[rokakurumi]

Hey guys. I tried eCrater for the first time for my cosplay shipping is free but it takes a while for them to get here like about four weeks or so. I haven't received any of my items yet even tho i only ordered two. I just wanted to see if anyone else ordered from the place and wanted some opinions on the site.

http://www.ecrater.com/

[rwarsauce]

I have, but it took almost 2 months for my stuff to get to me

[rokakurumi]

rwarsauce, on 18 March 2012 - 02:15 PM, said:

I have, but it took almost 2 months for my stuff to get to me

oh that makes me nervous >.> i orded my things on the March 2nd and last week i hope i get them before acen

[chainedbyroses]

Ultimately shipping time and overall shopping experience depends on what vendor/vendors you buy from on eCrate, as their stores are their own responsibilities. I've bought several collectibles and plush from shops on fronts there a couple of years ago and had no trouble personally. Standard shipping is often the slowest, so if you need rapid delivery, send the seller a note on that and ask if they offer faster shipping options, and if so, at what extra cost. If you have questions or concerns about an order, just shoot the vendor an email or PM, and in my experience at least, everything goes smooth as buying from a highly-rated eBayer (what more, you're Paypal paying anyway, so you also have buyer protection in event of a sour experience or failure on their part, as with any Paypal purchase).

[emileighmorgan]

I ordered from them before, too.
It took almost a month and a half to get my order in.
Definitely contact them and make sure they started it, at least.

[OtakuChica]

Don't worry. The site's legit. I just ordered a wig from there. I checked to make sure the site was legit first. But when in doubt, EBAY IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!

[chainedbyroses]

Those concerned about late orders:If you ordered over a month ago & haven't received your package, just remember that Paypal's limit for filing claim disputes is 45 days from date of purchase. After that, Paypal can't/won't intervene and refund, and you are stuck waiting either hopefully or futilely. Just a word of caution & something to bear in mind if you've been waiting past 31 days or the 45-day mark is nearing, especially if you've heard nothing at all.

I would try emailing the seller before filing a claim though, as they may have genuinely forgot to message your order was sent or such (some people are just crap at emailing/messaging!), & depending the service used if it was a domestic order, you may be able to use a tracking number; if it's an international order, find out when it was shipped and what service was used, so you can roughly estimate how long it should/should have needed to arrive** (see note), and ask if tracking was available (usually not though, outside Canada) and if so what the number was. Also, bear in mind shipping time does -not- include weekends, as shipping days are considered Monday-Friday & not count holidays and/or weekends; thus, an order stating delivery will be take 15-30 working days would actually take 20-40 days (roughly 3 weeks to 1.5 months) to arrive. At any rate, unless you are right at the 45 day mark, I say would give the seller 2-3 days to reply before filing the Paypal claim; more often than not, simple human error is the issue, so I always figure give them a chance to answer & remedy their mistakes before getting pissed & demanding a full refund etc.

** NOTE: If you have an order from overseas, like Japan, for example, Surface Mail shipping is notoriously slow, taking anywhere from a month to 3+ months to deliver (as it never goes on a plane, always transporting via the surface, hence the name), not counting time spent in customs, whereas SAL (surface air lifted) averages ~2 weeks, and EMS (expedited) will often arrive within a week-ish (though it costs a fortune) minus time spent in customs -- note here that on more than one instance, I've paid the extra for tracking & found that customs can often take longer to clear than the shipping time itself: if you have tracking available, you can verify if your item is just stuck in customs or not. Pick the fastest method you can afford, or, if it's either a last minute purchase or you need the order quick to work on it, consider biting the bullet on EMS (so to speak), even if it hurts something awful like $35+ (NB, credit card paying here may help, since you can pay it off over time this way). If your costume is a really important thing for [insert year], better to bite the bullet than to miss a portion of your costume, or parts needed to make it, and then having to go without, as I've learned over time.


@ OtakuChica - just remember though, that ebay is the kingdom of bootlegs. Fast, safe, & usually guaranteed sure, though you really need to be on your A-game to make sure you're not paying out the wazoo for a bootleg (beware stock images & horrific typing/descriptions, or worse, blank descriptions!). $90+ for what turns out to be a crappily made booty is never fun. If you're smart about it though, yeah, ebay is /awesome/ for great deals you won't find elsewhere. :3