Advice ? Buying Oximeters from China on Ebay

[Snuff-L-Reddy]

I have been looking for an oximeter for overnite use. Probably a handheld or wrist unit as the all-in-one finger units seem far to bulky. After checking several sites online it appears the "best" prices are from Ebay store fronts. Nearly half the cost or better. I have never used ebay and am also a bit reluctant to bypass the US economy but the saving are substantial. What are your thoughts and/or have you used Ebay to buy direct from China? Also wondering about important features of an oximeter. Is it best to have "PI" Perfusion Index capability ? I have found a few oximeters that have peaked my interest -CMS-60F & PM-60A handheld and CMS-50I & CMS-50F wrist as well a a couple of others.
Thanks
Jay

[STL Mark]

I ordered a CMS-50F from one of the foreign ebay sellers in the past. See the below notes for my experience. Basically it was positive, nylon wrist band arrived incorrectly assembled but it was no problem to fix the problem. Package arrived much quicker than I expected and it serves me well when I decide to get it out of the drawer and use it.

viewtopic/t70972/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52 ... 35#p489521

[M.D.Hosehead]

People have reported good results ordering from Chinese sources.

Here's something to think about, though, and that is service after sale.

Occasionally there's a problem. In my case the unit was defective. Fortunately, I had ordered from the pulseoxstore. He shipped a replacement immediately, and paid the return postage for the defective unit.

[Snuff-L-Reddy]

People have reported good results ordering from Chinese sources.

Here's something to think about, though, and that is service after sale.

Occasionally there's a problem. In my case the unit was defective. Fortunately, I had ordered from the pulseoxstore. He shipped a replacement immediately, and paid the return postage for the defective unit.

Herein lies part of my dilemma. I have checked the mentioned store and they seem to be a fine place, but Their price with shipping to Alaska is nearly twice as much as the exact same units direct from China with free shipping. Also may be able to save even more by "making an offer". They say they will return defective Items (7-14 days depending on site) but you pay return shipping. I would ultimately prefer to buy local where you can actually see what you are getting, but not much selection up here, so stuck with "online" purchases. I always try to get the most for my dollar and generally stress over most of my purchases Sometimes I wish spending money did'nt bother me so much.

[ejackson1200]

I bought a wrist oximeter from door2door on ebay and one of the pins from the wrist part to the connecting part that goes on your finger was broken. They wanted me to send it back to China at my expense so they could repair it and return it to me-this was after saying they thought I had used it incorrectly. Part of the issue was clearly the person responding to complaint doesn't know English very well.

Ebay's resolution was to say I should return it at my expense and the company is to refund my money. Setting up the return is this weeks project. I bought the unit about a month ago.

[Lizistired]

People have reported good results ordering from Chinese sources.

Here's something to think about, though, and that is service after sale.

Occasionally there's a problem. In my case the unit was defective. Fortunately, I had ordered from the pulseoxstore. He shipped a replacement immediately, and paid the return postage for the defective unit.

Herein lies part of my dilemma. I have checked the mentioned store and they seem to be a fine place, but Their price with shipping to Alaska is nearly twice as much as the exact same units direct from China with free shipping. Also may be able to save even more by "making an offer". They say they will return defective Items (7-14 days depending on site) but you pay return shipping. I would ultimately prefer to buy local where you can actually see what you are getting, but not much selection up here, so stuck with "online" purchases. I always try to get the most for my dollar and generally stress over most of my purchases Sometimes I wish spending money did'nt bother me so much.

And you are asking strangers on the internet for advice?

[cortez356]

I too bought one from door to door. It never arrived. I traced the package and it was returned due to bad address. But the next day a parcel from China arrived. It was 2 fake Dallas Cowboy shirts. I contacted door to door. Would have better luck asking my cat for a refund . Never again.. They kept saying I had to claim with the post office?? I contacted Paypal and at first they denied any claim. Finally after almost 3 months I got my credit I bought a better model from a USA company. Buyer beware.

[Muse-Inc]

I bought both of mine from http://www.pulseoxstore.com/. The owner is a member here. Great to work with.

[Snuff-L-Reddy]

And you are asking strangers on the internet for advice?

I thought this was a forum for advice I am getting as much info as possible before I make my purchase and was only hoping that others with more experience could provide some thoughts. As with anything one must weigh any "advice" given. You never know someones motive for providing advice be it helpful, malicious, or somehow self serving. We all start out as "strangers" and I have some acqaintances that I would trust even less.

[Goofproof]

I bought both of mine from http://www.pulseoxstore.com/. The owner is a member here. Great to work with.

I second that.... Jim

[Bright Choice]

I bought mine on eBay and although the delivery was a bit slow the $ savings was substantial. I did have a problem with the 50f and I sent it back to China. They replaced with a new one. Slow mail but good service.

[Kody]

I too bought one from door to door. It never arrived. I traced the package and it was returned due to bad address. But the next day a parcel from China arrived. It was 2 fake Dallas Cowboy shirts. I contacted door to door. Would have better luck asking my cat for a refund . Never again.. They kept saying I had to claim with the post office?? I contacted Paypal and at first they denied any claim. Finally after almost 3 months I got my credit I bought a better model from a USA company. Buyer beware.

Almost ordered a CMS 50-F from Door to Door, however after checking them out there seem to be a lot of complaints. They were about $30.00 cheaper, but I decided to go with Amazon since I deal with them a lot, and they seem to be great to work with if there's a problem. The last thing I bought on Ebay I got burned on, so I try to stick with Amazon.

[Jade]

I bought from a Chinese outfit on ebay and had a very negative experience.

The unit was defective, so I returned it per their instructions. They claimed to have not received it. Trying to file a claim was a nightmare. The company delayed just enough so it fell outside ebay's "statue of limitations" so they wouldn't help resolve it, plus I was no longer able to file a negative rating*. I can't tell what they did about the post office side of it, but I couldn't get any satisfaction there, either. Never did get a refund.

The seller was bestbid818, may they rot...

* This caused me to lose some confidence in the rating system, esp. for overseas sellers.

[Snuff-L-Reddy]

Thank you for your responses. I have decided not to go the Ebay/China route, too many issues to worry about. I have found a unit CMS-60FW for $199 w/free shipping in the States vs $122 direct from China. I will consider the extra $77 as "piece of mind insurance" and not lose any sleep over it. My Doc. is writing a script for it---I really don't understand why one would need a perscription for a noninvasive piece of equipment lest it be "all about the money"

[ala5081]

Just ignore Liz's comment. It was totally out of of bounds and uncalled for. We are all here to help each other and not to make snide remarks. Good Luck !!!!!