Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: AmigaBruno on May 15, 2013, 06:00:49 PM
-
Recently, I've done various searches on eBay Germany which often bring up some interesting results, but usually these listings say "Versand nach: Deutschland", meaning that the item will only be sent to an address or a buyer in Germany, not anywhere else. Can anyone think of a way to get round this restriction? I'm fairly sure this is against EU law, so I don't know how eBay has been getting away with this.
Here's a current listing of a recent attic find. You can actually collect this one in person, but it's "Versand nach: Deutschland" only!
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Commodore-Amiga-2000-inkl-Tastatur-Joystick-Quickshot-II-Turbo-und-Maus-/330922437407?pt=Klassische_Computer&hash=item4d0c83ab1f
-
Yet another preposterous EU law if it exists.
-
That would be quite an absurd and inconvenient law to apply to eBay sellers. What if they don't want the headache of dealing with shipping outside?
Heck, I guess they could ban Collect Only as well: Must ship to EU or don't list.
That would suck if you're selling a car or something that's usually locally sold.
-
Yet another preposterous EU law if it exists.
I think the relevant EU law is connected with single market legislation. It's not a single market if it can be subdivided by eBay or anyone else into Germany, Britain, etc. Apart from this, whatever can be sold anywhere in the EU must be allowed to be sold everywhere in the EU.
I was thinking of trying to contact someone in Germany who could have items sent to their address, then forward them to me. I'm also thinking of offering this service to people elsewhere for eBay items which are listed as UK only.
-
That would be quite an absurd and inconvenient law to apply to eBay sellers. What if they don't want the headache of dealing with shipping outside?
Heck, I guess they could ban Collect Only as well: Must ship to EU or don't list.
That would suck if you're selling a car or something that's usually locally sold.
The car would be for collection, so no problem there.
-
usually these listings say "Versand nach: Deutschland", meaning that the item will only be sent to an address or a buyer in Germany, not anywhere else. Can anyone think of a way to get round this restriction?
What usually (but not always) works for me is sending the seller a mail saying something like:
"Hi, I noticed that you are only shipping to Germany. Unfortunately I live in Belgium. As you can see in my feedback, I'm an eBayer in good standing with 100% positive feedback. I'm really interested in this item. If you'd be willing to make an exception and ship to my country anyway, please tell me how much shipping would cost. Kind regards, Username"
Most of the time they agree to sell to me. Sometimes they don't.
-
That would suck if you're selling a car or something that's usually locally sold.
I'm in the United States, I once sold a car (a 1972 Buick Electra) on ebay. Winning bidder wound up being in Germany. I was skeptical at first but he paid up-front, then sent a truck, which picked up the car and put it on a boat, transported it over, he wound up giving it a full frame-off restoration and she's now cruising the autobahn. He sent me back photos. Funny how that works out, he must've been pretty rich, however!
-
There's no law prohibiting sale abroad, neither German nor EU. The seller just doesn't want to.
If anyone's really interested I'd be volunteering for shipping that machine to the US or elsewhere. But make sure you prepare yourself for the cost - 10-20 kg to the US would come up to 68€.
-
(double post, DB is playing up)
-
There's no law prohibiting sale abroad, neither German nor EU. The seller just doesn't want to.
If anyone's really interested I'd be volunteering for shipping that machine to the US or elsewhere. But make sure you prepare yourself for the cost - 10-20 kg to the US would come up to 68€.
That sounds like a great idea! How much would you charge to send it to me in the UK, though? Perhaps I could pay you in Aspirin or Paracetamol, which I may be prevented from selling to Germany via eBay due to trade protectionism by or on behalf of the company Bayer. Of course, one problem is that how could anyone be sure that you'd send them the Amiga items? You'd probably have to buy it yourself for this scheme to work, so how could you be sure you'd get back the money you paid, as well as the postage?
BTW, during the time after Commodore went bankrupt and before Escom took over, I was exchanging video cassettes, magazines and other items with someone in Berlin, but I sent him 15 video cassettes and only ever got 5 video cassettes in return. It ended when I sent him some money for a cracked Kickstart ROM, he told me the price had gone up, so I sent him even more money, then I never received the Kickstart ROM. Of course, this doesn't mean you'd do the same, but that's what can happen.
-
What usually (but not always) works for me is sending the seller a mail saying something like:
"Hi, I noticed that you are only shipping to Germany. Unfortunately I live in Belgium. As you can see in my feedback, I'm an eBayer in good standing with 100% positive feedback. I'm really interested in this item. If you'd be willing to make an exception and ship to my country anyway, please tell me how much shipping would cost. Kind regards, Username"
Most of the time they agree to sell to me. Sometimes they don't.
