e-bay ARGENTINA
scooperqpr
Posts: 438 ✭✭
Any one ever bought from down there? Any help there?
0
scooperqpr
Posts: 438 ✭✭
Comments
<< <i>Any one ever bought from down there? Any help there? >>
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I have bought stamps from American sellers - in Miami - that were shipped to me
from ML sellers. No problems, but the shipping time is a bit long.
I don't know if they have started taking PayPal or not.
ML is not really "an EBAY company;" anymore than Craig's List is "an EBAY company."
Monopolies simply like to have their hands in other monopolies.
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wiki.........
History
MercadoLibre was established in August of 1999 in Argentina and rapidly expanded to Brazil (as MercadoLivre.com), other South American countries and Mexico. Marcos Galperin, current CEO, began the company while still in business school at Stanford University. Finance professor Jack McDonald had been helping Marcos to contact potential investors, and asked John Muse, an invited speaker and co-founder of the Hicks Muse private equity fund, if Marcos could drive him to his private plane. Before boarding his plane, Muse expressed his desire to have his fund invest in the idea and soon thereafter the company started. MercadoLibre received funding from JPMorgan Partners, Flatiron Partners, Hicks Muse Tate and Furst, Goldman Sachs, GE Capital and Banco Santander Central Hispano. In September 2001 eBay acquired 19.5% of MercadoLibre in exchange for eBay's recently acquired Brazilian subsidiary of Ibazar.com.fr. In this transaction, MercadoLibre also became eBay's exclusive partner for the Latin American region.
In November 2005, MercadoLibre acquired 8 DeRemate's operations (till then, DeRemate was MercadoLibre main competitor in the region). The acquisition includes: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.
In 2006, MercadoLibre.com launched new operations in Costa Rica, Panama and Dominican Republic.
In August 2008, MercadoLibre acquired the remnant DeRemate operations, including: DeRemate Argentina, DeRemate Chile, DeReto Colombia and DeReto Mexico. This way, the company seeks to strenghten its leading position in Argentina and Chile.[1]
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Criticism
MercadoLibre has been accused of maintaining an unfair system by several of their users; they charge a publication fee even if the user doesn't sell an item, which eBay also does. They allow both new users and users with negative feedback to participate in auctions and bid on expensive items without contacting the sellers, which eBay also does. This often results in losses for the sellers.
Also MercadoLibre claims that the site is only an intermediary between buyer and seller, and it is not responsible for the behavior of any of its users (including its own employees), which eBay also does. This topic generates great controversy, because when a fraud occurs they do not mediate, leaving their users (both sellers and buyers) with no assistance whatsoever.
Other criticism is of their system of "Bonificaciones", which consists of partially refunding the money collected for the selling fees; however MercadoLibre only returns a small percentage (40%) of the selling fees, which eBay also does only partial fee refunds for non paying bidders. MercadoLibre claims that it is the seller's responsibility to conclude the transaction, even though many of the unsuccessful sales are made by users with zero or negative feedback.
It's also common the brutality which MercadoLibre disables publications arguing an infraction of Terms of Use, the most common pretext is: "Unautorized copies of software or physical merchandise". Most of those actions are generally errors from MercadoLibre an the seller has to contact MercadoLibre, where if successful they say that his article is being checked and that they will communicate after. MercadoLibre also disables publications accepting PayPal as a payment system, this is contradictory given that PayPal is a company owned by eBay, MercadoLibre's biggest partner. Generally the first mail is sended from MercadoLibre 24 to 48 hours after the seller writes his claim and the second is sent 48 to 72 hours after the first email. Most of those "article disables" result in an error from MercadoLibre which makes the seller losing even a week of possible sells.
Finally, when MercadoLibre absorbed the DeRemate regional sites other than Argentina and Chile in 2005, MercadoLibre became a monopoly. Although other sites have emerged, none of them have been able to challenge MercadoLibre similar to eBay's monopoly in English speaking countries. In September 2008 MercadoLibre acquired whole ownership of DeRemate, including the Dereto.com site it had launched to renew its challenge for latin american domination.
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$ sign = Argentine Peso
Live rates at 2009.01.06 00:56:35 UTC
$ 1.00 USD..................... = $ 3.44892 ARS
United States Dollars Argentina Pesos
1 USD = 3.44892 ARS 1 ARS = 0.289946 USD
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Counterfeit Money in Argentina
Counterfeit money is abundant and distributed everywhere, even at supposedly safe places like tourist information offices. Generally larger bills will be forged, but it is possible to encounter dud $2 bills and even monedas that are fake (you’ll know because the bus will reject them). Counterfeit bills feel papery and don’t have the more flexible, textured feel of real money (think American money versus paper). Pictures seem slightly blurred or smudged on fake money; real money has crisp details. Holding it up to the light to look for watermarks can be a sign, but some fakes have watermarks and the shiny thread running through the “fiber.”
The best way to tell is to look at the hair of the Argentine luminary featured on the bill. If individual hairs are visible it’s real; if the hair is a solid color with little or no definition, it’s fake. A popular ploy for passing counterfeit money occurs when you attempt to pay a taxi with $50 or $100 pesos. The driver will take the bill to the front passenger seat, ostensibly to look for change. Then, the drive will turn around with a sad expression and say, “I’m so sorry, this is a fake.” Of course, a sly switch will have been made with a fake bill the driver had on the front seat.
Pickpockets and Muggers in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is a large city and there are some pickpockets and muggers. Be safe with your money: no ATM’s late at night; no fumbling with wallets/money on busy streets; if you’re going to give change to beggars, keep change in your pocket for easy access; be careful of your belongings on crowded subways/buses; don’t take large amounts of money to clubs/bars/concerts/etc.
Learn how to spot a pickpocket - often they are well-dressed males, carrying a jacket over one arm and wearing sneakers for quick getaways. Muggers hang out late at night on deserted streets and near train tracks and other unsavory areas. Don’t hang out in these places late at night, alone or in small groups because you will risk being mugged, sometimes at gunpoint.
In overall, Argentina isn’t a dangerous destination, just be carefull and take this into acount to avoid ruining your trip.
<< <i>No they got any cards? >>
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Some.
But, you gotta be able to read Espanol.
If the seller has an American relative/friend/agent on EBAY, they
can send a request-money invoice via PayPal.
There is no "buyer protection," but there is SNAD/INR protection via
the credit card. PP would probably support a buyer's INR-claim, but
I don't know that from experience.
I would NOT send money/checks/MOs to a stranger in that country. ML
has many reputable sellers on it, and many scamsters; just like EBAY.
My last experience was in 2005, and I did several transactions with
different sellers. No problems. 4 - 6 week delivery; routed through the
Miami folks that I made the payments to.
<< <i>Any one speak spanish and want to broker a deal ? >>
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Run the listings and your inquiries through the google translator
and try it yourself.
translator
Genesis 1:1