Author Topic: anyone used kprepublic.com  (Read 45224 times)

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Offline tjcertified

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 13
anyone used kprepublic.com
« on: Sat, 11 January 2020, 21:01:04 »
Has anyone bought from this site: http://kprepublic.com? I usually buy from novelkeys.xyz, but they are out of the kailh thick click navy and this other site says they have them.

Offline HungerMechanic

  • Posts: 1377
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 12 January 2020, 12:47:43 »
KPRepublic is usually a reliable seller. They're downmarket from KBDFans, in the view of many, but they tend to ship their items.

Switches should be relatively easy to get from them.


You might want to buy specifically from KPRepublic's AliExpress store. I have bought keycaps and switches from them there, and they all arrived. AliExpress holds your money in escrow until your product is successfully received.



KBDFans has them in stock also:

https://kbdfans.com/products/novelkeys-x-kailh-box-thick-clicks-navy-jade

They are also on AliExpress.

Offline tjcertified

  • Thread Starter
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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 13 January 2020, 19:19:28 »
U appreciate the feedback, and sent in an order on kbdfans

Offline mrboli

  • Posts: 53
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 17 January 2020, 02:50:00 »
Just be careful of their PBT caps since they're a bit inconsistent.
Mine are a bit off
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Offline Iksion

  • Posts: 61
  • Location: St. Petersburg Russia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 05 February 2020, 08:53:41 »
They are fine. Bought from them both ways: ali and direct.
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Offline Handke

  • Posts: 125
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 05 February 2020, 09:03:26 »
Box switches, retooled or not, destroy gmk keycaps. It has been demonstrated ad nauseam.

Offline YungDaff

  • Posts: 8
  • Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 10 February 2020, 06:14:40 »
I bough some stuff from their aliexpress shop, everything went fine. I ordered some kailh speed switches, Tai-Hao PBT keycaps and some everglide stabs.

Offline Sintpinty

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 14 February 2020, 19:29:21 »
Has anyone bought from this site: http://kprepublic.com? I usually buy from novelkeys.xyz, but they are out of the kailh thick click navy and this other site says they have them.

very reliable and have massive selection. Yes they are okay for a seller

Offline shamsael

  • Posts: 6
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 12 May 2020, 15:09:19 »
I tried to buy some stuff from them yesterday.  When checking out, their paypal widget failed.  It took my username/password, but the transaction never went through.  24 hours later, I got an email saying someone in Sichuan China successfully logged in with my paypal credentials.

I navigated to paypal on a different device and updated my password, just in case the email was a phish.

Really smells to me like kprepublic is the worst kind of scam.  The kind that probably takes your money and sends you product, but also steals your financial info for their own ends.  We'll see.

Offline Reimu_64

  • Posts: 99
    • KeebWorks
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 12:15:31 »
Yes, I bought some of those weird cyberpunk switches and they arrived on time, no issues. And I recently placed an order for a switch tester bed through aliexpress waiting for it to arrive. I'd say they're reputable.

Offline Leslieann

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 13 May 2020, 20:16:53 »
I tried to buy some stuff from them yesterday.  When checking out, their paypal widget failed.  It took my username/password, but the transaction never went through.  24 hours later, I got an email saying someone in Sichuan China successfully logged in with my paypal credentials.

I navigated to paypal on a different device and updated my password, just in case the email was a phish.

Really smells to me like kprepublic is the worst kind of scam.  The kind that probably takes your money and sends you product, but also steals your financial info for their own ends.  We'll see.
Krepublic has been pretty solid and they do way too much business to start scamming people like this.

Sounds like a fishing scam or you got hit by driveby malware (possibly both at once), an ad loaded you with a keylogger or something, I'd start running malware checks on your own machine.   You didn't follow the link in the warning email to change the password did you? Even if you went direct rather than using the email, if that malware was still active you just gave it to them again.

Before you start going nuts, go back and re-read the email and make sure it didn't just say you had authorized payment to someone in China rather than someone logged in from there because they do send these messages.
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Offline sefixmm

  • Posts: 132
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 15 May 2020, 05:33:57 »
They are ok for me too, made one order and everything was ok :)

Offline shamsael

  • Posts: 6
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #12 on: Thu, 21 May 2020, 15:19:41 »
I tried to buy some stuff from them yesterday.  When checking out, their paypal widget failed.  It took my username/password, but the transaction never went through.  24 hours later, I got an email saying someone in Sichuan China successfully logged in with my paypal credentials.

I navigated to paypal on a different device and updated my password, just in case the email was a phish.

Really smells to me like kprepublic is the worst kind of scam.  The kind that probably takes your money and sends you product, but also steals your financial info for their own ends.  We'll see.
Krepublic has been pretty solid and they do way too much business to start scamming people like this.

Sounds like a fishing scam or you got hit by driveby malware (possibly both at once), an ad loaded you with a keylogger or something, I'd start running malware checks on your own machine.   You didn't follow the link in the warning email to change the password did you? Even if you went direct rather than using the email, if that malware was still active you just gave it to them again.

Before you start going nuts, go back and re-read the email and make sure it didn't just say you had authorized payment to someone in China rather than someone logged in from there because they do send these messages.

