My teenage son really likes go and I want to encourage him so I bought him some books as a Christmas present. I'm just a beginner go player myself (I'd love to get better at it too but I don't have much free time with work and family) so I found this forum and looked for advice here. I ended up ordering the books Attack & Defense, Opening Theory Made Easy and Tesuji from a website called Yutopian in early November.

Since then I've heard nothing from Yutopian. I've sent them no less than six emails asking for information and received no reply. The books never turned up either. It's been almost two months now so I'm really starting to wonder what happened. I'd had my doubts about them (their website looks kind of scammy) but someone recommended them here so I went ahead with the purchase anyway. Now I'm wondering if I made a big mistake.

I was hoping some people could help me with a few questions please? What I want to know is this. Is Yutopian legit or is it a scam? Has anyone else actually ordered from them successfully? Are the owners still active or is the website dead? I'm thinking of doing a chargeback through my credit card company because the books never arrived and the communication has been terrible. They have my card details so I'm also starting to think that maybe I should cancel my card and get a new one in case it is a scam. Maybe that's just being paranoid though?

I'd still like to get these books for my son though. I had to get him something else for Christmas but I really wanted to get him some books about go too. Is there someone else who sells these books who will send them to Canada? Preferably someone who's more responsive to email and more legit?

Can anyone recommend any other gifts I might get for a future birthday or Christmas present (from someone other than Yutopian)? I think my son is 8 kyu on kgs.com at the moment but he improves quickly (he's far too good for me now) so I'm not certain. Any advice would be appreciated.

"disappointed" may be a regrettable user name if you intend to participate in the forum beyond this one message about a vendor.

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Central Mississippi Go Club
http://www.cmgo.org

They are legit. I have ordered from their website twice in the last year, purchased directly from their table at the US Go Congress 2012 in North Carolina, and they have helped our local club.

I've never had any problems, so I can't speak to how problems when they arise are resolved. There are other threads on L19 in which a variety of experiences are shared. A simple search should reveal those threads.

I hope this helps. I'm sorry that you are going through this.

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Founder, Central Mississippi Go Club
Free tips and resources for clubs and teaching
Go Kit Club Pack - pack of 13x13 go sets for clubs
Go Tin - very portable go

A couple weeks ago they sent me the wrong book. I'm now working with them to get the right one. They're a bit slow, but I've never had any serious problems before,

Just 4 days ago, a forum member bought a set of ING stones from them -- Go stones, Post 17

I'm about to order the same set from them, too. In the past, I had purchased from them both online and at a US Go Congress.
Their website is not the most polished or best designed, but I've never had any big problems with them.

They are not a scam. I've ordered from them before, and I have talked to them in person at the US Go Congress.

Don't worry about your credit card. They may have some problem with their website or the owner may have health problems.

After six weeks, yes, you have reason to be disappointed, but no reason to be paranoid.

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Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

I have ordered from Yutopian before and have purchased books and equipment without any issues. The shipping is a little slow, but Katherine combines shipping for me and I prefer to save money for slower book rates.

I have just ordered a bunch of Go books over the holidays from Yutopian, as well. I will let you know when I receive my books.

And the book I did order just arrived.

I just received today the six Go books that I had ordered December 21.

My New Years resolution is to finish reading them all before I have to make another New years resolution.

I checked my credit card records. I've ordered from them twice, not once.

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Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

disappointed, I ordered a set of 10 mm ING stones (request: without the ING bowls) from Yutopian
on Sunday Jan 20, 2013; and ordered 5 Go books from Kiseido on Monday Jan 21, 2013.
The ING stones and 4 of the 5 Go books arrived today Jan 24, 2013 in the same package.
(The last book will be shipped later.)

Photos here, Post #52: Size of Stones