Purchasing golfing equipment from ebay

TheDoc

Thought I'd make this thread to explain how things work when purchasing from ebay. Alot of questions come up bout clubs prices duty etc. I've been an ebay member for over 5 years and have made over 200 purchases from ebay and though I would just post up the pros cons do's dont's and how it works.

Hopefully this thread can cover most of the questions asked, and maybe stickied.


There are 3 main ebay sites you should look at.
http://www.ebay.ie
http://www.ebay.co.uk
http://www.ebay.com

.ie is the irish site. There are very rarely irish sellers for golfing equipment so you are going to see few hits, and any you do you will see are from the UK. Advantage is the price is in euros, unfortunatly not a great selection.

.co.uk is the british site. This gives a vast range of clubs, postage is usually ok on some occasions outragous. The benefits are fast shipping, decent rates and you are not charged any duty or custom because its in the EU. Unfortunatly prices are in pound sterling.

.com is the american site. By far the largest variety of equipment. With the dollar against euro you definatly save money. Unfortunatly though postage can be high and you might not be able to have shipped at all. This is the site where you make good savings on clubs.

Duty Vat etc :

ok lets clear this one up. If you purchase anything from the uk or ie sites you do not pay any extra hidden charges. Because they are coming form within the EU their is no charges. However if you purchase items from America you will be subject to charges. I'll explain how to skip by these now.

At the bottom of every auction page it will describe postage amount and by what means. If you are buying from america here is what to look out for.

USPS - United states postal service. This is an post in america. You dont pay any obscene charges. There is a 50% chance you will get hit with vat and duty. Here is how an post works.

An post 5 years ago would receive say 20 cages of overseas parcels ( per office) the worker in charge of customs would randonly select perhaps 1 or 2, they would get charged the rest go through free. You got most of your stuff for free. Now though with the increase in internet shopping etc, from these 20 cages the customs man takes 10-12. There is now a less chance of geting it through. However an post are very leniant and the charges are very small if minute.

UPS - Universal postage service ( or something like that) These guys are couriers. You want to avoid these at all costs when buying. Mainly because they cost alot more for postage and when it arrives at the door you are asked to pay there and then the vat and duty. When a seller sends the items he sets the value of the clubs to what He paid NOT YOU. These is so if anything happens he is fully covered.

For example : You buy a Taylormade R7 driver for 200 euro. However the seller has set its value at rrp, say 400 euro. When it arrives at your door, ups man will charge you the vat and duty on the 400 price not what you paid. BEWARE OF THIS.

UPS people will not give you the parcel if you refuse to pay, they bring it back to sorting in Raheny or something where you have to go their to collect and must still pay.

DHL : Another courier, exspensive. However DHL drivers are instructed never to hold onto packages, they are told to first try get the money for vat duty, try to get just the vat, another refusale they jsut give it to you.

I've mad much research into how couriers works and know in detail how all the delivery systems in Ireland work so I know what im talknig about.

Basically from what we have learned here, go USPS if you can from america, avoid couriers or you are going to get some other charges at your door.

IF YOU BUY FROM .IE OR .CO.UK YOU WONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANY CHARGES.

TIP:
Its well worth your while when you buy a pricey item to message the seller ( if they are USA) to mark on the parcel "present". These packages are waved of charges when they arrive in ireland.

What happens if something goes wrong?

Mostly all packages you buy of ebay are registered post. If you buy clubs or balls etc they will be. This means they are tracked all the time, and everytime they change hands they must be signed for. If you find your waiting along time contact the seller and he can track where the item is.

If worst comes to worst and a package is lost or arrives broken. Paypal ( this is the payment method most commonly used) insures all its users up to 2000 dollars for free. Sellers will 99 times out of 100 refund your money and ask that the damaged item be re shipped back. If its lost its simply refunded.

REMEMBER: The seller always has insurance. If a seller refuses a refund, they are scamming you and contact ebay immediately.

Thats really all the common questions asked about ebay. Main thing is postage.

RECAP

ebay.com is the american site. Larger range and you will save money against the dollar. Sometimes large shipping costs. MAKE SURE TO GET SENT BY USPS IF YOU CAN.

ebay.co.uk is the british site. Sometimes youll find a bargain but against the pound youll find not many savings. This is the best place to buy golf balls however.

ebay.ie Useless not worth mentioning, still ahvnt bought anything of it. The odd thing you might find ...but very rarely. Even the irish companies and sellers advertise on .co.uk.

Mister Sifter

Thanks for taking the time to do that Doc... an excellent post! certainly helps me as i'm looking to buy a few clubs on ebay at the minute!