Safe way to make a private purchase from someone abroad

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

I live in the UK and have been searching the web for a few months now looking for a rare-ish guitar. I've found one, but it's for sale in Sweden - on a website called Vendolin.

Anyhow, I've been in touch with the seller and he is looking into postage costs. Hes says he might be interested in selling to someone in the UK.

But I have not got a clue how to pay for it! Can I pay through Paypal and if so what are the charges and what does the seller need to have/do? Are there any other options? I'm obviously after the cheapest option, but I need some protection in case I end up not receiving the guitar! He seems quite trustworthy but its pretty hard to tell from a few emails.

I'd really appreciate any advice.

Cheers

Max

ZARA

Hi Max, best way would be paypal backed up by a credit card, im not sure of the fees but the seller has to pay the fees not the buyer, avoid bank transfers, western union etc at all cost, hope this helps.

logana

Vendolin are a pretty large company - doubt if they will take PayPal but since you are buying from a business you will be covered by EEC distance selling regulations - Swedish consumer law is a lot tougher than UK regulations. Much better protection for individuals....

You will probably have to do a bank transfer so check your bank for prices...

JAG

If it is expensive (over £100) then use a credit card. If you do use PayPal be careful because they try to persuade you to fund the payment from your bank account rather than a credit card. This way you would not be able to do a chargeback or get the credit card company involved if something goes wrong, if you funded the payment from you bank account (or funds already in your PayPal account).

Tunstallstoven

Thanks for the help all....

I will look into the PayPal option. The item is going to be around £750, so I definitely want protection and will definitely want use a credit card. Through Paypal if this is possible. So I take it the seller will need to have/set up a Paypal account? Is that right?

In terms of paying through Vendolin, does anyone know if this is possible and if so how? I've been going through the site with google translation but cqannot find anywhere that tells you about making payment. I was wondering whether it is the kind of site that allows you to make payment, or if it is more like Ad Trader here in the UK - and you just post ads there?

If anyone can help me out I would really appreciate it.

Cheers

Max

Anglea

One of my family did this only the other way round, sold something to a private person in Scandinavia..

All went through ok, however,as it was all done in a rush (buyer wanting it ASAP), certain things were overlooked -there is a rigmarole about getting the item properly packaged before it's weighed (which could be difficult to do if it's big and ours was large). And the courier was arranged before the money transfers were checked. So had to be sent away to return on another day. Used paypal. Luckily all went well in the end and he received it.

cwp500

Anglea wrote: »

One of my family did this only the other way round, sold something to a private person in Scandinavia..

All went through ok, however,as it was all done in a rush (buyer wanting it ASAP), certain things were overlooked -there is a rigmarole about getting the item properly packaged before it's weighed (which could be difficult to do if it's big and ours was large). And the courier was arranged before the money transfers were checked. So had to be sent away to return on another day. Used paypal. Luckily all went well in the end and he received it.

Is it really worth all the hassle? Guitars are notoriously fragile and any defects present in the instrument before despatch would be attributed to faulty handling by the carrier or inadequate packing.

Once someone has the money it is difficult to extract it back from them, credit card or not. The best policy is always to buy British or at least from a local or national uk source who can be pursued through the usual methods if something goes wrong.

Tunstallstoven

HI

I rang paypal today and they seemed very confident that if something went wrong or I do d not receive the guitar, I would be protected by them....

so do you not think that is the case?

Cheers

Max

TBG

Out of interest what guitar is it?

Tunstallstoven

TBG - it is an Ibanez RG1077xl. They are quite rare because they were only made for one year.

I'm planning to use the paypal/credit card route. Vendolin only advertise the items, you cannot make payment through them. Im not sure how well protected I will be with Paypal/credit card, but I'm sure it is better than nothing or a bank transfer.

Paypal charge an additional 2.5% for currency conversion, but I have a Nationwide card and am hoping the it6 will be 0% conversion/commission fees. Does anyone know for sure about the credit card fees?

Cheers

Max