eBay problems, resolutions, shenanigans, questions and info (not bike finds)

Only use the gsp, I don’t post overseas otherwise as it’s too timely / hassle

I post a fair amount of stuff abroad using GSP for eBay and Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed for stuff from my business.

GSP is handy because I only have to think about domestic postage costs, eBay adds the cost for the international bit and tbh I have no idea how competitively they price this. I did just buy a courier bag from the US using GSP and the shipping/import costs seemed pretty good.

That said, Royal Mail Int T&S is quick and pretty easy to use and I’ve had zero problems with parcels going missing. I mostly use it to send to the US but also mainland Europe, quite a bit in Canads and occasionally Australia.

I just make sure what I charge for postage will cover what I’m
paying and punters seem happy enough with it.

TLDR: There are other ways, but GSP seems to work so why not use it.

Yeah the sellers contract is with the buyer up until it reaches the UK depot, then its Ebays + the buyers problem after that so if it gets lost or takes forever to arrive its not your problem.

Thanks for the info. Whilst never having used CSP previously, if the purchaser goes ahead with it, I'll feel safer using this method as Ebay can have the hassle if it goes wonky.

I sold a frame to someone in France a while back, using the GSP service. There was some big customs kerfuffle, the details of which I can’t remember, but basically the frame was seized and destroyed for some reason! (Must have accidentally put a bomb in the BB shell or something). I was so glad I’d used GSP as they instantly reimbursed the buyer and emailed me to say what had happened and that I didn’t owe any of the sale price back. In fact I think I ended up not paying fees, but don’t hold me to that.

@alexd cheers for this, that's what I was hoping to hear, they (ebay) shoulder the hassle/loss, the buyer pays for the extra postage and some form of insurance.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brompton-White-M6R-folding-bicycle-With-Shimano-Dynamo-Hub-Lights-And-Extras/332828401259?hash=item4d7e1e5e6b:g:JBUAAOSwrg1baM0q

One photo included. Of the shadow of the bike and the owner. Thats it.

"Making use of eBay offer hence pressed for time to list the item before the promo runs out shortly after midnight. Will update item pics etc shortly."

Hmmmm... I'm looking forward to more shadow pics.

odd, it ends tonight!

Are we looking at the same thing? The one I looked at has 25d remaining...

The eBay offer ends at midnight tonight, not the item listing :)

yes, i wasnt that clear!

Oooh I see what you mean, sorry. Fair enough - I don't list stuff on ebay so I never really pay attention to those promotions...

Can anyone translate this German more accurately than google?

Artikel & Zustand gem. Foto(s)


Gebrauchter Zustand ( siehe Fotos) 

Mit Gebrauchspuren

Nicht gereinigt 

Starke acht 

Shimano Nabendynamo

6 Loch Aufnahme für Scheibenbremse 

Für Bastler als Ersatzteilspender / zum aufbereiten etc.

Google gives me:
Article & condition acc. Photos)
Used condition (see photos)
With traces of use
Not cleaned
Strong eight
Shimano hub dynamo
6 hole intake for disc brake
For hobbyists as a spare part donor / to prepare etc.

I probably didn't read it too well but that doesn't suggest the rim is bent does it? Trying to ascertain if the wheel I just bought was bent in transit (box seems fine but there was zero padding inside). Need to raise a ticket if not. Its properly pringled.

Possible that he's covered by the 'spare part/donor' bit of his description. But its not very clear.

@Oliver Schick: Apologies for tagging you in directly you're just the only German I know of on here. Plus you seem very helpful.

Articles & Condition gem. photo(s)
Used condition ( see photos)
With traces of use
Not cleaned
Strong power
Shimano hub dynamo
6 hole disc brake holder
For hobbyists as spare part donor / for refurbishing etc.

Seems to be the photos would be your point of reference on the condition of the wheel itself, seems to be saying the hub is good and selling the full wheel as spares/repair.

Sure.

It does suggest the rim is bent, the 'starke acht' sounds like it refers to the rim being severely bent out of shape, it's referred to as a 'figure of eight' / 'Acht' in German.

Source - see username.

Strong power

... where are you getting that from??

What Swiss Chap said. The rim was (strongly) untrue before it was sent, and the seller advertised that.

Bugger.

That'll teach me to rely on hastily translated listings.

Oh well. It wasn't a huge amount of money. Although the postage has made it somewhat less worthwhile. Might see if I can reuse the spokes.

Pictures were of the wheel were side view only, plus detail of the hub and the rim sticker/brand marking. So no way of telling that it was bent from that.

Thanks all (@Swiss Chap, @Oliver Schick & @ ube - Can't find your username on the linking thingy).

Yeah I think I saw the listing you refer to, sorry :(

To be fair, the condition of this is in the category of "The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended." which I'd argue is not the case when you got a 'properly pringled' wheel, but I suppose the description is explicit enough to cover his ass.

If you need translations from German (or Spanish, or to a lesser extent Italian), I can always have a look at it in future if you want, it only takes a minute :)

Thanks.

I'm somewhat tempted to kick up a little bit of a fuss as its not totally clear. Doubt it'd achieve much though and not sure I can do with the stress.

So I bought some bb7 calipers from eBay without really paying attention to where they were coming from and it turns out they are coming from China.

The price was the deciding factor but I’ve just had a look and could get them from a uk seller for only a few £ more so if I get hit with import charges then it’ll be more than buying from the uk.

If the incur fees I guess I have no choice but to suck it up and pay them?

To be clear, it was my mistake for not looking more closely but I don’t like how eBay shows you stuff from Far East sellers as default and you have to change it to UK only yourself.

Yes, basically. The thing is that for many countries, having to pay import duties is normal so you always have to be prepared for that. As we're just about still living in an EU country, we don't usually think about it that much because most items will be shipped from within the EU, but that might change fairly soon.

One of the things I thought I'd have left behind when I moved here from Switzerland, but apparently not...

It’s a pain - and it’s very eager to show you international stuff tacked on to the end of your search results anyway.

you have to change it to UK only yourself.

Still doesn't guarantee a UK based seller annoyingly. I don't don't know how to get around this.