Author Topic: Buying overseas - need advice. (Read 198 times)

staemius · « **on:** September 01, 2006, 10:21:47 AM »

Howdy all - I may be buying an Alembic knock-off (an Aria Pro II RSX80) from a fellow in the Philipines. Looks legit - but I've never bought from a private partner overseas. Any advice particularly regarding payment options would be greatly beneficial.

bigredbass · « **Reply #1 on:** September 01, 2006, 06:51:51 PM »

Don't!

J o e y

olieoliver · « **Reply #2 on:** September 01, 2006, 08:32:30 PM »

Don't mince words Joey, what do you really think. LOL

richbass939 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 02, 2006, 06:24:14 AM »

Has anyone ever had a bass sent COD? I haven't, but if you will be given a few minutes to look over the merchandise before you hand over the money, it seems like it would be pretty safe.
Rich

bigredbass · « **Reply #4 on:** September 02, 2006, 11:10:01 PM »

OK, Olie:

Staemius, I assume this is an EBay transaction. You can get screwed EASILY in a domestic transaction, but in an international transaction, you've got NO help if something goes south. I'll say the same thing I always say about ANY EBay 'deal': Approach it as you would gambling. IF you can afford to lose the $$$ involved, GO for it. IF not, stay AWAY from the table.

OK, Olie?

J o e y

jazzyvee · « **Reply #5 on:** September 03, 2006, 04:06:04 AM »

Yep minimise the risk as far as you can.

I've so far had two expensive purchases oversears via e-bay and fortunately they were both fine.
Last year I bought an orion guitar from a shop in Germany, but I did do a lot of checking on the net before going ahead with the purchase.

Fortunately I found that the shop was large store and had been in business for over a decadeand had a number of outlets throughout germany.

The F-1x was sold by someone in the USA on the forum here. So again I felt comfortable with that. But there is always that doubt.
the other thing to worry about is import duties and taxes. I had to pay over $100 for uk taxes on the F-1x i bought off ebay. So consider that also. Customs may be the biggest rip off, of the whole deal.
Jazzyvee.

57basstra · « **Reply #6 on:** September 03, 2006, 07:22:36 AM »

Joey is correct.

The powers that be may make you believe you are protected. Any UNSECURED deal can become a nightmare that you just give up on because you are ready to move on with the positive aspects of life. That is the truth.

By UNSECURED I mean one in which you are not paying money to have it secured.......Local pickup, escrow account, perhaps COD if that is possible...We are not saying Scams, frauds and thefts, will happed, but they certainly can.

staemius · « **Reply #7 on:** September 03, 2006, 10:27:26 AM »

Thanks for the advice - it's not ebay (it's private), and not a whole lot of money - but I want to be careful all the same.

olieoliver · « **Reply #8 on:** September 03, 2006, 11:59:22 AM »

I'm with you here Joey. Ebay can be risky, especially with and overseas seller.

jalevinemd · « **Reply #9 on:** September 03, 2006, 08:52:50 PM »

James,

One of my partners is from the Phillipines and has tons of friends and family there. If you can tell me where the bass is, exactly, maybe he (I) can be of some assistance.

Regards,

Jonathan

(Message edited by jalevinemd on September 03, 2006)

staemius · « **Reply #10 on:** September 05, 2006, 10:18:37 AM »

^Hey thanks - If this develops further I may just do that. (we're still negotiating)

bassman10096 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 14, 2006, 10:30:39 AM »

I've never used an escrow agent but I did come close. Assuming of course that both parties agree on the agent (there are quite a few with good public reputations), I liked the process:

1. Buyer forwards payment to escrow agent, who holds it until
2. Seller sends goods to buyer,
3. Buyer inspects, then: (a) notifies escrow agent that goods are OK (and escrow funds release to seller) or (b) goods are not OK (escrow funds not released back to buyer until seller has received the goods back in good cond'n).

There are a few other provisions like, if the buyer never confirms goods are OK or notifies he's returning them, seller gets the money after a specific period (10 days, I think).

Definitely could solve problems in some instances.