1. The header info in the email matches other emails received from paypal
2. Since this wasn't a site i'd ever dealt with, I checked out from an ubuntu vm i use for work rather my own device.  Per company policy, that vm has some antimalware running on it, though I have no idea how strong it is.
3. I emailed the listed webmaster, gorge@kprepublic.com immediately after receiving the PayPal notification to ask them to confirm whether their checkout flow has been compromised, they did not respond.
4. Several days after the purchase, gorge@kprepublic.com sent ME an email saying they were happy with my purchase and asked me to contact them if I had any concerns.  I repeated my original complaint/warning about the paypal issue, and they still haven't responded.
5. I haven't got any tracking information for my order, though they did successfully charge my CC.
6. As I said in my previous message, the situation smelled like phish, and I performed the password change from a different device.  Not the same device i attempted to purchase on, and not the same device I received the email on.  While I was at it, I enabled 2FA on the account as well, and unlinked all of the payment methods temporarily.

I subsequently cancelled that card and got a new one from the bank.  The bank assures me the original charge did go through and the merchant was payed.  I'm not trying to revert this transaction, and they should be payed if they're legit, but I definitely don't want that credit card as a liability after the fact, and I definitely won't ever be doing business with them again.  I really think either their checkout flow, or their company, is compromised.  The paypal form their site directed me to didn't work.  It would be a really crazy coincidence that a paypal account I use maybe 5 times a year happens to get hacked by unrelated actors the day after I tried to use it on a strange website.

Plus, if I had "just gave it to them again", there have been no subsequent sign-on attempts after the first attempt, and no 2FA alerts that would suggest someone trying to log on.
« Last Edit: Thu, 21 May 2020, 15:30:11 by shamsael »

Offline Leslieann

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #13 on: Thu, 21 May 2020, 22:21:04 »
The whole point of Paypal is that they only get one part of the info needed to use the data, they only ever saw your email, not the password. Was it odd it was the day after, yes, but it also could have been coincidence, you may have been nailed in the past and only now are they getting around to you. You may want to check https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and see if your were compromised in the past.

I get why you feel they were in on it, to someone who doesn't deal with computer malware on a regular basis it absolutely looks that way, you logged in one day the next day you get a hack attempt, black and white. In the world of computer security that's not how it works, time is irrelevant, it can be days, weeks, months, even years from when your data was stolen to when someone actually uses it.


As for them charging and taking a while to ship, billing is instant and often handled by a 3rd party. Their warehouse however is manned by them and they are really backlogged due to the virus. It's not just them, it's all of China, factories are at 120% capacity trying to catch up.
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Offline Belverus

  • Posts: 2
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #14 on: Tue, 09 June 2020, 02:41:11 »
I bought some stuff from them and requested for a refund. They seem reliable.

Offline shamsael

  • Posts: 6
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 19 June 2020, 15:41:45 »
On 5/22, they told me they shipped my item, with a tracking number.
On 5/28, they told me my item was out of stock and asked how I wanted to proceed.

They have not responded to my emails, or acted on my response to the out of stock email.

Still haven't received anything, and the tracking number shows as in transit on China's postal tracking, but hasn't been received or acknowledged yet by the USPS.

Offline Leslieann

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 19 June 2020, 23:02:05 »
It sounds like your package shipped and is just in the system.

Everything in China is overwhelmed, as of now it's taking up to 3 weeks (from order date) before it even gets on a ship.
It still needs 1-2 months to cross the water, during which time you will not see any updates.


For anyone curious, here's my latest (a set of keycaps) and it's insane travel path.
This is JUST to trying leave China, and it failed and went back to Krepublic.  A lot is being reected for "security reasons", no one knows why but my guess is they're so overloaded that this is a way to do it without admitting they're overloaded. UPS does similar when the driver says they "couldn't find the house" even though they delivered there 2 days prior and 2 days before that.

2020-06-10 15:14, Origin Post is Preparing Shipment -> We have received notice that the originating post is preparing to dispatch this mail piece.
2020-06-10 15:14, CHINA, BEIJING EMS, Processed Through Facility
2020-05-29 18:48, Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
2020-05-29 18:48, CHINA, BEIJING EMS, Processed Through Facility
2020-05-28 18:37, CHINA, Acceptance
Origin:
2020-06-14 08:26, Beijing, Return
2020-06-14 08:19, Beijing, "Shunyi District Delivery Division Tianyi Investment Department" arrangement sending, delivery
2020-06-14 07:50, Beijing, leave the Beijing International Tianyu Processing Center, the next stop "Shunyi District Delivery Division Tianyi Investment Department"
2020-06-13 15:20, Beijing, Import Customs Release
2020-06-12 14:18, Beijing, "Beijing International Tianyu Processing Center" return, note: security return
2020-06-11 14:15, Beijing, Beijing International Mail Exchange Station Returned
2020-06-10 21:49, Beijing, Has Been Delivered by Airline
2020-06-10 21:35, Beijing, arrive at the Beijing International Mail Exchange Station
2020-06-10 15:14, Beijing, "Beijing International Tianyu Processing Center" has been exported straight seal
2020-06-10 12:33, Beijing, "Beijing International Tianyu Processing Center" return, note: security return
2020-06-04 12:55, Shanghai, Shanghai International Mail Exchange Station Returned
2020-06-02 20:06, Shanghai, Delivered by Airline
2020-06-01 00:50, Shanghai, Arriving at Shanghai International Mail Exchange Station (via transfer)
2020-05-30 13:07, Beijing, Has Been Delivered by Airline
2020-05-29 20:04, Beijing, arrive at the Beijing International Mail Exchange Station
2020-05-29 18:48, Beijing, "Beijing International Tianyu Processing Center" has been exported straight seal
2020-05-28 19:26, Beijing, leaving the "International Express Bulk Investment Department" and the next stop, Beijing Terminal
2020-05-28 18:37, Beijing, "International Express Bulk Investment Department" has received,
2020-05-25 17:21, Logistics order created
2020-05-20 Order Placed
« Last Edit: Sat, 20 June 2020, 19:46:08 by Leslieann »
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Offline shamsael

  • Posts: 6
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #17 on: Wed, 24 June 2020, 14:53:51 »
Wether or not the Chinese postal service is overwhelmed, they emailed me, after they claimed they shipped it, to tell me the item was out of stock, and asked me what I wanted to do, then ignored my responses to their email.

