philw Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 All A mate of mine is hankering over a guitar being sold by Guitarbank.ru. Does anybody here have any experience guitarbank, or of buying from Russia generally? Ta Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 (edited) well lets just say the price for one just plummeted!! but personally no way i'd risk something as expensive as a bass finding its way safely out of Russia at this moment in time. they'll probably be "confiscating" or "inspecting" like crazy trying to stop capital leaving their country at the moment..... i'd personally never buy a bass from abroad as tracking down the person who just nicked your cash is impossible and the foreign police will just laugh at you for losing your money. I always laugh when i see people in Estonia or Barcelona or somewhere trying to sell a beautiful mint condition Fodera etc. with 1 post and 0 feedback wanting you to buy a £3-5k bass unseen from Europe. Edited December 17, 2014 by The Badderer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjames Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 ^ this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 You could use an escrow service, but as always caveat emptor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 The rouble has bombed so pricewise good but you really have to trust people and I think the russians and the inet is probably a step too far... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I would be very reluctant to do business in Russia or with Russians at the best of times. These are not the best of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 If you send me all the banking details, pin number, dob etc I'll handle the transaction for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Very risky even in more stable times. I've bought relatively low value NOS Soviet components such as PIO caps, germanium diodes, transistors etc from there quite a few times. Sometimes they have (eventually) turned up. The other thing I noticed when visiting guitar shops over there & in Ukraine too, is the number of counterfeits being sold in some guitar shops. I've seen really shoddy copies of Musicman, PRS, Rickenbackers etc all being passed as the real deal and at prices significantly higher than in the West. I was kicked out of one shop when I asked where a Stingray I was trying out, had [i]really[/i] come from! I'm not suggesting for a moment that the shop you're thinking about buying from is up to such tricks, but it's something I would bare in mind when dealing with such outlets. The two words that come to my mind are 'barge-pole' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmuppet Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Pay with a credit card and you're protected. Paypal too. Man even credit card through Paypal. I've bought from all over the world and never had an issue that can't be resolved one way or another. Best thing to do is ask if they accept the above payments. Tell them you feel unsafe buying from them and that paying with those gives you protection. They should understand and may ask you to cover the fees (which won't be much). If they ain't willing to do that then walk away. When I sell items I always try to make sure the person feels safe. I never ask them to send payment as a gift via paypal (you are unprotected this way). If they can't make you feel safe then it's not worth it. Just today I'm currently waiting on a bass coming from Japan. Had no issues and they accepted Paypal. If you need any advice feel free to hit me with a PM and I'll try to help. Thanks, G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 [quote name='sirmuppet' timestamp='1418905931' post='2634660'] Pay with a credit card and you're protected. Paypal too.[/quote] This. PayPal gets a lot of flak, but this is precisely the sort of sitiation it's designed to help take the risk out of. Ask the seller to invoice you for the bass through PayPal as a commercial transaction. That will create the necessary paper trail that you'll need should anything go wrong. PayPal are generally very good at backing buyers (moreso than sellers), so their policies work to your advantage. But as with all such deals, trust your gut feeling. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it - and vice versa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I've seen some very shoddy Rickenbacker basses on sale in the UK too, must have been fakes, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmuppet Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1418906955' post='2634672'] This. PayPal gets a lot of flak, but this is precisely the sort of sitiation it's designed to help take the risk out of. Ask the seller to invoice you for the bass through PayPal as a commercial transaction. That will create the necessary paper trail that you'll need should anything go wrong. PayPal are generally very good at backing buyers (moreso than sellers), so their policies work to your advantage. But as with all such deals, trust your gut feeling. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it - and vice versa [/quote] Exactly this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Now I've looked at that site, the semi hollow Morales "Mosrite" bass is calling to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1418893908' post='2634442'] I would be very reluctant to do business in Russia or with Russians at the best of times. These are not the best of times. [/quote] This. Too risky....way too risky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Hmmm, seems to be a range of opinions here. I'm verging towards the, "it's possible if you do your research" opinion, but then it's not my money potentially at risk (although guitarbank appears to have some lovely basses at pretty good prices and I can feel GAS rising). I'd like to know a bit more about guitarbank. The website appears to be one of a professional, reputable organisation, but hey, we all know how easy that is! Do we have any Russian basschat members? P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strtdv Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 The prices are very cheap (£600 for a Stingray, '77 Jazz bass for £850), but I would imagine that getting them out of the country would be a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 [quote name='strtdv' timestamp='1418995278' post='2635554'] The prices are very cheap (£600 for a Stingray, '77 Jazz bass for £850), but I would imagine that getting them out of the country would be a challenge. [/quote] Anybody that is tempted to give it a go needs to remember the shipping cost (I'd guess around £100), the import duty (probably around 4%) and the VAT (20%) that will be added by HMRC. The shipping agent will almost certainly add some significant "handling" charges too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matte_black Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Don't know if this helps but I sold and shipped a tube amp to Russia... and everything was fine. It happened last year, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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