Auction Buying from "Overseas"

It all seems simple enough. The sellers have hundreds, or thousands of sales,

and 99% ratings.The shipping only runs $30-50 (usd). Does it make sense to deal

with European sellers from the US?

 

 

I frequently see some nice equipment. But xenophobia, or stupidity stops me

from bidding. Maybe it's the thought that if someone from three states

away "shucks my goobers" for a grand. I can climb in my Oldsmobile and go get

in their face. But driving to Stuttgart from Poughkeepsie is going to be tough.

Speaking as a European, I can promise you we are all a bunch of crooked thieves, and you should have nothing to do with any of us.

I've done it with no problem, if they take PayPal. If they don't take PayPal, in many cases there's no reasonable payment method, unless you want another $40 of overhead. I once sent 40 Euros by mail, although that's technically illegal. (I presume some sort of anti-money-laundering law.)

 

But, the shipping often makes it a bad deal compared to the US. DHL (from Germany) is particularly galling in their prices. Not that European international postal rates were ever reasonable, really just another "tax".

 

I got a particularly good deal buying from a seller in Latvia, a 35/3.5 Elmar for a most reasonable price. I suspect being a "FSU" country scared bidders, so I just had to trust the feedback.

I generally desist from buying "overseas." There is enough stuff closer to home. Sometimes Euros, for example, request banking data for money transfer. In my mind this presents more of a potential problem than an opportunity for me.

I bought my Hasselblad 203FE on ebay. I was living in Japan at the time and the seller was in

Sweden. I paid via wire transfer to an account in Switzerland. The camera arrived in less than

a week in perfect condition and I have been shooting it ever since. The world has shrunk..it's

just the way it is. There will always be risk in a transaction between two parties that have not

met, but it is up to you. I think ebay sellers descriptions, sales history and feedback and

communication say much more about their trustworthiness than their location, but that's just

me.

I know someone who was making a nice living using over seas sales and resales on EBay all over the world. His location is the UK.

 

The problem he eventually ran into was customs and import fees and costs. Sometimes he would have the seller put on the box "parts only" but even then he had to pay a charge and, often, it nullified the value of the sale.

 

Another thing you need to have is a good credit rating (as opposed to a good EBay rating) so you have money to work with and a depository for funds etc. Paypal works but not every where and, like a credit card, they skim fees off the top.

I agree with Alec.I read recently on Dpreview.com forum some guy stating that B and H didnt take creditcards from "Europeans" because of the amount of fraud.When I was in NYC in April, I told B and H what was being spread around. They said "many of their sales online came from Europe" and the guy gave me an extra gift for defending this accusation in the forum.

Take a look at this found on ebay.com recently:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170112005204&rd=1&rd=1

 

This item, which is 10 years old, according to various guides is only worth around $1200. So this seller did well from his own countryman.The buyer didnt realise the value of it, saw the coding and assumed it was newish.

 

Caveat emptor!!! No matter from where!

 

The prices for new items in the US are usually $ for pound making them half the price of European goods. Prices in Euope are usually around the same wherever you go-thanks to the greedy, money devouring Euopean Union and its rules.

A few years back I purchased a fake Leica from an Ebay business in the Ukraine. I paid by

credit card and when the item never showed up did a charge back on my card and got my

money back. When someone on eBay has 100% feedback it may not mean anything, you need

to look at the purchases that were made. A guy ran a scam on eBay as a 100% feedback,

Paypal verified member but all he did was buy 30 recipes for $.99 each and Paypal verified

him with a bogus address and phone number. He was in the US so location really means

nothing. Always protect yourself when you purchase by making sure that you can get your

money back if the deal goes south.

I've bought & sold from overseas for several years, typically on the big auction site, with no problems in hundreds of transactions. I've had a couple of minor issues in domestic (US) transactions - such as non delivery by the USPS, but everything was covered by insurance. I think that occasionally one can find an item overseas which one can't find in the States...if the price is right, I go for it, assuming other due diligence criteria have been met. OTOH - currency translations often make it disadvantageous to buy overseas from certain countries. As far as shipping costs...I've warned (particularly buyers from Malasia) of potentially outrageous shipping costs for modestly priced items...but that doesn't seem to be much of a deterrant.

I've made several purchases from EU countries and Russia without a problem so far. Shipping costs from Europe to the US do not have to be outrageous, although it is obviously more expensive. There is one particular European vendor on Ebay who frequenly has nice Leica stuff, but I refuse to pay his customary $49 shipping.

As an American living in Europe for years, I can tell you that America and Europe are full of moreless the same kind of people... a main difference is the lack of a great online and mail shopping culture like in the US; we are more unprotected against scams.

 

This is not xenophobia nor stupidity. I`d never buy from unknown people, I feel good buying from reputated shops or from known people, overseas or not (like Paul).

 

About that online shop, don`t know why now they doesn`t accept some on-line web orders from overseas; I have been buying their products online succesfully for many years up to now that they only accept my phone orders. I have been a perfect customer, never have a payment problem. I don`t understant their new policy, I wonder if the reason is Verysign? (only available from US banks?).

