bassaussie

[quote name='minty fresh death' post='67851' date='Sep 30 2007, 07:52 PM']I was told that for instance you import an item via shipping from a county like Denmark which has a VAT of 25% that you had to pay the difference?[/quote] Just clarify something. Above, you said you knew this stuff from experience. Now, you're saying that you were told this stuff. Which is it? Regardless, as setekh said, you're wrong. Thing is, I do know this stuff from experience. I've had around 15 basses sent down from the UK, and have sent around 10. I've also received basses from Germany. There was never any suggestion that any taxes had to be paid. In contrast, I've received 3 basses from the US, and each time, I paid sales tax (VAT in the UK), duty, and customs clearance.

[quote name='minty fresh death' post='67709' date='Sep 30 2007, 04:10 PM']errr... he is in Portugal right? If I were to buy the bass, I would have to pay V.A.T as well, it doesn't matter if the bass is used. I've imported plenty of computer parts, guitars, amps and basses from the US to know what I can get stung on unless Portugal is different for some reasons I don't know about? Shipping is dependent on the county it is being shipped from, i've been surprised by sub $100 quotes on guitars before now especially if the vendor/seller has a large account with a shipping company. I've never encountered a release charge on any of my dealings, except importing cars and equally substantial goods. IMO when you modify anything beyond it's specification, it de-values it. Take modified cars for instance, do you think the average sale recuperates their money back from their original investment? The only cars that I have seen make money are extremely custom items built by figure heads in the hotrod/modification community, which is the equivalent of a Luthiers like Mike Lull for example. Anyway, I don't want to damage your chances of a sale any more than I may have already. I hope you get what you want for it [/quote] What you've said above about taxes being applied is completely incorrect. Portugal and the UK are both in the EU, and for that reason, no import taxes are applied. I know this from experience, having received and sent numerous basses over the years. To be honest, and I'm not pointing the finger at anyone specifically, but I think there's a few posts on this thread that seem to be aimed at either spoiling the sale, or forcing the seller into reducing the price below what he thinks is a reasonable value. It was suggested to me a while back that there are some people on this forum who do these things, but I defended the forum and said I couldn't see that happening here. Consider me corrected. EDIT: There seems to be some confusion here about who the seller is. I am not the seller, although I am a friend of the seller.

[quote name='fleamail' post='58175' date='Sep 10 2007, 01:09 PM']No its not on ebay. Guys what you think about the price? I want this to sell quick, I've seen some on ebay and gbase selling for 8000 and $9000.[/quote] Not going to comment on the price, as I think you should charge what you think it's worth. However, if you're using the internet to determine a price, I'd say you should treat Gbase as the very top end of pricing. Gbase is just a central database for dealers (usually vintage specialists), so the prices there reflect that. Ebay's probably a more reliable source of what a private sale might be worth, however, you have to get on there at the right time to find instruments relevant to your sale. It's a bit more hit and miss.

[quote name='Marcus' post='50044' date='Aug 24 2007, 11:48 AM']I agree looking after children, the sick, the old and infirm is noble...... does anyone really need help in the way alluded to ? OK so many a time i've paid £50 more for something than I could have done if i'd shopped around perhaps ! or I bought something on impulse without doing my homework. I got over it...... infact I wasn't bothered in the first place, I was happy with my purchase and my price. I wouldn't have thanked anyone for making me feel stupid and pointing out that I paid more than I needed. I don't think what rears it's head on here is anything to do with "looking after" anyone else.... it's motivated by trying to spoil a deal for somebody, or put a spanner in the works. There's a sort of... "well I didn't get top $ for the last thing I sold so why the hell should this guy..... let's Piss on his chips" Again....... I think it's motivated by envy in many cases......... Let me say for the record, i've never had a sale "spoiled" on here so have no personal axe to grind on this issue, but I see it happening on threads and think it's wrong, this fodera sale is one of the prime (possibly worst) examples recently....... Nothing is solved by committee, and an (initially) well intended "mob mentality" has caused many a problem in history[/quote] Just to clarify, I think we're on the same page in that neither of us wants that "mob mentality" to take hold. My experience on here is that, going back a while, people watched out for genuine problems - dodgy goods, non-existent goods, items that were decscribed incorrectly (whether deliberately or not) etc. Which is probably where most forums start off at. I think when people are pointing out stuff like this, I feel that's reasonable. As for people "spoiling" sales, I'd like to think that's not the case, although I can see where you may get that impression from. That's my opinion, of course, and I certainly don't expect all to agree.

One of the things I like about Basschat (and it's predecessors) is that I think people watch out for each other to make sure no one get's taken advantage of. That's a good thing, however, we have to be careful that we don't turn that attitude into a witch hunt. There's a classic example of another bass forum (which will remain nameless) which basically started the same way, then turned into a posse attacking people left, right and centre, often unfairly and with very little basis for the attacks. The intention was good, the "posse" thought they were protecting the members of the forum, but they became a police force unto themselves, and I think tended to alienate a lot of newbies in the process. This is a good forum, guys, and it's good that people watch each other's backs. I'd just hate to see it get to the point where it got a reputation as an unfriendly forum because people took the policing attitude a little too far.

[quote name='steve' post='38330' date='Jul 29 2007, 01:58 AM']would that make you grandpa and great grandpa? [/quote] Jeebus, I didn't need to hear the words "Great Grandpa" being applied to me this morning!! Good luck with the sale.

[quote name='vmaxblues' post='38154' date='Jul 28 2007, 02:57 PM']It's my old Roscoe, cracking bass here people, a real gem and great powerful tone.[/quote] And mine before that!!! Totally agree, it's a very good bass.