Date:         Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:08:04 -0800
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Buying from German Ebay.. Hard/Easy?
In-Reply-To:  <C1886C58.14C60%thomas.myers@xerox.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

> Often think that must be the best place for rare vanagon parts and tidbits.
>
> But how complicated is it to buy from a foreign Ebay site?
>
> Is it simply a case of providing an address and the extra shipping $$??

I've picked up a few odds and ends on ebay.de before, but it's hard to
find auctions that meet the two critical criteria:
Versand Nach: weltweit (ships worldwide)
PayPal

The banking system in europe operates very differently from the north
american system. You can simply call your bank (or go online) and say
"please transfer fifty euros to account number 123456" and the money
just goes, no problem. Here, not so much. Bank "transfers", when they
are between two different banks, are usually resolved by one bank
MAILING A CHECK to the recipient. The only way to take advantage of
the european banking system "Überweisung" (transfer) is to have an
account with a european bank. This can be done nowadays fairly easily
over the internet, but then you run into another problem. When you
want to put money in your european account, you end up paying about a
$40 fee for the transfer. My father, who mostly lives in Austria now
but whose retirement income comes from the US,  complains about this
all the time. So unless the seller is truly interested enough in
selling "weltweit" to accept PayPal, your only reasonable alternative
is to know someone in the EU who'll do the payment transfer for you.

Never had a problem with shipping or customs. Takes a little while to
get here, but if it's sent via Deutsche Post by someone who knows how
to fill out a customs declaration (i.e. "nothing in this GIFT box
worth anything or forbidden, move along"), no problem. Larger/heavier
items might be tougher. I've only bought small stuff, like Golf mk2
mud flaps (they fit the T3 beautifully), and the steering column cowl
with the heated seat dial.

-- 
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"
"I will buy your Syncro!" - poptophell.com