What's up with German eBay?

[kiva667]

I found a couple of bits I've been looking for since 2010 on German eBay. When I went to sign on, I discovered that I can no longer do so with my American user name. So I signed on with google.

 

Then I got a message that despite signing in I couldn't contact the seller since he/she doesn't sell to either the USA or Canada and basically German eBay told me to take a hike.

Anyone else had this happen recently or did I miss something? I can read and write basic German without translating  it and often sellers will indeed send stuff to North America if you ask politely. And if all else fails I have a good friend in Dresden who has forewarned items to me when the seller wouldn't send items abroad..

 

Makes me want to delete my eBay account altogether. Or am I just getting crotchety with my advancing age ..?

 

[SydneyTii]

Nothing wrong with crotchety!😜

I had the same issue when I found gaskets for my Kuglefischer, W&N do them now thankfully, but yeah eBay and many sellers both on the platform and not won’t post to Aus, guess it could be a tax issue as in collecting VAT or some other nasty little tax for their government  isn’t worth their while.

[uai]

This is worldwide in ebay same here when bidding from Germany to US items where worldwide shipping is not offered. If the seller doesn't add the will ship to xxx you won't be able to bid.
You can however ask the seller if he'll add ships to US then you'll be able to bid.

[tech71]

Esteal has really gone to crap over the years, ok for buying but silly stupid for selling

[Son of Marty]

Let face it scammers have left their mark on everyone I'm sure enough people on German and other E-Bays have been burned and out of country or in this case the EU never seem to get resolved.

[kiva667]

2 hours ago, uai said:

"You can however ask the seller if he'll add ships to US then you'll be able to bid."

 

That's good, but in my case I was not allowed to even contact the seller. I wonder if it has something to do with my choice of location to avoid Canadian winters....

Edited February 6, 2023 by kiva667

[Oldtimerfahrer]

German ebay is nearly devoid of privateers, their ir the ebay classifieds and generally expect pick up...I built my 02 by selling turbo parts and buying up ti parts all on ebay, which worked out great...

Andrew

[dlacey]

Suggest put your friends German address as your default mailing address in your eBay.com settings, then login to eBay.de  and I think all will be good. Once purchase is done, reset default mailing address to wherever you like.

[Howardpowered]

you could find a broker anywhere in EU; charge ~8-10%. 

[02Les]

On 2/10/2023 at 8:24 AM, dlacey said:

Suggest put your friends German address as your default mailing address in your eBay.com settings, then login to eBay.de  and I think all will be good. Once purchase is done, reset default mailing address to wherever you like.

 

That's the way to go. When I was working in Germany 10 or so years ago, I reset my address as the hotel I was staying in. Then all parts on Ebay Germany were 'bidable'. I changed back the address when I got back to the US.

[kiva667]

4 hours ago, 02Les said:

 

That's the way to go. When I was working in Germany 10 or so years ago, I reset my address as the hotel I was staying in. Then all parts on Ebay Germany were 'bidable'. I changed back the address when I got back to the US.

Yeah, I will try to change addresses when I get home at the end of the month. Since I have my good friend in Dresden I will try to use his address as I have done in the past.

[tech71]

On 2/6/2023 at 3:23 AM, kiva667 said:

Then I got a message that despite signing in I couldn't contact the seller since he/she doesn't sell to either the USA or Canada and basically German eBay told me to take a hike.

Maybe its a button Germans who dont want to assed with shipping hassles(tax/tariff related probably) can hit when listing. Taxes are a big deal over there, my German colleagues were fond of saying "you can go to prison longer for tax evasion than murder"

[kiva667]

NT

Edited February 12, 2023 by kiva667