Anyone who has ever bought something from Lazada or Shopee has been scammed, ripped off or received the wrong or a damaged item. That is the downside of online shopping. You can find some good deals on either of those shopping sites, but buyer beware is all I can say.
China
Most of the items on Lazada and Shopee come from China. They are cheap, and all are counterfeit items or, if you will, US or Japan or Korean knockoffs. I admit I have bought a few great items that came from China, but the vast majority are worthless. Like my fiancee always says, "If it sounds too good ton be true it is likely because it is."
My friend
My friend works at the beach resort near my home. She has a boyfriend from the UK. They live about a 3-minute walk from my place. Anyway, her boyfriend gave her 8,000 pesos to buy a new phone, because her Oppo is 4 years old already. But it's in perfect condition - no scratches, dents or anything. The only downside to it is that it has only 16gb of storage space.
Her older smartphone is an Opportunity A3s.
Anyway, let's call her Gina so I can protect her identity. Gina likes to buy primarily from Lazada when she shops online. So she gets the idea that she can buy a smartphone there and save 6,000 pesos to shop elsewhere in town. Bad mistake!
The phone arrived as promised and man is it a cheap counterfeit. The only thing it is good for is a paper weight. The camera sucks sour grapes, the screen resolution is horrific, and since it's made in China, it tracks your every move and attempts to keep you away from Google Play to download apps.
Her dilemma
Now Gina has a dilemma. She has 6,000 pesos left but she needs a good phone and doesn't have enough money to but a decent new one from a reputable source in town.
Furthermore, she can't ask her boyfriend for more money because of her shyness and her mistake. She told me he might think she was trying to trick him out of his money and that was not the case. But foreigners think differently than us Filipinos.
Our solution
She offered to sell me the phone for 2,000 pesos but I bargained with her for 1,500 because it's only 15 gb of storage. So later today or early tomorrow we are going to town to buy her a new phone for around 7,000. She may wait till tomorrow so she can use her tips to buy the phone my fiancee has, the Opppo A15s.
The lesson
NEVER buy a phone from Lazada or Shopee. Never. Even the iPhones are fake. Be careful when shopping online. I am a lot more careful nowadays.
I can't really trust buying my gadgets online. I buy in Shopee and Lazada if it is not a gadget.