So many crappy wooden chess sets for sale - any recommendations??

I have been burned twice in buying chess sets from less than reputable dealers. These "chess experts" claim they are selling the best thing since cream cheese, and then send me a set with uneven weights, miscolored pieces and overall bad workmanship. My biggest and most annoying experience has been with weights 1/2 popping out of the bottom of pieces, so they sit unevenly on the board. In other words, the bottoms are not 100% flat with the weight. Is this common amongst Staunton sets? I am guessing this is just a sign of bad workmanship.

Has anyone had any experience with TheChessStore.com? They do business on their site and eBay. The problem is, I am not a rich man at the moment and can't spend a lot on a set. $100 is really my limit and I need at least a 4" King with decent size base to fit my nice board.

Any recommendations? I have a nice dark rosewood/sheesham wood board and would prefer a woodedn set - not plastic.  Thank you very much for your time

For $100 you should be able to get a pretty kick-ass set.  Look for "House of Staunton" sets sold on ebay, not directly through the HOS site.  They are usually much discounted for some reason.  (I personally think a lot of the deep discounted stuff on ebay -- esp if its shipping out of NYC/northern jersey -- to be swag but what do i know).

Psst...Hey buddy, you want to buy some good quality chess pieces?

The House of Staunton makes high-quality sets (I have several) and they have a selection at 50% off here: The House of Staunton

Great responses guys and thank you for the information! I will take a look at HOS and see if they have some offerings on eBay. I was looking at one set in particular because I like the dark "white side" vs the ebony side. I am not sure if I am supposed to be posting a link like this here but it was this set. Is this good quality you think?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170828287291?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

It looks good to me, then again I think i've been buying sets from that shady guy in Joseph-S's post in the past lol. The sellers were willing to offer me a refund but they sold low quality Indian sets. I now know that.

I have a very nice 3.5" wood set from TheChessStore, and I can vouch for their high quality. The set you are looking at from eBay should be a very nice quality set that I think you would be very pleased with.

Looks like another chess set deal gone bad...

Here are the best dealers for chess sets since they make the sets.

http://www.houseofstaunton.com/   Good tournament and wood sets.

http://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/  The best sets money can buy

Well, the only thing I can really recommend is to never ever order chess sets via internet. You gotta buy such things like chairs and sofas where you want to try them out to see whether they are really comfy: So go into the next real chess store and let them show you their sets. Take a close look at the pieces, weigh them in your hands ... it's the only way to buy (plus it is the most fun).

Once again, thanks for the opinions and info. From what i've heard and research i've done, I've decided to go with the chess store for that set I listed above. My board is 19" with 2.125" squares, so I should be gtg with this set! I would not dare go with pieces larger than this though.

Although the golden rosewood vs ebony isn't traditional, I like that it is darker. My board has darker squares and border, so plain boxwood never looked quite right on it. I look forward to receiving what will hopefully be my first quality chess set! I will update you guys when I get it next week  :)

Just an update guys - I have had a bad experience with TheChessStore so far! The set arrived, and although the build quality is excellent (weights, felting, finishing), the set looks nothing like the eBay auction above  I came to find out from TheChessStore that they switched manufacturers and that is the reason for the different look. I am waiting for a replacement set that supposedly closer matches the one I paid for.

I just can't win lol. Just a warning for you guys though, TheChessStore no longer uses the same manufacturer and all of their eBay auctions look far different. Be wary

http://www.chess.co.uk/

You won't be fooled by these guys. They are the best.

Like how much different?  I been looking at TheChessStore quite alot and notice a few oddities with their set listings.  Specifically i've been eyeing the Fierce Knight set and after browsing their site for hours for weeks on end I noticed something interesting. 

This is the 3" King Fierce Knight set, with pieces only, look at the Bishop and Rook specifically

http://www.thechessstore.com/product/FKS300/Fierce-Knight-Staunton-Chess-Set-in-Golden-Rosewood-Boxwood-with-3-King.html

What i've figured out though is that's not actually what they look like, they're using the 4" King picture template in the "Pieces Only" listing for the 3 inch set, the 3.5 inch set and the 4 inch set.  Here is what the 3" itself actually looks like:

http://static.zoovy.com/img/thechessstore/W1000-H650-Bffffff/case_chess_set_packages/fierce_knight_staunton_chess_set_ebonized_small_walnut_case_setup_1000.jpg

notice the bishop's top is slightly fatter and the rooks are wider.

I have purchased from the following sites in the last six weeks. Hope it helps you in your purchase.

...purchased a few items from HOS, very good quality, very happy, prices are not low, but quality is great.

...purchased from the ChessStore, good quality for the price.

...purchased a magnetic set from HouseOfChess, very good quality, not low prices for what I bought.

...purchased 3 tourny sets from Cajun Chess, and am well pleased. Good prices, good quality for the price.

Now if I only knew how to play chess, it would be much better.

You may also consider chess.com, I noticed they too have items for sale.

If someone wants to buy something

different e-mail me at ltrantas@yahoo.com

im selling cuban chess set from

Havana olympiad 1966

only 75 in the whole world.

It's sad to think of how many have been killed in chess set deals gone bad.

these guys are good: www.regencychess.co.uk they shipped to me in the US, no problems and really helpful. 

In terms of quality - I think it depends who they use as suppliers, I know a lot of stuff that comes out of India can be pretty crumby at times, it just depends who the supplier is and how good the retailer is at quality checking. 

Thanks for the responses, but I got the problem with TheChessStore resolved and they sent me a replacement set. The replacement set is fantastic and features 4" kings, triple-weighting, golden rosewood pieces for the white side and ebonized boxwood for the black side. Great Staunton style too, with the classic "scooped' bishop miters of typically higher priced sets!