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Buying On Ebay Germany


alembic1989
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I see instruments I'd like to buy from time to time on ebay.de ...the only trouble I'd a lot of the sellers only offer direct money transfer as a payment option. Why would anyone buy an item using this method ( even if you're from Germany) as there is no guarantee of anything even bring sent, and no course of action in case its a scam. Surely I must be missing something here as a lot of sellers use this method and PayPal is not usually an option.

?? Anyone???

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The 'law' German seller to buyer may be way more effective then UK and many years ago I bought a couple of basses on ebay.de paying by transfer and received basses no probs... I'd not be so eager to now!  You could ask sellers if they'll register with paypal and you'll pay the fees?  

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I’ve bought a couple of basses from ebay.de and Kleinanzeigen over the years. 

Never had a problem with either transaction in fact one was unbelievable. 

The seller insisted on shipping it to me before any payment. He only had a padded case so I arranged for a SKB bass safe - found used but as new , cheap on German Amazon and using Prime had it sent free to the seller in Germany.  He then packed the bass in gig bag in the SKB and then into its packaging box and sent to me in the U.K. at his cost  

He wouldn’t accept any payment until I'd had the bass a week and was completely happy with it. Talk about trusting and it wasn’t a cheap bass £1200 ish if I recall. 

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It was a surprise to me to say the least!

I do completely understand your predicament though. Do you know anyone in Germany that could check it over for you? Ask the seller to post dated pics to you personalised so you can get proof it actually exists? Ask for feedback references from other sites, Facebook possibly, other bass forums etc?

I did complete one transaction using google translate with another German seller who wouldn’t ship internationally - we arranged to send the bass to a German friend, they checked it over and sent it on to me. 

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Hmm...this is news..what exactly is 

' the ebay guarantee'?

How would you prove to ebay that you'd sent the money by direct transfer if the seller decides to deny any knowledge of payment?... I thought that was the whole point of PayPal payments i.e there'd be proof....just asking..:-)

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1 minute ago, alembic1989 said:

Hmm...this is news..what exactly is 

' the ebay guarantee'?

How would you prove to ebay that you'd sent the money by direct transfer if the seller decides to deny any knowledge of payment?... I thought that was the whole point of PayPal payments i.e there'd be proof....just asking..:-)

When you buy anything from eBay you have a choice of options to ask the seller a question. This includes 'item was not received'

e.g. 

I have a question about using my item or I want to send the seller a message (0)
I didn’t receive my item (2)
I need to return my item (1)
I received an item that wasn't as described (1)
Request to cancel this order (1)
Other (0)
 
 
We'll look for an answer for you
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I've bought basses from Germany a few times,both private and ebay sales. Bank transfers are free or almost free over there . so most tend not to use Paypal.

Sending money through Transferwise will save you a packet,better rates and no fee for starters.

 

Regarding PP/ebay buyer protection. I'll admit to feeling uneasy putting money in a stranger's  bank account but then the goodies arrive and I feel a total derrière for doubting them.

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I made use of the fact that my wife speaks and writes fluently which make it way easier to talk to the seller. Culturally Germany and the UK are quite similar I think so if you can get around the language barrier is not a million miles from a basschat deal. 

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17 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Sending money through Transferwise will save you a packet,better rates and no fee for starters.

Indeed, big savings. Trouble is, not everyone will accept TW

When i tried to buy a BART pickup in Holland a few weeks ago, and asked if they  would take TW  ( it's pretty failsafe ) they said no.

Couple of years ago i bought an amp from germany and after some emails between us, the finally said ok to TW, but they didnt want to at the start

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