Ele C.

Etsy is a visually appealing marketplace with a wide variety of products. I have had pleasant interactions with a variety of sellers (my personal experience is limited to fashion-oriented purchases) who were more than happy to answer my questions. The layout is efficient and the shipping time has been reasonable thus far, although Canada post has recently experienced delays that are out of sellers' control.

Artists deserve to charge enough to make a living off of their work but a good chunk of Etsy creations and *cough* resales are overpriced. However, the product quality has been consistent in my purchases and I would advise all buyers to check for sizing and reviews before buying.

As a viewer, I have greatly enjoyed Twitch. The content is diverse, the layout is practical and interacting with streamers is effortless and lots of fun. However, the game ban policy is pretty arbitrary and unusually stiff for a flexible industry. *Cough* Yandere Sim *cough*

The site made conscious efforts to ban streamers who used sex appeal as the main focus of their show and now values quality content creators through many little gimmicks, some more successful than others. Getting monetization as a streamer is about as difficult as it is on Youtube from what I've heard and policy changes can be destabilizing if you're intending to stream. Some technical difficulties have been reported for audio delay and frame rate. As a viewer, no issues at all! But as a streamer, minor roadblocks lie ahead.

I've been a regular Discord user for a few months. I was getting tired of Skype's bugs and glitches and was looking for something purely voice/text based to serve the same functions. I'm glad to say that Discord met those expectations and gave me and others access to great communities.

Like many cheap marketplaces, looking for product/seller reviews and sizing is key to even having a shot at a good product. My experience with AliExpress has been limited to a couple wigs and hairnets. The quality was cheap as expected but worth it for reasonable prices. I would advise buyers to go for things that don't require high quality, such as minor accessories sold by trusted sellers.

I bought a pair of tickets for the BTS Wings Tour from TicketLiquidator a few months ago and the tickets themselves had no issues. The transfer was made immediately with a convenient confirmation email and I was a happy concert-goer once March came.

BUT, this is a scalper site after all so I would never recommend it. The starting prices were already high and, with fees, I ended up paying about 450$CAD for each ticket. (P3 so mid-range seats) I also know that these tickets are sold by pretty much anyone (since the tickets come from individual sellers), not all of whom are the most honest.

So, if you're desperate and willing to spend a whole lot of money to see your idols then, by all means, go ahead. But look around a little bit before you settle for TicketLiquidator.

All of my items have arrived and I've been happy with all of them. BUT, here's what you should take into consideration:

- Sizing is NEVER good for Wish clothing. Buying any sort of clothing article on Wish is a huge risk that will more often than not leave you disappointed. However, I am one of the lucky few that picked sizes well so it is possible to get good results. (1 size up for a sweatshirt and my medium butt somehow fit into all the underwear I ordered)

- It takes a LONG time. You'll be waiting for months. Yeah, I don't care what the cute little display says, it'll take months. If you can learn to be okay with that, (all shipping is 2$ so, personally, I am) then Wish is a good option.

- It's cheap China-made stuff... so buy things that don't need to be high-quality. The things I've bought were mostly cute little decorations that have no problem during mass-production. If you need quality, look elsewhere because you get what you pay for.

- You see those blue check marks next to certain items? Those are reliable. Go for those when you can.

- Make good use of the refund system! As soon as your item exceeds its LATEST arrival date (Not when it's pushed back. Spoiler: it WILL be pushed back.), contact support under the refund option. They've refunded about half of my items in this manner because, as mentioned, it takes a long time.

Is it worth it? That's up to you. But it's not a scam, per se.

EDIT: Fraud and individual sellers

- I've seen a lot of reviews lately about credit card fraud originating from Wish sellers. This has not happened to me but pick your sellers carefully. The blue checkmark should be a safe bet as far as sellers go and items with tons of good reviews should be as well. What buyers need to understand is that Wish is a marketplace. It doesn't have the best security and it allocates a grand total of 0$ to customer service but they're not stealing your money, unwisely chosen sellers are.

EDIT 2: Price bump-up

Wish has now significantly increased all their prices, now gaining more profit from the item itself on top of what they added into shipping. These are no longer bargains and I will therefore be giving Wish a lower rating.