That sounds like a good idea! I just need to translate it into German for the maximum effect. So far, I've only sent messages saying "Wie wär's mit Versand nach Großbritannien?" (How about postage to Britain?), but I don't think this has ever worked.
-
"Hi, I noticed that you are only shipping to Germany. Unfortunately I live in Belgium. As you can see in my feedback, I'm an eBayer in good standing with 100% positive feedback. I'm really interested in this item. If you'd be willing to make an exception and ship to my country anyway, please tell me how much shipping would cost. Kind regards, Username"
I think this is an accurate translation, except for Belgium and not having 100% positive feedback.
"Ich habe bemerkt dass Versand nur nach Deutschland wird. Leider wohne ich in Großbritannien. Wie Sie sehen können bin ich ein eBay Mitglied mit einen guten Ruf und fast 100% positive Bewertungen. Ich interesse mich sehr in diesen Artikel. Vielleicht wären Sie bereit sein eine Ausnahme zu machen und diesen Artikel zu mir in Großbritannien senden. Bitte erzähle mir wieviel das kosten würde. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Benutzername"
-
Pretty good really. Slight improvement: "Mir ist aufgefallen, dass Sie nur nach Deutschland versenden. [...] Ich interessiere mich sehr für diesen Artikel. Vielleicht wären Sie bereit, eine Ausnahme zu machen und mir den Artikel nach ... zu senden? Ich habe bei DHL nachgesehen und das Porto müsste ca. xx € betragen. Viele Grüße und vielen Dank!"
I don't think I'd buy in lieu of someone else but I think anyone will be able to bid and just use me as shipping address. (I've been around a bit so you can probably trust me with that. ;)) DHL shipping rates can be looked up at http://www.dhl.de (http://www.dhl.de). UK 10-20 kg should be 22€. Hermes (http://www.hermes.de) might be cheaper within Europe but can take quite a while. Don't forget you'd need to pay inital shipping as well, so persuading the seller to ship directly would be much better!
-
Pretty good really. Slight improvement: "Mir ist aufgefallen, dass Sie nur nach Deutschland versenden. [...] Ich interessiere mich sehr für diesen Artikel. Vielleicht wären Sie bereit, eine Ausnahme zu machen und mir den Artikel nach ... zu senden? Ich habe bei DHL nachgesehen und das Porto müsste ca. xx € betragen. Viele Grüße und vielen Dank!"
I don't think I'd buy in lieu of someone else but I think anyone will be able to bid and just use me as shipping address. (I've been around a bit should you can probably trust me with that ;)) DHL shipping rates can be looked up at http://www.dhl.de. UK 10-20 kg should be 22€. Hermes (http://www.hermes.de) might be cheaper within Europe but can take quite a while.
Vielen Dank! I started learning German from BBC courses, but later on studied various TV on the 5 VHS videos sent from Germany, as well as some more videos from a satellite viewer in Britain, before getting my own satellite TV system. A good way that people can improve their knowledge of German is by watching the soap Lindenstraße on http://www.lindenstrasse.de .
-
There are 3rd party services that you can have the seller ship to in their own country, then the third party ships it to you wherever you are, just learned of this myself.
http://www.bpm-lux.com/en/home.html
-
What usually (but not always) works for me is sending the seller a mail saying something like:
"Hi, I noticed that you are only shipping to Germany. Unfortunately I live in Belgium. As you can see in my feedback, I'm an eBayer in good standing with 100% positive feedback. I'm really interested in this item. If you'd be willing to make an exception and ship to my country anyway, please tell me how much shipping would cost. Kind regards, Username"
Most of the time they agree to sell to me. Sometimes they don't.
Yes that is what I do as well, I've seen the same on all local bays (There it no such thing as worldwide ebay) and its either just a convenience or a strategy to limit the regions.
-
There are 3rd party services that you can have the seller ship to in their own country, then the third party ships it to you wherever you are, just learned of this myself.
http://www.bpm-lux.com/en/home.html
true, but you need a local ebay account, you can't bid on a item in germany if your account says otherwise and the seller only accepts bidders from germany.
-
I don't know about that, if it just says no shipping, could you not still bid anyhow ?
-
It usually says that items will only be sent to Germany "Versand nach: Deutschland". I can use my eBay UK membership to sign into any eBay site I've visited so far. There was a Global eBay, but it closed down.
