Buying Guitar ON LINE ffrom USA or UK

[GasCrazy]

Hi Soft

I have a question regarding buying guitar on line from sites such as those below but not exhaustive
sweetwater
musiciansfriend
Guitar centre
Bass Direct
etc...

Queatiions is I was about to buy a guitar and the merchant advice me to scan a oopy of my credit card front and back and my pictures to him ( the sales man) . He says that is to protect merchant and card holder from fraud.

Only by giving , the deal can go through.

Do you think I should give him /merchant those information ?
I am buying a guitar about U$ 1500 which Singapore don't have and was eyeing a good deal.

I know some sofites has done that. could those please share your experience and was everything dollars spent worth it ?

Thank you
No guitar, No life .
Rather GAS to death , then looking at menu only.

 

[vwkng]

If you use paypal, there should be no need to provide copies of your credit card.
Which website is this pls?

 

[yhoosan]

Dude which website do you intend to buy your guitar from? Maybe I can give my 2 cents worth.

 

[GasCrazy]

Well , Its either of the first 3 merhcant
Not good to say which mercnaht lah.

Just want soneone who have some expereince buying from any of the 3 sites or othe on line site.
Also which website besides the 3 mentioned is the most reliable ?
Btw, how to use paypal ?

Thank you
No guitar, No life .
Rather GAS to death , then looking at menu only

 

[cbr400rrr]

so many hassle buying online overseas....shipment cost in usd and guitar cost convert to SIN dollars plus 7 % gst at the customs...if the guitar damaged during shipment you bear the cost unless you buy insurance...any defects or faulty you cant have the merchant repaired or fix it for you...and the guitar cant be tested and set up to your liking...end of it,better buy from local guitar shops hahhahaah...and the price difference wasnt that much compare the risk you take buying online overseas....think thrice before even considering....unless you go overseas and buy the guitar and bring it back..still no warranty in spore....if the guitar you want is not sold in spore..simple...just go to guitar shops that can order for you and bring in for you with certain amount of fee....safer that way...

- - - Updated - - -

and nowaday most ppl avoid buying from ebays which involves huge some of money...even using paypal is such a hassle if need to dispute certain cases....you need to buy insurance if buying guitar online and ship from overseas in case the shipment get lost or damage....

 

[redname]

Well , Its either of the first 3 merhcant
Not good to say which mercnaht lah.

Just want soneone who have some expereince buying from any of the 3 sites or othe on line site.
Also which website besides the 3 mentioned is the most reliable ?
Btw, how to use paypal ?

Thank you
No guitar, No life .
Rather GAS to death , then looking at menu only

tell us so can save us from being bluff mah.

this is call SIC

 

[cbr400rrr]

sweetwater requires new customers to fax their credit card details and utilities bills under the card owners name....so the next time you buy again from them you dont have to do it again...this is security reason preventing someone using other ppls credit card unauthorised...so there will be no dispute

 

[GasCrazy]

sweetwater requires new customers to fax their credit card details and utilities bills under the card owners name....so the next time you buy again from them you dont have to do it again...this is security reason preventing someone using other ppls credit card unauthorised...so there will be no dispute

Thanks Cbr400rr
Yout first ppst seems to indicte that buying online is a pain.
Can you tell us softies why you prefer to buy from local and not online?
You are correct that about sweetwater though.
Has anyone bought from sweetwater or musicfriend or GC?

Please keep this post threads running as I think
we all surf the net about guitar gears. etc and always
hesitate to buy on line due to many reason. some valid. some
not.. but the trill of trying to get something you love
over the net is just too good to miss.

So anyone.. pls share your experience with
any merchant you have bought before.

Thank you
Rather GAS to death , then looking at menu

 

[DelphianRose]

Yes

For sweetwater u need to send a scanned copy if the credit card used and the ID of the owner of the card and the address which the cardholder stays at or ur latest bank statement to prove that the card belongs to you.

For musiciansfriend u dun have to send anything cos u can use paypal. Paypal conversion better then bank conversion - Trust Me -

For guitarcenter its musiciansfriend after all lols!

Ps when u buy from musicians friend make sure u have double the amount of your total checkout price cos they will keep safe that amount and deduct from your bank separately but u will get the keep safe amount after 1 - 2 days. Just to make sure u dun get negative balance.

Bro if u planning to buy from them contact me maybe we can share shipment price (

 

[cbr400rrr]

There is one softie member here selling a chip off headstock jackson guitar which he bought online and selling it here... Like i said buying expensive guitar is a risk like mention above... You need to know whether is there insurance coverage for lost or damage shipment.... Ive buy guitar parts from ebay and shops online like eg neck, tremolo bridge few accessories.... Never tried buying guitars though... But ive heard feedback from friends buying guitar online....if you order thru our local shops here at least they will settle things for you if the shipment have problems etc... You just need to put downpayment thats it.... You may try ebenex... Ask david

 

[Godsmen]

May I know what guitar you planning to buy online anyway?

 

[vwkng]

I've bought 4 guitars on ebay so far with no problems.
I shipped mine in hardshell cases all through Borderlinx DHL.
Perhaps I am just lucky?
You really need to check everything.

