Found a good source for folders and more

[garvey_p]

I just wanted to share the great source I found for folding cameras

(and other MF equipment): www.ebay.de. That's right--not ebay.com

but ebay.de, or eBay Deutschland. Time to bust out your babelfish,

dust off your Langensheidt's dictionary, and start putting that high

school German to use! If you don't know German, try babelfishing

simple, declarative sentences, and then reverse them to check to see

if they make sense. There are enough cognates involved that any

reasonably educated person can make it work. There are better

translators out there, too.

 

I've found the prices to be incredible. Some of the more coveted

stuff over here, like Agfa, Zeiss, and Voigtlander will often go for

a fraction of the prices seen on our own popular auction site. Also,

don't let the phrase "Versand nur nach Deutschland" ("will send only

to Germany") scare you off. A nicely phrased email, auf Deutsch,

should be sent to the seller before bidding, and most of them will

agree to ship to the US.

 

The one odd thing is that the standard way to exchange money is by

bank transfer only. Depending on your bank, this will cost between

$10 and $20 to do. Airmail for a camera is about $20 also (and about

$10 for surface mail, if you are in no hurry). But depending on what

you're buying, you'll probably still be getting a good deal.

 

HTH,

Garvey

[david_goldfarb]

Careful. International bank transfer in some locations can be a lot more than that. I think my New York bank is charging on the order of $75 for this service these days. You might just want to check with your bank before bidding.

[garvey_p]

True about the bank fees: my bank charges $20, but the bank 1 block away charges only $10. So I set up an account there. Took 15 minutes and saved some dough on every purchase. Call around.

[dick roadnight cotswolds]

Do the not accept personel checks or cheques in Euros? I have thought about getting a Euro account.

[david_goldfarb]

You're in the UK, though, so it is probably easier, as it is in Canada. In the US, European-style bank transfer is relatively unusual--something one would only use when dealing with foreign banks and transfering large amounts of money between domestic banks. It can also be quite expensive at the European end to process a check from the U.S., so I can see why eBay.de sellers would be reluctant to accept checks drawn on U.S. banks. Over here, the fees depend significantly on location and state banking regulations, hence the possibility that the transaction could cost $10 in one place, $20 down the street, and $75 in another city.

[garvey_p]

DG brings up some good points about bank transfers being uncommon here (USA)--that's why I mentioned it in the first place. Sellers will sometimes accept other forms of payment (cash, PayPal, whatever), but the bank transfer seems to be the default. I've sent payment by registered mail, too, and it cost $8.05. Not much of a savings over the $10 I paid for a bank transfer. If you're interested, just call up the banks in your area. Like David said, I found quite a range in my area, from $10 to $75 to no transfers at all.

 

Anyway, it's a good source for finding items that are either hard to find or go for too much money here. I've seen plenty of Isolette III's go for $50-$70, Voigtlander rangefinders going for $30, Records with Solinars going for $85, Super Ikontas for $60, etc. Try finding that here.

 

Garvey