Here's an amazing find on eBay Germany. It's a Paradox SCSI controller, which is just an interface that plugs into the parallel port. I've never heard of these before. I bet someone could clone them. That would be much easier to buy than the "Hen's teeth" GVP SCSI controllers, although they're being made again now. You can use Google Chrome if you need a translation. "Versand nach: Deutschland", with the exception of the East Frisian Islands, North Frisian Islands, and Baltic Islands, which are just off the coast of Germany. Don't trust these pesky Frisian and Baltic islanders! Helgoland might be OK, though. Luckily, Sylt is connected by a narrow strip of land.
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200922891797&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:de
-
It usually says that items will only be sent to Germany "Versand nach: Deutschland". I can use my eBay UK membership to sign into any eBay site I've visited so far. There was a Global eBay, but it closed down.
Here's an amazing find on eBay Germany. It's a Paradox SCSI controller, which is just an interface that plugs into the parallel port. I've never heard of these before. I bet someone could clone them. That would be much easier to buy than the "Hen's teeth" GVP SCSI controllers, although they're being made again now. You can use Google Chrome if you need a translation. "Versand nach: Deutschland", with the exception of the East Frisian Islands, North Frisian Islands, and Baltic Islands, which are just off the coast of Germany. Don't trust these pesky Frisian and Baltic islanders! Helgoland might be OK, though. Luckily, Sylt is connected by a narrow strip of land.
Yes SCSI at the rate of the amiga paralellport sounds like a speedfreak, not...
Have you even contacted the seller? I guess not
-
It usually says that items will only be sent to Germany "Versand nach: Deutschland". I can use my eBay UK membership to sign into any eBay site I've visited so far. There was a Global eBay, but it closed down.
ebay is global, if you have a url of an item on ebay.com and change it to ebay.co.uk then it works fine (the currency etc is based on which one you go to so it's often useful to do it).
Normally when you do a search the site only shows items that will post to the country that the url is for, but I think you may be able to override that with an advanced search. I've seen some international auctions where changing the url makes the postage to your country vary, so it's worth having a play with it.
-
Yes SCSI at the rate of the amiga paralellport sounds like a speedfreak, not...
Have you even contacted the seller? I guess not
I don't know about the data transfer rate. I only know that it must be faster than a floppy drive and this device seems to allow any Amiga A500 or A500 Plus to have a SCSI hard drive drive fitted without looking for a "rare as hen's teeth" edge connector unit. No A500/A500 Plus units are available on http://www.gvp-m.com/productjapan.html .
I've just contacted the seller and will contact some more sellers on eBay Germany soon.
-
I don't know about the data transfer rate. I only know that it must be faster than a floppy drive and this device seems to allow any Amiga A500 or A500 Plus to have a SCSI hard drive drive fitted without looking for a "rare as hen's teeth" edge connector unit. No A500/A500 Plus units are available on http://www.gvp-m.com/productjapan.html .
I've just contacted the seller and will contact some more sellers on eBay Germany soon.
If you are interested in a SCSI-host for the A500, drop me a PM, I have one for offer.
-
If you are interested in a SCSI-host for the A500, drop me a PM, I have one for offer.
Last month I bought a GVP Impact Series II HD8+ unit for the A500/A500 Plus, but the HDD stopped booting or being readable after 5 days. I'm now waiting for a replacement SCSI HDD from Zetr0 and a replacement internal SCSI cable from Amigakit. I'm not interested in buying a similar edge connector SCSI controller. I AM interested in alternatives.
BTW, I've just contacted several sellers on eBay Germany who are listing A1200s, A2000s, or A3000s.
-
ebay is global, if you have a url of an item on ebay.com and change it to ebay.co.uk then it works fine (the currency etc is based on which one you go to so it's often useful to do it).
Normally when you do a search the site only shows items that will post to the country that the url is for, but I think you may be able to override that with an advanced search. I've seen some international auctions where changing the url makes the postage to your country vary, so it's worth having a play with it.
I've been finding out about these items by logging into various eBay sites, but not specifying if the items are available to my location. If I use advanced search then I can specify to only show items whose sellers agree to send them to my location.
-
I have never bought anything from Germany, but I have shipped several items.
I had a few K6-III+ processors that would clock at 550MHz that my German customers paid a premium for (might have something to do with the Global Foundries fab facility they have over there - that and it seems they prize being able to buy something other than the most common product on the market).
And I would not be too worried about translating your messages to German.
There are far more Germans that speak English than Englishman that speak German.
-
I'm now bidding on one eBay item which was listed as being available only to Germany!
-
I'm now bidding on one eBay item which was listed as being available only to Germany!
Hopefully after checking with the seller first.
-
Hopefully after checking with the seller first.
Yes, that's what I meant. I do speak German, anyway. I'm a linguist.
