There are several online market options, particularly OLX and Mercado Libre both of which have sellers that offer all kinds of stuff, new and used. They're like Ebay but without the bidding. My experience is with Mercado Libre and for this post I'll review it.
Getting started is easy, you simply create an account, provide your details, especially email address and phone number. After which you can begin shopping for whatever you want. It's all in Spanish including the search so you have to know the proper local terms for products if you want to find what you're looking for.
I've made several purchases and so far it's been a pleasant experience. There is a “reputación” [reputation] indicator for both sellers and buyers but you need to have made at least 10 transactions for it to be active. The sellers will range from large companies to individuals. What I like most about it is that it's very convenient as you can find something that is a bit difficult to get or far away from you. Many sellers also offer free delivery but this is for mainly for bigger purchases or purchases made in the same city.
These are the steps of a transaction, you click on “comprar” (buy) of an item that you want and after verifying it you will receive an email, after which a seller will call you to ask about delivery details. It's as simple as that. To date all of my orders have been cash payment, so I make an order and the seller delivers it to my home where I pay them. Some will ask for you to make a deposit into their bank accounts, but I don't go about that way as I select sellers in my city.
As I mentioned you can buy almost everything, there are some good deals for some items, and others no so much. There are decent deals for some electronics but be careful because some sellers might say they offer a guaranty but I don't know how that's possible when they are selling products out of their houses, and probably products they got cheapy from Ipiales (Colombia) or elsewhere. But there are others that have brick and mortar shops and I feel comfortable buying from them. An example is when I bought a laser printer for $80 that retails elsewhere for around $120. I also needed a very long LAN wire at my previous place to set up another access point as the wifi wasn't reaching. I looked everywhere to no avail and simply decided to order it from Mercado Libre.
Anyone else feel confident shopping online within Ecuador?
Shopping online within Ecuador
$80 is a good price for a laser printer. What brand did you get? Did you test it out before handing the cash over? Based on your testimony, I would be comfortable doing that, although I wonder how much is available in Cuenca.
Nards Barley wrote:$80 is a good price for a laser printer. What brand did you get? Did you test it out before handing the cash over? Based on your testimony, I would be comfortable doing that, although I wonder how much is available in Cuenca.
It's a Samsung 2020, I didn't test it because the seller actually has a brick and mortar shop in Quito so I was confident making the purchase. Personally, that's the only way I would buy an electronic as the guaranty would be valid. This is why I am reluctant to buy a SmartTv from individuals despite the cost being 30-40% cheaper than elsewhere. One way to know if it's a company or individual is to browse the entire page as they sometimes advertise their company on some images. It's also helpful to read questions from potential buyers and replies from sellers at the bottom of the page, because some questions pertain to specifics and also discounts, sometimes the sellers accommodate with a 5-10% discount from the listed price.
I think Cuenca is a decent size market so there should be some good deals out there, not to the extent of what's available in Quito and Guayaquil, but some sellers ship to all areas of the country.
vsimple wrote:There are several online market options, particularly OLX and Mercado Libre, both of which have sellers that offer all kinds of stuff, new and used.
Excellent thread. 
Thanks.
Since these companies are active in multiple countries in South America, here are the websites in Ecuador....
www.mercadolibre.com.ecwww.olx.com.ec
This past week I was interested in buying a 4K tv from Mercado libre. I was ready, contacted one seller and he said he was out of town. Contacted another and he said he was in Colombia and he'll return in two days.
I said okay no problem. Then he replies later and asks me to deposit some money in his account, and if I do so he'll buy it while in Colombia. The amount wasn't much.
What concerned me was that he asked for it. It also made me think "what happens if the tv doesn't work a week or month from now."
The seller would have to take it all the way back to Colombia and return it.
Ultimately I settled for a local Sony fhd smart Tv (Netflix) with local 1 year warranty.
I made this decision also becuase some 4K movies are as much as 38 gb to download. That's a lot of writing and storage for one movie.
Btw the Sony shows a great screen more importantly peace of mind.
These guys selling out their apartments.
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