"NEW" P1 on eBay

[bruce wegmann]

Item number 311210059631. This serial number (358) does not appear on any Owner's List, and has apparently not been previously available to collectors. Very good overall cosmetic condition, working 201-1 module, with 19-link bracelet, setting magnet, and original inner display box (which is in outstanding, near-mint, condition). A reasonable supposition is that this was a recent estate "find".

[SASM]

It sold already for quite a small price. Haven´t seen it, so it seems that international bidders couldn´t bid.

[charger105]

Yes, USA only. Crazy with such a desirable watch
The questions at the bottom of the listing are quite funny:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VINTAGE-PULS ... 7675.l2557

Rgds.

[bruce wegmann]

Not correct...if you read it carefully, he means there was -free shipping- only within the continental U.S. He explicitly states that -international- bidders must verify that the item does not violate laws, customs, or import regulations, not that he won't ship overseas (realistically, I'm sure the seller would have shipped it to Mars, if the winning bid had come from there); indeed, the runner-up bid came from Canada, and was not cancelled.
As for the insulting offer, I'm sure everybody on this Forum can guess who that came from...

[SASM]

Maybe, but if the seller lists an item "shipping within USA only" and just writes in the auction text that he is willing to send to other countries it doesn´t pop up at let´s say ebay.de. Beside that even if I would go the ebay USA, you cannot find the item as ebay recognizes I am from Germany and doesn´t show the item.

[bruce wegmann]

Hanno, there is nothing to prevent you from looking at the U.S. site, or any eBay site, for that matter, just as I can look at eBay Germany, or Italy, or Japan, or UK, or any of half a dozen others. I have "saved searches" operating on all the major eBay sites, and if certain items show up, virtually anywhere in the world, I will get an email telling me where they are. It's purely a question of caring enough to make the necessary effort. There's a very big world outside of Germany, just as there is outside the United States; it took me good long time to fully appreciate just how big, but now, once in a while, it pays off very handsomely, indeed. For the first eight years I had a computer, I didn't know about eBay; I hardly dare think about the things I missed, that I could have bought for a song, back then...
Anyway the seller says "**Free shipping with insurance ** WITHIN CONTINENTAL U.S. ONLY**, with the inference clearly being, that, if it goes outside the U.S., the buyer becomes responsible for the shipping and insurance costs...simple as that.

[charger105]

Regardless of what is said in the text, if it's listed as USA postage only, then Ebay Australia prevents you from bidding.
I would presume that most other countries Ebay sites have similar restrictions.
Rgds.

[SASM]

Right, exactly what I´ve meant. Ebay does not only prevent you from bidding, but also hides the item in some cases. Of course you could use software to hide your IP so that ebay doesn´t know from where you get access to their servers but I bought most items by accident, just because I saw something and suddenly had the feeling I couldn´t live without it.

And thanks for the info, still thought that the disk ends after the german border...

[bruce wegmann]

My experience has been, that if you contact a seller, and offer to pay whatever additional shipping charges it might take to get an item to you, they usually respond favorably (bottom line...it's a potential sale, and that's what sellers are on eBay to do...sell). Again, it's about making the extra effort to get something, if it's really important to you (I do not give up easily!). But, we are drifting a bit far afield here; I was just surprised that such an important item went virtually unnoticed...how did that happen

[PG101]

...I was just surprised that such an important item went virtually unnoticed...how did that happen

Hanno's been trying to tell you why!!
Because the auction stated "United States" shipping only, it does NOT show up on eBay searches for users who are registered from any other country outside of the United States!
For example, I'm registered with eBay UK (because we don't have a local eBay, even though it was started by a South African), and I can run a search now, even after the auction is ended, and it won't show up in my results, even if I log on to eBay.com instead of eBay.uk
Believe me (and I'm sure a lot of other internationals on the forum), I have been checking eBay for a P1 for absolute ages, and I WOULD have noticed this one! It has nothing to do with you wanting anything any more than the rest of us Bruce..That is of course unless I move to the USA, and that's never going to happen!

Well done on winning it anyway Bruce, there's no sour grapes, it's just unfortunate that internationals couldn't bid.
Maybe you could be as astute in replying to emails and answering people's questions, as you are to eBay scouting

Nice catch!

[bruce wegmann]

I try to do my best, on both fronts...not always equally successfully, sorry to say. (But, I must point out, that if what you said is true, it wouldn't account for how a Canadian not only managed to see it, but put in a bid, with literally one second to spare, and to me, at least, the seller made it clear that, should the winning bidder be outside the States, they would be responsible for the shipping costs and customs fees; the "free shipping" applied only to destinations within the U.S.). And, if you are seriously looking to buy a P1, I will keep you in mind, if you wish (more of these than I would ever have thought possible have already crossed my path).

