Hi everyone,
I was looking everywhere online for a specific item and finally managed to find it on the Swiss Ricardo website. I immediately signed up to contact the seller (that was on Saturday) just to find out that to sign up from abroad (I live in the Netherlands), I had to wait for possibly a week just to be verified on the website.
The sale post on Ricardo ends this Wednesday (Dec 1) at noon. I just desperately want to reach out to the seller to say that I am interested in buying the product at this specific price and if they can just wait for me to be verified (I think I should receive the code at my address by the latest Monday) and then we can continue to speak from there. So basically if they agree to my price offer, I can buy right away if there is a way to do it or if it has to be via Ricardo, they just need to wait until as I said the latest Monday.
Does anyone have a solution for me? Maybe a Ricardo enthusiast who can message the seller on my behalf just to explain that this is my offer and that I will buy as soon as my profile is approved? I appreciate any other ideas you may have.
Regards,
a desperate shopper
You need to clarify something. Is the item being sold at a specific price or is it the auction format that has a starting price to bid from along with a buy now price?
In the first instance if the item is not sold, most sellers have a system in place that just renews the item for another 7-10 days. It would then be listed with the same conditions.
If it is an auction, for example a starting price of CHF 5.- and a buy now price of CHF 35.-, and someone bids for example CHF 6.- before the auction is up and no other bids are made, the person will get the item for CHF 6.-
I think the most prudent thing to do (without knowing the item or the value) is to call/chat (fastest) or send an email to Ricardo - see this link. It is best if you speak German since Ricardo is based in the German speaking area of the country. I would tell them that you need to buy something before Wednesday and your registration is being checked etc. You will need to give them the item number which you will find on the bottom left of the item sale page.
Link: https://help.ricardo.ch/hc/de/articl...5-Kundendienst
Good luck.
Hi Verbier,
Thank you for your quick response and for the tip. It's an auction-style post currently but there is another user that negotiated the price and the seller responded saying she did not agree with the price but is open to discussing the price. I just can't participate because I am waiting for the address verification.
If I wait till I am approved and no one bids/or reaches an agreement with the seller before Wednesday then indeed I can use a link like the one you mentioned in order to ask the seller to repost the item.
But I want to be able to send a better offer than the other buyer to the seller and if she agrees, go ahead and buy it. I just can't do this now given the limitation on my account.
I already contacted customer service twice to ask if I can speed up the process or if there is anything that could be done but they said I need to wait for verification, wait and if not one bid, use the link you mentioned or ask someone who has a Ricardo account to contact them but I do not know anyone because I found out about Ricardo by chance while searching for this item that I want that is discontinued and no longer produced by the company.
I will try again to ask Ricardo customer service if they can message on my behalf or something. I hope that works!
you also can wire the money to me and I can bid on your behalf. Than once I have it - will setup another bid so you can win it via buy-it-now ..
nah , I'd have done that 30-years ago. Until it's nice old-timer that I could take for a spin , I wouldn't bother
Selling something to you requires that the seller exports the item from Switzerland to the EU, most sellers will not want to bother with the hassle of having to do this.
Some sellers not only post on Ricardo but also on Tutti, where the seller pays no fees.
Are you sure the item isn't elsewhere?
I've shipped items to buyers outside of Switzerland but it can be a hassle. Not every selller is willing to do this. Can the item be shipped?
Is it expensive? Bulky?
Where is the seller based? Is it a private person?
Thanks all for your suggestions. Another buyer has already placed a high bid that I can't compete with so I will just let it pass this time. Thanks for suggesting the other website Mrs. Doolittle, the item I want is not on there. The item is on the expensive side yes. It's discontinued so it doesn't show up online very often but I will keep the search and will just let this one pass!
As you don't buy it anyway, why not share the link to the article?
If it is an item made in Switzerland, if we know what it is perhaps someone can suggest where you might find it.
Thanks all for your kindness. The item is already sold to the highest bidder.
This is the number of the item I was interested in: 1191558894
I hope you do not think I am very superficial
They were sold for a fair price !
Once an item has 1 bid on it you cannot change any details about the item and just have to bid higher than anybody else before the auction ends.
Another Ricardo question:
Why does Ricardo allow buyers with negative feedback to continue to make bids when they have a history of not paying (As a seller of an item the buyer who brought 7 items in the past each time got a negative rating and didnt pay). Why are there people who like to do that