Right then i was looking for a cold avenger mask for my Norway trip next feb and spied a used one on Amazon USA. No option for UK delivery so i started to look at a shipping forwarder as an option.
I found a listing on ebay.com
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200801687970?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
so i paid my $2 and waited to see what happened
i received this email the following day ~(edited out addresses and phone numbers)
Hello Paul,
Thank you for registering with our USA forwarding service.
Please use this address to send your items to our USA location in Los Angeles, California for forwarding to you:
Your Name
xxxxxxx
LOS ANGELES, CA xxxxx
The telephone number associated with this address is xxx-xxx-xxx.
To use our address on eBay
If you plan to use our address on eBay USA as a shipping address, please use the following phone number: xxx-xxx-xxx
USA Orders that you place yourself
Let us know in advance when you have placed an order with a US vendor and arranged to send it to our US address. Please include the following information if available:
seller name,
seller location,
shipping date,
courier name (e.g. US Postal Service, UPS, Fedex),
tracking number,
contents and value.
Buying on your behalf
We offer a buy on behalf service in case you are unable to buy directly from a US seller for any number of reasons (e.g. non-USA card, shipping and billing address must match ).
Your address is registered as follows:
PAUL xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
If there are any changes to be made to your address as stated above please inform us.
Thanks again for choosing us to serve you,
Best Regards,
Sue
Supreme Shipping
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Ok so i decided to try the buy it on your behalf option and sent them a link to my mask.
they sent me a paypal request for the amount of the item and notified me that there would be a second invoice after it was received by them to cover the buying fee $9.99 and sales tax $2.45 + whatever postage to the uk is at the face value cost of usps. Added to this is a paypal fee of 3.45% so they dont get stung on fees. So after a week i got a notification that my suff had arrived with them and a choice of shipping costs which varied from bog standard international to global priority. They also asked if i wanted insurance and how much they should declare the value as on the customs form. So i chose bog standard post with no insurance and asked for the value to be declared as $15.
The mask arrived today 1 week after i paid the second paypal request. It appears to be new and was fully boxed up.
Now so far so good. Ive got the mask and it was still cheaper than buying a new one. Total paid was $56 or £36 landed all in. $9.99 of this was their buying service fee.
Im really happy with my first experience. I could have done it cheaper if id chosen to buy it myself but for the sake of £6 i thought id let them take the strain and try out the service.
I see this service as particularly useful if a seller doesnt ship to the uk or for saving import tax when you think there is a good chance of getting stung.
I have no connection to the company but so far im a happy customer.
I found a listing on ebay.com
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200801687970?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
so i paid my $2 and waited to see what happened
i received this email the following day ~(edited out addresses and phone numbers)
Hello Paul,
Thank you for registering with our USA forwarding service.
Please use this address to send your items to our USA location in Los Angeles, California for forwarding to you:
Your Name
xxxxxxx
LOS ANGELES, CA xxxxx
The telephone number associated with this address is xxx-xxx-xxx.
To use our address on eBay
If you plan to use our address on eBay USA as a shipping address, please use the following phone number: xxx-xxx-xxx
USA Orders that you place yourself
Let us know in advance when you have placed an order with a US vendor and arranged to send it to our US address. Please include the following information if available:
seller name,
seller location,
shipping date,
courier name (e.g. US Postal Service, UPS, Fedex),
tracking number,
contents and value.
Buying on your behalf
We offer a buy on behalf service in case you are unable to buy directly from a US seller for any number of reasons (e.g. non-USA card, shipping and billing address must match ).
Your address is registered as follows:
PAUL xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
If there are any changes to be made to your address as stated above please inform us.
Thanks again for choosing us to serve you,
Best Regards,
Sue
Supreme Shipping
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Ok so i decided to try the buy it on your behalf option and sent them a link to my mask.
they sent me a paypal request for the amount of the item and notified me that there would be a second invoice after it was received by them to cover the buying fee $9.99 and sales tax $2.45 + whatever postage to the uk is at the face value cost of usps. Added to this is a paypal fee of 3.45% so they dont get stung on fees. So after a week i got a notification that my suff had arrived with them and a choice of shipping costs which varied from bog standard international to global priority. They also asked if i wanted insurance and how much they should declare the value as on the customs form. So i chose bog standard post with no insurance and asked for the value to be declared as $15.
The mask arrived today 1 week after i paid the second paypal request. It appears to be new and was fully boxed up.
Now so far so good. Ive got the mask and it was still cheaper than buying a new one. Total paid was $56 or £36 landed all in. $9.99 of this was their buying service fee.
Im really happy with my first experience. I could have done it cheaper if id chosen to buy it myself but for the sake of £6 i thought id let them take the strain and try out the service.
I see this service as particularly useful if a seller doesnt ship to the uk or for saving import tax when you think there is a good chance of getting stung.
I have no connection to the company but so far im a happy customer.
