Chess vendors

Hello,

has someone bought products from this sites?

http://www.chesskart.com/

or

https://www.chessbazaar.com/

What about their reliability?

Emiliano

I recently bought from Chessbazaar, as they have a much better offering than most other webshops I can buy from in Europe, and they deliver for free. The shipping was very quick (Fedex, 4 days or so from India), and I like the pieces. Would buy there again. But ignore their "discount", the discounted prices are just base prices. There often is a holiday coupon code which is an actual discount.

Never bought from Chess Kart.

Chess Bazaar is very hit or miss. A very few have very good dealings with them, others fair, while others will never use them again.

I like Chess Bazaar. I've got a couple of sets from them and I'm happy with them. Not the fanciest sets but sturdy and fun to play with.

I also have 3 sets and have had issues with all three from the start. One was wildly different weight for same colored Rs, on another the color for white pieces not even close to what was advertised and very poor coloring evenness (the replacement was a joke, issues there also), and lastly a set that was not even what I ordered. This last set was just brought out after not being used for quite a while and there is definitely something wrong with it. It had a white substance all over it that, while easily cleaned off, pitted the finish. I am too tired of dealing with them to deal with them anymore. I'll just chalk up the money to experience. 

I had to fight with them each time to get replacements then the replacements get sent by slow boat. Yes, I even had to fight with them about the one I did not order, even with my proof. 

The initial shipment is quick but if you need a replacement because of their mistake they make it very difficult.

As I said, very few have very good dealings with them, others fair, and some of us will never use them again.

I ordered a Zagreb set from ChessBazaar.   The set was OK, save for the following bishop, about which I complained but was told I was looking at "just a small wooden grain which actually is perfectly normal in handmade items. We don't use any artificial color to hide wooden grains."

I have bought some travel chess sets from Chess Bazaar. The first one I received was defective, but they correctly replaced with Fedex delivery. The next items I bought are perfect. Now I need wooden chess pieces with king about 2.5" high, but Chess Bazaar has with a smaller king while Chess Kart has with exactly 2.5" KH. However I have never bought nothing from CK and they offer very cheap prices for the pieces and only one delivery mode called "flat" at the very paltry price of 5 rs (0.07 US$) that leaves me rather uncertain. My opinion, in conclusion, is that the Indian manufacturers quality is not steady and I am afraid the pictures they show on their sites are not corresponding to the real products.  

I am not sure I would trust Chess Kart without some other confirmation.

I would continue to look.

I bought a set exactly in that range (it's 2.6"): https://www.chessbazaar.com/the-collector-series-wooden-staunton-chess-pieces-in-sheesham-box-wood-2-6-king.html and it looks exactly like advertised, but I don't know how much quality differs from set to set. I was a little worried that the Sheesham pieces might be of different color, but they're all in a deep nice brown.

There's also an ebonized version of this set: https://www.chessbazaar.com/varnished-stained-dyed-series-handcarved-staunton-chess-pieces-in-dyed-stained-box-wood-2-6-king.html

Don't buy from chess kart. These are a bunch of new thugs who procured chess from chessbazzar and want to compete them online after seeing the success of CB. Chess Kart doesn't even deliver in India, not sure how they will deliver to other countries. Then come replacements, customer service etc. Moreover, the manufacturers here in India give you the quality product of how much you pay them.  Only CB, HoS and chess store works with some of the best manufactures here in India. 

Good luck w/ your decision. BTW, ask Cb about making a 2.5 KH for you. They have custom chess service.

Thanks Gurpreet, 

I have bought from CB that will make the pieces only of a Travel set hoping to get a 2.5” king since he says the manufacturer  accuracy ranges between 2-3 millimeters.

Since you are in Europe, and shipping should be reasonable, why not check out Official Staunton.  I believe they are the largest chess purveyor in Europe and the UK. They are located in the UK.. 

Practically it seems none vendor is 100% reliable. The only very reliable chess vendor I know is www.chess.it "Le 2 torri" here in Italy. However the manufacturer that supplied to chess.it my preferred chess pieces with 2.5" king high, went bankrupt. They have a 68 mm., but it is weighted and I need unweighted. Here's why I have ordered pieces customized from CB.

I for one do not believe that Official Staunton would knowingly sell chess pieces with hairline cracks and not disclose it to the buyer.  They do not do business that way. 

They also get some solid wood boards from Italy and they are finely crafted. 

Stauntonmaster... I like ebonized pieces for the reason they have less tendency to crack over time vs. ebony. That said the black should not come off when waxed if properly sealed.  Chessbazaar seems to have a problem with sealing their stained sets. I would stick to boxwood and sheesham or bud rose wood when buying from them as these woods are not stained.  You have to ask yourself why after knowing they have had a problem with all their stained sets for years they still continue not to seal a stained set properly. 

 stauntonmaster

I have found Official and The House of Staunton to have very comparable and high quality products.  I understand they use some of the same manufacturers from India.  And both of their service is excellent.  

The problem, and good point at the same time, is that we are dealing with wood.  Even the highest quality wood and highest quality treatment of the wood cannot prevent inherent flaws in any particular piece from occurring.  The quality comes from the service of the dealer, which is excellent with both of these places.

Use renaissance wax, I like it but decide for yourself. 

Can you share which set you ordered from CB with stains coming in ebonized?

I don't know why, but I'm having a feeling that you don't seem to be a genuine and a CB competitor who just joined chess.com to bash them. I have 15 sets of chessbazaar, ebony, stained every damn wood, yes some came broken which CB send me the replacement but never have a problem with dyed stain coming off. I've contacted CB regarding this today morning as 8 of my sets are ebonized, and they said that no one has ever come to them for this problem. Yes, there was a problem with red stain which CB also acknowledges and they claim to rectify it.  Why I think you're not a genuine is 1: You only target CB the way their competitors do. 2. You said that chess kart is good, which most of us never even heard off and BTW their website don't even have payment system etc and is just a crap. God knows how you deal with them 3. You said that black stain comes off which CB claims that they haven't had any complaints regarding it nor none of the collectors complain about this issue whatsoever, Lastly, You say that you bought one set from them and in another post, you say that their bud rosewood is not properly polished. How come you know when you didn't have one. In the last, let me give a piece of advice. Stay calm and play chess !!