Order From India Normal Or Scam.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

A search through alibaba (a chinese manufactures directory) and I found a company that has a large assortment of items for fly tying and lure making. Since that is my hobby I decided to order some. They have a $500 min order. So I made up my list submitted it to them and told them the easiest way for me to pay for it was Visa credit card.

There response was "Our banking system at present is not allowing international payment by credit card" They sent instructions on the numbers to wire it to American Express Bank in NY who would forward it to their bank in Kolkata India. That seemed rather strange to me does it to you?

Also a few years ago I spent some time in India and recall that the restaurant menus were extensive but when you ordered they did not have a large part of what was listed. I ordered about 50 items from this company and they did not say any of them were not available. Also seems strange.

Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

[sbk]

Seems a bit scammish to me. I would be very leery of spending that kind of money with them.

Have you tried ordering fly tying stuff from the US? Bass Pro shops ships overseas and is a reputable company.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

sbk

Yes I am familiar with many of the US stores and have ordered from several of them. It was the prices in India that were really appealing. But I agree with you seems a bit scamish and to good to be true.

Thanks

[sbk]

I have one rule I live by, if it seems to good to be true, then it probably isn't true (well, at least, one rule shopping wise )

[Prakanong]

I just IM'ed my pal in India and he said International CC's are taken all the time in India - I used mine easily enough while on biz there.

He will have a look at the www if you have it and see if he can see anything dodgy.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Prakanong

That would be appreciated http://www.sagainstruments.com

That should get him there.

Thanks again

[Prakanong]

He had a look and can not tell much - he seems to think its just a very small company though.

Can you call them and try to suss them out or is the hassle just not worth it?

[Springman]

A search through alibaba (a chinese manufactures directory) and I found a company that has a large assortment of items for fly tying and lure making. Since that is my hobby I decided to order some. They have a $500 min order. So I made up my list submitted it to them and told them the easiest way for me to pay for it was Visa credit card.

There response was "Our banking system at present is not allowing international payment by credit card" They sent instructions on the numbers to wire it to American Express Bank in NY who would forward it to their bank in Kolkata India. That seemed rather strange to me does it to you?

Also a few years ago I spent some time in India and recall that the restaurant menus were extensive but when you ordered they did not have a large part of what was listed. I ordered about 50 items from this company and they did not say any of them were not available. Also seems strange.

Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

[Springman]

A search through alibaba (a chinese manufactures directory) and I found a company that has a large assortment of items for fly tying and lure making. Since that is my hobby I decided to order some. They have a $500 min order. So I made up my list submitted it to them and told them the easiest way for me to pay for it was Visa credit card.

There response was "Our banking system at present is not allowing international payment by credit card" They sent instructions on the numbers to wire it to American Express Bank in NY who would forward it to their bank in Kolkata India. That seemed rather strange to me does it to you?

Also a few years ago I spent some time in India and recall that the restaurant menus were extensive but when you ordered they did not have a large part of what was listed. I ordered about 50 items from this company and they did not say any of them were not available. Also seems strange.

Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

[Springman]

Yep I would say a scam. the way to find out is ask for the phone numbers 3 or 4 of his sales contacts (satified customers) in your home land and give them a ring ..works every time either he will or he wont.

[Carmine6]

Prakanong

That would be appreciated http://www.sagainstruments.com

That should get him there.

Thanks again

Easy to say since it's not my money at risk, but doesn't really have the feel of being a scam website. Basically there's a lot of work that went into putting it up and it's not really a product category that'll attract a lot of people to scam. Most scam websites that I've seen are not very deep in terms of content since there's no reason to put a lot of effort into it. But this website seems to have a lot of content.

They likely wouldn't sell direct to a lot of customers so not taking credit cards isn't surprising. $500 of fish tying materials at wholesale prices is a lot of stuff.

The registration is consistent with the website information:

http://whois.domaintools.com/sagainstruments.com

There's also a "TrustPass" verification on Alibaba that came up via a Google search. I have no idea what that means or how reliable it is since I've never used Alibaba before. But seems you're familiar with Alibaba. It seems to say that some third party credit agency has verfied the address and that the company is legally registered.

http://sanjayravi.trustpass.alibaba.com/tr...ss_profile.html

There also was no hits for "Saga Instruments Scam" in Google.

Having said all that, you should do what it takes to make you comfortable about them. Call more than once and get references as others said. Seems like there's a business there, but doesn't guarantee they're going to fulfill your order as requested. Maybe they'll just substitute items instead of saying they're out. That kind of stuff.

[zorro1]

Prakanong

That would be appreciated http://www.sagainstruments.com

That should get him there.

