etsy.com and
Here are five things you should keep in mind before buying from a third-party seller on Amazon or Etsy:
1. Past customers can be your best guide
Do some research on a third-party seller before you commit to a purchase. Start by checking the seller's customer ratings and reviews via their store page. "Read through the kinds of experiences other people have had interacting with these stores, because the reality is you'll have to deal with them directly, not Amazon or Etsy [if your transaction goes awry]," says
When using Amazon, for example, customers should look for sellers with detailed product information on their listing pages, as well as clear information on shipping options and costs so there aren't any surprises, says
2. There's no such thing as a standard shipping policy
One of the biggest issues I had was dealing with a seller who had listed on its storefront page that its items shipped from
To help avoid this type of inconvenience, contact the seller directly before you buy. Ask upfront where its products ship from. On Etsy, you can narrow down your store options to sellers who are located near you by using the Etsy Local function. This is helpful if you're in a time crunch and need to boost the odds of a product arriving by a certain date.
3. Amazon Prime membership doesn't guarantee free shipping
Free two-day shipping on purchases is one of the biggest draws of a
In addition, according to Amazon policy, comingling purchases isn't a loophole. If you place an order that contains some items that are eligible for free Prime shipping and some that aren't, you'll be charged shipping fees for the ineligible items.
4. Returns are at a seller's discretion
When dealing with major retailers, there's comfort in knowing that if you don't like a purchase, you can always exchange it or get a refund. Sure, some return policies are more generous than others, but these retailers offer some form of recourse for unwanted items.
That's not always the case when you buy an item online through a third-party seller. On both Amazon and Etsy, third-party sellers set their own return, refund and exchange policies. It's important to read a seller's return policy in its entirety before making a purchase.
5. You'll need to try to settle disputes yourself
Because neither Amazon nor Etsy has direct access to order information for transactions sold and fulfilled by third-party sellers, they encourage customers to work through any issues directly with the seller before they'll step in. A dispute could be something like requesting a refund from a seller with a no-returns policy for an item that looks drastically different in person than it did online.
This process can be time-consuming, especially if you're dealing with an international seller. As I mentioned, one of the sellers I bought from was overseas. It took hours to get responses to my inquiries, largely due to the time difference. I'd send a message in the morning and get a reply back at midnight. Be sure to document correspondence with a third-party seller just in case you have to escalate the situation to customer service at Amazon or Etsy.
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Andrea N. Browne is an editor at Kiplinger.