My status is just "Logistics order created" since 5/22, with no updates.  If that status is their equivalent of the "label created" statuses used by USPS/UPS/FedEx, it can mean they printed a label online, but never actually submitted the package to a carrier.  In your example tracking, there is an appropriate and acceptable 3 day difference between "Logistics order created" and the shipper actually receiving the item.

245711-0

It would appear they charged my credit card, then printed my label, then realized they didn't have my item, then sent me an email asking for my response, then ignored my response and kept my money.  Cool, maybe that's just a Covid related bad coincidence, but also there's the issue with the shady paypal failure and subsequent unauthorized login.

If one of the following happened, i'd consider it a coincidence, or bad luck:
* PayPal checkout failed on their site
* Unauthorized login within 24 hours of purchase
* No responses to unsolicited emails regarding order status
* No responses to SOLICITED emails regarding order status!
* No shipment activity at all after 1 month

If two of those things happened, i'd probably never deal with that seller again.  In my case, all of them happened.


I'm glad some of the people that give these guys money get product in return, but I did not.  My review is "don't shop at kprepublic at all, for  any reason."  Anyone seeing this thread is free to weigh my experience against the positive reviews and make their own decisisions.
« Last Edit: Wed, 24 June 2020, 15:06:41 by shamsael »

Offline funkmon

  • Posts: 451
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #18 on: Wed, 24 June 2020, 16:44:49 »
I have bought from them before, and Paypal worked as intended. The problem is the communication. My order, placed in April, has so far not left China. I asked them to see if they knew what was going on with the shipping or could explain what's going on, nothing. I asked them if I could cancel the order. Nothing. I eventually just contacted paypal.

I feel kinda bad, but they weren't even answering emails for two weeks.

Otherwise, they're fine. In the future, I wouldn't have a problem buying from them again; they've served me well in the past. And again, they take Paypal.

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4513
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 25 June 2020, 02:46:40 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.
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Offline jamster

  • Posts: 1091
  • Location: Asia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 25 June 2020, 07:07:10 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.

I'm not so sure that this statement is still applicable to China- they've gotten over the brunt of things over a month ago, especially if they are located down in Guangdong. Factories shut down hard just after Chinese New Year, and a lot of international shipping still appears to be a total mess, but speaking to friends who rely on factories there for their businesses, they started up again months ago. At first at reduced capacity, but they've had time to ramp up.

I've been ordering small parcels of keyboard stuff (from other vendors) shipped from factories in Dongguan, they've been reaching a local address there within 3 days.

Again, international shipping seems a total mess, but offices should be running at close to normal capacity.
« Last Edit: Thu, 25 June 2020, 07:16:19 by jamster »

Offline shamsael

  • Posts: 6
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #21 on: Thu, 25 June 2020, 13:47:35 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.

"Overwhelmed" isn't a great excuse for taking money, then ghosting the buyer.  Stock issues aren't even a good excuse.  It's literally their job at KPRepublic to process customer orders, which sometimes includes cancelling an order that can't be filled.  It's what they're payed to do.  But in some cases, it looks like they take the money, and then don't do that job.

US Law requires an item to be shipped within 30 days of charging someone's card, and as such many larger US companies won't even charge your card unless they confirm an item is in stock (although they're allowed to charge you immediately, and then refund if they can't find the item after 30 days).  KPRepublic clearly isn't required to abide by that law.  Even if I wanted a refund for this out of stock item, I can't get one, because they don't acknowledge any emails I send.

The fact they could honestly be impacted by COVID is the only reason I don't open a fraud dispute with my Credit Card company and get the charge reversed.  But I'm not gonna sit here and let other buyers believe they're a smooth operation that sends every order on time, and responds to email inquiries.
« Last Edit: Thu, 25 June 2020, 13:52:06 by shamsael »

Offline clik_clak

  • Posts: 423
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #22 on: Thu, 25 June 2020, 14:00:04 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.

US Law requires an item to be shipped within 30 days of charging someone's card, and as such many larger US companies won't even charge your card unless they confirm an item is in stock (although they're allowed to charge you immediately, and then refund if they can't find the item after 30 days).  KPRepublic clearly isn't required to abide by that law.  Even if I wanted a refund for this out of stock item, I can't get one, because they don't acknowledge any emails I send.


US law doesn't apply to a Chinese seller. Additionally, this is absolutely BS. Just about nothing in the keyboard community ships within 30 days of a card being charged. I don't see any of these shops like Drop being shut down for not shipping within 30 days.

Additionally, if you want to get your money back, you can easily get your money back by disputing the charge through your bank/credit card company. Companies not responding to repeated contact is one of the easiest things to dispute out there.

You may be upset about the situation, but spreading straight up lies doesn't strengthen your case for a refund.

Offline Leslieann

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #23 on: Fri, 26 June 2020, 00:06:07 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.

