Why does Greentoe allow retailers to sell backordered items without telling you?

MikeInOr said:

Euell said:

MikeInOr said:

I tried Greentoe once and for me it is not worth the hassle. I don't really know who the item will be coming from and how much of a hassle they will be if I have a problem with the item. The items I looked at were only a couple percent cheaper than nationally recognized reputable dealers where I know they are authorized dealers of the product and I will not have problems with a return or warranty support down the road.

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The items you “looked at”?? You don’t know what the price is until you buy. Second, Greentoe uses only authorized dealers that provide USA warranty. Price discounts do vary, but I’ve never had less than 10%. Some people have had problems with delivery time, but I never have.

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Yes, The products I "Bid" on. Camera gear, 4K TV's and some other electronics.

They "might" be authorized resellers but every bid reply I received was from some business I had never heard of and very few had any searchable reviews online. Sony does price fixing through out its authorized reseller network so how is an "authorized" reseller on Greentoe going to have a better price? Not only are you paying another reseller less than the fixed Sony price for the same item Greentoe is also taking a cut... something sound off here?

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MikeInOr said:

If you want to use Greentoe that is fine. For me it wasn't worth it. None of there counter offers made any sense for me. It is worth it to me to pay and extra $10 or $20 to do business with a seller I know and trust and know I can get a full refund from instead of one nobody has ever heard of.

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azhenley said:

greentoechris said:

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to take a moment to clear the air here. We explained this to AZHenley via email. But, since others have some concerns, I thought it may be a good time to provide some color to the concerned Greentoe customers and prospective customers about what happened here and our policy.

The retailer that accepted the offer is very religious. They accepted the offer and then closed later that same day for the Jewish Holidays. It was an anomaly that created this inconvenience for AZHenley. We apologized to him and offered to honor the price on the product despite the fact that the price is now higher for the same product. We were not aware of the product being out of stock because the retailer was off for the Jewish Holiday and they were not communicating with us since they were not working and observing their faith.

We do not allow retailers to accept offers if they do not have inventory in hand. However, there are some rare occasions when the retailer sells out of a product immediately after accepting an offer. The reason being that retailers sell through many channels, stores, marketplaces, and more. Therefore, it is impossible for this to be perfect. In this rare occurrence, we email the customer instantly. However, we were not aware of the issue due to the retailer being closed.

We want to make sure our awesome customers here understand what happened and how our retailer policy works.

Thanks,

Chris

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I'll copy and paste my response to Chris from the Fred Miranda forums:

I was never informed, by either Greentoe or the retailer, that the product was backordered, even after they re-opened from the holiday, processed the order, and sent me an invoice.

I understand that keeping track of the stock is a difficult problem and this can happen, but COMMUNICATE. I was never informed. That is the failing.

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hemiguy said:

I purchased a new A7III just a few weeks ago at a very good price. Took about 8 days from start to receipt here in California.

What I don't understand is this - they are likely the cheapest price available, as they are searching for a vendor desperate enough to sell something, well for me, at hundreds less than current retail.

This means the retailer is likely selling at a short or zero profit. You want all this, plus stellar customer service? You may want to reset your expectations. If you have time, and want a deal, seems like a decent option. If you're a high expectations buyer, pay retail or wait for a sale.

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SilvanBromide said:

hemiguy said:

I purchased a new A7III just a few weeks ago at a very good price. Took about 8 days from start to receipt here in California.

What I don't understand is this - they are likely the cheapest price available, as they are searching for a vendor desperate enough to sell something, well for me, at hundreds less than current retail.

This means the retailer is likely selling at a short or zero profit. You want all this, plus stellar customer service? You may want to reset your expectations. If you have time, and want a deal, seems like a decent option. If you're a high expectations buyer, pay retail or wait for a sale.

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I don't have 'a dog in this fight' (so to speak), but it seems to me you are missing the point.

A retailer should not sell and take money for an item they don't actually have (and may or may not be able to get) while representing that they have the item in stock and providing a (fictitious) ship date that they aren't reasonably able to honor.

