Morning,

 

Just want to check if anyone has recently had issues dealing with GWStore?

 

A few years back they had a particularly bad rep on the forum - but I gather that things may have changed in the interim. 

 

Burnt my fingers recently, so would appreciate any feedback.

 

Nick

 

 

 

Stick with know reputable stores especially in solar and electronics.
There are a gazillion scam solar stores that look genuinely legitimate but are mostly scams.
WARNING IF THE PRICES LOOK VERY VERY GOOD THEN MOST LIKELY A SCAM.
AND BEware EFT/CASH Only store, most of them are scams.

My List Of Known Reputable Stores That I buy from regularly:

https://www.diygeek.co.za/shop/
https://www.fullcirclesolar.co.za/shop/
https://herholdts.co.za/shopping/default.asp
This one you need to open a dealer account: https://segensolar.co.za/

Electronics:

https://www.communica.co.za/
https://www.robotics.org.za/
https://www.pishop.co.za/store/

I am sure rest of forum folk will add their known reputable stores to the list.

1 hour ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

I am sure rest of forum folk will add their known reputable stores to the list.

www.takealot.com

www.geewiz.co.za

Not an endorsement, just saying these are not outright scams.

Otherwise powerforum.co.za or sustainable.co.za have been around, maybe someone can comment on these guys?

I bought a Kodak OG+ 5.48 from them back in June. Collected from Noordhoek and no hassles. Haven't had any issues yet, so can't comment much on after-sales, but they we're quick to answer my questions back then.

5 minutes ago, GreenFields said:

www.takealot.com

www.geewiz.co.za

Not an endorsement, just saying these are not outright scams.

Otherwise powerforum.co.za or sustainable.co.za have been around, maybe someone can comment on these guys?

I got started on my solar journey buying from sustainable, but they have become one of the most expensive stores I know of
geewiz is quite good and excellent prices and delivery times

takealot a bit pricey with the extra markups the suppliers have to add to run through their system

44 minutes ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

I got started on my solar journey buying from sustainable, but they have become one of the most expensive stores I know of
geewiz is quite good and excellent prices and delivery times

takealot a bit pricey with the extra markups the suppliers have to add to run through their system

I see they have stores as well. Over the counter sales too? 

1 minute ago, BritishRacingGreen said:

I see they have stores as well. Over the counter sales too? 

I cannot actually remember if I have ever been to an actual physical store for electronics, so no idea really 🤣

19 minutes ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

I cannot actually remember if I have ever been to an actual physical store for electronics, so no idea really 🤣

Yeah, you yuppies goes full virtual i see. I am getting there doing online, but slowly, fuel tariffs does not allow driving all the way to microrobotics for a 1 amp diode. 

Theres truth in the saying that one is never too old to learn. 

Sorry for jumping in. I know this place called power forum store. It's a pretty reliable place 😉

3 hours ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

I got started on my solar journey buying from sustainable, but they have become one of the most expensive stores I know of

Same here, they used to be basically all there was when I started and now they've priced themselves out of the game as far as I'm concerned. I feel sorry for the people who get trapped buying there now.

9 hours ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

Stick with know reputable stores especially in solar and electronics.
There are a gazillion scam solar stores that look genuinely legitimate but are mostly scams.
WARNING IF THE PRICES LOOK VERY VERY GOOD THEN MOST LIKELY A SCAM.
AND BEware EFT/CASH Only store, most of them are scams.

My List Of Known Reputable Stores That I buy from regularly:

https://www.diygeek.co.za/shop/
https://www.fullcirclesolar.co.za/shop/
https://herholdts.co.za/shopping/default.asp
This one you need to open a dealer account: https://segensolar.co.za/

Electronics:

https://www.communica.co.za/
https://www.robotics.org.za/
https://www.pishop.co.za/store/

I am sure rest of forum folk will add their known reputable stores to the list.

Thank you for the list. EFT-only is a definite red flag.

There is a lot to be said for the protections that come with Credit Card payments through recognized and established  E-commerce payment channels. Obviously, this does load pricing on the sellers side, which is passed onto the consumer.

One could default to the reputable stores 99% of the time, but you always end up looking for something that they don't have in stock at the time.

Jumping in . Sorry about that.

Would a credit card payment option through an excellent 3rd party such as payfast be an popular option?

Sincerely

Jason

10 minutes ago, Energy-Jason said:

Jumping in . Sorry about that.

Would a credit card payment option through an excellent 3rd party such as payfast be an popular option?

Sincerely

Jason

CC is an excellent insurance option generally

5 minutes ago, Energy-Jason said:

Jumping in . Sorry about that.

Would a credit card payment option through an excellent 3rd party such as payfast be an popular option?

Sincerely

Jason

 

Hi Jason.

I think the use if Payfast does add an additional level of security for hesitant buyers. Depending on your card, you enjoy additional protections and guarantees over that offered by the payment gateway. 

The use of a payment gateway saved my bacon last month on a purchase of over R20k. I was able to lodge a dispute and push for a charge-back on account of non-delivery (they had stopped stocking the item I purchased, despite the webstore claiming the item was in stock). It took the better part of 3-4 weeks, but I have my ZARs back.

 

I would not rule out EFT. I just purchased a Sunsynk from Solar-shop and after my EFT got my inverter couriered arriving two days after payment. 
Need to remember the merchant fees are not negligible for these guys.

1 hour ago, Energy-Jason said:

Jumping in . Sorry about that.

Would a credit card payment option through an excellent 3rd party such as payfast be an popular option?

Sincerely

Jason

Payfast with CC option is the way to go
You have 2 levels of dispute resolution payfast themselves and of course your CC provider.

Thanks so much for the invaluable feedback. Will implement soonest.

Thanks Gents.

Sincerely

Jay

I second the push for cc options. It's simply impossible to get your money back via an EFT if things go wrong. You don't have to go full merchant account with cc providers, but can even create online payment links via easy electronic payment means such as Yoco, Ikhokha, Snapscan, Zapper, etc. Payfast is great for enabling a number of payment options in one merchant account.
 

1 hour ago, PRP said:

Need to remember the merchant fees are not negligible for these guys.

I run a business and constantly struggle with suppliers who are strictly EFT transfer. We prefer suppliers with cc options as a rule. What is forgotten is that there are "cash costs" even when you are not depositing physical cash. First there is the overhead (in the form of labour hours) for tracking and checking payments (for the purchaser this is an equivalent amount of labour on the payments side), matching to invoices, etc. Second is the vulnerability of PDF proofs of payment - a total wash, so you have to wait for money to hit the bank (part of the labour involved in point 1). There's a whole administrator whose job it is to track to this stuff. In many cases that salary is going to be higher than paying a 2.5% fee on all your purchases. If you're a serious business the fee comes down as you scale up (volume discounts). The inverse is true when you scale a manual system, you have to hire more administrators.  

Finally there is removing friction from customer conversion. Amazon famously added the 1-click purchase so customers didn't drop out at or before the cart. The more steps and friction involved in completing a purchase, the less likely you land that sale. 

Thank you for this information.

Jay

For what its worth, I decided to give GW Store a miss.

The Flags:

1) Recent reviews on HelloPeter are clearly fabricated. People give GW Store a 5-star review and within the hour every one of them has, in addition, dropped a stellar review for Megasolar. If you do your homework, you'll see that Megasolar is just a gauze for the scam-antics of GW Store of old.

2) You can't use Payfast for any purchases more than R5k. 

3) No Google reviews - for a retailer that's been in business for 5-plus years?

Nope...

https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/gwstore.co.za

Voltex for me I got the best deals from them