Buying parts off of ebay.de good idea?

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abbos

Active Member
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Jan 14, 2003
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170
Location
Berkshire
Car
W202 + W115
Hey there guys,

My C180 is in need of some tlc. I looked on ebay inthe uk and didn't find much so then i looked onthe german version. I found Avantgarde grills for silly prices, mirrors etc.

Should I go down this route and get them sent to the uk or should I steer clear and try to buy from the uk?

Looking for some nice wheels with rubber too but everything seems so expensive.
 
I'm also comtemplating the idea of buying off ebay.de. esp the avantgarde grill. Sent email twice for futher info to the seller but have not rec any replies yet. Noticed that they prefer wire/bank transfer.

Anybody that has done this before prob could shed some light on this.
 
I tend to use ebay.co.uk then when searching check the available to Uk box and then anything incl german stuff that matches pops up.

Most german sellers email in english - some dont. I always aplologise for not speaking german when I email.

Yes they all prefer wire transfer - if you use a same day euro /urgent transfer method (RBS /NATWEST) the money can be with them in a couple of days. (same day doesnt always mean that)

I have bought a fair bit from germany thru ebay and found it ok.

one thing i never do is send cash - i've done it twice & been told it never arrived ! second time I did a rpyal mail trace - it took weeks but all they did was verify the envelope had been signed for.I emailed the seller with this info and luckily he sent the goods the next day.

bottom line - its no better or worse than buying in uk.
 
Like Steve I have bought several items from Germany through e-bay.

I also have been stung on non-arrival of money. I only did it once - the money genuinely 'never arrived'. I had sent it by insured delivery (signed for) - apparently there are dishonest postal workers in Germany who look out for these clearly marked envelopes because they almost invariably contain money.

I generally pay now by wire transfer, but there is a cost to this (approx £16 for 'fast transfer'). For some things I purchased the wire transfer cost more than the item!
Some accept credit card (very easy), some - but very few for some reason - accept PayPal.

I have never had anything fail to arrive. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend purchasing from ebay.de.

Paul G
 
Another tip is to ignore where some auctions state that the seller will only post to Germany. Quite often if you ask them they will happily post to the UK - at cost, so if there is something you like the look of - go for it. Some good value stuff on there.

S.
 
i know somone who bought a good 9 grands worth of car audio kit and only paid 2 on german ebay so yea it is a good place to buy but jsut like english ebay there are fraudsters out there
 
guys,

ive bought sound equiptment and some parts for my car from german ebay, no probs at all! some do not reply when emailed, but other than that no probs, so yep, if he has good feedback, go for it!
 
… good point Sym

sym said:
Another tip is to ignore where some auctions state that the seller will only post to Germany. Quite often if you ask them they will happily post to the UK - at cost, so if there is something you like the look of - go for it. Some good value stuff on there.

S.

Good point there Sym, I've found that to be the case as well.

As regards sending money to Germany a few things to bear in mind.

I've done a fair bit of buying in/outside ebay in Germany and a numbers of things came to light.

The reason they usually ask for money transfers is that many Germans don't have Credit Cards! Apparently its most unusal to use them in Germany except with the younger generation. Well considering what happpened to them in the 20's it's only understandable. Hence thay cannot easily use the online payment services.

I had a conversation with a German Company some years ago regarding payment by cash and If I rememeber rightly its actually illegal to send large amounts of cash through the post in Germany, and most commercial company's won't ask as the money has a very bad habit of dissapearing in transit (postal staff are widely regarded as untrustworthy!).

Also, consider going outside ebay, you would be surprised at the difference in pricing compared with here, its down to volume, Mercs are much more common there!

Other than that I've used ebay.de a fair bit and found that as long as the same common sense rules are followed its been very good, and the prices tend to be significantly cheaper than on ebay.co.uk

Andy
 
vito113 said:
Good point there Sym, I've found that to be the case as well.

As regards sending money to Germany a few things to bear in mind.

I've done a fair bit of buying in/outside ebay in Germany and a numbers of things came to light.

The reason they usually ask for money transfers is that many Germans don't have Credit Cards! Apparently its most unusal to use them in Germany except with the younger generation. Well considering what happpened to them in the 20's it's only understandable. Hence thay cannot easily use the online payment services.

I had a conversation with a German Company some years ago regarding payment by cash and If I rememeber rightly its actually illegal to send large amounts of cash through the post in Germany, and most commercial company's won't ask as the money has a very bad habit of dissapearing in transit (postal staff are widely regarded as untrustworthy!).

Also, consider going outside ebay, you would be surprised at the difference in pricing compared with here, its down to volume, Mercs are much more common there!

Other than that I've used ebay.de a fair bit and found that as long as the same common sense rules are followed its been very good, and the prices tend to be significantly cheaper than on ebay.co.uk

Andy
I use Ebay .de frequently and I have even sent euros in a letter which I was'nt to keen on but seller was unsure of postage price, it worked out ok and he was really honest as he sent a 5 euro note with the item as the postage was less than anticipated . But its all down to trust, this guy was far to helpful and appolgetic because his english was limited, to be a con man.But I don't think i will make a habit of it. I'am waiting for roof bars to arrive from Berlin for my w124. everything for mercs is much cheaper there , and the choice is endless of whats available . it's just a shame that their mercs are LHD. :D
 
From what I can see, there's good response on using ebay.de. Any other hidden charges that may have to be aware of(apat from the wire transfer costs)? eg stung by vat&import duty and stuff or because it's in EU so the charges does not apply?
 
…no taxes to pay

rizal2510 said:
From what I can see, there's good response on using ebay.de. Any other hidden charges that may have to be aware of(apat from the wire transfer costs)? eg stung by vat&import duty and stuff or because it's in EU so the charges does not apply?

Thats right, as it's within EU there are no charges, VAT or Duty to pay.

Andy
 

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