Thanks again

Easy to say since it's not my money at risk, but doesn't really have the feel of being a scam website. Basically there's a lot of work that went into putting it up and it's not really a product category that'll attract a lot of people to scam. Most scam websites that I've seen are not very deep in terms of content since there's no reason to put a lot of effort into it. But this website seems to have a lot of content.

They likely wouldn't sell direct to a lot of customers so not taking credit cards isn't surprising. $500 of fish tying materials at wholesale prices is a lot of stuff.

The registration is consistent with the website information:

http://whois.domaintools.com/sagainstruments.com

There's also a "TrustPass" verification on Alibaba that came up via a Google search. I have no idea what that means or how reliable it is since I've never used Alibaba before. But seems you're familiar with Alibaba. It seems to say that some third party credit agency has verfied the address and that the company is legally registered.

http://sanjayravi.trustpass.alibaba.com/tr...ss_profile.html

There also was no hits for "Saga Instruments Scam" in Google.

Having said all that, you should do what it takes to make you comfortable about them. Call more than once and get references as others said. Seems like there's a business there, but doesn't guarantee they're going to fulfill your order as requested. Maybe they'll just substitute items instead of saying they're out. That kind of stuff.

A fly fishing scam would be unique. If your not sure why not buy from a USA company or are they a lot more expensive

Edited December 13, 2007 by zorro1

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Thanks for the responses. Carmine I'm impressed with your logic and views on the subject. I will contact Saga and ask them for some refererences as suggested by Springman and see what he has to say. He has provided weights for each item and said it would cost $170 for UPS.

I am still pursueing it as I am a sucker for a good deal. If it isn't a scam it is a heck of a deal. Certainly less than half of what it would cost in the US.

It is going to have to be handled by email as I have a hearing problem which precludes calling him. Will post the outcome.

Best Regards

[Smithson]

If they are selling wholesale with a $500 min then not taking CCs is understandable. Besides the fees, CC transaction can easily be 'charged back'.

[LaoPo]

A search through alibaba (a chinese manufactures directory) and I found a company that has a large assortment of items for fly tying and lure making. Since that is my hobby I decided to order some. They have a $500 min order. So I made up my list submitted it to them and told them the easiest way for me to pay for it was Visa credit card.

There response was "Our banking system at present is not allowing international payment by credit card" They sent instructions on the numbers to wire it to American Express Bank in NY who would forward it to their bank in Kolkata India. That seemed rather strange to me does it to you?

Also a few years ago I spent some time in India and recall that the restaurant menus were extensive but when you ordered they did not have a large part of what was listed. I ordered about 50 items from this company and they did not say any of them were not available. Also seems strange.

Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

Are you talking about items for fishing ?

Anyway, Alibaba is an intermediary between suppliers (manufacturers) and buyers and is a very large and trusted company. You could ask them directly about 'your' company but I don't think it's a scam. These kind of companies -listed with Alibaba- don't usually do business with private buyers.

If the company involved has a so called 'TrustPass' sign or 'Gold Supplier' you can easily do business with them !

They sometimes send samples but normally companies send larger quantities to buyers; you are a hobbyist and probably ordered many items, 1 or 2 pieces each style and they consider that as a trial/sample order.

A Credit Card payment is not the way these companies do business since they are manufacturers or wholesale co's; they are not shops and do not have the CC facilities. They only do bank-to-bank payments as they do larger amounts of money contrary to shops.

Good luck

Edit:

I forgot to tell you that companies who are SELLING their goods through Alibaba.com pay a lot of money to be on their website and are only interested to sell and export, worldwide, not intending doing a scam foor $ 500; apart from that, if they would scam one or more clients they will be shut out/excluded from Alibaba and they are a very important company. I used Alibaba for contacts several times !

Meaning: 'your' factory/supplier has more to fear from 'small' customers like you (no offense!) than you have to fear from them....

Edit2

I just read the comments by Carmine6 (didn't read i before).....he said it all

No problem doing business with Saga (just a small trading agent but with a TrustPass profile.

LaoPo

Edited December 14, 2007 by LaoPo

[lannarebirth]

Or you could look for a supplier in Thailand. I believe Chiang Mai is the center of the fly tieing world.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I have sent an inquiry to Saga and told him my concerns and ask what he suggested. Still waiting for his reply. In emailing back and forth he seems to be a reasonable outlet and I would think chances are I would get my order.

In reality it is not fly tying that I do but making various jigs and lures. Pour the lead, paint with powder coat, bake, add eyes and a tail or skirt and end up with a nice looking fishing lure. I spend a lot of my time making them and very little useing them. I find the fun is in the design and detail.

Thanks for all the inputs, will you you all know the outcome.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Received a response from Saga Industries and he suggested we use paypal which he has an account with. I think that solves the problem now I will have the big hassel with customs.