Problem shipping tubes on eBay?

Discussion in 'General Audio Discussion' started by Cspirou, Jan 20, 2018.

  1. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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  2. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    Have never purchased from a vendor that uses eBay’s Global Shipping Program.

    Now the Italian postal system, that's a cause of concern for me. Have had tubes go astray in there more than a few times.
     
  3. Sqveak

    Sqveak Friend

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    GSP / Pitney Bowes has also been confiscating and later auctioning off model airplane engines. Diesels specifically.
     
  4. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    I didn't need to hear this. Just bought those FIvre 2A3s shipping from Italy to the US. Fingers crossed...
     
  5. Xecuter

    Xecuter Brush and floss your amp twice a day

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    I've bought from Italy at least 3 times. once from ebay and twice from dealers. never had any issues. I try to avoid Global shipping because they sometimes say things are delivered when they haven't landed yet.

    I've also had over 100 tubes go through customs in 2 years and not a single time have they been disallowed or questioned..
    Australia has some of the strictest customs control in the world as well.

    I wouldn't stress.
     
  6. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    Ditto, have had a lot of tubes go through customs without problem. I have bought tubes via Global Shipping Programme on a few occasions. It is more expensive and significantly slower than regular post but does still seem to arrive in the end.
     
  7. rikkitik

    rikkitik New

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    I've purchased many tubes from outside US, (Russia, Greece, Italy, China, Germany, etc.), only issues (few) have been typical vendor / seller issues. Postal / shipping portion hasn't been an issue for me (Greece can be tedious and slow).
    Canadian customs can be slow too, though not always, eventually item arrives (sometimes it's been opened / "inspected").
    "Platinum matched" east coast vendor, that's another story.....
     
  8. Damfu

    Damfu New

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    An update on this ongoing situation

    Last week I had four of the finest 7n7 National Union tubes I have ever seen destroyed they were 1944 , three of the four still seeled and the fourth only opened for pics

    Pitney Bowes gave the following explanation after I queried

    "I have looked into your query, and can confirm that the item was restricted for delivery to the Australia. It was reviewed by the Dangerous Goods Approved representative and was deemed that we could not deliver this item due to “ Amp tube(s) possibly manufactured pre-70s. In that era most lamps & tubes had mercury reflectors. In absence of clear data ruling out the risk, item has been rated UN3506, Mercury contained in manufactured article. Class 8, Corrosive & Toxic. Restricted to all countries on our system. Each country has different restrictions, and unfortunately this was unable to be delivered."

    Ebay again after query gave the following explanation

    "I can see that your seller has attempted to send this through the Global Shipping Program. The vintage tubes cannot be sent through the Global Shipping Program because it is a restricted item for the program to ship. After looking into it, I found that our third party shipping partner restricts these due to the following reasons:


    1. Lead: all soldering, risks and handling method is known by most

    2. Selenium diodes/rectifiers:

    3. Mercury: Inside some rectifier tubes (6508, 82, 83, 866A)

    4. Cadmium: Chassis plating of Fisher tube amplifiers (kx-200,400,500c,...)

    5. PCB's : not the stuff components are mounted on, but "Polychlorinated Biphenyls".

    6. Asbestos: Was used as heat shield in some tweed guitar amplifiers and as insulation material on wiring.

    David when reviewing your previous purchases I can see that you have purchased tubes before, but if you notice these were shipped directly to you and not through a shipping hub. And since our hub doesn't have a way to test these they err on the side of caution and restrict them all. "

    I will not be using the Global Shipping Program again and Ebay is now a last resort
    What a bunch of ignorant $*&*%&$
     
  9. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    Sad face. GSP is a crock of shit. Given how slow and expensive it is, I generally use a reshipper (MyUS) instead if GSP is the overseas shipping option. Reshipper is also useful because it gives you access to a lot of tubes from ebay sellers who won't ship outside the US at all. Although to even see these listings it appears you need to use a proxy.
     
  10. Xecuter

    Xecuter Brush and floss your amp twice a day

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    Currently dealing with a horribly expensive tube break with USPS as the shipper. Insurance is a night mare. Hard to get a valuation on the price of an unobtainium tube.. quad ruined...

    Thanks for posting this @Damfu..
    We can also look forward to 10% GST on all under 1000aud purchases from overseas starting July 1.
     
  11. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    In practice, probably only through eBay. Most other audio places I'm likely to buy from overseas are low-key out-of-someone's-garage operations who are absolutely not going to register for Australian GST and charge the 10% (and aren't required to either if their Australian turnover is less than $75k p/a).
     
  12. Damfu

    Damfu New

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    Thanks for the sympathy . This GST thing is going to be interesting . Amazon pulled the plug but gave me a $20 voucher for Amazon au .
    I genuinely lost sleep over those tubes though
     
  13. hifilust

    hifilust New

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    Avoid eBay's GSP especially those motherfuckers called Pitney Bowes. Destroyers of everything and all things Tube.

    USPS, Royal Mail, Hungarian Mail, and all those sovereign postal services deliver as promised in combustible comparison.

    Bought a matched quad of vintage KT88s only to watch them melted down.

    Later on learnt these double-dealers called Pitney-bastard-Bowes auctioned them for profit. Pffttt Mercury &c. in vintage tubes they claimed (hence hazardous and prohibited from shipping).

    To those valvehead tube-lovers out there, do check and double check that your purchases or bids aren't shipped by eBay's GSP (Global Shitting Programme... Global Shipping Program).

    You've been forewarned.

    HiFiLust
     
  14. Gallic Dweller

    Gallic Dweller Acquaintance

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    GSP is a complete rip-off - Ebay charge both seller and buyer. I've got a lot of audio gear to sell and if I can I will avoid Ebay entirely and Paypal/Screwyoupal.
     

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