Buying on German e-Bay

OBBherr

OBBherr

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I note that some members here have bought via eBay Germany to their satisfaction. In plucking up my courage to do the same, for a long discontinued item, I was stopped in my tracks (accidental pun - apologies) by a "no despatch to UK" notice. On further enquiry I found several other sellers with the same prohibition; including one with "Möglicherweise kein Versand nach Großbritannien" which I translate as "possibly" or "perhaps" no despatch to UK.

Is this a recent (Brexit related?) phenomenon? Do German sellers think we have left the EU already? Have others encountered this?

Your insight appreciated.
 
I have bought from both Germany and the US through ebay and sometimes sellers just don't want the bother of shipping overseas.

I don't think it is Brexit related as I was buying from the US about 6 or 7 years ago. I appreciate the US has nothing to do with Brexit but I think it is just easier to ship within their own country.

Sarah Winfield
 
Over the years I have bought loads of items of e-bay.de. The only concern I have had was finding that many sellers refused to take Paypal, but insisted on Iban transfers instead, which are still expensive, even if you do them from home banking.

This latest finding is worrying, but totally beyond me! Hope it is not Brexit related, but I guess 'we' have managed to hack off a lot of people in quite few countries, so que sera sera..

James
 
James Day said:
Over the years I have bought loads of items of e-bay.de. The only concern I have had was finding that many sellers refused to take Paypal, but insisted on Iban transfers instead, which are still expensive, even if you do them from home banking.

This latest finding is worrying, but totally beyond me! Hope it is not Brexit related, but I guess 'we' have managed to hack off a lot of people in quite few countries, so que sera sera..

James
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PS: Sarah is right and it does seem a lot easier to buy from the US now than a few years ago. The E-bay world shipping programme is not cheap, but it means that several items that would have been denied to me are now mine! Yay!
 
I have bought several items from US EBay & the global shipping system is lot cheaper than paying US postage, import taxes & parcelfarce charges. Now, if its not on global shipping I don't bother to bid.
 
dutchelm said:
I have bought several items from US EBay & the global shipping system is lot cheaper than paying US postage, import taxes & parcelfarce charges. Now, if its not on global shipping I don't bother to bid.
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Arrgh! ParcelForce charges! I need a therpaist!
 
Last time I bought a Gauge 1 loco from Germany it was cheaper to nip across the channel and collect it in person than pay for the bank transfer and then Deutsche Post on top of that. Even now, you'll find a marked reticence in Europe to the use of ANY kind of credit card payment, and that includes even the 'wondrous' American Express card.

I agree with James Day above - if it's not on Global Shipping them I ignorify it.

tac
OVGRS
POCRR - Eastern Sub
 
It is an option on Ebay to make the no shipping over seas statement. I find it worth asking the question - and about Paypal. Some sellers just dont expect a sale outside of 'home'. Germans use cards far less that us Englishers - even quite modest sized hotels dont always take cards.
 
I have bought from Ebay Germany quite a bit. Sometimes running into payment challenges but getting them sorted eventually. Buying from pretty well anywhere in the world ends up a good deal cheaper than buying locally (Australia). The importer here has no interest in volume whatsoever :)....
 
OBBherr said:
I note that some members here have bought via eBay Germany to their satisfaction. In plucking up my courage to do the same, for a long discontinued item, I was stopped in my tracks (accidental pun - apologies) by a "no despatch to UK" notice. On further enquiry I found several other sellers with the same prohibition; including one with "Möglicherweise kein Versand nach Großbritannien" which I translate as "possibly" or "perhaps" no despatch to UK.

Is this a recent (Brexit related?) phenomenon? Do German sellers think we have left the EU already? Have others encountered this?

Your insight appreciated.
Click to expand...
I have bought from Gemany over the years with no problems at all. I search only items that take Paypal, if you do not know it exists for sale you do not worry about it. Then I only bid on items that will ship to uk.

I have not used Ebay much at all since 2012 so my experience if "not posting to uk" goes as far back as 2010. In fact with many items that I used to sell I listed "no outside of uk bids please" as some items were just not worth the hastle of shipping round the world. In fact fortunately a cheep Camera to USSR was said to never have arrived, I just refunded the guy and took it with good grace.
 
I buy LGB items from German Ebay quite regularly. You often get the following message "

Möglicherweise kein Versand nach Großbritannien - Lesen Sie die Artikelbeschreibung oder kontaktieren Sie den Verkäufer, um Informationen zu Versandoptionen zu erhalten.

I always contact the seller (kontaktieren Sie den Verkäufer) to see if he/she will send to the UK. I have only on a few occasions found that the seller would not do so. If you are not comfortable with german then use google translate but keep the sentences short and simple.

MThestrong
 
Hi, Ive had no problems either, purchased a LGB 220 last year at a very good price all ok,

As said above may be worth sending a message to ask if they will ship to UK,

Would not think Brexit has anyhting to do with it. Good luck.
 
We have not left yet. VAT and customs might make things a lot different, but at our side of the channel.
 
The phrase is a standard default on the eBay.de and has to be changed by the seller, after that comes a list of countries the seller will not ship to (Nigeria for instance). As some sellers miss the 'only ships to Germany' setting a quick mail - even in English, most Germans speak English than you would believe - and they can fix other countries as included. Let's face it, they want to sell and you pay the postage.
Paypal is something else, after being bitten a couple of times I insist on Paypal when doing a search.
 
dutchelm said:
I have bought several items from US EBay & the global shipping system is lot cheaper than paying US postage, import taxes & parcelfarce charges. Now, if its not on global shipping I don't bother to bid.
Click to expand...


What is the global shipping system ? I've sold items to buyers outside the States, on Ebay. It's true that some of the shipping costs those blokes paid, I would not.
 
You ship to a same country address and the 'system' gets it to the buyer. It seems to work and can be much cheaper than post.
 
Thanks for all the responsees. YOur collected wisdom has:

a. Clarified the issue
b. Suggested workrounds (try contacting the seller becuase they may not have meant it)
c. Introduced the global shipping concept. I had been ignoring all US ads on the grounds that that whole customs/VSAT situation was bext avoided. Seems eBay agreed and did something about it!
 
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