Should I Keep or Cancel The Order?

For a while now I wanted to upgrade from the veneer/molded edge chess boards that I've owned to a solid wood board. Ended up getting a Maple / African Padauk solid wood board with 2.5" squares from The Chess Store. Currently it's on backorder because they just ran out and the ones for restock are built but just needs the final finishes. I don't mind waiting because I like the board's build. Very decent looking; not as pretty or super fancy like some of the multi-layered ones out there but also more durable. The squares are actually thick. I've owned a few sets from The Chess Store and I've had no issues (though I received Ebonized pieces amongst genuine Ebony before). The sets are decent and not as pricey as some House of Staunton equivalents.

Then I decided to get a bigger set to compliment this new board. However, this time I ordered, for the first time, from the infamous Chessbazaar. What I ordered is the Wellington Series equivalent from their site in Boxwood and "Bud Rosewood". 

 

Seems pretty popular right now. The Knights seem to grab a lot of attention. Though I'm not particularly crazy about the King. Generally I like classic Staunton based styles and would have gone with the Imperial Series if I knew that the Knights would be pretty similar to what they showcase but I've seen otherwise for that particular set. If anyone has recent images of the Imperial Series reproduction set from Chessbazaar, please let me know.

Anyway, I chose the Wellington and ended up paying $276 for the pieces, which for a 4.4" king set, I believe is a great bargain (also got the storage box for $170). The Chess Store equivalent was around $750 for a slightly smaller king with African Padauk. All good news so far and I'm only waiting for it to be shipped at this point, which allows me to cancel the order for a full refund before shipping without issues.

But I've been reading a lot of dissatisfaction with some of Chessbazaar's products and it got me just a bit concerned. Not just defects but how much different it will look from the pictures. In the other hand, there are some great satisfied customers. So.. I decided to gamble considering the price. At worst if the refund/replacement process is a pain, I'll resell it.

For anyone who has used Chessbazaar before, should I keep this order in and see what I get? Or is there a big storm coming and I should abandon ship ASAP? Even for paying less than $300 on it? I've heard they've improved over time but is this still the case in 2021? Should I gamble with the Imperial Series from Chessbazaar?

I bought the Sher-E-Punjab set (boxwood/ebony) from CB and I'm super happy with it. One very minor issue with a bishop which I'm told they will replace but aside from that the quality is superb. I weighed them too and well within the 10%. I love this set. It's every bit as beautiful as the images.

You should know that the padouk wood oxidizes. Not a biggie for some, others are driven to varnish the set. I'm looking to buy a padouk set from SC.

Chess Bazaar has been one of the best in the last few years.  sound67 has purchased a lot of things from them lately and there have been no problems.  There have been no complaints on this forum about them either for quite awhile.

I would be confident ordering from them.

Not yet. 

I like chessbazaar haven’t had any problems with them.

I have ordered two sets from Chess Bazaar see posts #1080 and #1224 in the “Post your chess sets” thread. For context, I am not a chess set collector and I do not have prior experience buying chess sets but with that caveat, I feel the product and the service was very good. Please note however that my order were probably pre-The Queen’s Gambit boom or at least prior to the peak in sales - I think this is important to note because it seems many suppliers have struggled to keep up with demand and thus, service and quality appears (from feedback on numerous threads within this forum) to be more unpredictable across numerous suppliers at present.

That was fast. Let us know how the transaction goes. Personally I'm curious how dark the padouk wood is. I'm hoping it's as dark as it appears in the photo. That will greenlight my purchase. Good luck.

Hey, that's my set (in padouk). Wow, looks fabulous! Thanks! 

I was about to empty my spam folder when I noticed an email from CB with an extra 25% off discount code. Anybody received similar offer? It's been a while since chess stores sent such codes due to Queen's Gambit popularity.