[PG101]

Yes! Please do keep me in mind if you come across one you're not going to buy. Working or non-working. Thanks.

Regarding the Canadian bidder, I'm not sure but I think in some instances, the auction may be open to Canadian and US registered users, but I'm not sure. I can only speak for myself (and it seems most other internationally registered users), in that on many occasions, people from the USA, have linked to ended eBay auctions, which have not come up in any of my searches, and even running "completed listings" searches, after the time, doesn't display the auction in the results. The only way I can pick it up, is to put the auction item number into the search bar.
I guess its an eBay security device, to stop international bidders from ruining auctions for US sellers who implicitly do not want international buyers to bid. It really doesn't help that sellers like this guy, will ship to prospective international buyers, when their auctions are not showing up in international searches!

[charger105]

Regarding the Canadian bidder, I'm not sure but I think in some instances, the auction may be open to Canadian and US registered users, but I'm not sure.

.........or as Hanno suggested, they have a VPN into the US, so that from Ebay.com's perspective, they are in the US.
In the past I haven't even been able to contact a seller that isn't offering International shipping, let-alone bid.

Anyway, it's nice to see another P1 surface .
Rgds.

[Mr Frequency 32768hz]

Wow, what a bargain. I have many variations on saved searches UK USA, and this never showed up. You have to laugh at Nippers question. I see it all the time. Always up to his old tricks.

[jagmad]

Holy cow batman, have we finally found a good reason for ebay auto signing us up to the Global Shi**ing Program?

[gjlelec]

Bruce said
" if you are seriously looking to buy a P1, I will keep you in mind, if you wish (more of these than I would ever have thought possible have already crossed my path)."
Yeah, he's down to his last ten
Nice to see a new one appear though

[Timecollector]

I had a watch for sale recently and had US Shipping only and it sold in a matter of hours to a buyer named "flight2nrt" I got an automated message from them with shipping instructions and I shipped it to some place on the West coast, from there it was inspected and shipped to Japan. This buyer goes under about a dozen+ user ids but even when I selected US Shipping only my watch went to Japan somewhere. A google search will show you more info on this "ebay" story. I blocked all these user ids and got a message from ebay saying I was going to lose alot of business because they have a cooperative working business relationship with this buyer id. As far as I know this is only a Japan transaction but there may be others. I am not sure if Japan customers sign up with this buyer as I never get feedback from the real buyer, just the ghost buyer. There may be other programs for other countries like this. Its a sneaky way to counter shipping instructions. I have read negative stuff about this practice but my only transaction worked ok.

flight2nrt, flight2sfo, flight2lax, flight2nyc, flight2ord (this is their most popular id, with the most feedback), flight2hnd, flight2cts, flight2fuk, flight2kix, flight2bos, flight2ams, flight2bid, flight2cdg, flight2fra, flight2iad, flighticn, flight2itm, flight2lhr, flight2pek, flight2pvg, flight2sin

FYI: Each id with the last 3 letters stands for a city code. NRT was my buyer and that stands for Narita japan.

[fronzelneekburm]

What hanno said here is correct, at least for Germans. If i use the ebay.com site with my normal profile it will hide most items from me. The trick here is to eirther use a proxy (To hide your German IP) or to have a U.S. Adddress as your main shipping address in your ebay account. I use a U.S. mail forwarding service and all private sellers will fall for it and no more filtering out such nice items.

No idea about the japanese buyer, but they also have auction proxy services. That means even if they dont speak english at all some company will do the bidding, paying and such for them.

[bruce wegmann]

Not sure how this thread devolved into a discussion of whether or not anyone could see the auction. Fact is, if a Canadian could see it (something that is being consistently ignored, or conveniently forgotten), so could any of the rest of you, if it was really important to you. Just do whatever it takes to get on foreign sites, and (to borrow a phrase) get on with it. End of story. BTW, I am NOT the Japanese buyer's shipping contact...

[spinchb]

Hi there,

I believe I can see the US only auctions from Canada. If it's something I really want, I message them and ask if they'll deliver to Canada. It doesn't seem to stop me from bidding. Though it's been awhile since I've tried. Perhaps they've changed things. Not everything shows up on the ebay.ca sight though. I have to login to ebay.com.

Best,
Shawn