I'm not so sure that this statement is still applicable to China- they've gotten over the brunt of things over a month ago, especially if they are located down in Guangdong. Factories shut down hard just after Chinese New Year, and a lot of international shipping still appears to be a total mess, but speaking to friends who rely on factories there for their businesses, they started up again months ago. At first at reduced capacity, but they've had time to ramp up.

I've been ordering small parcels of keyboard stuff (from other vendors) shipped from factories in Dongguan, they've been reaching a local address there within 3 days.

Again, international shipping seems a total mess, but offices should be running at close to normal capacity.
Depends entirely who you order from, where they are located and how they are shipping it.

At 20% overtime it takes 5x longer than the original problem. If they were down for 1 month, it will take 5 months to catch up.  Also that 20% is overall, not specific industries r manufacturers, which is an even larger problem that only gets worse when you boil it down to specific products.

Many companies don't just make one thing and it requires reconfiguring the factory for each product, certain products have very specific ship times, for example right now they need to focus on summer/fall products, they can't bump those to make something they can make later. There is also contracts for specific times, they aren't going to bump 500 customers because one was lost due to Covid. They may try and work with customers to bump things around, but it's better to miss one deadline than 500.

Power supplies are a perfect example, there is a shortage on SFX power supplies right now, one OEM missed their window. Now it's going to be 3rd quarter before they can get them back into the production order.


As for the shipping issue, they are literally out of room at the docks.
Most air cargo is handled by passenger planes, which are not flying so all of that is being dumped on the first ship they can. Sea cargo gets pushed back and anything on the cheapest shipping literally gets put wherever they find a space for it, WHEN they find a space for it. There is no shipping leaving for many countries and cargo is just piling up on the docks.  It doesn't matter how fast you make it today, the entire logistical line is coordinated.

This is also why your grocery store runs out of things.
It used to be they had a stock room with inventory to restock shelves with, many stores now time everything to when they expect a resupply and eliminated store rooms. Larger companies like Walmart setup local warehouses and distribution hubs but even those operate on the same principle, everything is expected to be delivered at the time they run out. Manufacturers like GM time deliveries down to within 15 minutes of when they need them. These supply chains stretch all the way back to China and even their suppliers. Very few companies really keep inventory anymore. This works fine when it works, but when you shutdown one segment or there's a run on a product like toilet paper, you can see the entire thing cause a shockwave through the system.

Go to the midwest see what happens every time a snowstorm looms, milk and bread disappears. You would think it was a national disaster when a few flakes appear. Do the stores prepare? Nope, they actually lack the ability to, nor do they want to. Anything sitting in back costs them money.

So it doesn't matter if an office is back up and running, or even if production is back, it has to ripple back through the entire chain and the shipping chain is broken at the moment. So how does any of this effect ghosting at Krepublic? How many people do you think are asking for shipping updates and have questions about shipping in general? 


By the way, Krepublic has a message on their website trying to keep people informed about what's going on.
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Offline jamster

  • Posts: 1091
  • Location: Asia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #24 on: Fri, 26 June 2020, 00:19:18 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.

I'm not so sure that this statement is still applicable to China- they've gotten over the brunt of things over a month ago, especially if they are located down in Guangdong. Factories shut down hard just after Chinese New Year, and a lot of international shipping still appears to be a total mess, but speaking to friends who rely on factories there for their businesses, they started up again months ago. At first at reduced capacity, but they've had time to ramp up.

I've been ordering small parcels of keyboard stuff (from other vendors) shipped from factories in Dongguan, they've been reaching a local address there within 3 days.

Again, international shipping seems a total mess, but offices should be running at close to normal capacity.
Depends entirely who you order from, where they are located and how they are shipping it.

At 20% overtime it takes 5x longer than the original problem. If they were down for 1 month, it will take 5 months to catch up.  Also that 20% is overall, not specific industries r manufacturers, which is an even larger problem that only gets worse when you boil it down to specific products.

Many companies don't just make one thing and it requires reconfiguring the factory for each product, certain products have very specific ship times, for example right now they need to focus on summer/fall products, they can't bump those to make something they can make later. There is also contracts for specific times, they aren't going to bump 500 customers because one was lost due to Covid. They may try and work with customers to bump things around, but it's better to miss one deadline than 500.

Power supplies are a perfect example, there is a shortage on SFX power supplies right now, one OEM missed their window. Now it's going to be 3rd quarter before they can get them back into the production order.


As for the shipping issue, they are literally out of room at the docks.
Most air cargo is handled by passenger planes, which are not flying so all of that is being dumped on the first ship they can. Sea cargo gets pushed back and anything on the cheapest shipping literally gets put wherever they find a space for it, WHEN they find a space for it. There is no shipping leaving for many countries and cargo is just piling up on the docks.  It doesn't matter how fast you make it today, the entire logistical line is coordinated.

This is also why your grocery store runs out of things.
It used to be they had a stock room with inventory to restock shelves with, many stores now time everything to when they expect a resupply and eliminated store rooms. Larger companies like Walmart setup local warehouses and distribution hubs but even those operate on the same principle, everything is expected to be delivered at the time they run out. Manufacturers like GM time deliveries down to within 15 minutes of when they need them. These supply chains stretch all the way back to China and even their suppliers. Very few companies really keep inventory anymore. This works fine when it works, but when you shutdown one segment or there's a run on a product like toilet paper, you can see the entire thing cause a shockwave through the system.

