Is an "inactive vendor" a red flag for purchases?

yerffejytnac

yerffejytnac

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I'd rather not mention which source this is until I know whether naming them is permitted, so I'll leave that out. The thing is, I put in an order on 1/20 with a vendor who has posted on these boards, and it still hasn't shipped. Then I happened to see that under their name there's an "inactive vendor" label. Now I'm worried I might have made a dumb decision buying from a bad source.

Does anyone know what "inactive" actually indicates here? I couldn't tell whether it has to do with how much they post, or whether it's because of complaints or something similar that affects their posting privileges.
 
Choose vendors who are currently active and have customers using them, which lowers your odds of being ripped off.
 
Mr. Blonde said:

Choose vendors who are currently active and have customers using them, which lowers your odds of being ripped off.
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I figured that being listed on these boards meant they could be trusted and were legitimate. The first time I looked up their name, nothing negative from users came up, and that flag on their profile only caught my eye earlier today when I ran another search for them.

Still crossing my fingers that my money didn't just go down the drain 😂
 
yerffejytnac said:

Mr. Blonde said:

Choose vendors who are currently active and have customers using them, which lowers your odds of being ripped off.
Click to expand...
I figured that being listed on these boards meant they could be trusted and were legitimate. The first time I looked up their name, nothing negative from users came up, and that flag on their profile only caught my eye earlier today when I ran another search for them.

Still crossing my fingers that my money didn't just go down the drain 😂
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Your assumption was off base: /community-link/thread/901/

Maybe only this single rep has disappeared, yet they had been in the process of renewing their sponsorship and then suddenly went silent, which is completely out of character for them.
 
yerffejytnac said:

Mr. Blonde said:

Choose vendors who are currently active and have customers using them, which lowers your odds of being ripped off.
Click to expand...
I figured that being listed on these boards meant they could be trusted and were legitimate. The first time I looked up their name, nothing negative from users came up, and that flag on their profile only caught my eye earlier today when I ran another search for them.

Still crossing my fingers that my money didn't just go down the drain 😂
Click to expand...
If that's the case, hopefully it's a one-off situation and I'll take it as a lesson. Going forward, I just need to be more careful. You've got this—this community is great.
 
At times, shipments out of China stall for 10 days, or even 12 — this happens while waiting on a flight, or when sellers don’t hold real inventory and instead buy from a warehouse or another party. A number of sellers no longer put up posts here, yet they remain active on Discord, Telegram, and/or other pep forums.
 
Hey everyone, just sharing an update: the vendor has been very responsive over on Discord, and they gave me a reason for the hold-up: "I asked the freight manager to check the latest news, and it shows that the customs clearance has been completed. Then the package will be shipped to the warehouse, and FedEx will be updated after scanning, and delivery will begin."

Sure enough, when I checked the original FedEx tracking number they gave me, it now shows the shipment is finally with them and progressing through the system.

Once the order arrives I'll share another update, but I didn't want to accidentally turn people away from that vendor if it ends up being legit!
 
Airborne Daddy said:

At times, shipments out of China stall for 10 days, or even 12 — this happens while waiting on a flight, or when sellers don’t hold real inventory and instead buy from a warehouse or another party. A number of sellers no longer put up posts here, yet they remain active on Discord, Telegram, and/or other pep forums.
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Yeah, that appears to have been what happened in my situation.
 
yerffejytnac said:

Airborne Daddy said:

At times, shipments out of China stall for 10 days, or even 12 — this happens while waiting on a flight, or when sellers don’t hold real inventory and instead buy from a warehouse or another party. A number of sellers no longer put up posts here, yet they remain active on Discord, Telegram, and/or other pep forums.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that appears to have been what happened in my situation.
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Phew, it’s a relief to hear you’ll likely receive something in return for what you paid! I can imagine that felt pretty disheartening—even though we’re aware of the risks, we all overlook things now and then. Fingers crossed this situation turns out fine for you!
 
yerffejytnac said:

Hey everyone, just sharing an update: the vendor has been very responsive over on Discord, and they gave me a reason for the hold-up: "I asked the freight manager to check the latest news, and it shows that the customs clearance has been completed. Then the package will be shipped to the warehouse, and FedEx will be updated after scanning, and delivery will begin."

Sure enough, when I checked the original FedEx tracking number they gave me, it now shows the shipment is finally with them and progressing through the system.

Once the order arrives I'll share another update, but I didn't want to accidentally turn people away from that vendor if it ends up being legit!
Click to expand...
Look, you're fine man.... just hope the production date isn't March 2025....
 
Airborne Daddy said:

yerffejytnac said:

Hey everyone, just sharing an update: the vendor has been very responsive over on Discord, and they gave me a reason for the hold-up: "I asked the freight manager to check the latest news, and it shows that the customs clearance has been completed. Then the package will be shipped to the warehouse, and FedEx will be updated after scanning, and delivery will begin."

Sure enough, when I checked the original FedEx tracking number they gave me, it now shows the shipment is finally with them and progressing through the system.

Once the order arrives I'll share another update, but I didn't want to accidentally turn people away from that vendor if it ends up being legit!
Click to expand...
Look, you're fine man.... just hope the production date isn't March 2025....
Click to expand...
Honestly, there's no telling — it might just be a box of secondhand tennis shoes that shows up 😂

Once the package gets here, I'll share an update 🤞
 
Hey everyone, I'm happy to share that my package showed up today, and here are my first impressions (a detailed vendor review will come once I'm able to post one):

1. Did what I got match the vendor's original photo? ✅ The items in the original photo were exactly what I received.

2. Was it packed well, any damage? ✅ The box had no damage, nothing was broken, and it came in a small, discreet package.

3. Customer Service/Responsiveness to Questions: 💯 - the vendor replied to me on Discord and Telegram, and worked extremely fast to answer all of my many questions.

If you're unsure about ordering, hopefully the attached photos make your decision easier. Shipping time was the only negative, but the vendor has no control over that given how crazy things are right now with living in and shipping to the US.

Feel free to ask any follow-ups, I wasn't sure what to write 😂
 
yerffejytnac said:

Hey everyone, I'm happy to share that my package showed up today, and here are my first impressions (a detailed vendor review will come once I'm able to post one):

1. Did what I got match the vendor's original photo? ✅ The items in the original photo were exactly what I received.

2. Was it packed well, any damage? ✅ The box had no damage, nothing was broken, and it came in a small, discreet package.

3. Customer Service/Responsiveness to Questions: 💯 - the vendor replied to me on Discord and Telegram, and worked extremely fast to answer all of my many questions.

If you're unsure about ordering, hopefully the attached photos make your decision easier. Shipping time was the only negative, but the vendor has no control over that given how crazy things are right now with living in and shipping to the US.

Feel free to ask any follow-ups, I wasn't sure what to write 😂
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If I get my "scammer" package, I'm wondering how I'd connect it to anyone, since there's no packing slip or anything identifying the vendor (maybe a shipping label?).
 
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