Text 32266, 98 rader
Skriven 2009-05-09 08:33:16 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 32250 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
Ärende: Ebay
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Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Friday May 08 2009 at 13:52:

RB>> You're right. There is a PayPal Germany, but the European
RB>> headquarters is, as in the case of Ebay, in Luxembourg.

RW> Close enough. Isn't Luxembourg a southwesterly neighbor on the border
RW> with Germany? Part of the EU?

Yes, and still another country, with its own laws.

RB>>>> Ebay deals in Europe from Luxembourg, and I recently read that
RB>>>> PayPal had obtained a Luxembourg bank license.

RW>>> And in Berlin.

RB>> No, there's an office in Berlin, but PayPal only has a bank license
RB>> in Luxembourg. Presumably the German banking laws are too strict.

RW> Certainly you must be free to use any bank in the EU...

Ebay used to operate from Switzerland, which gives you an idea of how the
operation works.

RB>>>> And secondly, why and how would you deal with an American entity in
RB>>>> Germany?

RW>>> You deal with it through a German office/bank.

RB>> I meant why? On what occasion? Normally people - including me - make
RB>> purchases in their own country, unless what they want to buy is
RB>> unavailable there.

RW> Why, if what you want could be obtained a few bucks cheaper in a
RW> neighboring country? There's trade all the time across the Canadian
RW> and American border.

That answer would apply to me more than you. In your case, any savings on an
article would generally be eaten up by the high shipping charges, same as when
I order something from the States. Possible, but not really "bargain hunting".

RB>> Even I have only rarely bought outside the country, and a normal
RB>> consumer - particularly in the States - would normally stick to
RB>> domestic purchases.

RW> I've bought from sellers in the UK and I've sold to customers in
RW> Australia.

Possible, but as I note, not very frequent because of the shipping charges.

RB>> I might add that the shipping costs for practically anything except a
RB>> letter from Germany to the States and vice-versa are so astronomical
RB>> that international purchases are not very practical except for
RB>> high-value goods.

RW> Some people aren't concerned with the cost of shipping. i.e. the only
RW> NTSC DVD with Disney's 'Song of the South' on it is 'only' available
RW> outside the US (thanks to the NAACP)...

... and in the Internet ;-)

RW> Shipping across the pond isn't that costly if you really want
RW> something.

That is, of course, anther kettle of fish.

RW>>> I don't have and never have had a problem with these entities since
RW>>> I joined Ebay in 2000. That's 180 transactions using my Paypal
RW>>> account or someone elses, depending on who's the buyer and who's the
RW>>> seller.

RB>> Somebody _has_ to be lucky. Congratulations.

RW> I must be just a spec of dust among the lucky, as PayPal does very
RW> well worldwide, in spite of the naysayers.

With Ebay pushing everybody to use its affiliate, some wonder.

RB>> As a matter of curiosity: I would have thought this particular
RB>> section would be pretty uninteresting, especially in the States,
RB>> because you would have to drive or fly such distances to even view a
RB>> vehicle. And at least in Germany, people wouldn't buy one sight
RB>> unseen, on the basis of photos alone.

RB>> Can you explain?

RW> Sure. If you are interested in a vehicle that's too far away to drive
RW> there and back in one afternoon to take a look at it, you can hire a
RW> person in that area that does vehicle inpections for a living...

That _is_ interesting. I didn't realize such people/services existed, but the
idea is logical. As far as I know, there's nothing like that here.

Thanks for the explanation.

Cheers, Bob

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