 

[grin.guitar]

Personally, I feel having to fax over both sides of your credit card for the deal to go through does kind of defeat the convenience and more importantly the security of an online credit card transaction... As you can't be sure how securely the hardcopy of the faxes will be kept.

You may also want to check if the merchant accepts payment via telegraphic transfer(aka wire transfer). If they do, they can send you their bank information, and with that you can go to your bank to transfer them the money. Just be sure to indicate that you will pay for the bank charges incurred on the merchant's side, otherwise the amount they receive will be short. A bit more expensive due to the bank charges but it's very secure. I've paid for a couple of guitars from overseas this way before.

 

[cbr400rrr]

Well try compare the price purchasing thru shops here and online overseas(incl tax everything)....if the price difference less than $300 its not worth the risk and hassle...unless you buying guitars that is used really cheap,collectors model etc.... Remember you are buying guitar that you cant test,feel and view physically.... Yr model, old stock or new,warranty, certain manufacture defects and faulty.... You are on your own.....

 

[GasCrazy]

Well try compare the price purchasing thru shops here and online overseas(incl tax everything)....if the price difference less than $300 its not worth the risk and hassle...unless you buying guitars that is used really cheap,collectors model etc.... Remember you are buying guitar that you cant test,feel and view physically.... Yr model, old stock or new,warranty, certain manufacture defects and faulty.... You are on your own.....

Thanks all sofites for the comment .
Seems there are 2 camp here both positive and negative but with merits.
That is why , I like more people to share their on line purchase good and bad .
Afterall , also many local have also bad experience with their purchase. So all is relative , but the topic is more about on line purchase.
A gasser knows what they are looking for , that is why we resort to online because local do not have them and we are gassing for our breath. Yes ,they order for you , but they are also doing the same thing as you do on line. Do they play / feel the guitar for you in USA / UK .

Yes , the difference can be about $300 and cbr400rr suggest not worth the risk. I respect your decision.

Also the merchant told me to do wire transfer but this add up to the cost. Not many people have business so wire trasnfer add to the cost.

 

[cbr400rrr]

If you have problems or dispute buying from local shop you still have receipt,CASE and small claims tribunal to report.... Buying online nope.... If you let the guitar retails local shop order the item for you,you can save the trouble in terms of any paperwork,customs shipping etc...because these shops are well verse about bringing guitars from overseas and they have better reputation and connections and could get better deal etc....and if there are problems like damage or lost shipment guitar the shop can do insurance claim or dispute cases on your behalf too...

 

[relinquish69]

There are many things to take note when buying guitars from overseas. The best piece of advice I can give is that if you have no idea what you are doing, don't do it.

I did ship in a Gibson Les Paul Standard before. Cost me about $1700USD. Shipping cost was close to $200USD. For some reason, the people in US are usually very reluctant to do international shipping hence they always chalk up the price for shipping. Their shipping cost go by the size of the item and they love to ship guitars in excessively huge boxes.

Let's say if I were to pay $1900USD, paypal's rate would be higher compared to XE. If it's 1 USD to 1.24 SGD now on XE, expect paypal's rate to be 1 USD to 1.26 SGD which makes a big difference if the amount is big.

7% GST applies if the total value of your item exceeds $400 (inclusive of shipping charges).

The total amount paid would be $2561.58. The amount is fair if you compare with our local guitar shops. The best part was, the guitar came with a broken headstock.

Sure I got a full refund but I have to pay for the shipping back to the USA. Singpost charge by actual weight of the item. For a guitar with the hardcase of, it would weigh at least 12Kg. That would be $262.45SGD to ship.

All in all, I wasted $200+ and a whole lot of time and effort. I couldn't give the seller a bad rating because he fulfilled his end of the bargain by offering the full refund with no questions asked.

Doesn't happen all the time but when it happens, it's going be very irritating to handle.

One more thing, please bring this thread to the right place.

 

[Lerlo]

I think should only use paypal....its safer...

Dont send credit card pictures over internet man, very risky..

 

[GasCrazy]

Thanks bro out there with all your comments and experience.

Some were happy with their purchase on line while some are disappointed

Like I said before.. this is a forum and up to this writing there are more han 500 view which means there are gassers interested in this topic. So the thread shall remain here.

relinqish69 expereince and detailed explanation is very informative though.

Guess dealer herer reading this post is all smile base on relinquish69 expereince

However I will still buy on line someday becasue there are guitar out there which locals do not sell.
There are many brands dealer not selling here and you if you likee the guitar . Need to go on line.

Thank you all for your comment, I have received few pm from fellow softies who describe how they do it and was happy with their purchase...not to mentioned value for money...

One just need to constanly monitor on line website which sometimes have price reduction which local just could not beat after all factor
weighs in such as shpping, exchange rate, etc..

Cheers... and Happy Gasing.

 

[CaboWabo]

I ordered a guitar about 1 half months back paid via paypal, all i can say is that paypal would be the most secure way of payment :/
regardless of shipping from say usa, auss,japan etc it's all about 200+