Advice needed for trouble with chessbazaar products

Eyechess, you're right! How could I have forgotten the Zagreb (what I call the Marshall Tito). So, including the three Monarch sets, this would make it seven sets from HoC.

I sold off the HoC Rio (aka "Biggie Knight"), along with two other infrequently used sets to offset the cost of the Piatigorsky, which arrived this week. 

From a marketing standpoint, CB's biggest advantage over HoC and many others, is selection. They offer an wide array of reproductions and always seem to be adding new sets every month. Chess Bazaar increased their market share by offering a wide selection at very low prices. Now that they have a larger slice of the pie, it's time to raise prices and start making money. Considering their spotty quality control (at best),  increasing prices make their offerings even less of a bargain.

I receive a mail from Chessbazaar 4 days ago, but unfortunately and for an unknow reason, it goes directly in quarantine ???

So all my recent posts are absolutely not needed.

For those concerned, please accept all my apologies for what is simply a misunderstanding.

Good luck. I hope your issues get resolved quickly and to your satisfaction.

@loubalch:

Thank you

Glad to hear that.

CB may not be the best with their products' details. However I have the feeling that Sapna is always willing to help with my limited experience.

Thans for the recommendation.

I do want to try more products from HOC, but I have to check my pocket first

BTW I found their Galaxy series very interesting with a lot of woods in variety and have a decent shape generally, and the polish and waxing/painting is shining. I alreay have Ebony, Boxwood, Bud Rose wood and Mahogany. There are still Sheesham, Rosewood, Wenge, and Walnut remained to be collected. I contacted HOC for this kind of customized purchase possibily so that I don't need to buy many sets of Boxwood and their response is positive.

I like their Monarch set, the size is a perfect fit (to my eye) on a 2-1/8" chess board. So much so, I own 2-1/2 sets. I first bought their bud rosewood version. Later, they sold me a half-set of dark rosewood pieces (since I already owned the boxwood pieces, I didn't need a full set), and finally, I bought their sheesham version (full set), which I got for $80, including shipping.

So, if you already own one of their sets and really like the size and design, ask them to quote you on the cost of a half-set.

Thank you rickyro

PS: I must admit that, as in real life, and despite my age, one of my biggest defauts is to be too impulsive and not thinking enough (in chess game too)

It bewildered me a little that HOC categorizes their products into different types such as: Wood, Premier, Tournament... For sure Premier are also normally wood. But it happened that all Galaxy series belong to Premier. Does Premier type promises better quality or finish from HOC?

Compared to the Chess Bazaar's slick and well designed website, HoC's site looks like something out of the last millenium (1990's). I find their classifications confusing at best. In fact, I prefer to shop HoC through their eBay store. Strangely, they have products on eBay that are not listed on their home website!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/houseofchess_store/m.html?item=351067734709&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Also, unlike Chess Bazaar, with HoC it seems you get what you pay for. What do I mean by this? On the Chess Bazaar website, it's hard to tell why a set selling for between $450-$550 is worth more than a similarly ornate set with the same materials selling in the $250-$350 range. In other words, CB pricing seems somewhat arbitrary. On the other hand, HoC's pricing is more logical. As the size of the sets increase, as the materials improve, as complexity of design increases, so too does the price. You can look at one of their $300 sets and understand why it's worth more than one of their $150 sets. 

I'm pretty discriminating about the chess sets I buy. And although I presently own six of their sets, there's isn't much left over to tempt me. And, compared to Chess Bazaar, there isn't much in the way of new sets being offered.

All in all, I find HoC offers a range of products from decent to very good. Better on the low end than CB and not quite in the league of the premium sets from House of Staunton, but HoC offers, in my opinion, a very good value for the money. Where you would pay $500-$800 for an A to A+ rated product from House of Staunton, you can get a very good B+ to A- rated product from HoC for 30-40% less. And only you can decide if that's a good deal or not. Like anything else, as savvy consumers, we have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the not-so-good (or awful as the case may be). I hope this helps.

