Topping Purchase from Amazon Problem?

[RF Air]

I bought my E70 from Shenzhenaudio. They have a storefront on Amazon. I've never had a problem ordering anything from Amazon, from a wall switchplate cover for $3 to items costing a few thousand and I've never had a problem with returns when I mess up and order the wrong size . Might be because I live in a city that's a major hub or I am careful researching who is providing the item.

Edit: Knock on wood

Wow, realized how great it was in NYC. It has been abysmal here in the Southwest lately. Knock wood it will improve...

 

[Spkrdctr]

75% of everything on Amazon? Just Topping products? All electronics?
How did you arrive at that percentage?

I watched a video on the US Agency that tries to monitor and stop the illegal Chinese copying. The video showed a few interesting things. The agents explained and showed iphones and that there is a few levels of copied product, the highest level is copying the product 100%. So if you want a cheaper Iphone but not much cheaper you get the highest level and it is basically a real honest to goodness Iphone, copied 100% accurately. Then you can drop down to the level of "close" where the product looks and feels right but some functions might not be the same, then you drop to the next level and it is a crappy copy that is not nearly functional enough to pass as the real thing, but it might look very close to the real thing or maybe not. It was very interesting. They explained how you had to turn over a copy of your engineering drawings etc to get set up with a big producer in China. I dont' think you still have to do that, it may have stopped in the last few years. But they did a great job of showing the billions of dollars of fake product coming out of China and that it is such a large business that China doesn't have an interest in really stopping it and thereby unemploying a bunch of people. It really is a problem where all the major manufacturers like Apple, and others have to just ignore it and move on. But, it does cover almost every product you can imagine. The problem is that people are not educated and aware of all of this or they might not want to support it. The American government does a very bad job of putting out news like this. I was surprised to see that show about 4 years ago? Maybe more.

Walmart is having a big problem with this also, they end up getting massive returns from products that do not work. But, they have priced it into their business model as have all of the others. As has always been true in the world, crime does pay!

 

[chillwig]

I watched a video on the US Agency that tries to monitor and stop the illegal Chinese copying. The video showed a few interesting things. The agents explained and showed iphones and that there is a few levels of copied product, the highest level is copying the product 100%. So if you want a cheaper Iphone but not much cheaper you get the highest level and it is basically a real honest to goodness Iphone, copied 100% accurately. Then you can drop down to the level of "close" where the product looks and feels right but some functions might not be the same, then you drop to the next level and it is a crappy copy that is not nearly functional enough to pass as the real thing, but it might look very close to the real thing or maybe not. It was very interesting. They explained how you had to turn over a copy of your engineering drawings etc to get set up with a big producer in China. I dont' think you still have to do that, it may have stopped in the last few years. But they did a great job of showing the billions of dollars of fake product coming out of China and that it is such a large business that China doesn't have an interest in really stopping it and thereby unemploying a bunch of people. It really is a problem where all the major manufacturers like Apple, and others have to just ignore it and move on. But, it does cover almost every product you can imagine.

Maybe I'm naive, but I doubt we are going be seeing counterfeit budget ChiFi anytime soon. These are low margin products with no brand recognition outside of nerds.

 

[RF Air]

I have been communicating with HIFI College by Email with regard to the open box issue. The Amazon Portal to contact the Seller has been a helpful resource for resolving any shipping issues if you have a vendor who is mindful and willing to assist.

Here is the latest comment I received from HIFI College on the Amazon Portal:

Thank you very much for your feedback.
It is true that due to Amazon's return policy, it adds risk to our sales as well as our customers' purchases. Also TOPPING has quite a few models that are not in sealed packaging. This often confuses customers.
Maybe we should give our customers one more option, we can also send the products directly from the manufacturer in China. Of course it may take more shipping time. The items we sell on hifi college's separate website are shipped from China.
About the identification of whether TOPPING products are genuine or not, there is a 10-digit unique code on the machine, this code can track the production batch of the product, sales channel, etc. You can even use the code to contact TOPPING officials for help.

In the end, HiFi College has been professional with me and courteous. I think it is unfortunate that the Amazon experience has factored problems into the way these sales transactions are mishandled. HIFI College lost a sale with me because Amazon shipped a product that was a used or returned item that was resold as new. It would seem to be an easy fix if there is an incentive to resolve the issue.

 

[BlackTalon]

If counterfeit PS Audio products were made/ sold, they might actually be worth the cost...