That's a general principle that holds true whether the price is high or low. It's a simple matter of business ethics --- which are (or should be) still applicable even where the price has been discounted.

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hemiguy said:

I purchased a new A7III just a few weeks ago at a very good price. Took about 8 days from start to receipt here in California.

What I don't understand is this - they are likely the cheapest price available, as they are searching for a vendor desperate enough to sell something, well for me, at hundreds less than current retail.

This means the retailer is likely selling at a short or zero profit. You want all this, plus stellar customer service? You may want to reset your expectations. If you have time, and want a deal, seems like a decent option. If you're a high expectations buyer, pay retail or wait for a sale.

Click to expand...

greentoechris said:

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to take a moment to clear the air here. We explained this to AZHenley via email. But, since others have some concerns, I thought it may be a good time to provide some color to the concerned Greentoe customers and prospective customers about what happened here and our policy.

The retailer that accepted the offer is very religious. They accepted the offer and then closed later that same day for the Jewish Holidays. It was an anomaly that created this inconvenience for AZHenley. We apologized to him and offered to honor the price on the product despite the fact that the price is now higher for the same product. We were not aware of the product being out of stock because the retailer was off for the Jewish Holiday and they were not communicating with us since they were not working and observing their faith.

We do not allow retailers to accept offers if they do not have inventory in hand. However, there are some rare occasions when the retailer sells out of a product immediately after accepting an offer. The reason being that retailers sell through many channels, stores, marketplaces, and more. Therefore, it is impossible for this to be perfect. In this rare occurrence, we email the customer instantly. However, we were not aware of the issue due to the retailer being closed.

We want to make sure our awesome customers here understand what happened and how our retailer policy works.

Thanks,

Chris

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azhenley said:

wpstl said:

azhenley said:

I put in an offer for a Batis 25 last Thursday and quickly got a counter for $1089. I accepted it not too long after. Friday morning it was accepted by the seller. Yesterday (Monday) it went from "Processing" to "Pending shipment" on Greentoe.

I went to the retailers website today to check the order status... "Backordered".

Why does Greentoe allow this? The retailer ACCEPTED the transaction after I accepted their counter, so they knew their stock, sold it anyway, and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

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Most people would rather save money if it meant waiting a bit. If you are in a rush you should have looked for a retailer with stock and paid full price in the first place. Greentoe is for deals, not deals quickly.

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Why offer expedited shipping if you may wait an unpredictable number of weeks for the item to come back in stock?

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Fliparagon said:

Bringing this discussion re: Greentoe back to active.

With hesitation due to many mixed reviews, I recently used Greentoe and made a ridiculously low offer on a Sony 70-200 2.8 GM II ($2200) thinking, "There's no way any authorized retailer would accept that offer."

Not surprisingly, after two days, I received a counter-offer for $2399. I didn't respond and let it sit, waiting for the offer to expire.

The day before my initial offer expired, I received notice that my initial offer of $2200 was accepted! I was shocked.

Before submitting payment, I emailed Greentoe customer service, asking for reassurance and re-confirmation of what they advertise:

-Merchandise will be sold by USA-authorized Sony dealer and covered by Sony USA manufacturer warranty.
-Items being sold are brand new, unopened
-The merchant accepting the offer actually has the item in stock and is ready to ship (I asked this after reading several reviews that stated a retailer delayed shipment for several weeks/months before finally either admitting the item was out-of-stock, issuing a refund, or having the customers' CC company do a chargeback)

I asked Greentoe customer service to confirm the above, stating that I would immediately ask for a refund if this transaction didn't pass the "smell test".

I also stated if this deal was good, I would make sure to share my good experience with dealing with Greentoe in as many forums as possible.

Conversely, if this deal went bad, I would make sure to share my bad experience in the same platforms. In addition, I would consider filing a small claims suit if I didn't get my money back.

With much reluctance, I ended up taking a chance and paid the merchant.

Surprisingly, the very next day, I received a UPS shipment notification.

UPS is scheduled to deliver the lens next Wednesday. I will make sure to provide an update when I actually get the lens in my hands to inspect and test it out.

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