Of course, a much better solution would be to set up a portal by my front door which enables me to arrive anywhere in the World with just a single step through my door. This seems more logical, because I first read about it before the Amiga, eBay, or PayPal started. I think it was in The Fantastic Four, but I could be wrong.
-
I do speak German, anyway. I'm a linguist.QUOTE]
I envy you. That seems like a tough language to learn. But it would be cool to actually converse with some of my friends in their native tongue.
Good luck with the auction.
I've bought a lot of neat things via Ebay.
-
Parlez-vous Francais?
Sprechen sie Deutsch?
Spreekt U Nederlands?
I really wish there was such a portal :(
Mom, dad, sister, grandma etc in the Netherlands
Uncles, Aunts etc in Germany
And my little family, wife, daughter, stepson and me in the US here
C'mon Scotty, beam me up :banana:
-
And I would not be too worried about translating your messages to German.
There are far more Germans that speak English than Englishman that speak German.
Hmm, possibly a result of events that occurred on 7-MAY-1945?
-
Hmm, possibly a result of events that occurred on 7-MAY-1945?
A tad unfair bringing that up with a generation too young to be held responsible for it, don't you think?
Besides, most Germans I know carry a lot of unresolved guilt about that.
And who bought up all the British automotive nameplates?
A lot of Japanese speak English fairly well too.
And I don't think it had anything to do with WWII.
In fact, I would lay the responsibility on the US.
After that war, we made it our business to export and adapt our business practices to these markets and helped those countries structure their recoveries.
English is just the language of business. And we didn't invent the language, but at least when we speak it we don't sound like Jason Stathem mumbling an unitelligible line from 'Blitz'.
-
Recently, I've done various searches on eBay Germany which often bring up some interesting results, but usually these listings say "Versand nach: Deutschland", meaning that the item will only be sent to an address or a buyer in Germany, not anywhere else. Can anyone think of a way to get round this restriction? I'm fairly sure this is against EU law, so I don't know how eBay has been getting away with this.
Here's a current listing of a recent attic find. You can actually collect this one in person, but it's "Versand nach: Deutschland" only!
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Commodore-Amiga-2000-inkl-Tastatur-Joystick-Quickshot-II-Turbo-und-Maus-/330922437407?pt=Klassische_Computer&hash=item4d0c83ab1f
What country are you in? USA?
-
What country are you in? USA?
What? The bias shows?
Just to level off, this country is NOT what it used to be (and at times we've been downright evil).
The problem is I grew up in the '60s and '70s when people were still optomistic, the economy was still working and our politician had only gone slightly bull goose looney.
I make no excuses for the things we have done wrong, but from the time right after WWII right through my formative years all we did was export technology.
I remember reading a biography of Soichiro Honda where he marveled at the fact that we would give plant tours, and other information out freely.
You don't think the Germans let people walk through their plants, do you?
And my bias against the British starts with really turd like poducts like the Norton motorcycle. Something that had to be made virtuarly by hand because the parts weren't sized consistently.
But it is not my intention to draw fire here. I just don't think the Germans constantly need WWII rubbed under their noses. How many people did our ally Stalin kill?
Finally I'm hoping our economy recovers, because we could take everything down otherwise.
-
Anti-British sentiment is taught in American schools, it becomes part of the American psyche.
-
Anti-British sentiment is taught in American schools, it becomes part of the American psyche.
Actually, I think it has more to do with history.
They did burn our Capitol to the ground in 1812.
Besides, I'm Irish so I'm already inclined to dislike the British since during the potato famine the British holdings in Ireland still made Ireland a mass exporter of food.
When I think of England, I don't think of noble things like Common Law, I tend to think more about Dickens.
But when it comes down to it, I think we get more anti-French indoctrination.
And the French came to our aid during our Revolution.
Don't expect people in the US to make sense.
-
Exactly, when American children are taught their history, they are given plenty of reasons to dislike and distrust the British people despite the fact that the guilty parties are long dead.
Maybe we could have more peace in the world if no-one remembered their history.
-
Ow, you turned my own argument on me!
I relent, you're right, blaming the sons for the sins of the fathers is stupid.
Here's to a more gobally tolerant culture.
I appologize.
But we are SO far off target we risk shutting down the thread, so I'll just shut up.
-
Iggy,
Ever actually been to Germany? America has the largest number of military bases and personnel there outside the USA. It has the largest American military hospital outside the US as well. While the Germans hate the US for being there, to do commerce with 227 bases and 40,000 servicemen plus their families, they have a better than average knowledge of English. Why is the US there as opposed to the Germans military being in Delaware? It does have to do with the outcome of WWII. Sweep it under the rug if you want, but those who forget history are bound to repeat it. :)
-
Iggy,
.......those who forget history are bound to repeat it. :)
I do not believe that cliche for one second.