Go to the midwest see what happens every time a snowstorm looms, milk and bread disappears. You would think it was a national disaster when a few flakes appear. Do the stores prepare? Nope, they actually lack the ability to, nor do they want to. Anything sitting in back costs them money.

So it doesn't matter if an office is back up and running, or even if production is back, it has to ripple back through the entire chain and the shipping chain is broken at the moment. So how does any of this effect ghosting at Krepublic? How many people do you think are asking for shipping updates and have questions about shipping in general? 


By the way, Krepublic has a message on their website trying to keep people informed about what's going on.

I'm fairly familiar with how things work in China, that's where I have been living for many years now. I have friends out here who rely very closely on factory production lines operating and are talking to factories at least every week.

My point was that offices have been running normally for months. Offices are business as normal, to the point that politicians here are crowing about it.  Sure, shipping is messed up, bit that's no excuse to go silent on the administrative/email front for an order cancellation. Personally, I'm sure the answer to a request for cancellation will be a "no", but that is still better than no answer at all.
« Last Edit: Fri, 26 June 2020, 00:23:03 by jamster »

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4513
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #25 on: Fri, 26 June 2020, 01:20:02 »
I'm fairly familiar with how things work in China, that's where I have been living for many years now. I have friends out here who rely very closely on factory production lines operating and are talking to factories at least every week.

My point was that offices have been running normally for months. Offices are business as normal, to the point that politicians here are crowing about it.  Sure, shipping is messed up, bit that's no excuse to go silent on the administrative/email front for an order cancellation. Personally, I'm sure the answer to a request for cancellation will be a "no", but that is still better than no answer at all.

Besides the fact that politicians lie, just because many offices are fine doesn't mean they all are.

Krepublic has been pretty upfront about their issues if you just check the website.
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Offline jamster

  • Posts: 1091
  • Location: Asia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #26 on: Sun, 28 June 2020, 23:36:37 »
I'm fairly familiar with how things work in China, that's where I have been living for many years now. I have friends out here who rely very closely on factory production lines operating and are talking to factories at least every week.

My point was that offices have been running normally for months. Offices are business as normal, to the point that politicians here are crowing about it.  Sure, shipping is messed up, bit that's no excuse to go silent on the administrative/email front for an order cancellation. Personally, I'm sure the answer to a request for cancellation will be a "no", but that is still better than no answer at all.

Besides the fact that politicians lie, just because many offices are fine doesn't mean they all are.

Krepublic has been pretty upfront about their issues if you just check the website.

I probably wasn't clear enough before. Offices are open, because I speak regularly to people in various parts of China.

The politicians comment was mainly to point out that external logistics aside, things in China are far more stable and business as usual than most of the western world right now.

Offline shamsael

  • Posts: 6
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #27 on: Sat, 11 July 2020, 10:41:38 »
They're just overwhelmed at the moment, everyone is.

Some people are saying it will be this way for at least another month, but I'm not counting on supplies returning to normal until after new years.

US Law requires an item to be shipped within 30 days of charging someone's card, and as such many larger US companies won't even charge your card unless they confirm an item is in stock (although they're allowed to charge you immediately, and then refund if they can't find the item after 30 days).  KPRepublic clearly isn't required to abide by that law.  Even if I wanted a refund for this out of stock item, I can't get one, because they don't acknowledge any emails I send.


US law doesn't apply to a Chinese seller. Additionally, this is absolutely BS. Just about nothing in the keyboard community ships within 30 days of a card being charged. I don't see any of these shops like Drop being shut down for not shipping within 30 days.

Additionally, if you want to get your money back, you can easily get your money back by disputing the charge through your bank/credit card company. Companies not responding to repeated contact is one of the easiest things to dispute out there.

You may be upset about the situation, but spreading straight up lies doesn't strengthen your case for a refund.

US Law doesn't apply to a Chinese seller.  I mentioned the above only as an example of why I shouldn't have engaged with a chinese seller whose reputation I couldn't confirm first hand, not because I believed US law was applicable here.

Online merchants ARE required to deliver goods within 30 days of capturing payment.  If they cannot, they MUST comply with a customer's request for a refund.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/business-guide-ftcs-mail-internet-or-telephone-order

Drop handles this by stating on every preorder that your sale is not final until manufacturing is complete.  You're entitled to a refund at any point before the sale is final.  Whether they are better or worse at processing those requests than KPRepublic, i don't know.  My keys arrived quickly.  Kickstarter handles this by very explicitly telling you that you're NOT purchasing products, but funding projects.  I never really said I was entitled to a refund, either.  I think all I'm entitled to is a response to my emails, or possibly the keycaps I payed for, even though I've long since purchased and received superior quality caps at a lower price from the aforementioned Drop (https://drop.com/buy/domikey-abs-doubleshot-sa-dolch-keycap-set).
« Last Edit: Sat, 11 July 2020, 10:49:17 by shamsael »

Offline missylo

  • Posts: 57
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #28 on: Sat, 18 July 2020, 10:08:04 »
Purchased from them multiple times (via aliexpress)- keyboard cases, JJ40, XD75, etc. My most recent purchase arrived within 20days, quite fast imo when some products take 45days via aliexpress.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4513
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #29 on: Mon, 20 July 2020, 22:29:56 »
Your post tells us absolutely nothing.

As mentioned multiple times now, China is a mess for shipping.
Tracking is always an issue (there are blind spots) but it's doubly trouble at the moment.

