Glyn"Scargo" C.'s Profile

Import Image has great prices and Josh, the owner will deal and beat other's prices.
Quote from Josh: "yes yes i know i have hundreds of emails...still answering them". "we are doing over 500k of subaru parts a month...someone has to be using us."

I recently bought over $2,500 worth of parts from Josh. I talked to him a couple of times. Some parts got here so fast it made my head spin! The BC coil-overs took over four weeks, supposedly, partly because of customs and partly because I wanted non-stock rear springs. However, Josh was not good about communicating the delays to me. It was always me having to contact him for an update. I bought Whiteline end links to put on Agency Power lower control arms. They didn't fit because of a goofy adapter Whiteline gives you to adapt them to an earlier model end link they sell. I didn't know this and Josh didn't know it either, so I ended up with something I couldn't use. I will be putting them up for sale any day...
I asked Josh to help me out with a sweet deal on end links that would fit. He delayed and then said he was working on it. That was the last I heard from Josh, even though I emailed him again. BTW, End links are stupidly expensive. I ended up adapting $36 Blox adjustable links by making my own lower spacers!
Later, I tried to buy $2000 racing seats from him. Because I made a negative comment on IWSTI's vendor feedback area (and sent an email communication to him suggesting he fix his customer service), he would not even respond.

Bottom line is Josh is very, very busy with his huge sales volume he is so very proud of and brags about. You can get very good pricing from Import Image, but don't expect a lot more. I think if he doesn't see a big profit in the works he may forget about you. I think he is trying to do too much with his small crew for the volume. If sales continue at his high volume then why should he change his business model?
Just understand that you don't get something for nothing. Some items may get backordered or delayed because he doesn't really have inventory on many or most parts. You may have to wait an extraordinary amount of time for your parts to arrive (and he won't tell you that up-front).
If you are unwilling to pay a little more then don't expect the accustomed or usual etailer service, response, consistent notification of ship status and follow-up and good customer service after the sale..

If you are near the Hudson River Valley or Poughkeepsie, NY then you owe it to yourself to check their prices and services. I live in CT and I got great prices on racing wheels and DOT street legal racing tires. I believe he caters to the sports car enthusiasts and performance car/racing crowd. I got mounted and balanced wheels shipped to me just like Tire Rack, etc. does. Very fair/competitive pricing. The site could be a little better and more user friendly, but hey, just call them!

I bought $1,700 worth of imported ceramic tile from them. I dealt with a salesman via email. Communications were good and everything went very smoothly. The tiles arrived on-time and in great shape. The price was phenomenal! Best pricing I found through internet research and communicating with several vendors and receiving quotes. Less than half the price of some of the hugely inflated pricing I found.

Don't buy anything from www.amobhitman.com "moviesword" is reportedly running a scam and was barred from Ebay. Several people say you will never get what you order, just loose your money.
I was going to buy a Japanese Kitchen knife from him because of the low price, but research dissuaded me! The site name "a mob hit man" might be a clue!
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309876

This is not a review based on my first-hand experience, but from reading others experiences. I will give the link: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flooring/msg0121460714468.html
What made me do my homework was the prices were too low! Less than half the brick-and-mortar stores. That is virtually impossible. From $14/SF elsewhere down to $6.35 from Fastfloors??
AND, this included a cash-back rebate! If you read the reviews they are like black and white between good and horrible reviews. This smells fishy. Looks like their rebates are not delivered on. I would be very wary. I am going to seek out other internet sources.

I bought a cover for our large rectangular table. The seams are not waterproof! I told them so and they sent me another one. Same thing with it. Their site says, "Covers are totally waterproof". Not so. They will not keep water off your furniture at the seams.

They have a large inventory. They deliver fast and accurately. Sometimes I can find better deals (better quality or performance for the same or less), elsewhere. They are worth considering. I have purchased three or four items from them. No problems.

This is just a shill site for other sites that almost look cookie-cutter. They and others want to sell you their "secrets". Not an unbiased review site. A for-profit site. Forget them.
I suggest looking at state and federal government sites (they plagiarize much of what they say, anyway). California has a good deal of info and links.

On occasion, I've found them to be competitive with Newegg or have something Newegg didn't.
No problems with several purchases. Perhaps not as easy to search as Newegg (?), but it's been a while since I was there.

I have purchased a number of cables from them and the have all been high quality and I've had no problems with any of them. Easy to do business with.
Better than paying outrageous prices at Best Buy for Monster cables and the like.

"Meet new people" comes up often when reading about Yelp. Getting connected, being desired/cool/popular. This is the social aspect of Yelp that is bad. The ability to be outrageous and get attention; being flip, using hyperbole, catch-phrases and not saying anything meaningful. Almost reminds me of mating season.
There are too many inexperienced youths diluting the information, unintentionally or otherwise. There are shills and scammers to watch out for. Too many use "one star" or "five stars" as if everything is "black and white". This is not useful... I think a lot flies under the radar screen of Yelp Moderators.

