Question
has anyone figured out a way to buy from europe from a seller who doesn't ship to the US? I've not been able to talk most of them into shipping here when I've asked.
is there some way i could rent a mailbox in France (the country I most buy from) and then have purchases forwarded to me? or does anyone know of some other kind of service I am not aware of?
maybe I should make friend with someone in france? seriously I pay for the auction, they ship to that person and for a percentage that person ships it on to me. man, I wish more people would ship internationally, at least here in the US, it's no big deal
thanks for your thoughts.
Answer
Originally Posted by mel-
has anyone figured out a way to buy from europe from a seller who doesn't ship to the US? I've not been able to talk most of them into shipping here when I've asked.
For me the best and most effective method has been to ask them. Also I offer to pay in Euros via IBAN bank transfer so they don't get charged any fees to receive the amount (and most importantly they have no chargeback risk - unlike PayPal). I've bought from various European countries on eBay.ch, eBay.fr, eBay.de, etc and never had a problem that couldn't be solved. As a last resort there was always Euro bank notes in a plain sealed envelope which works a treat when all else fails.
Answer
If they don't want to sell because they're wary of the int'l shipping hassle, then perhaps you can convince them to sell to you if you have a prior arrangement set up with their local "Mailboxes Etc." (same co. in the US)
I believe you can find all the Mailboxes Etc. locations on the internets ;
at least we were able to find them when we were traveling and shipping stuff back to the US.
The MBE site should have a contact email so you can ask away...in your best babelfrench of course.
BUT, if the seller is out in the rustic countryside with nary a 'downtown' to speak of....may be SOL, since the MBE's are not everywhere and might require some driving effort.
I do recommend the MBE's in Italy Fance and Spain. They did a fantastic job packing the antique stuff for us. Nothing was broke, damaged, or 'missing'.
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...what goes around, comes around....
biggest laugh I've had in a while
Answer
Originally Posted by Bill
...what goes around, comes around....
biggest laugh I've had in a while
I was thinking the same thing.
Answer
What I've found works on me as a seller (gg) is a super polite email BEFORE bidding that makes it clear they know I don't do it routinely and that I may need some time (real time; not ebay crazy customer time) to figure out how to do it and that they'll be eternally grateful if I make the effort because they can't get anything like what we're selling in their country. Maryanne