I have been looking to buy some new ebony chess sets. There are many online sites to buy chess pieces. What are your experiences buying chess pieces online?

Looking at House of Staunton I was pretty shocked at the quality of what I was seeing in the Photos on the site. Regardless of price, the quality issues were numerous.

I will give one example from the Forever Collection the 1849 Collector series a $995 chess set. 

 

 

When I looked up The Forever Collection, it didn't show any pictures like the one you posted.  It also said:

THE PIECES HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED WITH OUR PATENTED WEIGHTING TECHNIQUE ("U.S. Patent No. 11,000,757”) AND COMES WITH A LIFETIME WARRANTY AGAINST HAIRLINE CRACKS

 

I guess I assume that in the event a piece like the one you posted was produced and shipped, it would be quickly replaced.

Reputable chess retailers will work with you to resolve any quality control problems with products you purchase from them.  This is certainly true of House of Staunton, which generally has an excellent reputation for selling high quality products and providing outstanding service.

Here are some reputable chess equipment retailers....

Chess Sets for Club & Tournament Play...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/chess-sets-for-club-tournament-play

Here is the picture not cropped. 

And I would hope I would not be sent a set like this in the first place. But this is what is displayed on the site for a thousand dollar chess set. 

Any experience buying from HOS?

I ask because there are no replacement pieces on the set I want to buy. 

The 2022 Sinquefield Cup Commemorative Chess SetOnly 10 Sets Were Produced!!

Thanks. 

So you'll find on this forum that there are some people who are brand loyal and quite vocal about it. There may be some people who source from a variety of suppliers but they generally aren't so vocal. Below I will describe some chess retailers who I've have personal experiences with and some that I've observed multiple people's complaints/compliments about.

House of Staunton (HoS): American retailer, twice as expensive as other retailers, is generally regarded as having good customer service in regards to resolving quality issues (but not always), supplied from specific manufacturers in India, they have licensed/legal reproductions of many sets as compared to K/O (knockoffs) from other retailers.

The Chess Empire (TCE): formerly regarded as a high end direct retailer they have fallen far in terms of quality. Rishi does try to make things right but their quality was so poor for me that I cannot recommend them.

Staunton Castle: Mandeep Singh owns this company and is supposedly the head craftsman for them. He's very responsive on the chat form on his site and be does have some excellent quality pieces for less than half of HOS. That being said he can be hard to convince to replace poorer quality pieces. I would recommend messaging him directly before ordering. 

Chess Bazaar (CB): Indian retailer (not manufacturer) who can have some excellent quality pieces at a reasonable price. Unfortunately they also can have some major quality issues and often will not resolve them unless their hand is forced.

Chess House (CH): American retailer who supplies from India. Generally fairly responsive and they say they will replace pieces if there are issues. I haven't seen much about them but my experience was good.

Noj: VERY well regarded as the craftsmen behind the finest Dubrovnik reproduction. Sets are pricey and there is a waitlist of many years. Gregor is reasonably responsive given the demand for the sets. 

Sandor Biro: A chess player/set craftsman who creates his own sets in a one man show. Well regarded and very responsive, I've yet to hear a complaint about his quality. 

 

I think that you'll find that there are few retailers who don't suffer from QC issues, the smaller the supplier (individual craftsman) the less QC issues and usually better customer service. Larger retailers have more issues but they are generally less expensive (HoS notwithstanding)

 

That's my take. Hope it helps.

 

Contact the company before purchasing and inform them of your concerns.  Ask about their return policy in case the pieces have quality control issues.  Request that they inspect the pieces before they ship them to you.  Etc., etc.

+1 to what Ibuildchess and russbell said. 👍

Thanks, 

It sounds like a risk for any of the companies today. 

Quality seems not to be a concern.

But If you are paying $1300 for a chess set. It should be flawless. 

I bought most of my wood ebony sets back in the 1980's to 2000.

Here is what $99 bought you back in the day. 

4.25 inch King, 2 Queens, in Boxwood & Gaboon Ebony. Set weight 5.3 pounds.

And still near flawless after decades of use!

I’ve never purchased a set for USD$1200 (AUD1700+!) and most likely, never will. It’s simply not realistic for me and out of my affordability range. I appreciate that some sets are worth that - value is subjective and market driven / take rare and historical sets as an example. If however, I ever did spend even $500 on a single set - still unlikely - it wouldn’t be without being able to see photos of the actual pieces I was buying (not just a photo of the style), quality inspected and guaranteed. I’m very risk averse though and fully appreciate others purchase sets of much higher value without a worry. Each to their own.👍

$99 USD in 1980 = $360 USD today

$360 USD could get you another Nathaniel Cooke reproduction of that size/quality these days.

Though if I were to spend that much I would go for the Sinquefield Cup Reproduction, I believe that there are 3 retailers who have sets in that price range that people have been quite happy with:

https://www.chessbazaar.com/the-sinquefield-cup-2017-reproduced-original-chess-pieces-in-genuine-ebony-wood-boxwood-3-75-king.html

https://stauntoncastle.com/products/commemorative-signature-series-3-75-chess-set-by-mandeep-saggu?variant=41747090735262#images-22

https://www.chesshouse.com/collections/ebony-wood-chess-pieces/products/3-75-sinquefield-design-chess-pieces

Take your pick! All for the low price of (or less than) $99 in 1980.

