Shipping a guitar from the UK to Italy -scam?

Teyeplayer

Roland said:

 Teyeplayer said:

WezV said:

Does Italy still have a notoriously bad postal service?  It used to be that some companies refused to ship there at all.

Not sure about the postage but I’ve a feeling it’s still pretty corrupt. Edit: based upon what family over there say.

@lukedlb for comment about parcel services in Italy

Good thinking @roland cheers buddy.

Roland

I sold him a speaker in June. I remember that he had it shipped to his girlfriend’s office to make sure that someone would be around to receive it. We’d do the same here, so I don’t know whether Italy is any worse. We regularly get cheap carriers tossing packages over our gate, even when they’re not addressed to us. It usually happens towards the end of shift.

Teyeplayer

Roland said:

I sold him a speaker in June. I remember that he had it shipped to his girlfriend’s office to make sure that someone would be around to receive it. We’d do the same here, so I don’t know whether Italy is any worse. We regularly get cheap carriers tossing packages over our gate, even when they’re not addressed to us. It usually happens towards the end of shift.

Out of interest don’t suppose you recall who used for shipping?

Clashman

I once sent an LP to Kaula Lumpa but was a bit suspiciuos of his address
which was a unit on an industrial estate and smelt a rat when he asked me
to state on the package it was a gift ...so when he claimed it had not
arrived after a few weeks, I sent him an email saying I would inform customs
 namimg him and the LP as they had probably more than likely  lost it
within a couple of hours he miraculously recieved the LP .....

jrc2806

With all of the uncertainties with scams / insurance etc I personally wont post guitars - even within the UK. Probably lost a few sales being overly cautious but as @notanon referred - at least you won't have lost anything and can wait until the right deal comes along. 

Roland

Teyeplayer said:

Out of interest don’t suppose you recall who used for shipping?

Nope. Luke might

richardhomer

A while ago, I advertised a Soldano Supercharger on here - bizarrely the only serious interest I got, was from an Italian buyer....

prowla

MagicPigDetective said:

Weird seeing this up now, I’ve got an amp on ebay, collection only. I’ve just been contacted by an Italian who wants me to ship it there; I said no way mate not worth the hassle and he seems to think I’ve got something against Italians! 

Tell him he's welcome to come and collect it and you'll buy him a beer at the local.

webrthomson

Don't do it - with PPG there is no protection for you - it's a gift.

So if he gets the item then claims it was charged to a stolen / lost credit card he will get his money back and you will get nothing refunded, as you were sent a gift not payment for an item.

If he is willing to do PPG just get him to do a bank transfer or a transferwise transfer, here:

https://transferwise.com/

Teyeplayer

Well the collective wisdom seems to be ‘avoid like the plague’ and as that was my gut feeling to start, I feel reassured by the responses -I’ll be sticking to it!

Thanks all.

OnTheHunt

Clashman said:

I once sent an LP to Kaula Lumpa but was a bit suspiciuos of his address
which was a unit on an industrial estate and smelt a rat when he asked me
to state on the package it was a gift ...so when he claimed it had not
arrived after a few weeks, I sent him an email saying I would inform customs
 namimg him and the LP as they had probably more than likely  lost it
within a couple of hours he miraculously recieved the LP .....

If you sent a package wrongly declaring it as a gift then it is you who has broken the law, not him.  Him requesting such is not illegal - you declaring it as such most definitely is.

WezV

OnTheHunt said:

Clashman said:

I once sent an LP to Kaula Lumpa but was a bit suspiciuos of his address
which was a unit on an industrial estate and smelt a rat when he asked me
to state on the package it was a gift ...so when he claimed it had not
arrived after a few weeks, I sent him an email saying I would inform customs
 namimg him and the LP as they had probably more than likely  lost it
within a couple of hours he miraculously recieved the LP .....

If you sent a package wrongly declaring it as a gift then it is you who has broken the law, not him.  Him requesting such is not illegal - you declaring it as such most definitely is.

Good first post to go with that user name

bgmartinsbridge

Just playing devil's advocate but if someone in the UK buys something and uses friends and family, then does a credit card chargeback, won't it be the same? So we're saying it's the same for UK, Europe and the World (apart from in the UK it's easier to 'pop round'.

bgmartinsbridge

A quick Google search and...

Hi ReeceH, robdevil is correct. As there is no PayPal Buyer Protection on personal payment (friends and family) a dispute for non receipt of an item or a dispute for an item significantly not as described cannot be opened. However It is possible to open a claim for an unauthorised transaction.19 Mar 2015

lukedlb

There’s no reason not to use the same common sense posting to Italy as the uk. I’ve had amps and 4x12s sent here by post and they’ve arrived. I now prefer to have a man with a van deliver but it’s difficult to organise. I’ve reached the point where I get gear sent to my family in London and then arrange delivery to Italy. And I’ve used Hermes! Takes a week but gets here. I send to my girlfriend’s work because I’m tired of missing delivery or staying at home to have them lie about passing by. 
If it’s under 150£ and the seller is happy, I’ll ask to send direct to Italy. My own anxiety and paranoia does make the whole thing a little heavy. Yes, the uk system is cheaper and reliable, but the Italian one has improved immensely in the last ten years. I live in downtown bologna and there is always a delivery van making their rounds in my street any minute of the day. It had a bad rep in the past but delivery is good now. 
Bank transfer (bonifico bancario) costs extra but would be more of a challenge for a conman. Shock horror: Banks here are better than the uk. For example: Any transfer over 1000 has to be alerted to the finance police. Sorry, the british banks are a bit Wild West compared to Italy. 
Final opinion: if you don’t feel like suffering the anxiety, don’t. You’ll find a buyer closer to home. 

Dominic

Simple solution is to request a bank transfer prior to despatch
There are a lot of buyers in Italy.........my old teacher was an Italian living in London for 4 years and he was fascinated by shops like Coda,Peach and Andertons ........always saying that there was nothing like them in Italy and how difficult it was to get good gear.............he was from Napoli  and worked mainly in Rome not some hick little Town....
 He used to buy and sell on here and still does from time to time even tho he has moved back to Rome
I suspect your buyer is genuine and keen and will agree to trust you with a bank transfer

BloodEagle

webrthomson said:

Don't do it - with PPG there is no protection for you - it's a gift.

So if he gets the item then claims it was charged to a stolen / lost credit card he will get his money back and you will get nothing refunded, as you were sent a gift not payment for an item.

If he is willing to do PPG just get him to do a bank transfer or a transferwise transfer, here:

https://transferwise.com/

Its the first time Ive heard of Transferwise - and I need to send some money overseas this week. Would anyone reccomend using this or have experience of timescales etc?

gavin_axecaster

Quite a few of us here use it.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1251594/#Comment_1251594
May take a few days to get your account validated, so open it as soon as possible. Best exchange rates of any of the comparable companies.
Money transferred from your bank is with them almost instantly. Transfer to recipient takes one to two days.

BloodEagle

Great, thanks for the info

RiftAmps

I sell amps to Italian customers all of the time, I use Paypal to process all of my transactions and send by UPS. I've not had any issues, charge backs, late deliveries, or anything else.

I have more problems shipping to NI than I do Italy.