-
I do not believe that cliche for one second.
Or can't remember it?
-
I do not believe that cliche for one second.
We now agree on a second thing.
History sometimes serves to indoctrinate prejudice.
Besides, I have not run into too many Germans that hate us.
Nobody likes an invading military force.
Perhaps, considering the tensions in the regions around Germany and Japan, it is time to let them build up their defenses.
-
Or can't remember it?
History books are filled with wars, they are not forgotten, yet still there are more wars, every year there are wars being waged around the world.
History teaches us why we need to have another war.
-
Make that History and Religion.
Its amazing we are still here.
And no great wonder that we have always predicted our eventual fall.
Hope I don't live to see it.
And I hope, when I am gone, that this is over for me.
The idea of eternal life terrifies me.
-
History books are filled with wars, they are not forgotten, yet still there are more wars, every year there are wars being waged around the world.
History teaches us why we need to have another war.
History only teaches those who pay attention. It has nothing to do with war; and prejudice and WWII went hand-in-hand. The realities of that period in time did not prevent any war, but what we learned from the treaty of Versailles lead to the Marshall plan. It did not slow the progress of hate, persecution, racism nor genocide, but defined them in global terms -- we simply can identify these more easily.
-
I do speak German, anyway. I'm a linguist.QUOTE]
I envy you. That seems like a tough language to learn. But it would be cool to actually converse with some of my friends in their native tongue.
Good luck with the auction.
I've bought a lot of neat things via Ebay.
I went shopping, then watched lots of TV, then tried and failed to do any more ADF transfers before checking back here and look what I've found! This thread has gone totally off topic now, like most threads!
Getting back on topic, I can tell you that German is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. This is because it's closely related to English, although the languages Frisian, Dutch/Flemish, Danish, and Norwegian are more closely related to English, but have more difficult and less clear pronunciations than German. Over a period of time one language spread over a distance develops into various dialects, some of which are different enough or have a high enough status to be different languages. Eventually, the common ancestral language dies out, leaving just the related languages, some being easy for speakers of other related languages to understand. Some words take on different meanings or are used slightly differently. There's also the rules of consonantal shift, as mentioned in the classic Doctor Who story "A State of Decay". This is basically where an unvoiced consonant such as t is replaced by a voiced consonant such as d or vice versa (e.g. Bett = bed). English has also adopted lots more French and Latin words than German has, so you often find similar words to Old English in German (e.g. Wohnung = flat/apartment, or home. Old English used Woning for any home).
English was being taught in schools before WWII, according to a reprint of a WWII book of advice for British armed servicemen in Germany dated about 1944.
BTW, I live in Britain or the UK if you prefer, so I should be able to buy anything I like which is being sold in Germany. There are no customs duties or restrictions, but there may sometimes be spot checks for illegal items or items not allowed to be sent through the mail. I'm hoping to buy some real Schweinebraten mit Knoedel (roast pork with dumplings), but it's not sold here and probably couldn't be packaged and sent over.
Finally, you can visit this site to read versions of the Our Father/Lord's Prayer in various languages. Each language is called by its native name. Dansk = Danish, Frysk = Frisian, and DE-Borbecker Platt is a northern German dialect or language similar to Dutch. Plattdeutsch (low German) was the standard language used by the old Hanseatic League trading organisation, which fell into decline after the League broke up. Standard German is called Hochdeutsch or High German.
http://www.vater-unser.de/index_de.phtml?lg=de
-
Er...
English is German at it's core; read some "Old English" and see. The song "Auld Lang Syne" is German (spelled better) as Alt Lange Zeit. The UK or Britain either got invaded (Romans, Normans -- "Norse Men" invading Vikings, ex-colonies -- India, etc.) or had kings and queens from multiple countries who brought their own language -- German, French, more German.
Germany on the other hand, prevented this with a lack of street and road signs, so then when the Romans invaded about 2000 years ago (Augustus 6 BE to 4 AD), they got "lost" and turned around with a few military battles lost along the way -- likely due to the lack of maps and road signs. The same for the American military: once they got into Germany, they couldn't find their way back out; heck, the Berlin airlift came about as a way to avoid the roads. Finally with the advent of GPS navigation based devices, one can actually go from point "A" to point "B" without stopping and asking a German person for directions. The whole concept of transportation that ignored the German road system (Trains, tanks, and finally the Autobahn) evolved to get around this obstacle; even today the autobahn is laid out with signs that list the originating city for that piece of autobahn and the end city, with no others listed in between.