I ignore any 'will only ship to USA' on eBay. I contact the owner,
tell them I am in UK, ask them to look at my feedback, tell them
I will advise of filling in the customs forms, am happy for really high
postage costs, tell them how I want it packing _and_ tell them I will
pay with a USA $ dollar bank draft drawn on a New York Bank. (I think
you call this a 'cashiers check'?)
I think the reason that I can bid from outside USA is the fact that
I will pay in USA dollars drawn on a USA bank that has gained agreement
from all sellers except one. If this fails I ask if they will _ship_
to a friend in USA, since they only say "will only ship to USA" but
they don't say they will only _sell_ to USA residents!
Scams -- I was nearly the victim of a scam last week.
The two pictures sent to me of a Concert roller organ were of different
types of organ; I know, I have written 'that book'. I asked for
further pictures and information and was only told "Urgent, I want
payment now direct to a bank account in Spain," despite the fact that
the land address for the sale was Belgium.
They would not accept a cheque/check which is easy to trace. I did
not go ahead with the deal, I did not believe they had an instrument
to sell.
Use a dealer you can trust, you will always have some come-back. It
amazes me the number of people who look at what I have for sale, say
no, and then spend 50% more on buying something in worse condition
without even seeing it, via Internet.
Kevin McElhone,
Northants, UK - selling to any country in any currency
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