[saguaro_squeezer]

I'm looking at a concertina from a private seller and wondered how others have handled this? The 'tina is too far away to visit ... long airline flight. Do you use an escrow service?

Sorry to bother.

Rod

[John Adey]

rod_in_tucson, on Jun 19 2009, 03:34 AM, said:

I'm looking at a concertina from a private seller and wondered how others have handled this? The 'tina is too far away to visit ... long airline flight. Do you use an escrow service?

Sorry to bother.

Rod

Rod,
This is a real problem and one that I've faced in the past. I decided long ago that I'd never buy an instrument I hadn't tried and have consequently had to pass by several that looked good on paper. I'm in the process of 'buying' an instrument that is in another country, but I'm doing it through Concertina Connection who are selling it 'on consgnment' and the arrangement is that I get to try it for 3 days - after C Connection have received my money - and can return it for a full refund if I decide it's not right for me. Chris Algar will do something similar if you buy from him, as I think Theo Gibbs will also.

But your problem is that this is a private seller. It seems to me that you either take a chance by not trying it, travel a long way in hope (and at expense) or you come to some similar arrangement with the seller to the one described above or involving some sort of trust account like escrow.

Good luck!

[Daniel Hersh]

The one time I did this (not counting eBay purchases) I bought off a c.net listing and it worked out quite well in the end, though there were a couple of moments while the sale was in progress when things took longer than expected and I started to worry. I bought a bass trombone for my son the same way a few years ago via the netinstruments web site and that worked out well too. But it's certainly a gamble, and in the end in both cases I was basically trusting someone I had never met. I'd suggest asking for lots of pictures, sound files if at all possible, a "returnable if not satisfied" agreement, perhaps contact info for other buyers if available, and lots of communication with the seller so you can get a feel for who you're dealing with. Other possibilities might be phone communication in addition to e-mail (including hearing the instrument over the phone) and/or having an acquaintance in their area (if you know anyone) take a look at the instrument.

I've never used an escrow service, though I've thought about it. Be aware that there are dishonest escrow services out there too.

Daniel

John Adey, on Jun 19 2009, 01:58 PM, said:

rod_in_tucson, on Jun 19 2009, 03:34 AM, said:

I'm looking at a concertina from a private seller and wondered how others have handled this? The 'tina is too far away to visit ... long airline flight. Do you use an escrow service?

Sorry to bother.

Rod

Rod,
This is a real problem and one that I've faced in the past. I decided long ago that I'd never buy an instrument I hadn't tried and have consequently had to pass by several that looked good on paper. I'm in the process of 'buying' an instrument that is in another country, but I'm doing it through Concertina Connection who are selling it 'on consgnment' and the arrangement is that I get to try it for 3 days - after C Connection have received my money - and can return it for a full refund if I decide it's not right for me. Chris Algar will do something similar if you buy from him, as I think Theo Gibbs will also.

But your problem is that this is a private seller. It seems to me that you either take a chance by not trying it, travel a long way in hope (and at expense) or you come to some similar arrangement with the seller to the one described above or involving some sort of trust account like escrow.

Good luck!

[Leo]

A good escrow service is always a good idea, and the deal can be set up with conditions to the satisfaction of all the parties.

With the resources we have available in the internet now as opposed to a few years ago, there has been a lot less risk involved in a private deal. We have live video and audio feeds to inspect and hear things that weren't dreamed of a short time ago. There is YouTube, Skype, telephone etc. just to name a few ideas. I've even seen YouTube on Ebay demonstrating, and showing a few features, along with sound. With something like Skype, a question can be asked live, and shown the answer right now.

I'm sure there are other ideas out there to take away some of the risks, but these are a couple that I've seen.

Thanks
Leo

[david_boveri]

rod_in_tucson, on Jun 18 2009, 09:34 PM, said:

I'm looking at a concertina from a private seller and wondered how others have handled this? The 'tina is too far away to visit ... long airline flight. Do you use an escrow service?

Sorry to bother.

Rod

well, it all depends on what it is. i dont think that an escrow service is the usual way of dealing with this situation. basically you either have to fly there to try it out, or trust that it is ok. and part of trusting it is ok would be to get a lot of pictures and sound clips or as much information as possible.

there is a third option... see if you can have someone else try it out for you. maybe offer them a small fee (20, 50 bucks?), which they will probably refuse.

where is the concertina located? one of us may be able to try it out for you and report back. if you dont feel comfortable sharing this information publicly, pm me and i may be able to help you find someone nearby.