[LargeFormat] How to pay German shops

[tripspud]

Hi Philip,

       An aside about Germany.  I've noticed that on the eBay, you can
not look at another buyer's profile if they are a German citizen.  I do
a lot of snooping on buyer's before I bid, to find out if they've already
bought a similar item, they're bidding practises, etc.  All this is available
for past auctions they have bid on up to 30 days.  But a disclaimer appears
stating that German law prohibits revealing private information on auctons.

      Also auctions on eBay.de never have reserves because of German law,
though the seller can still set a very high opening bid like elsewhere, often
not an auction, but a 'for sale'.

Cheers,

Rich Lahrson
Berkeley, California
tirpsup@transbay.net

philip lambert wrote:

> I sold something to an overseas buyer who paid me by Western Union transfer.
> I had to take my passport and the Western Union document to a nearby travel
> agent who dealt with Western Union and I was handed cash. I then sent off
> the item I had sold. Maybe you could buy from Germany this way. PL
>
>  Most German sellers seem to have an antiquated view of financial
> transactions. I've had to arrange direct bank transfers in the past which
> take an age to complete - my bank tells me its the german banking system
> that holds things up. Why they wont take credit card payments or paypal is
> beyond me.