 

[Dunring]

I've bought from Hifi college a couple of times on Amazon and been in contact with them (one of their reps follows me here). They sell returns marked as used, and said they even take a loss on some stuff. Must have bought 4 or 5 amps and DACs from them and never had a problem.
Amazon themselves are well known for reselling open box returns as new instead of sending them to the Warehouse site where they usually only discount it 10 percent. There's some resellers on Amazon I've had horrible experiences buying used, but no problems with Hifi college.

 

[MI55ION]

Purchased the D30Pro from Amazon/HIFI College, no plastic/safety seals to remove or anything like that. No issues at all, item was brand new with remote and cables, updated firmware and it's been working brilliantly. Got it on the strength of Amir's review here and no regrets, made me a believer in quality DACs again!

 

[RF Air]

Received the E70 today from Apos that was shipped directly from Topping in China. The package was wrapped entirely in "Ochre" colored plastic and tape. BTW, "Ochre" color is closely the same orangish color as the "Post reply" Button on the Preview Panel of ASR.

Removing the plastic revealed the unit was totally wrapped in Bubble Wrap, and the Charcoal Textured Topping box was factory sealed in Shrink Wrap. The unit was perfectly clean and the accessory items were packed in unblemished boxes. The Remote was in form fitting satin finish Bag and the USB Cable was in a clear Ziplock Bag. RCA, Coax and Bluetooth Connections on the unit had protective covers. A plastic protective film covered the entire front face display.

What I found interesting was the outer cardboard Topping Box was not used for this shipment. @JustJones received the same outer cardboard box with their shipment. Apparently the Bubble Wrap was substituted for the outer cardboard box.

The Apos order shipment took 10 days to be delivered from China, during this Christmas Season. Not too bad if you're patient and want to avoid the Amazon hassle I experienced. Thanks to the Forum for your advice and assistance. My gift was given today to the recipient before the Holiday, so it all ends well. Merry Christmas!

 

[yodog]

E70 or E70 velvet? Is it even on amazon?

 

[Mowz]

I have bought topping dm7 from Amazon from hifi college the box foam looked like someone spilled coffee on it but it worked fine. I sent it back still and ordered another a few weeks later from them. Neither box was wrapped it works fine.

I bought pa5 from apos it was also not wrapped. Works fine.

 

[RF Air]

E70 or E70 velvet? Is it even on amazon?

E70 with ESS SABRE ES9028 Pro DAC Chip

 

[delta76]

Amazon is actually the safest place to buy lesser known stuffs. They turned a blind eye for knock off copies but you are still protected by return and full refund. As long as you

Try to buy from a reputable seller if possible. Fulfilled by amazon is obviously the best, for both shipping tim and return
Don't buy and return blindly. If your return rate is too high amazon will flag you and you will have to chat with their cs to create a return
Never contact or pay the seller outside of amazon, especially a questionable one.

You will be safe

 

[MarcosCh]

Amazon is actually the safest place to buy lesser known stuffs. They turned a blind eye for knock off copies but you are still protected by return and full refund. As long as you

Try to buy from a reputable seller if possible. Fulfilled by amazon is obviously the best, for both shipping tim and return
Don't buy and return blindly. If your return rate is too high amazon will flag you and you will have to chat with their cs to create a return
Never contact or pay the seller outside of amazon, especially a questionable one.

You will be safe

Mostly agree, but Amazon has some caveats as well:

Online Shopping - Cautionary tales and hidden details that others might want to know

Hi, as is normal and expected, from time to time we have members explaining in the forum the issues they find when buying gear online. Sometimes there is information there that might be useful for others. I thought it could be good to have a thread to gather this valuable information. If you...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[delta76]

Mostly agree, but Amazon has some caveats as well:

Online Shopping - Cautionary tales and hidden details that others might want to know

Hi, as is normal and expected, from time to time we have members explaining in the forum the issues they find when buying gear online. Sometimes there is information there that might be useful for others. I thought it could be good to have a thread to gather this valuable information. If you...

www.audiosciencereview.com

There are exception to everything. With a retailer that size of amazon, you can find anything from a sneaky buyer, or even criminal one (order something expensive then return a cheap/broken one claiming it was sent wrongly), to some unethical staff. Mistakes happen also but on average your money is safest with Amazon

Not that i support their treatment of their employees, but that is a different matter