20+ Cautionary Tales About Buying Things Online

• By Asad Tipu
• March 21, 2017
• 11 minutes read

The internet is one the most powerful and versatile tools ever invented. It provides so much opportunity, ease, and understanding of the world that it’s mind boggling how easily we underestimate its use. I, myself, have a job that exists purely on the internet, and that’s writing articles.

Collected below are various instances of people who bought one thing, yet got another, be it because of bad advertisement, or random mishaps.

#1 These do not look like sunglasses.

She ordered sunglasses online, but what she got were these cool looking crows. Or are they ravens? I could never tell the difference but they look EPIC.

#2 Thanks, Target.

This person bought a Toothless balloon, from How To Train Your Dragon. The box it came in advertises it as Toothless too, but do you know what he got? ET’s head.

 

#3 A Christmas jumper bought on eBay.

I want to think that this was planned and executed with intention. There’s no way that something like that is a coincidence or random chance. Whoever did this, kudos to you.

 

#4 Expectation Vs. Reality: Pockets Edition

This buyer wanted a cool looking Christmas jumper with these pockets that looked like mittens. They got it, but it wasn’t exactly as advertised, with the pockets being up to your chest instead of on your waist.

 

#5 Handmade Doll.

From hell. This is the creepiest looking doll I’ve ever seen. And I think dolls are creepy anyway! This thing looks like it was forged in the fires of hell, stitched together with nightmare fuel and abandoned hopes and dreams. Christ.

 

#6 Smart Watch

This person bought a smart watch, thought they got the deal of the century with how cheap it was. Unfortunately, the reason it was so cheap was because it was made cheaply. It’s basically just an analogue watch in digital form. It wasn’t worth the money.

#7 Rug made for ants

This person bought a rug on the internet. Every time I see a story of someone buying something online, my immediate thought is “I hope they checked the dimensions”. Do you know how often they do? About never. Most of the time they get lucky with what they bought, or they realize it was really small, which is why it was cheap. At least it looks soft.

 

#8 Feet? I thought you meant meters!

The story behind this one is still more understandable than people who completely disregard checking dimensions at all. Evidently, the man thought that he was buying a two meter curtain. What he got, was something like two feet of curtain. It’d be a lot easier if everyone in the world used the same units.

#9 Expectations Vs. Reality: Crystal Ball Edition

Oftentimes, companies advertise their products by choosing the best possible one out of a very large collection, heavily editing it, and then pretending like every single product is exactly like that. Because of that, you get completely terrible products. Not only that, instead of getting a single 4 inch ball, she got four 1inch balls.

#10 Expectations Vs. Reality: Qt Edition

This person ordered a Qt to serve food. What they got was this tiny, evidently lighter-sized pot that isn’t even good enough for dips. Always check your dimensions, it’s my mantra at this point.