Courier to Germany?

[songofthewind]

Can anyone advise?

I have a classical guitar on eBay right now, and a guy in Germany wants me to send it to him.

Does anyone know of a safe reliable courier to Germany? Or is that an oxymoron or something?

I have a case for it, and I would box it. (I have had very bad expensive experience of sending an acoustic guitar by DHL.)

 

Any Basschat wisdom gratefully accepted.

[Deedee]

I have just had exactly the same situation. A chap from Germany was absolutely in love with a guitar I had for sale on eBay. I’d listed in the auction as collection only but he got in touch to say he’d buy if I changed my mind about shipping.

So I suggested a compromise. I would be willing to securely package it up, if he was willing to arrange his own courier and insurance.

So that’s what we’ve done. We discussed the best day for collection, I sent him the dimensions and weight of the parcel and he sent me the labels from the courier.

All good.

[ambient]

14 minutes ago, Deedee said:

I have just had exactly the same situation. A chap from Germany was absolutely in love with a guitar I had for sale on eBay. I’d listed in the auction as collection only but he got in touch to say he’d buy if I changed my mind about shipping.

So I suggested a compromise. I would be willing to securely package it up, if he was willing to arrange his own courier and insurance.

So that’s what we’ve done. We discussed the best day for collection, I sent him the dimensions and weight of the parcel and he sent me the labels from the courier.

All good.

Does that give you any protection at all, if anything went wrong?

Where’s your proof that it’s been sent?

There’s no way I would do that.

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by ambient

[jrixn1]

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Edited June 17 by jrixn1

[Deedee]

20 minutes ago, ambient said:

Does that give you any protection at all, if anything went wrong?

Where’s your proof that it’s been sent?

There’s no way I would do that.

 

I have a document that was signed by both me and the courier driver when the the parcel was collected, along with the tracking details. Both were sent through along with the parcel labels.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Deedee

[ambient]

7 minutes ago, Deedee said:

I have a document that was signed by both me and the courier driver when the the parcel was collected, along with the tracking details.

There’s quite a well used scam where a buyer uses their own courier, I believe in the scam the courier is fake. It’s similar to where someone pays using PayPal, then collects it, or has someone else collect it, usually using the excuse that they’re themselves too ill.

It’s fraught with potential problems, for instance you’re supposed to ship to the registered PayPal address, if he’s booked it, how do you know where it’s gone?

What if it gets damaged en-route?

In most cases eBay side with the buyer.

It’s just not something I would ever do.

[Deedee]

10 minutes ago, ambient said:

It’s fraught with potential problems, for instance you’re supposed to ship to the registered PayPal address, if he’s booked it, how do you know where it’s gone?

What if it gets damaged en-route?

In most cases eBay side with the buyer.

It’s just not something I would ever do.

I know where it's gone because he sent me the labels with the address on it.

As I've said I have documents stating all addresses, contact details and proof of collection, along with pages of email correspondance through ebay.  I also have the tracking details which work, so hat's off to him if he's built a spoof TNT site.

Anything over and above that such as damage etc could happen regardless of whether I arranged the courier or he did.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Deedee

[Paul S]

Following a recommendation on here I have used Eurosender to ship a bass to Holland and some valuable plants to southern Ireland.  The specifically say they will insure musical instruments, they are cheap and - after 2 goes - seem efficient and reliable.

[songofthewind]

Thanks for the various responses. I was toying with the idea of asking them to organise their own courier, but I can see some possible pitfalls now.

I appreciate the precautions Deedee has taken to ensure correct process.

Keep the input coming, folks, much appreciated!

[songofthewind]

I’m checking the Eurosender site now. Looks kosher.

[ambient]

3 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Thanks for the various responses. I was toying with the idea of asking them to organise their own courier, but I can see some possible pitfalls now.

I appreciate the precautions Deedee has taken to ensure correct process.

Keep the input coming, folks, much appreciated!

I might be overdramatising the risks, but a quick google search shows the potential for fraud.

Whoever you use, just make sure the item is fully insured and tracked, and make sure that instruments are covered. Often buried away in the small print you’ll find instruments are excluded, or only covered up to a certain amount.

I just had something arrive 5 minutes ago that I ordered from Thomann. I ordered it Sunday evening. It was shipped with UPS.

[Hellzero]

14 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

I’m checking the Eurosender site now. Looks kosher.

Urm, do you know the meaning of kosher ? Is there any meat in your package and remember you are willing to send to Germany... I would be very careful using such an allegation.

In the UK, almost no courier will insure a musical instrument for more than £100 GBP, EuroSender does up to 2000 Euros (it's a logistics company now based in Luxembourg, hence the Euros) and I've been using them a lot for instruments up to that value.

Otherwise use UPS or Fedex and pay the full expensive fee, but read carefully the small print...

A last recommendation : if you are the seller, always arrange yourself the shipping fully insured and trackable. Also remember that, by eBay, the buyer has to pay for the whole shipping fee including insurance and tracking number. Don't do so, then the eBay cover is void: it's as simple as that.

[ambient]

4 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Urm, do you know the meaning of kosher ? Is there any meat in your package and remember you are willing to send to Germany... I would be very careful using such an allegation.

In the UK, almost no courier will insure a musical instrument for more than £100 GBP, EuroSender does up to 2000 Euros (it's a logistics company now based in Luxembourg, hence the Euros) and I've been using them a lot for instruments up to that value.

Otherwise use UPS or Fedex and pay the full expensive fee, but read carefully the small print...

A last recommendation : if you are the seller, always arrange yourself the shipping fully insured and trackable. Also remember that, by eBay, the buyer has to pay for the whole shipping fee including insurance and tracking number. Don't do so, then the eBay cover is void: it's as simple as that.

Very good points. That’s something I discovered last year. I was selling a bass, there was a guy in France who wanted to buy it. I did investigate insuring it separately, that was quite expensive though.

[songofthewind]

Great points above, thanks guys! Very useful.

And, yes, I do know what kosher means. Here in UK it’s also a colloquial term meaning “seems to be okay.”