I do not think the set is worth it. But that is the price for that set. And is signed by all the players, and comes with a very nice wood box. 

And only 10 of the sets were made and signed. 

Having only recently started collecting sets, I can’t speak to historical prices (and what I may have missed out on) and ibuildchess makes a great point re:inflation - and to add - without the benefit of a long time purchasing - I think there remains excellent value through numerous retailers (and second hand) at price points for everyone … rare, luxury, high-end, midrange and budget. I feel lucky to have so many options in a hobby I have come to love and for those sets I can’t afford, I can look at them, through the generosity of others posting photos of their sets. It’s a fun hobby to be sure but also sadly, some online purchases come with risk and luckily for me, anytime I have had an issue the retailer HoS, CB and SC have all replaced pieces without an issue at all. Alas, others haven’t been so lucky.

1. That set was bought in 2000. So $99 = $168.25 Today.

2. That set was made of Gabon ebony. 

3. That set is 4.25 inches tall. 

4. That set weight is 5.3 pounds.

None of those sets match the $99 chess set from 2000.

Now here is something that is more comparable. 

Now the price is $516 dollars.

But the set is made of Ceylon Ebony. Not Gaboon Ebony. 

And you can see this in the weight of the chess Set. Ceylon Ebony is a lighter wood.  

$516 chess set weight is  4.23 pounds vs $99  chess set from 2000 is 5.3 pounds. 

https://www.chessbazaar.com/reproduced-1851-morphy-chess-set-v2-0-in-ebony-antiqued-box-wood-with-king-side-stamping-4-4-king.html

 

From having bought twenty full size sets over the last few years,I've come to the conclusion that there is a wide gap between vendors.Some mid priced sellers make nice sets for a good price,but the percentage of potential issues goes up with them.

They usually make good on the issues,but sometimes it takes some nagging and waiting to be satisfied....Not fun!

I've had two sets with perfect replacements of problem pieces, technically,only to find the replacements were a different color and finish than the ones they replaced.

Or,the replacements had a slightly larger Knight's snout,etc.....I've had to spend extra to get the set the way I wanted it to be....Argh!

The "only' vendor where you are almost guaranteed perfection(and a high price,with a long wait) is Noj.

My recent purchase of the Ceska Klubovka pieces were from Staunton Castle and virtually every step of the process was flawless! The communication was perfect.I kept getting emails as to where my set was,while in transit and I never had to ask....The pieces took exactly 8 days to come to my door,perfectly and properly boxed....Not all of the vendors I've dealt with actually box pieces for a long journey.

Staunton Castle does! The pieces are absolutely spectacular and imo are underpriced,even at full list.....They are that nice!

Just my two cents worth.....Good luck.

I have had excellent experiences with all the major vendors and retailers. @ibuildchess did a good job at listing them and I would say that they all have very good quality and will make right on mistakes. All of these guys had a dip in Quality Control during that post Queens Gambit show boom when they pumped out sets too quickly in efforts to meet to the high demand.

For most of the collectors here it largely and ultimately depends on your preferences.  The regulars here like @Magictwanger or @Powderdigit have eyes for details and nuances that simply  wont matter or even be noticed by most buyers. They'll know that vendors like HoS have sometimes have really cool amazing wood types available like Tasmanian blackwood or Anjan. However, manufacturers can often accommodate certain wood requests a la carte at a mark up if contacted (TCE, SC and CB). There might also be some slight differences in design that they prefer from 1 vendor/manufacturer over another. This is most often seen in Dubrovnik sets but can also be seen in sets like the "Sinquefield" with the bases on the knights being slightly different even within HoS itself i.e. Cairn Cup listing had a wider base than regular version. It might also come down to which antique hue you prefer. I personally dislike CBs orangey antique hue. 

I do notice details in the chess sets. Like the Dubrovnik from the House of Staunton. That set is awful as a replica. The HOS knight is a complete Joke!

I guess the Queens Gambit does explain the lack of quality of production with a price increase. 

And what hurts the most. No more high quality ebony. As the high quality ebony has been depleted.  And the Ebony tree takes many decades to grow. 

maybe amazon

With all due respect Kinetic....When you have an issue and the vendor sends replacements of one color,that is vastly different in finish and dimensions from the original,you notice that.

I'm not saying that hasn't happened.  I was simply stating from my experiences. I have read about the bad experiences some have, I just haven't had any unresolved problems (other than the Official FIDE set directly from World Chess which OptimusBlunders and I posted about). I think we here all generally agree that Queens Gambit boom made these problems much more prevalent across the board (except NOJ). 

@DesperateKingWalk I believe that I'm in a minority when I say I prefer ebony that isn't perfectly jet black.  For me it is not much different than ebonized or a plastic set. I like to see wood grain in my wood pieces. For example SC has more visible wood grain in its ebony pieces than say CB. Again I know I'm in the minority here.

I used flash in this picture to better illustrate my point.  

The best place to buy expensive chess pieces online?  Nowhere.  If you're going to pay more than $300, buy it from a place where you can see the pieces in the shop before buying them.