I've bought successfully from Europe, South America, and Australia on eBay. It is as pure a free market as you can find, so I simply take the same precautions as from someone right here in my home town.

I recently found a lens for my Canon P in the classifieds at rangefinder forum. Although the

lens was in Australia, I found everything went smoothly. For some reason I am more

comfortable trading in a non Ebay environment, although I've made at least 20 transactions

on it (mostly as a seller). I think in some of the forums I get a sense of the person, and that

gives me more confidence in the deal. Ditto for PNet--lots of smooth transactions here. I

don't know why I would be particularly suspicious of Europeans. Pound for pound (or kilo for

kilo) I'd guess we have as many crooks in the USA as anywhere.

I bought items on EBay using PayPal from sellers in Holland, Germany and England with no problems. Also it is my impression that EBay runs other auctions in other countries which don't necessarily appear on Amarican EBay so we may be missing out on some good things.

I've bought and sold from and to all over the world via ebay and never had an issue. Despite Hollywood doing it's best to make every villain an English actor by and large we're quite nice really :-)

If you're going to deal outside the US be sure to use a payment method that will give you some significant degree of protection. Never, ever, send a money order or use Western Union. This applies to Canada as well. You will be just out of luck trying to make a fraud claim over any international border.

 

Paypal is the most common such method. The are some other methods as well. Some reputable Russian vendors us a payment service in the US, the name escapes me at the moment, but it is located in Minneapolis. You use Paypal to pay the service and he takes care of getting the funds to the vendor. I once had a problem with non-delivery of goods and this US agent refunded my payment within hours of my making the complaint.

"Despite Hollywood doing it's best to make every villain an English actor by and large we're quite nice really :-)"

 

No, look we're really not quite nice, OK? Stop putting it about that anyone in Europe is honest! Everyone knows that Europeans can only make a living by defrauding over-paid gullible Americans on eBay.

As an Englishman & a European, I can confirm that we are all, without exception, human traffikers, money launderers, fraudsters, criminals and thieves. We are pure evil. Your xenophobia is well founded.

I've never had a European eBay sale go sour, even from the Ukraine!. out of 370 odd transactions on eBay I've had two sour ones from US sellers but one was my own fault and the other was a sellers description error. The worst problem with European dealings is the VAT and greedy customs bureaucracies, and I presume Europeans have similar problems with the US. Let's get real and cut out the Xenophobia.

"As an Englishman & a European..."

 

yeah, but do you snort any snuff?

I beginning to think people are the same everywhere . . . . unless I'm a liar.

Interesting responses so far. I wasn't sure if it was me being afraid to enter the 21st century's world wide economy, or some of Mom's common sense?

Being myself an European, I never would buy from us.

Don't forget us Aussies. We are a convict colony and can't be trusted! :)

 

It's the World Wide Web and a little common sense when making a purchase goes a long way. I haven't had a problem in six years of buying and selling on the big auction site.

 

I started buying FSU 35mm rangefinders, MF folders and lenses from sellers in the Ukraine last year and have nothing but praise for them. I will admit, I was a bit hesitant at first, but decided to give them a fair go. Only problem is, their prices keep rising as people relise what a great deal some of these cameras and lenses present.

<i>"I've done it with no problem, if they take PayPal. If they don't take PayPal, in many cases there's no reasonable payment method, unless you want another $40 of overhead."</i> <p>

 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html

 

<p><b><u>Policy</u></b><p>

 

<b>Permitted on eBay.com:</b> Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, credit cards including MasterCard/Visa /Amex/Discover? Network, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases. Sellers may also offer to accept bank-to-bank transfers, often known as bank wire transfers or bank cash transfers. Sellers may accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash for in person transactions. Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, certified checks and other negotiable instruments. Please see the "Some Examples" section of this policy for those evaluated payment services permitted in the eBay marketplace. <p>

 

<b>Not permitted on eBay.com:</b> Sellers may not solicit buyers to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not solicit payment through "topping off" of a seller's pre-paid credit or debit card. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy. Please see the "Some Examples" section of this policy for those evaluated payment services not permitted in the eBay marketplace. <p>

 

<b>Payment Services permitted on eBay:</b> Allpay.net, Bidpay, cash2india, CertaPay, Checkfree.com, hyperwallet.com, Moneybookers.com, Nochex.com, Ozpay.biz, Paymate.com.au, Propay.com, XOOM

 

<p><b>Payment Services not permitted on eBay:</b> AlertPay.com, anypay.com, AuctionChex.com, BillPay.ie, ecount.com, cardserviceinternational.com, CCAvenue, ecount, e-gold, eHotPay.com, ePassporte.com, EuroGiro, FastCash.com, Google Checkout, gcash, GearPay, Goldmoney.com, graphcard.com, greenzap.com, ikobo.com, Liberty Dollars, Moneygram.com, neteller.com, Netpay.com, paychest.com, payingfast.com, Payko.com, paypay, Postepay, Qchex.com, rupay.com, sendmoneyorder.com, stamps, Stormpay, wmtransfer.com, xcoin.com