ebay.......

[bennyminnie]

This is an interesting post, took me a long time to read it though.
I bought my uv lamp on ebay for half price from USA and it works really well, brand new too and a gel kit. I am using the kit to practice on my plastic hand so no harm is done on anyone's nails.
I have learned a lot as I am new to the industry and didn't know what problem I could encounter when buying certain products of ebay.
I agree that items that are likely to go off or anything that could be replaced with something else without you knowing it should be bought from a professional supplier so you know where it comes from. If you have any problems with the product then you can go back and exchange it, I guess. But I think it is ok to buy things like rhinestones, files if it's a lot cheaper and won't put anyone's health at risk. I wouldn't risk to buy a product from a place then have problems with it, like an allergic reaction, and find out my insurance is invalid.

By the way, I am looking for IBD distributors in the west midlands, UK. I need to check the Alan Howard in Wolverhampton.

 

[ValencianNails]

:zzz::zzz: how boring is this if people want to bye certain nail supplies from ebay then its there choice it doesnt make them un professional or a bad nail tech, i bye items of ebay but i wouldnt bye electric items off there but thats my choice but i wouldnt start judging someone if they did.

So you don't think that it's totally unprofessional to buy products from anywhere other than the authorised distributors from each prospective country?
How would you feel if ALL of the clients from your area decided to go with a 'tech' who bought all of their products from an unauthorised distributor (ie ebay) and not had any qualifications but decided to 'do' nails on the general public... would you be happy about it? I sure as hell know that I wouldn't

I really have to shake my head at the stupidity of some people :grr:

In fact, let's go that bit further and ask, would you be happy if you were the one who advertised their products in your country only to find that some ebayer were selling pro products WITHOUT A LICENSE/AUTHORITY to all and sundry and therefore taking your prospective clientelle???
What then huh?

 

[Vetty]

This is an interesting post, took me a long time to read it though.
I bought my uv lamp on ebay for half price from USA and it works really well, brand new too and a gel kit. I am using the kit to practice on my plastic hand so no harm is done on anyone's nails.
I have learned a lot as I am new to the industry and didn't know what problem I could encounter when buying certain products of ebay.
I agree that items that are likely to go off or anything that could be replaced with something else without you knowing it should be bought from a professional supplier so you know where it comes from. If you have any problems with the product then you can go back and exchange it, I guess. But I think it is ok to buy things like rhinestones, files if it's a lot cheaper and won't put anyone's health at risk. I wouldn't risk to buy a product from a place then have problems with it, like an allergic reaction, and find out my insurance is invalid.

I'm glad this thread has opened your eyes to some of the issues around where you buy your products from. The thing with UV lamps is that there is no way of telling if your product is fully cured just by looking at it - so if yuor Ebay lamp isn't fully curing your gel you will be putting your clients at risk of ever-exposure and service breakdown.

It is certainly ok to buy rhinestones, dried flowers, crushed shells, etc from Ebay. Files hold no risk to your client (as long as they are sanitisable) but you run the risk of them being of lower quality than you would get from an authorised distributor, therefore wearing out quicker and costing you more overall.......

 

[Prionace]

In my opinion UV lamps are only as good as the bulbs you put in them. UV lamps are an electric appliance and most are already made in China, so why pay 150%-200% more to the middle man just beause they brought it in the country? Of course there are better lamps (like brisa or ibd), but to me ebay ones are just as good as most of Uv lamps in the market.
To suport the nail industry i think it is important to buy l&p, gels, and acessory products (primer, gel cleaner, files, etc) from the manufacturer or authorized distributor, because in my opinion if they had the costs of research and product development the should have the profits.
With nail drills it is a bit diferent beause there are companies that reseach and develop those too, and also make quite a diference as they offer garanties and customer service. So buying from ebay might be a bit disloyal, as others had all the trouble developing and these were just copied. But isn't that exactly the same with generic pharmaciutical products? Or is that ok just because it has to do with our health?
To me i wouldn't have any problem what so ever buying electric files from ebay, but i might be worth paying extra just because you get a garanty and customer service, because if they break down i'll assume it's wasted money, i doubt they can be fixed...
But if considering the price diference you are willing to risk it, then why not?

 

[bennyminnie]

the lamp I bought is an IBD jet 3000 T and cost me just over £100

 

[min11]

If something goes wrong with any nail related electrical appliance bought from Ebay resulting in injury to the client would the tech's insurance cover him/her?

I'm just curious. I suppose you could even have bought a second hand unit outside of Ebay too, same question might apply then because you only know as much history for it as you are supplied with by who you buy it from.

 

[geeg]

If something goes wrong with any nail related electrical appliance bought from Ebay resulting in injury to the client would the tech's insurance cover him/her?

I'm just curious. I suppose you could even have bought a second hand unit outside of Ebay too, same question might apply then because you only know as much history for it as you are supplied with by who you buy it from.

All electrical goods have to be checked and labelled that they have been checked every year. No check no insurance.

Do the folks who buy off ebay even care??? If they don't care about buying 'pro use only' products from ebay then they aren't professionals ... why would they care a hoot if they were covered by insurance? ... probably don't even have insurance.

Round and round and round and round and round and round we go!! I honestly think it is time we closed this thread.

It seems the pros will not change the opinion of the non professionals so what is the point of prolonging this agonising thread? You either have a professional mentality and will make something of your business or you do not and you will not. Some people are BIG enough to change and listen to reason .. some are not. Leave 'em too it I say.

 

[min11]

[/color]

All electrical goods have to be checked and labelled that they have been checked every year. No check no insurance.

Do the folks who buy off ebay even care??? If they don't care about buying 'pro use only' products from ebay then they aren't professionals ... why would they care a hoot if they were covered by insurance? ... probably don't even have insurance.

Round and round and round and round and round and round we go!! I honestly think it is time we closed this thread.

It seems the pros will not change the opinion of the non professionals so what is the point of prolonging this agonising thread? You either have a professional mentality and will make something of your business or you do not and you will not. Some people are BIG enough to change and listen to reason .. some are not. Leave 'em too it I say.

Amen to that! :hug:

 

[~Nic~]

oops I really didnt realise the effect my post would have.... I have certainly learned some new things and I would never buy any sort of nail systems from ebay but didnt know the real risk's of buying electrial items so thanks for that geeks

x

 

[geeg]

With that I think I will close this thread because I think all that can be said has been said! There have been some pretty passionate replies and passion is good .. it shows CARE. Raising the standards of the nail industry has been a passion of many for years and years ... why do they need to be raised?? Because so many bring the standard down and as always the bad ones bring discredit on the good ones.

If you read an article in a newspaper about a nail salon that has caused damage to a client or clients, or has been proved to use bad practises etc etc it might be only ONE salon but ..... then that story IMPACTS on all the other techs out there and affects their business no matter how good they are. We nail technicians all have a duty in my opinion to think about how what we do can impact on others and our whole industry.

We all have a responsibility to our clients to ensure that the things we use on their bodies, be it product or equipment, causes no harm to them and not have as our motivation that it may be just a cheap bargain for us. Provenance is important (where something comes from ... its history) it is our responsibility as professionals to be able to prove that provenance.