Buying used tools International

[Dan Kirkland]

First thread here and kind of a noob question.

I've never bought anything internationally on the evil-bay. But there is a nice lot of japanese chisels I've had my eye on. Just curious if there's any sort of easy trap/issue that can happen when ordering from international dealers on ebay? Import taxes etc? Or is it relatively easy?

Kind of a dumb question I just thought someone on here might have some experience.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

It's simple with EMS (Express Mail Service) which is a service that international mail carriers cooperate on getting delivered. That takes about 5 days from Japan. Regular mail anywhere from a week to two months.

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Dan and welcome to the Creek. One of my former co-workers is also named Kirkland. Where do you call home?

I have bought and sold internationally. The hardest part for me was filling out a form at the post office for shipping out of the U.S. The international purchases just showed up at my door or mail box depending on how it was shipped.

A lot of people here have also purchased tools from Tools From Japan without problems.

jtk

[Dan Kirkland]

Howdy Dan and welcome to the Creek. One of my former co-workers is also named Kirkland. Where do you call home?

I have bought and sold internationally. The hardest part for me was filling out a form at the post office for shipping out of the U.S. The international purchases just showed up at my door or mail box depending on how it was shipped.

A lot of people here have also purchased tools from Tools From Japan without problems.

jtk

Hey Jim, Texas currently is my home. What was your co-worker's name?

Thanks for the welcome and the advice, there's alot of good reading and knowledge to be gained here.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Dan,

I'm up in the panhandle at Borger. Are you anywhere near here? I don't think of any creekers that are near the panhandle, but I may be wrong, however, there are quite a few down south. Of course, there aren't big numbers of folks up here in the panhandle anyway, although a lot more here than where I grew up.

I have bought a few items on Fleabay from overseas, but very few. At any rate, the ones I have bought have been delivered without a hitch.

I will never buy anything from any place that is now part of China or can ship stuff from China, however. I have been burned on stuff from them...stuff that claimed it was American made, and the pictures looked like American made, but when in hand it was clearly a Chinese knock off. I never spent too much on such items, and I had two or three such before figuring out that I had been had. Never again.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

Hey Jim, Texas currently is my home. What was your co-worker's name?

Thanks for the welcome and the advice, there's alot of good reading and knowledge to be gained here.

Sent a PM with coworker's name.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

First thread here and kind of a noob question.

I've never bought anything internationally on the evil-bay. But there is a nice lot of japanese chisels I've had my eye on. Just curious if there's any sort of easy trap/issue that can happen when ordering from international dealers on ebay? Import taxes etc? Or is it relatively easy?

Kind of a dumb question I just thought someone on here might have some experience.

I have bought and sold on eBay a good bit. As a Buyer one has much protection if paying via Paypal. It is the Sellers who are at risk, not the Buyers - payments not made, items not delivered, complaints from Buyers go on their record. If something is not up to the advertised standard, then the Buyer can request it is returned for a refund. Sellers who want to protect their "reputation points" are less likely to make untrue claims about the items they sell. Look at the reputation history of each seller. Do not purchase from someone who has had complaints or very few sales. Otherwise you should be good to go.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Dan Kirkland]

Hi Dan,

I'm up in the panhandle at Borger. Are you anywhere near here? I don't think of any creekers that are near the panhandle, but I may be wrong, however, there are quite a few down south. Of course, there aren't big numbers of folks up here in the panhandle anyway, although a lot more here than where I grew up.

I have bought a few items on Fleabay from overseas, but very few. At any rate, the ones I have bought have been delivered without a hitch.

I will never buy anything from any place that is now part of China or can ship stuff from China, however. I have been burned on stuff from them...stuff that claimed it was American made, and the pictures looked like American made, but when in hand it was clearly a Chinese knock off. I never spent too much on such items, and I had two or three such before figuring out that I had been had. Never again.

Stew

Hey Stew, I'm in Central Texas (Dallas specifically) I'll keep that in mind about Chinese stuff.

[Stanley Covington]

Derek said it well.

I will also second the point made previously about Chinese sources. The Chinese attitude since ancient times has always been that the person deceived is at fault. I fell prey to this on Ebay a long time ago on an inexpensive item, and the moderator at EBay that dealt with my complaint agreed with the seller that I was unwise to believe the seller's explicit and false claims of authenticity. I never did get satisfaction. Knowing this mindset, one must assume sellers in China are always lying.

Make sure you understand the seller's conditions of the sale, and take them seriously.

Sometimes US Customs and Drug Imports will ding you for fees. There is nothing made or sold anywhere in the universe they cannot and do not legally tax. For tools, the rates are low, and most of the time they do not bother.

Stan