If for two months they "forgot", ask for a refund.
We have many people here who have bought from them without issues, yes they may be having some issues at the moment, the whole world is kind of a mess at the moment if you haven't noticed. If a delayed shipment is your biggest problem, I'd say you're in pretty good shape.
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Offline jamster

  • Posts: 1091
  • Location: Asia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #30 on: Tue, 21 July 2020, 00:13:40 »
If you are incapable of adding relevant detail in your original post (asking for refunds), don't get your panties in a bunch when people point out that your post imparts no useful information.

I'm just starting to get stuff from Aliexpress, 3-4 months after ordering.

People creating new accounts purely to complain about a company... yeah, that always goes down well on any forum I've ever spent time on.

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4513
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #31 on: Tue, 21 July 2020, 00:20:24 »
I've ordered from them exactly twice, one arrived after 45 days the other has been caught up in shipping for 2 months without ever even getting off the mainland.

I'm not a fan, I'm just being realistic.
Shipping was bad before but it's a f'ing train-wreck right now, this is mentioned right on their site if you read the headline. As for the coms, yes, I agree, they need to work on that, they recently switched to Facebook(?) for it, I suspect their email and chat system broke, they should have mentioned it but they're Chinese, they do things different. If you wanted better service, expect to pay for it by buying from someone who already went through the hassle of getting it over here. If you need to get in touch, I recommend using Facebook, I hate that idea, but seems your best bet.


And yes, what Jamster said.
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Offline yui

  • Posts: 1082
  • Location: 127.0.0.1 (in azerty)
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #32 on: Tue, 21 July 2020, 00:57:39 »
i ordered 2 package from them in one week. one arrived rather quick (about 14 days, much faster than i ever seen before) and the other still is in china stuck at the airport 4 weeks in, so i do not think that is in their control at all. although maybe communication is not their forte and that they could maybe improve upon.
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Offline bparcs

  • Posts: 2
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #33 on: Wed, 29 July 2020, 14:51:12 »
This is my first time ordering with KPRepublic, and wasn't sure if this is usual behaviour for them. It has been very frustrating, and makes me want to avoid them altogether if I hadn't already waited a full month.

I placed an order for their XD64 PCB on June 29, 2020. Despite the website saying it was in stock, I received an email from them on July 4th, after I had asked for an update telling me it was out of stock and should be restocked mid July.

Fast-forward to July 16, and again, I had to reach out to them to check stock. I was told it was restocked, and on confirmed I still wanted one. July 17th I received a message saying my order has been fulfilled, with confirmation from the vendor that it was on its way, and provided a tracking number.

July 26 the shipping information had not been updated besides that the logistics order had been created. I ask for an update, and am told I need to wait at least 10 days for products to be sent out due to COVID.

July 27 I check for an updated from the shipping company, I am told my tracking number is invalid. When I ask for an update with the vendor, they inform me that the PCB is again out of stock, and won't be restocked until mid August.

Is this expected behaviour for them? The most frustrating part is I was told by the vendor the order had been sent out.

Offline wangarang

  • Posts: 1
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #34 on: Wed, 29 July 2020, 14:55:29 »
This is my first time ordering with KPRepublic, and wasn't sure if this is usual behaviour for them. It has been very frustrating, and makes me want to avoid them altogether if I hadn't already waited a full month.

I placed an order for their XD64 PCB on June 29, 2020. Despite the website saying it was in stock, I received an email from them on July 4th, after I had asked for an update telling me it was out of stock and should be restocked mid July.

Fast-forward to July 16, and again, I had to reach out to them to check stock. I was told it was restocked, and on confirmed I still wanted one. July 17th I received a message saying my order has been fulfilled, with confirmation from the vendor that it was on its way, and provided a tracking number.

July 26 the shipping information had not been updated besides that the logistics order had been created. I ask for an update, and am told I need to wait at least 10 days for products to be sent out due to COVID.

July 27 I check for an updated from the shipping company, I am told my tracking number is invalid. When I ask for an update with the vendor, they inform me that the PCB is again out of stock, and won't be restocked until mid August.

Is this expected behaviour for them? The most frustrating part is I was told by the vendor the order had been sent out.

I feel your pain. I have been waiting for my package for almost 4 months and according to my tracking number it was suppose to arrive July 25th but have yet to receive it. I genuinely think this is one of the worst companies with horrible service provided.

Offline clik_clak

  • Posts: 423
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #35 on: Wed, 29 July 2020, 14:57:19 »
This is my first time ordering with KPRepublic, and wasn't sure if this is usual behaviour for them. It has been very frustrating, and makes me want to avoid them altogether if I hadn't already waited a full month.

I placed an order for their XD64 PCB on June 29, 2020. Despite the website saying it was in stock, I received an email from them on July 4th, after I had asked for an update telling me it was out of stock and should be restocked mid July.

Fast-forward to July 16, and again, I had to reach out to them to check stock. I was told it was restocked, and on confirmed I still wanted one. July 17th I received a message saying my order has been fulfilled, with confirmation from the vendor that it was on its way, and provided a tracking number.

July 26 the shipping information had not been updated besides that the logistics order had been created. I ask for an update, and am told I need to wait at least 10 days for products to be sent out due to COVID.

July 27 I check for an updated from the shipping company, I am told my tracking number is invalid. When I ask for an update with the vendor, they inform me that the PCB is again out of stock, and won't be restocked until mid August.

Is this expected behaviour for them? The most frustrating part is I was told by the vendor the order had been sent out.

Once a product has left a vendor, it's completely out of their control. China shipping is screwed and it's literally months behind.

