# Key Post: Are we better buying from e-bay.com or e-bay.co.uk



## Marion (4 Jun 2004)

prices are cheaper in $$$ than £££ but shipping costs might be dearer from the US..????????


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## fatherdougalmaguire (4 Jun 2004)

*Re: Are we better buying from e-bay.com or e-bay.co.uk*

Surely it depends on the item and the dealer in hand. I bought a 15" LCD monitor in from a chap in the US for €270 all-in (VAT, customs). The shipping costs would be different for a start whatever about VAT.


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## Spacer (4 Jun 2004)

*..*

I think one point to note also is that the US have a practice of advertising a price AND THEN adding sales tax, etc.  

This can come as something of a disappointment if you think one price applies and then find it's been hiked up considerably.


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## lynchtp (4 Jun 2004)

*Re: ..*

poor lonely www.ebay.ie  used to be a site but no more....


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## sfag (4 Jun 2004)

*fsdjgfdsjk*

its rarely ever worth buying something online from the US (unless you can't get it here). The postage and the duty here (which the postman collects) is huge. Have been caught out that way.


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## Guest (5 Jun 2004)

*Are we better buying from e-bay.com or e-bay.co.uk*

For what it's worth...

I buy second hand books from Amazon.com (US) Marketplace third party resellers regularly and, even after the c. US$9 per book shipping costs are added, generally get good value.

Bought a cheap and cheerful region free DVD player from Amazon.co.uk recently and got two for the price of one when the orginal one did not arrive on time and they reissued the order and told me the keep the original order if it ever turned up (which it did!).  

I've also used [broken link removed] to buy second hand stuff from personal sellers.


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## mollser (8 Jun 2004)

*ebay ireland*

Was looking on these yesterday - ebayireland.com is definitely the best one - it was pathetic when it first launched, as our market is tiny here, but now it captures all the products world wide which will deliver to Ireland - the Uk one is really really frustrating, cos most of them only deliver to the UK - so its the first thing you've to check.

www.ebayireland.com


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## car (9 Jun 2004)

*ebayireland*

mollser, thanks for the link.
it could have it uses but I searched for 5 items and then tried the catalog but they all got diverted to the co.uk site. Not one price advertised in euros. 
I even tried a basic search for items located IN ireland and searched for a watch.  Not one irish item. grrrr.

maybe Im expecting too much.


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## mikemeaney (9 Jun 2004)

*Re: ebayireland*

Note that if you email the owner of an auction that is marked 'will deliver to UK only' you'll find more than likely that they'll be happy to mail to Ireland (costs very little extra).


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## mollser (9 Jun 2004)

*Re: ebayireland*

hiya Carr,

the original Irish ebay was just that - irish market place stuff - and it was absolutely useless, cos we're only a little place really.

It does seem to flick to the UK one, and the stuff is priced in GBP, Aus$, US$ etc etc. But at least they are all items which can be sent to Ireland, which you won't get on the UK site (except by emailing them as above)

I'll agree that pricing in Euro would be great though - not much stuff seems to pop up from Germany or France, probably a language thing???


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## car (10 Jun 2004)

*delivery to ireland*

Does anyone know of a cheaper way to get stuff delivered from the u.k on ebay.co.uk or any other co.uk site.  

I found several items I wanted but delivery was at least 12.50 sterling upwards with one of the main courier companies and that was just for delivery in the u.k for an item that was costing 25 sterling.  It negates the savings.
If there was still substantial savings I wouldnt mind, but for the smaller items in the 40-50 euro bracket it just doesnt work out.


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## Guest (10 Jun 2004)

*Are we better buying from e-bay.com or e-bay.co.uk*

Shipping for my DVD player from Amazon.co.uk (well the one I paid for as opposed to the free one  ) was GBP£8.45, standard postal delivery in case that's of any use.


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## Dr Moriarty (8 Sep 2004)

*Re: Are we better buying from e-bay.com or e-bay.co.uk*



> Note that if you email the owner of an auction that is marked 'will deliver to UK only' you'll find more than likely that they'll be happy to mail to Ireland (costs very little extra).



True. I've hardly ever had someone say "no, I won't post it to Ireland, even if you offer to cover the extra cost..."

And there's a lot of variation from seller to seller in what they'll quote you. Generally the "spirit-of-eBay" amateurs will charge what it actually costs, whereas "power sellers" tend to make a tidy mark-up on p&p — I've seen >100% discrepancies between quotes for comparable (or even identical) items.

I always search for items "available to UK" and I keep a little shortcut text file with a generic template which is easy to paste into the "ask the seller a question" form:



> Hi [............],
> 
> Is there any chance you'd be prepared to post that to Ireland, if I covered the extra postage? (airmail rates available at :
> If I win I could pay you directly in Stg via PayPal, or send you a Stg draft if that suits better...
> ...



Works 99% of the time...


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## fergmeh (15 Sep 2004)

*ebay & paypal*

I've bought quite a few items from the UK on ebay. (most of which said 'post to UK only' but when asked have always been able to post to Dublin - some even at no extra cost)
One thing I noticed is that when paying via paypal, they always use their own exchange rate rather than letting your bank automatically convert the amount charged to your credit card from stg to euro as would happen normally.
Does anyone know if we're being short changed by them doing this?


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