I was particularly interested in something similar to HOS's Ercolano's  design. $975 for rosewood (http://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-ercolano-series-luxury-chess-pieces-4-4-king.html)    

It seems to compare to CB's Arabian knight Series -   $372 http://www.chessbazaar.com/the-arabian-knight-series-artisan-staunton-chess-pieces-in-bud-rose-box-wood-4-2-king.html.    

Personally, the CB's Knight design seemed to offer a little more artistic flare  ...  

In this case, CB looked pretty attractive.  Just my 2 cents worth  ...  

my review just when public :-)  (skip toward the bottom for the review part)  http://www.richimages.net/?p=7113   Nice images too ... 

great review for a very nice chess set...

i find this set similar to that one:

http://www.chessbazaar.com/the-california-chrome-staunton-series-chess-set-in-ebony-box-wood-4-1-king.html

Rich,

Both Chess Bazaar and House of Chess are shipping their product directly from India. Here's some pics of a fancy set I got from House of Chess back in 2014. Just to let folks know that some of their more expensive sets ($400 max.) are worth considering.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/post-your-favorite-or-most-ornate-chess-sets

When I returned to chess after a long break, I found Chess Bazaar very attractive. The sets were reasonable and - I felt - of good quality. But after having bought a few sets and getting my fill, I'm just not feeling it anymore. And some of their offerings seem downright gaudy. But, hey, to each his own.

Nice set loubalch ... and nice photos as well !!! 

Thanks for the comments on the article MySeT. :-)

you are very welcome...

Thank you very much for your post. It's vey informative and helpful.

loubalch wrote:

rickyro wrote:

It bewildered me a little that HOC categorizes their products into different types such as: Wood, Premier, Tournament... For sure Premier are also normally wood. But it happened that all Galaxy series belong to Premier. Does Premier type promises better quality or finish from HOC?

Compared to the Chess Bazaar's slick and well designed website, HoC's site looks like something out of the last millenium (1990's). I find their classifications confusing at best. In fact, I prefer to shop HoC through their eBay store. Strangely, they have products on eBay that are not listed on their home website!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/houseofchess_store/m.html?item=351067734709&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Also, unlike Chess Bazaar, with HoC it seems you get what you pay for. What do I mean by this? On the Chess Bazaar website, it's hard to tell why a set selling for between $450-$550 is worth more than a similarly ornate set with the same materials selling in the $250-$350 range. In other words, CB pricing seems somewhat arbitrary. On the other hand, HoC's pricing is more logical. As the size of the sets increase, as the materials improve, as complexity of design increases, so too does the price. You can look at one of their $300 sets and understand why it's worth more than one of their $150 sets. 

I'm pretty discriminating about the chess sets I buy. And although I presently own six of their sets, there's isn't much left over to tempt me. And, compared to Chess Bazaar, there isn't much in the way of new sets being offered.

All in all, I find HoC offers a range of products from decent to very good. Better on the low end than CB and not quite in the league of the premium sets from House of Staunton, but HoC offers, in my opinion, a very good value for the money. Where you would pay $500-$800 for an A to A+ rated product from House of Staunton, you can get a very good B+ to A- rated product from HoC for 30-40% less. And only you can decide if that's a good deal or not. Like anything else, as savvy consumers, we have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the not-so-good (or awful as the case may be). I hope this helps.

I would not say the quality of CB is deteriorating or going further and further down in the past few years.

CB has always been, to me and my experience, a lower priced Chess set maker and seller.  They have always had inconsistencies in the product reports I have read here in the 3 years I have been reading and posting here.

Yes, some of their products are quite nice and without flaws.  I bought and own 2 of their sets, Soviet Tal in Ebonized and 3.0" Fierce Knight in Bud Rosewood.  Both of my sets are fine.  And I have read and seen pictures of a good number of sets from CB that are nice and in good shape.

I also have read about and seen problems with Chess sets and pieces from CB.  And I have read that in about 3 out of 5 times there is a problem with customer service.  Now, we will see more complaints so the percentage of problems is probably quite a bit less than we read.