You'll be lucky to have your item in 2 months, but expecting 3 months is more realistic right now.

You can blame KPR all you want, but they have no control over what happens with shipping after it leaves their hands.

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4513
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #36 on: Wed, 29 July 2020, 22:48:14 »
They're an honest company and been around for a long time, they aren't out to rip you off. If they were in it for a quick buck they would have been gone a long time ago.

Things are just screwed at the moment, be patient.

I would say if you need something fast buy elsewhere, but truth is, everywhere is screwed at the moment. I have springs on order from 2 places in the U.S. one is two weeks behind on shipping (they claim 2-3), the other claims they are running normal and yet they are now coming up on a week behind getting it out to shipping. At this point it's not just China having shipping issues, it's almost everyone. Inventory is low, people are stressed, shipping is stressed.


Oh, word of warning.
I've also had 2 U.S. companies claim product was in stock and then find out it they were going to drop ship from China.
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Offline funkmon

  • Posts: 451
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #37 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 05:33:50 »
This is my first time ordering with KPRepublic, and wasn't sure if this is usual behaviour for them. It has been very frustrating, and makes me want to avoid them altogether if I hadn't already waited a full month.

I placed an order for their XD64 PCB on June 29, 2020. Despite the website saying it was in stock, I received an email from them on July 4th, after I had asked for an update telling me it was out of stock and should be restocked mid July.

Fast-forward to July 16, and again, I had to reach out to them to check stock. I was told it was restocked, and on confirmed I still wanted one. July 17th I received a message saying my order has been fulfilled, with confirmation from the vendor that it was on its way, and provided a tracking number.

July 26 the shipping information had not been updated besides that the logistics order had been created. I ask for an update, and am told I need to wait at least 10 days for products to be sent out due to COVID.

July 27 I check for an updated from the shipping company, I am told my tracking number is invalid. When I ask for an update with the vendor, they inform me that the PCB is again out of stock, and won't be restocked until mid August.

Is this expected behaviour for them? The most frustrating part is I was told by the vendor the order had been sent out.

Once a product has left a vendor, it's completely out of their control. China shipping is screwed and it's literally months behind.

You'll be lucky to have your item in 2 months, but expecting 3 months is more realistic right now.

You can blame KPR all you want, but they have no control over what happens with shipping after it leaves their hands.

I've now been waiting for almost 4 months. The shipping information says it was returned to them about 2 months ago and they haven't sent it back out. They haven't responded other than to give me the shipping information again. Impressive.

Offline jamster

  • Posts: 1091
  • Location: Asia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #38 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 05:46:33 »
My takeway from this thread is that kprepublic is a basically honest business, but they are dirt cheap and have zero customer support, and doesn't particularly care too.

This is what I expect from a lot of Ali/Taobao based merchants, which is why I have quite a low limit on how much I'm prepared to order from those sites.  Anything I order from Ali/Taobao is something I'm prepared to just lose the money for. The one exception I've made is for a recent order where the company appeared to be a single enthusiast who's had consistent and reliable feedback across multiple keyboard sites. 

Offline -Jerry-

  • Posts: 336
  • Location: Bath, UK
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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #39 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 06:45:58 »
My takeway from this thread is that kprepublic is a basically honest business, but they are dirt cheap and have zero customer support, and doesn't particularly care too.

This is what I expect from a lot of Ali/Taobao based merchants, which is why I have quite a low limit on how much I'm prepared to order from those sites.  Anything I order from Ali/Taobao is something I'm prepared to just lose the money for. The one exception I've made is for a recent order where the company appeared to be a single enthusiast who's had consistent and reliable feedback across multiple keyboard sites.

I don't know, I think there are some reliable sellers on Ali, especially ones that just use it as a marketplace. YMDK sell on Ali for example, but also sell through Amazon and other channels. Either way is probably safe, what with Ali's policy of not releasing money until received and Amazon's complaint system.
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Offline jamster

  • Posts: 1091
  • Location: Asia
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #40 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 07:50:40 »
I think they are mostly reliable, it's just that the way businesses are structured there means that the products are cheap at the expense of erratic customer support if things go wrong. If the initial process works, then you're fine. If something goes wrong, then you get exposed to iffy levels of CS (language barriers and lackadaisical efforts).

Now that I think about it, there have been a handful of times that stuff hasn't arrived and the seller has promised to reship, then vanished into the ether. Off memory, either the window for raising disputes had timed out, or the dispute process just didn't work. It was a while back, the amounts were trivial, and like I said, just about anything I buy from those marketplaces are considered a bit of a gamble anyway so it didn't worry me.

Offline clik_clak

  • Posts: 423
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #41 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 08:24:22 »
My takeway from this thread is that kprepublic is a basically honest business, but they are dirt cheap and have zero customer support, and doesn't particularly care too.

This is what I expect from a lot of Ali/Taobao based merchants, which is why I have quite a low limit on how much I'm prepared to order from those sites.  Anything I order from Ali/Taobao is something I'm prepared to just lose the money for. The one exception I've made is for a recent order where the company appeared to be a single enthusiast who's had consistent and reliable feedback across multiple keyboard sites.

I don't know, I think there are some reliable sellers on Ali, especially ones that just use it as a marketplace. YMDK sell on Ali for example, but also sell through Amazon and other channels. Either way is probably safe, what with Ali's policy of not releasing money until received and Amazon's complaint system.

