Been collecting Hitachis for years and a TRK 7990E which is on 'my list' has appeared on eBay Germany. Anyone got any tips or warnings before I proceed. I'm in UK and have confirmed with seller that they will send to UK.

hi,  if the seller has good feedback cant see there being any problem .   if you win the hitachi ask the seller to pack the box well as a few members have had some issues with poor packing from europe .

Like Del said the packing is the paramount concern after purchase. Send this link to the seller before shipment. It's full of useful tips to protect your investment

http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic...cel-packing-protocol

Good luck!

Many thanks for the replies. I'll send the link to the seller.

i was going to ask the very same thing only this morning!

im bidding on a bit of industrial salvage stuff not a box, seller doesnt/wont take paypal.  i believe this is pretty normal with germans and nothing to worry about?

he has no feedback but a lot of the same sorta stuff - i get the impression its a new account for a business.

anyway payment by bank is ok right?

In my experience, almost all non-professional German ebayers ask for bank transfer (Überweisung). I am not sure that payment by bank offers full protection the way paypal does, but so far I have had no problem whatsoever. This said, I would be careful with a zero-feedback seller --no matter where s/he does come from.

I agree with all the above. Wire transfers, have become a lot easier, since they did away with having to fill forms out. It`s all done electronically now. Do check the sellers feedback though.