General Discussion (Model Railroader)

 I just wondered how the owners of GMB was thinking when they decided who could register to their site? If you live in USA,Canada,NZ and Australia you can, but the rest of the world? Maybe they don´t want so many to place bids on the items? It can´t be a shipping issue due to the fact that Australia and NZ are much more distant than Europe. If they don´t allow all of us to join, please keep on placing your objects on Ebay so the rest of us can have a go at it.

They only ship to those countries that is why only people living in those countries can register.  GMB is more car oriented and is a great place for diecast collectibles.  Their model train category is very small compared to Ebay. 

 Yes they may be small now, but they have the capability to grow. I just wanted to take this problem to the surface.

I personally think it is disappointing when you see something that you would like to bid on and know that it is impossible.

The same issue regards some sellers on Ebay, they don´t sell outside the US, as if that would be a problem!?! They only lose a couple of million possible bidders.....

I wish Ebay's software was as smooth as THAT sites!

For a private seller , it is not worth the hassles of trying to ship overseas for a couple bids a year. I live in a small town and the post office is of no help trying to ship overseas. I also no longer ship to Canada because of customers complaining about the fees etc involved. It is just not worth it to me to put up with the hassles. On one package to Canada, they refused to accept the shipment twice, once for the wrong custom form (given to me by the PO), second time because they didn't like the way I filled it out. Then the customer was ticked off because of the fees charged by the Canadians because of what they read on the custom forms. The customer wanted it shipped as a gift, and the US PO would not let me ship it that way.

 When I buy stuff from the US they usually ship it via USPS First class international, it is both quick and cheap. Why do you have so much hassle with the customs? The forms is as far as I know quite easy to fill. Sure, the post here in Sweden isn´t so helpful either. If I ship international, I have to check the rules before I get there . But that is the name of the game, I would never rule out international shipping on my own auctions.

Regarding the fees and taxes, I don´t complain. I know when I start bidding or buy things that the total price will be added with about 30% to cover that. 

I know that it is difficult to mark shipment as "gift" but "sample of no value", thats a different story.

Graffen:

please keep on placing your objects on Ebay so the rest of us can have a go at it.

Besides I've noticed bunches (most) of the stuff on GMB ends up on eBay the next day anyway. 

I bought one item off of their site and they insisted that it be shipped by courier and when that happens you have to pay brokerage fees when it crosses the border and also the shipping fees are much higher. They also tack on other fees such as duties etc.  My item ended up costing more than three times its worth. That did it for me.  Back to E-Bay where I have had very successful dealing and shipping by USPS and Canada Post at least 98% of the time.  There is the odd seller that plays games with shipping costs, but you learn to avoid them.  I now have a list of about 30 favorite sellers and I now pretty well stick to them ....   YOU SEE IT PAYS TO PLAY FAIR>    I don't look for others,  these favorites can supply anything I require and there are no surprises.  Just fair deals and honesty.     to them.  

Johnboy out for now.............................