just got a 14x10 stainless snare and when it got here it was 15x12.
also three weeks before i won that drum, i purchased a rogers r-360 snare. and it still hasent even got here. some people. well sorry i just needed to vent.
btw. today i also got an acrolite shell from ebay and it is now a drum. that was kind of some exitement for the day.
it is pretty easy to vent about ebay but that said i have had pretty good luck, with the vendors.i usually ask a lot of questions. my problem ,being in Canada is the extremely high shipping rates from the U.S. to here for anything over 4 lbs.--- the so-called ebay shipping calculator which listed prices the same as shipping to Myanmar for a 20 mile hop across the border is gone but where ebay messes up for Intl. shipping is not requiring the seller to list shipping up front. It should be mandatory. I always have to ask and half the time the cost is twice what it should be and it gets redone eventually but after a lot of hassle.
i find most ebayers reasonable people and they will rectify problems if they have made a mistake------and I have bought a lot; whole drum kits from Germany,the U.S. and lots of parts from elsewhere. The really cheap shipping for U.S.P.S. First Class Intl. (under 4 lbs.) needs to be profiled because 1/2 the American ebayers don't even know it exists. It is one thing to get a bad item but a whole other thing to pay over 30.00 for shipping which is almost always non-refundable.
I'e bought 1/2 dozen or so snare drums & toms on eBay (I live in BC Canada) over the past year & I find the shipping not too bad.....so far = about $25 - $40 per drum. If Customs looks at it they tack on an extra fee at my door. If the post is other than USPS (UPS for example) I can get 'dinged' a brokerage fee at the door as well......even though I've already paid the shipping & handling. In the 'big picture' though......it's small amounts of cash to sacrifice for that very nice drum you want.
But I didn't like this one - I do however appreciate it is a long way in the mail: I enquired about the shipping cost - to my Postal Code here in BC - for a nice 9x13 Gretsch tom that was on eBay in the U.K. and the reply was $140p (pounds) - Yikes!
it is pretty easy to vent about ebay but that said i have had pretty good luck, with the vendors.i usually ask a lot of questions.
yeah. i do to. and there are alot of nice people on ebay, or generaly everywhere. these two tranactions right in a row just kind of agravated me.
wow it costs alot to bring a drum across an ocean.
I'm in Hawaii and have many of the same shipping problems. But I'm willing to pay the extra to get something here. The thing that gets me really upset is the ebay sellers that only want to ship to the "lower 48". Hawaii is a state and it is just as easy to send a package through the Post Office to Hawaii as it is to any other state. It may cost a bit more but I'm willing to pay it.
Luckily I have purchased over 1,000 items off ebay and never had any major problem - including a $9,000 Backhoe that I had shipped from New Jersey! I've bought hundreds of drum items even from those who say "lower 48" only. After I win I just contact them and explain how easy it is to ship using the USPS. And it always works out well.
Check feedback, ask questions, and communicate. The majority of ebayers are great people and if you communicate it will have a way to work out just fine.
Try where and when possible to make purchases from your own back yard.Its a scary thing to see when "customs" get hold of a package!