All that being said... If you work at it, and know who to read and who to believe, Yelp can be a very useful internet tool. A "Chowhound" (Chowhound.com), friend gave me a short list of local Yelpers to follow; she was very accurate and believable. Most fit the profile of a knowledgeable foodie with diverse tastes, who actually talked about the food and service. That was the kind of local person I wanted to read.
Like anything worthwhile, Yelp requires work and discrimination. If you search for a place and go by the averages, or by the one or two "five star" recommendations, you may be sorely disappointed. Find those in your age group or level of maturity. I don't look for good restaurants by whether they serve good, cheap margaritas or not, if you get my drift.

This was almost going to be my favorite website. Instead, I chose B&H Photo. Both are what all e'tailers should aspire to. Newegg has a great search engine so it's easy to find what you need. Low prices. Often they cannot be beat. Sometimes I get things the next day and don't pay extra for shipping! I've built two high-tech computers using their parts. Customer service (which I've almost never needed), is very good.
They somewhat focus on computer parts, but their breadth of offerings is amazing. I bought a TV from them.
To get great prices, great customer service, fast shipping, good packaging, no hassles and a great website all-in-one is amazing... When I find sites on Site Jabber, where my experience has been exceptionally good over many purchases, (like Newegg), with only three stars, I wonder if I am living in another universe. I just have to say how good they are...

I am a semi-pro or part-time pro who has shot for 50+years. B&H prices can rarely be beat or their prices are very close to the best. Their quality and service always tips the scales in their favor for me.
I just searched for a good scope for my rifle and guess what? B&H had the best price. I've been in their NYC store. It in itself is amazing! I've purchased dozens of items from them and not one problem. Not one return. Call them; you get great help...
All my high-end Nikon D-300 stuff came from them. Televisions and high quality monitors, too. I could go on, but why? They have a fantastic reputation. Pros recommend B&H over and over.

Chowhound regional forums can be very helpful for finding good restaurants, specialty restaurants and anything related to food, especially hard to find ethnic items. It requires a little work to know who to believe or whose tastes match yours. (Clue: Look for how many people are reading a specific Chowhound)
Some Topical Forums, like Home Cooking can be very helpful and are full of skilled, knowledgeable home cooks to give you advice.
Other topical areas like "Not about Food" and "General Chowhounding Topics" can mire you down in irrelevant BS and get you in trouble with the moderators if you say something they (or others), don't like. The Chow side of the site is fairly worthless unless you are a beginner cook or wannabe foodie. Lots of advertising, fluffy articles and inane "help" videos. It all seamlessly bleeds over into Chowhound. A CBS property, the site is structured around advertising dollars and making money off the head count of those mainly drawn to the food forums (the "Chowhound" part of the site and what CNET bought that was originally created by foodie Jim Leff).

Chowhound is the best there is on the internet for the North American continent. It and Yelp (and eGullet), used together can work wonders. Yelp is easy to search (but full of a lot of young goofballs with varying motives for being on there), while Chowhound is usually more believable. eGullet is good, but coverage (participation in certain areas), varies dramatically. To participate, eGullet requires you to submit a minimum of 100 words personal statement which must include a specific acknowledgment of the member agreement. They are serious and most people that join are serious foodies, unlike Yelp and occasionally, Chowhound.
Chowhound is almost anal about shills and insiders, yet they let anyone join. Some join just to use the system (where can I find a good hot dog in NYC?), and don't contribute.
Very often the moderators throw out the baby with the bath water. Few good food writers stay on Chowhound for long because it is so repressive. If you know anyone in a restaurant or have ever expressed that you been friendly with staff in a restaurant they will deem your comments tainted and remove them. Thus it is hard for a respected, amateur dining critic with any creds to get anything to stay posted. Most go off to their own food blogs... This leaves amateurs and newbies of varying skills and knowledge. There can be some shrill voices and hyperbole just like Yelp. Just like Yelp, a Chowhound can trash a restaurant or extol it and be totally wrong. There is just less of it on Chowhound, and the moderators keep people from being acrimonious, to a fault. You can counter bad posts with your opinion, but it is hard to disagree with someone and get away with it. It is a tricky tightrope to walk. Things get dumbed-down because of moderation; intelligent, witty, funny, experienced foodie types, who want to speak their mind, get sent packing on short order. "You must behave" and do it their way or it's the highway! I know, I was banished.

Still, it IS the best that's out there. A few others are worth using. Some cities, like Chicago, Houston and Toronto have local forums that are very good and less restricted by moderators.