Beedster

Absolutely. It saved me a lot of money doing it that way a while back. Many businesses don't intend to sell via Reverb (or eBay), but to get the casual browser - and there are a lot of those on Reverb and eBay - to visit and ideally buy from the shop's website, which is why they often list them at higher prices on Reverb/eBay. And of course, many of the shops price their goods high on eBay and Reverb because they don't like either site's buyer-friendly T&Cs

Why I won't be buying internationally again for a while, UK Customs evidently a bit behind, this was only a small/cheap item also

Agreed, if you have only one item to sell, I'd guess BC is your place, fees here are VERY low by comparison

Did the same for me earlier this year, a BC legend

I'm not sure I paid a set up fee, best thing to do is check the T&Cs. I will say that selling on Reverb is like selling here (BC) and and therefore nothing like selling on eBay! In short, it's generally polite, calm and honest, at least in my experience. Info here https://reverb.com/page/seller-fees#:~:text=As a seller%2C Reverb charges,transaction fee to only %24350.

It would certainly make the Great Precision Heist less hassle for me Paul

....or music sufficiently loud to cause people in the venue to have to raise their voices apparently. A low volume Shadows tribute act might have a chance, but that would of course deter the clientele

I’ve used capos very high up on a 12 -string with the aim of a mandolin tone, forget how high I went but certainly to the pointy hat it was VERY hard to position my fingers. Sounded nothing like a mandolin solo’d, but sat in the mix well. Tuning the bloody thing took hours however

Keep me posted, I'll get a van booked

Absolutely, what a therapeutic thread this is. Had I known this was taking place and that so many glorious basses were going to be in the same place at the same time, me and a few 'like minded folks' might have rented a Transit, put the stockings over our heads, and made the journey up North with evil intent

That's a very good point, as is 'at the moment', as apparently the backlog of imports is extraordinary. I'm still waiting on a package that Parcelforce say was imported to the UK on 25th April. I assume that lockdown/social distancing have messed up what was already a pretty slow service.

Yep, an interesting example of a courier insurance get-out I heard about (so possibly apocryphal) was a dropped tube amp, so being electronic equipment was covered by the policy the guy paid for. But no, the courier didn't pay out because the £200 set of tubes that were shattered, being glass, weren't covered! They can be tricky customers can couriers! I'm not going to use couriers any more unless I absolutely have to or unless I can afford to lose the item, period. They're increasingly a law unto themselves, to the point that even if it's 100% their fault that something is lost or broken, and even if they accept this, their T&Cs often give them a get-out. I battled with Interparcel over two cases of trashed gear a few years back, and although I got compensation for both, it didn't make up for the hassle, and I still lost in real terms both times. But then there's the fact that the customer is expected to pay the courier's risk (i.e., despite it being their fault both times, I only received compensation because I'd paid for extra insurance). It a great business model they've got going; imagine you went into a chippy, ordered a portion of chips, and after about 10 minutes they haven't arrived and the chippy's closing. So you politely and reasonably ask for your money back, and the bloke behind the counter says "I can only refund you if you paid for our chip-non-arrival insurance......?"

I would have a look at the closing posts in this thread before you use Eurosender

If you're sending it in a hard case, you could wrap the case in bubble wrap and then gaffa tape it in heavy duty bin bags, which I've done a few times. Offers good protection, meets the jiffy bag criteria, and might just keep you under the maximum dimensions limit?

Are you intending to send a bass without a box?

I'm not joking, that reminds me of a gig we did (stupidly) on World Cup Final day, at a sport event attended by about 400 people and at which the organiser promised us there would be no TV. There was, and everyone watched it, except ONE person

Someone on here did that a few years back, ended up at the receiving end of a summons and lost a lot more than the original amount he thought he was protecting. Understandable strategy when faced with a dodgy buyer, but PayPal are pretty tight on this stuff

It'll be up to 30% total cost, sometimes more as you pay duty/tax (I forget which) on the courier fee also. So, if you want the bass insured you'll pay the insurance plus the extra duty/tax on that insurance! Given this, the main risks are 1: If the bass needs to go back you will really struggle to recoup your expenses re duties/taxes 2. In the USA local state laws govern online transaction so occasionally you can find yourself in a bad position if the deal results in any issues. I've bought two basses from the USA, one, a Wal, went well, one a Modulus, didn't (and I was basically told by the seller that as the result of 2. above, there was nothing I could do, and he was right!). I won't import from the USA again.

Pay the £50 to get it to go away Nick. Nothing else is worth the hassle, eBay's case resolution algorithms make some daft decisions, and given you could end up with a sax coming back (possibly in worse shape than it left you) and refunding postage both ways, £50's cheap

I was tempted by this on eBay as I prefer Precision to Jazz body shape and like a project...... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Used-Mystery-P-Shaped-Jazz-Bass-Body-Off-White-Vintage-Cream-Luthier-Supplies/254628625191?hash=item3b490c7b27:g:bNAAAOSwPGNe61-K ......then I remembered that I have about 20 unfinished project basses lying around and am not especially a fan of Jazz Basses in the first place. The bridge holes don't look to be especially well aligned with the PUP routs, so I'd expect to have to fill and re-drill those, and that sort of thing always makes me worry that whoever built or worked on the bass didn't know what they were doing or were in a hurry, and I'm likely to find other issues. But the important/hard to do bits look OK to my eye, i.e., the PUP routs look to be aligned with the neck pocket. EDIT: Just realised you're looking for a bass not a body. Doh! Anyway, someone else looking at this thread might find the body useful

Glad you got it back mate, and I share your sentiments about them. Re middle man, Interparcel are the same type of business, but they resolve issues directly, not simply relying on the courier to do so.

Not at all, just the principle that there are couriers out there whose website allows you to book a delivery in one simple process that doesn't require you to wait for a response in person re the fee, that recognises standard postcodes, and doesn't give you a quote of almost £200 for UK to UK delivery after you've had to wait a while for that response in the first place. And couriers whose customer service staff do their best to help and do business, rather than simply say "you clearly don't understand how our system works, perhaps use another courier"