Originally Posted by MadQuilter
Since you pay with a credit card, if anything goes bad, you can always dispute the charges.
MadQuilter is correct, in that if you pay by credit card, you are well protected against missing packages.
I'd like to chime in with two thoughts: if you do decide to buy from outside your country,
please keep in mind that it can take a long while for international packages to be delivered! From the US to the UK, Japan, or Australia we've heard that it usually takes 2-3 weeks. This is NOT the impression that you get, when you visit the US Post Office's website; they make you think it will arrive in 5-7 days! To Italy and France it takes
at least six weeks. And delays are always possible, especially around holiday time. So if buying from overseas, it is very important to plan ahead and allow enough time, and not to panic if your package doesn't arrived right away.
Secondly, if you ever are in the position of disputing a charge, please be kind and contact the seller first, before filing the dispute. This gives them the chance to look up your order and see if they can figure out what happened. It could be something as simple as a typo in the shipping address, or a missing apartment number. It leaves both buyer and seller with a better feeling, if they get a chance to solve the problem between themselves. Call me naive, but I really do believe that most people are honest.
Also - and if you've never had a business, you won't know this - when a customer files a chargeback, the merchant gets hit with a hefty fee. Even if it's resolved in the merchant's favor, the merchant
still gets hit with a fee.
PayPal also has buyer protection, too, which works similarly.