I would guess that KPT sells as much, if not more, on Ali than they do from their own website

Offline rpiguy9907

  • Posts: 160
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #42 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 10:30:24 »
I would only ship from China with DHL or similar right now. Otherwise it is a crap shoot and a long one at that.

I order from KPRepublic frequently. However, twice after ordering there my credit card was compromised, so no I use a burner card every time I order from them.

Offline funkmon

  • Posts: 451
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #43 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 16:14:03 »
It's weird because a lot of things I've bought from China since March have arrived quickly and without issue. I even picked up 3 watches from there, and they got here in 2 weeks. I just got a postcard sent on June 3rd. I mean, that **** should arrive here faster than a postcard surely.

Offline Leslieann

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #44 on: Thu, 30 July 2020, 21:18:16 »
It's weird because a lot of things I've bought from China since March have arrived quickly and without issue. I even picked up 3 watches from there, and they got here in 2 weeks. I just got a postcard sent on June 3rd. I mean, that **** should arrive here faster than a postcard surely.
Nope.
Postcard can be packaged with a ton of other mail and takes up almost no space.
EMS shipping is literally last in line, it gets on whatever is available when it's available in the order it's available, as of June things were so backed up waiting for space on a ship they were sending it back.

It could be MONTHS before anything EMS gets out at this point and it's only going to get worse as China is starting to shift towards holiday season production. This is why I said back in Feb.(?), this is going to be an issue through New years.
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Offline -Jerry-

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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #45 on: Fri, 31 July 2020, 04:05:42 »
See, it's the postal backlogs that make me wary about KBD listing my KBD8X kit shipping as 'DHL or FedEx or JCEX'

The first is preferable, the second is less so, and the third is potentially delayed for ages.
(I suspect from past orders they always opt for DHL for EU and Fedex for the US, but you never know.. you never know)
"Romeo"     "Split75"   "Melody96"     "KBD8X MKII"     "Womier K87"

Offline argot

  • Posts: 3
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #46 on: Sat, 08 August 2020, 17:41:48 »
This is my first time ordering with KPRepublic, and wasn't sure if this is usual behaviour for them. It has been very frustrating, and makes me want to avoid them altogether if I hadn't already waited a full month.

I placed an order for their XD64 PCB on June 29, 2020. Despite the website saying it was in stock, I received an email from them on July 4th, after I had asked for an update telling me it was out of stock and should be restocked mid July.

Fast-forward to July 16, and again, I had to reach out to them to check stock. I was told it was restocked, and on confirmed I still wanted one. July 17th I received a message saying my order has been fulfilled, with confirmation from the vendor that it was on its way, and provided a tracking number.

July 26 the shipping information had not been updated besides that the logistics order had been created. I ask for an update, and am told I need to wait at least 10 days for products to be sent out due to COVID.

July 27 I check for an updated from the shipping company, I am told my tracking number is invalid. When I ask for an update with the vendor, they inform me that the PCB is again out of stock, and won't be restocked until mid August.

Is this expected behaviour for them? The most frustrating part is I was told by the vendor the order had been sent out.

EDIT: As said below, I suppose FB chat is much more effective. Contact was eventually made and the order was fulfilled. Awaiting delivery.
« Last Edit: Wed, 12 August 2020, 05:51:03 by argot »

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4513
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #47 on: Sat, 08 August 2020, 21:24:20 »
Stop emailing them.

Get on their chat or Facebook.
Once I got on Chat I had a refund within minutes on a package that was running around China. one of the fastest refunds from any company I've dealt with.

Again, don't email.
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| YMDK75 Jail Housed Gateron Blues
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| GH60
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| Logitech Illumininated | IBM Model M (x2)
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Offline Reimu_64

  • Posts: 99
    • KeebWorks
Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #48 on: Tue, 11 August 2020, 09:04:27 »
This is my first time ordering with KPRepublic, and wasn't sure if this is usual behaviour for them. It has been very frustrating, and makes me want to avoid them altogether if I hadn't already waited a full month.

I placed an order for their XD64 PCB on June 29, 2020. Despite the website saying it was in stock, I received an email from them on July 4th, after I had asked for an update telling me it was out of stock and should be restocked mid July.

Fast-forward to July 16, and again, I had to reach out to them to check stock. I was told it was restocked, and on confirmed I still wanted one. July 17th I received a message saying my order has been fulfilled, with confirmation from the vendor that it was on its way, and provided a tracking number.

July 26 the shipping information had not been updated besides that the logistics order had been created. I ask for an update, and am told I need to wait at least 10 days for products to be sent out due to COVID.

July 27 I check for an updated from the shipping company, I am told my tracking number is invalid. When I ask for an update with the vendor, they inform me that the PCB is again out of stock, and won't be restocked until mid August.

Is this expected behaviour for them? The most frustrating part is I was told by the vendor the order had been sent out.

I also bought a XD64 PCB (2 in fact, in case one was a DOA) on July 13 and both arrived (perfectly working) on August 5. I should mention that I reside in the UK.
Mine got dispatched on July 18, 5 days after payment.

If yours don't arrive towards the end of August/early September,  then there's an issue.

Offline sickleboom

  • Posts: 42
  • Location: Canada
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Re: anyone used kprepublic.com
« Reply #49 on: Tue, 01 September 2020, 03:37:31 »
I used kprepublic to buy a two key macropad before (XD002 I believe), and it took a while to come as well. Must be COVID delaying everything, but it took months to arrive.  :eek: I would say as of the global pandemic situation, only purchase from them if you are willing to wait unpredictable times!