Advice for buying from Overseas thru Ebay

Rodney77

Am looking to get a photo storage device. After reviewing lots of info on these, I am planning to get the NexTo CF OTG for both transfer speed and price. I would buy a blank version and install my own HD.

I can find these on Ebay from sellers with good ratings for a total cost 35%+ below what they sell for from the two places I have found them in the US. They don't seem to be carried by very many places in the US.

So the questions are:
1) does anybody have any experience with these kinds of overseas Ebay purchase?

2) what kind of duties might I expect? Review of the US customs did not find any tariffs listed for small $ value and small quantity electronics? But it wouldn't surprise me if there was some charge.

Also looked at Epson P5000 and Vorsonics, but they are a bit out of my range and the storage is much less than I want, though their displays seem great.

tia
Rodney

ian408

Fill out your profile so we know where you are. OK?

Anyhow, while things may be cheaper out of the country, you may find
the shipping charges far outweigh any savings. Be sure to check the tax
rate as well--in some places, VAT is added and that can affect the price
too.

Rodney77

Thanks for your reply. Am in the East Coast US.

Took your suggestion and added some info to profile.

gus

I buy a lot from ebay o/s. Paste the link to the product & we can look at him & give you an idea if he is ok or dodgy.

DoctorIt

I have purchased a few things from overseas ebayers, as well as sold to some. Like any other ebay transaction, check the feedback score, and make sure you understand all the shipping/transaction fees. And of course, pay with paypal. The way I see it, there's not much difference.

Rodney77

Thanks for your replies. (links fixed)

Gus, Thanks for your offer of help.
I have just bought a couple of items (<$100) from this guy, kind of as a trial/test. Item should be being shipped as we type.
Goods_Keeper Store

have been looking at Photobanks, display stuff, and maybe accesories for the 20D, timer, batteries. But stumbled on some really inexpensive SanDisk CF cards and they are tempting. But I wonder if it is worth the risk of flaky memory cards? Looking at 1 & 2 gig cards Ultra II or Extrme III (if can afford).

Had planned to get a NexTo CF OTG (blank) from cameradevices
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130074828616&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003
But have found one in US for comparable price but without external battery. Think I will go with the one that is already in the US? Managed to cut a price deal with this place , for the NexTo and some batteries and adapters. They seem to have a fair stock of these, if any one is interested.
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1024/.f

CF cards from jaylyn712 ; greatdeals00; and some others.
That's just a short list...<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

DoctorIt,
Yes, agreed definitely PayPal, check feedback and total sales; And I always add the bid and shipping with insurance to determine the "real price". Have some Ebay experience but mostly entirely with computer stuff. It seems that a lot of the overseas sellers for camera items have a "bid" as well as "buy now" options and a few have pretty high shipping. Most of the stuff I have been looking at seems to be coming thru Singapore and HongKong buying/selling houses, looks almost just like the drop shippers here.. But not sure where the Canon brand timers were coming from.

Have been figuring lenses are too much of a gamble, but filters and accessories seem reasonable. Plus the data banks are a lot less expensive thru these sellers.

But am still puzzled as to whether there are any import duties or limitaions on these camera / photo items I am buying for personal use?

Thanks
Rodney

DoctorIt

Rodney77 wrote:

But am still puzzled as to whether there are any import duties or limitaions on these camera / photo items I am buying for personal use?

The most expensive item I've "imported" via ebay was $50USD, so I may not be the best to comment here. But I will say, I've sold a bigger ticket item to an overseas buyer and was asked to ship it as a "gift" to avoid duties on their end.

I have been saved by good ebay policy in the past, so I'm going to guess that they would have some guidelines in place if international duties were of major concern.

Rodney77

DoctorIt,

Thanks for that info. Have researched this a little bit, but have not found a definitive answer; Ebay says to check on applicable tarrifs. US Customs site has enough info to choke on, but nothing that clearly says what the limits or fees would be. They were particularly "blank" on electronics. It did seem though that there was a matter of quantity and dollar value that at least applied to film photography items. The limits were around $2,500 but what they had the quantities didn't make a lot of sense.

So I was left thinking that this was one of those areas where others' experience was more valuable than research. Last year I did make a direct inquiry to US Customs regarding buying LED's over seas and was told that they were exempt from tariffs, but that, depending on chance & what paperwork came with it, I might be tagged with inspection fees. Never did get a defintive answer on what those "fees" might be. And I have not bought the LED's yet.

Rodney

gus

Seller appears ok by me.

Rodney77

Gus,
Thanks. But which of the sellers I posted above is the one that "seems ok"?

? My Digital Discount is the place I will probably get the NexTo CF OTG from.

? cameradevices was the other source for the NexTo

Rodney

gus

Rodney77 wrote:

Gus,
Thanks. But which of the sellers I posted above is the one that "seems ok"?

? My Digital Discount is the place I will probably get the NexTo CF OTG from.

? cameradevices was the other source for the NexTo

Rodney

This one

I dont know if you can access this seller from ebay.com (this link is ebay.com.au) But i have used him a lot & never a worry...even for $1K buy. Just a thought.

Rodney77

Gus.

Thanks for the info on the HK seller & the Austrailian link.

Rodney

Art Scott

With a little googleing you should be able to find a comparable unit in the US...there was at least one discussion on here about these portables with card readers included and the empty cases (less hdd) was , it seems to me, chaeper than that unit in Singapore.....That item weighs approx 1 pound maybe 2 at most and $30 for shipping is high...that is 1/3 of the cost of the item....to me not a good ratio.

Rodney77

Art Scott,

Hi. Thanks for your reply. Yes the shipping would be high. but the combined cost $89+$30 is still less than or equal to the site prices I found in the US. And only found 2 real sites with the device, which surprised me. 120 seems to be the internet price plus their shipping in the US and that's without the external battery, larger case to hold second battery and car charger.

So have figured the seller has got part of his price in the shipping. That tactic seems to be very common on Ebay.

Since I started this thread, I have negotiated a better price from the MyDigitalDiscount store that beats the HK total cost/price but does not have the original "matching" external battery.

Rodney

Pupator

Rodney77 wrote:

\But stumbled on some really inexpensive SanDisk CF cards and they are tempting. But I wonder if it is worth the risk of flaky memory cards? Looking at 1 & 2 gig cards Ultra II or Extrme III (if can afford).

SanDisk Ultra II and III for a "really inexpensive" price? Are these the exact cards that there are tons of fakes being found on e-bay? Someone here at dgrin has pictures of some fakes in their gallery; can't think of who it is though. Be extra careful with these.

Art Scott

Pupator wrote:

SanDisk Ultra II and III for a "really inexpensive" price? Are these the exact cards that there are tons of fakes being found on e-bay? Someone here at dgrin has pictures of some fakes in their gallery; can't think of who it is though. Be extra careful with these.

I have pics in my gallery of fakes....I am probably not the only one tho......

gus

I buy a lot of stuff from eBay but there is good reason why i bought my CF cards from a real store.

eBay is totally flooded with fake cards that honestly look the goods. Some sellers know that people wont buy the cheap ones thus they sell the good fakes at higer prices to con you. I wont buy my cards there anymore.

Rodney77

Thanks for these replies. It's confirmed some of my concerns and alleviated others. I think I'll stick to accessories, timers, filters and the like for buying camera items from Ebay overseas.

Gus, I think you're right on the money with the warning on CF cards. And they are now off my Ebay list. Thanks.

best regards to all,
Rodney