Shipping a guitar from the UK to Italy -scam?

57Deluxe

Italy issues - fact #1

It is illegal to cycle on the roads in Italy at the weekends now without a  'Sunday' permit in form of yearly Tax 

rossi

Tell him to stick Euros in an envelope and register it to you .That way you can only win .

boogieman

gavin_axecaster said:

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.

That was a thread I started. I used Currencyfair eventually, it was a doddle to set up and the money went through by the next day (might even have been the same day, just there’s a five hour time difference between here and Florida so I don’t find out if my bro in law had got the funds till the following day.) Very simple and cheap. 

Teyeplayer

As before thanks for the responses guys.

I’ve decided to go with my gut and not go through with the risk of this sale. Having looked further into the name given by the buyer and various bits of info he’s given...well he’s used some Italian celebrity so I’m more suspicious than ever.

However, the responses here have been very insightful and I’m glad I asked your opinions. You’ve provided some invaluable info about selling throughout Europe (and the world) that at least makes this a possibility in future.

spark240

Weird...I have an amp on Ebay and have been contacted by someone in Italy asking how much to ship?

lukedlb

spark240 said:

Weird...I have an amp on Ebay and have been contacted by someone in Italy asking how much to ship?

You should see the amount of amps my mate here in Italy buys from the Uk. Just get talking with them and try to suss them out. bank transfer with a week's clearance seems the best cover. you get the full details and the bank in the middle. eBay, paypal and so on do benefit the buyer..

MagicPigDetective

So how would you ship an amp to Italy? Out of interest I ran a quote on interparcel, it came up as well over three hundred quid!!

lukedlb

MagicPigDetective said:

So how would you ship an amp to Italy? Out of interest I ran a quote on interparcel, it came up as well over three hundred quid!!

My mate picks up directly from his local shipper who organises everything with the uk shipper with a saving of a third. I see if my guy is going anywhere near the seller for door to door delivery by his van. Cost is 100£. 

webrthomson

BloodEagle said:

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?

I've used them a few times to send money to the states and they have been great - good exchange rates and pretty fast once you are registered!

rustneversleeps

I had my guitar in the classifieds here.I had plenty of views and one silly offer.Then I received 
a email from the south of France which I  dismissed thinking definitely a fraud.These emails kept
coming so I replied to a few giving more details of the guitar.
To cut a long story short after negotiations with me insisting no bank transfers and £’s only.Still 
thinking this a scam The guy sent a copy of his Ryanair tickets landing at Stansted.At Stansted 
he rings and say his only got euros .I insisted on pounds.
To my amazement cab pulls come in pays cash (£’s).Turned out a really nice guy as we ended up
in  local pub talking guitars.We still keep in touch,and I here all about how my old Martin’s doing.
So you never know.

Teyeplayer

rustneversleeps said:

I had my guitar in the classifieds here.I had plenty of views and one silly offer.Then I received 
a email from the south of France which I  dismissed thinking definitely a fraud.These emails kept
coming so I replied to a few giving more details of the guitar.
To cut a long story short after negotiations with me insisting no bank transfers and £’s only.Still 
thinking this a scam The guy sent a copy of his Ryanair tickets landing at Stansted.At Stansted 
he rings and say his only got euros .I insisted on pounds.
To my amazement cab pulls come in pays cash (£’s).Turned out a really nice guy as we ended up
in  local pub talking guitars.We still keep in touch,and I here all about how my old Martin’s doing.
So you never know.

Wow, what an awesome story and doesn’t this just highlight the flip side; that we are often so sceptical we run the risk of missing out in valuable human contact and the opportunity for friendship as well as a sale? 

rustneversleeps

Teyeplayer said:

rustneversleeps said:

I had my guitar in the classifieds here.I had plenty of views and one silly offer.Then I received 
a email from the south of France which I  dismissed thinking definitely a fraud.These emails kept
coming so I replied to a few giving more details of the guitar.
To cut a long story short after negotiations with me insisting no bank transfers and £’s only.Still 
thinking this a scam The guy sent a copy of his Ryanair tickets landing at Stansted.At Stansted 
he rings and say his only got euros .I insisted on pounds.
To my amazement cab pulls come in pays cash (£’s).Turned out a really nice guy as we ended up
in  local pub talking guitars.We still keep in touch,and I here all about how my old Martin’s doing.
So you never know.

Wow, what an awesome story and doesn’t this just highlight the flip side; that we are often so sceptical we run the risk of missing out in valuable human contact and the opportunity for friendship as well as a sale? 

rustneversleeps

I was so convinced this was a scam.I asked the buyer why my guitar,he said there was only two
for sale in Europe mine and a heavy giged one in Holland.He certainly was a professional and his
playing was top notch.I was more than pleased just to enjoy his playing which was amazing.Just
shows the power of the w.w.w.and the FB.

Teetonetal

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.

could be illegal in kula lumpa though? And possibly then responsible for the tax and perhaps the authorities would look closely at his other business etc.