Remember also that chess manufacturing is predominantly a cottage industry
New chess pieces, am I being too picky?
Sort:
My only newly made set came from TCE & that was on a very good sale price on esty + payment made with pay pal just in case of a refund ,
Just needed to add 100 euro for import tax + Vat & handling fee from Fed EX with a demand of 6 days to pay after sales bill , so not a cheap buy really in the end or deal as I would have liked or led to believe , See small print . so my fault .
As for the set by TCE no issues , just the after sales tax that came two months later via Fed Ex .
That actually looks nicer and less "marble-y" than most marble sets I've seen.
Aug 5, 2023
0
#45
My tolerance for dings and dents increases with the length of time I've had and used a set for, or it's age when I get it. But tooling marks, patches of bad finish and poor carving would be permanently irritating in a set bought as new.
I always buy 2nd hand to avoid this as it's almost inevitable with so-called "quality" sets these days. Barely-good-enough is the new " premium"...
I vehemently disagree with the argument that it's very difficult to assure a good and consistent quality of merchandise. High volume should not necessarily equate to many issues.
Example: The Martin Guitar Company has a high volume of acoustic guitar sales.They've been around since 1833 and know how to produce a quality product and offer consistently good instruments.I've been to their factory and even their "cheapest guitar" is extremely well made and blemish free!
Ownership really,"really cares" about turning out a great product!.They demand it....A'hem 190 years and still successful.
I used to inhabit the Martin Guitar Forum and though there were a few issues(mostly related to shipping wood in cold climates and the buyer not acclimating it correctly,or an unsavory dealer taking poor care of his inventory,or UPS etc.) the overall satisfaction level trounces what we have "way too commonly" seen in the chess set world.
Even when I had my print/graphics/marketing business and we were flooded with work,in 35 years I had "maybe" a half dozen quality issues...A fish stinks from the head down.I am not trying to thump my chest,but I killed myself to make sure I kept my customers happy and I had "caring employees".
If anyone buys a chess set these days,no matter who supplies the pieces,you take a chance.
Sure,some sellers are better than others,but every time I get a new set shipped to me,I loathe the process of having to scrutinize each piece....The overall level of quality coming out of the vast majority of sellers is a disgrace.