Buying Online

I have a few experiences of buying online.

What are the usual circumstances that leads us to purchase online?

1) Cheaper than retail prices
2) Not available in Singapore

If I buy it online locally, I will always meet my seller to get the stuff.

The most interesting deal I have done before is a purchase where the seller came to meet me at midnight!!!

There was a time I am purchasing an accessory on Yahoo Auction.
The seller refuses to meet and I relented.
His Yahoo Auctions ratings were 90% for <100 items sold. (If I remember correctly)
Two modes of postage, normal mail or registered mail with the postage borne by the buyer.
Singpost. What are the chances of items being lost in the mail?
I opted for normal mail.
4 days later, I did not receive the item, I emailed the seller.
He told me to wait for another 3 days.
Huh???
In Singapore, mails get delivered within one to two days.
So why do I have to wait for a week?
After another 3 days, the mail still have not arrived.
Called SingPost and they verified that there was no lost or return mails to my mailing address.
2 weeks have passed since I bought the item.
An email to the seller and his reply is that he will meet up with me to sell me the item.
His reason for meeting up? They do not usually meet their buyers, they are making an exception. Yes, three of them!!!

I refuse! Why should I paid them twice for an item I bought from them?
The loss of an online purchase when the seller is staying in Bishan makes me angrier!
I wrote a simple neutral comment on Yahoo Auctions.
For a neutral comment, I got spammed by the sellers ordering me to remove my post.
Kinda ridiculous when my comment is "Item lost in mail".

I broke my own ground rules and I paid the price for it.
One purchase where I dun meet the seller and the item get lost in the mail.
How absurd, how bizarre.
This is my last furore on local online purchase.

This however did not stop me from buying online.
Focus has changed though.
I only purchase online if I cannot find the items locally.
(Hehe BFG, now you know why I am not so keen to get Fibre Flare online. =p)
Garmins, Road IDs, Suunto, X-Labs to name a few.
It is fun when you have tracking numbers to monitor your items.

Recently, I made an online purchase where Economic International Airmail costs me USD25 and UPS/Fed-Ex will cost me almost double the amount just for freight charges.
Economic sense tells me to select Economic International Airmail (EIA).
EIA means no tracking numbers and insurance up to USD300 can only be made after 6 weeks.
The experience isn't fun especially when the item is not exactly cheap...
Email confirmation was received 2.5 weeks ago that the item is shipped out.
The anxiety sets in after a week.
You started to wonder if your parcel is ever going to arrive.
Am glad that the parcel finally arrive this morning. Phew...

Stress level is starting to go back to normal after the Primary One registration saga and my "missing" online purchase. =D