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Why don't people ship to Germany?

No_Future
No_Future Posts: 334 Forumite
in Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels
I often see items where the seller specifies they will not send to Germany. Why is this? What is different about sending items to Germany?
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Comments

  • DaveAshton
    DaveAshton Posts: 7,851 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Don't mention the war :p
    Back on MSE after a 5 year hiatus.

    :heart2: Rhi :heart2:
  • Ballymackeonan
    Ballymackeonan Posts: 605 Forumite
    Would it be anything to do with Germans not using credit cards - could make payment awkward?
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,970 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I am not aware of any problems with Germany and have a few regulars from there. For me it is Italy that has been a problem recently. Also of course some of the more traditional scams that were originally based in Nigeria appear to have shifted to The Netherlands, but then they are easy to spot so shouldn't affect shipping.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • Lorian
    Lorian Posts: 6,634 Forumite
    Twentieth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    In my experience sometimes they dont/wont send paypal and insist they want to do a bank transfer. Bank transfers are free in Germany and very common with German sellers. Receiving them costs money in the UK.
  • frivolous_fay
    frivolous_fay Posts: 13,302 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Lorian wrote: »
    In my experience sometimes they dont/wont send paypal and insist they want to do a bank transfer. Bank transfers are free in Germany and very common with German sellers. Receiving them costs money in the UK.

    Not by IBAN in euros. :) Great way to get paid!
    My TV is broken! :cry:
    Edit: refunded £515 for TV 1.5 years out of warranty - thank you Sale of Goods Act! :j
  • rdp1980
    rdp1980 Posts: 275 Forumite
    Lorian wrote: »
    In my experience sometimes they dont/wont send paypal and insist they want to do a bank transfer. Bank transfers are free in Germany and very common with German sellers. Receiving them costs money in the UK.

    I sold an item to a German bidder a few months back, she paid by bank transfer and it didn't seem to cost me any money.

    Same with a Romanian buyer a few years back.
  • ArmitageShanks
    ArmitageShanks Posts: 1,905 Forumite
    Lorian wrote: »
    In my experience sometimes they dont/wont send paypal and insist they want to do a bank transfer. Bank transfers are free in Germany and very common with German sellers. Receiving them costs money in the UK.

    Did paypal tell you this?
  • rdp1980
    rdp1980 Posts: 275 Forumite
    ArmitageShanks wrote: »
    Did paypal tell you this?

    LOL - thanks for that! :D
  • Lorian
    Lorian Posts: 6,634 Forumite
    Twentieth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ArmitageShanks wrote: »
    Did paypal tell you this?

    Well I must admit it's a while since I received a payment from Germany, but IIRC it cost me quite a lot, maybe a tenner. It would have been inbound to a Natwest account.
  • StaffsSW
    StaffsSW Posts: 5,788 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    There is some law in Germany about the resale of cosmetics, and I know a lot of cosmetic sellers will state on their listings that they will not (read cannot) post to Germany. Although eBay prevents these listings from being displayed on the German site, they can not stop German residents from logging into the uk site.

    eBay are not specific enough about allowing sellers to specify individual countries they will sell to. I am happy to post pretty much anything to anywhere, but given the choice I would block Italy and Malta based on previous failed sales and disproportionately high Item Not Received clams.
    <--- Nothing to see here - move along --->
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