SOUND ON SOUND

[hollowsun]

I feel for ya Cypher.....

A very good friend of mine is Russian and tries to run a legitimate, professional studio there based around Logic and a stack of hardware synths and samplers, etc., but he has a real dilemna - he can't buy stuff in Russia and neither can he get anyone to buy from outside Russia, not so much because the retailer doesn't trust HIM as such but there's a good chance that anything they ship to him will go missing in transit. Some courier companies such as UPS and FedEx won't even deliver to certain areas there (or charge an outrageous surcharge). He even has problems getting updates to software, etc., because as soon as 'the system' sees he's in Russia, it gets blocked.

Good luck!

[Cypher]

@ Max - thanks for the suggestion, i knew those guys, but their gear is a little too old for my tastes - i'm usually looking for stuff that's 4-5 years old at the most, like an akai mpc 1000, an echo layla 24 etc. Rogue Music are also a nice source with decent prices, but unfortunately they're in the US and the shipping would kill me.

@ hollowsun - i feel for the guy too, it's even harder to buy or sell stuff from Russia - at least Romania's in the EU. But i do have a romanian friend who tried to buy a vintage russian Polivoks synth from Ukraine and got scammed. As far as buying new equipment from Romania, that's a nightmare - for example a brand new TI Polar from the romanian distributor retails at well above 2500 euro - there's one on the UK ebay at 1150 pounds right now. You could tell your friend that if he has the money he should wait until he needs 3-4 pieces of kit and fly to germany, buy them used and fly back - with the low cost airlines it could be a pretty good deal.

[hollowsun]

BTW Cypher - you're English is astonishingly good! Much like my Russian mate's as it happens!

[WeePig]

Not everyone with somewhat dodgy English is a scammer. I advertised a Korg piano and got a response by email from a guy. The text and the way it was written didn't seem right. I followed it up anyway, the guy came to my house, saw the piano and bought it cash. He was Spanish, and had only started working here in Scotland. Lovely bloke, a gearhead like me, and loves making music. So I do feel for the poster from Romania!

[Cypher]

Thanks for the support, guys. Just imagine that there's plenty of studios in Romania, as there's plenty of work not just in music production, but also in media etc. All of those people need gear, and many are on a budget (we've still got lower wages here than in the west). Since English is the most well-known foreign language here, browsing UK sites for second-hand equipment is the quickest solution for many of us, since now we'd have to pay less because of the EU customs union. And i suspect it's the same in most of Eastern Europe (especially the EU part of it).

On the other hand, be wary of scammers, since that was also endemic here a few years ago. But do give people like us a chance to prove ourselves as valid purchasers, because there's more of us than scammers. Now that i've wrapped that up, cheers! :)

P.S. Now that i've got that off my chest, anyone know where i can get a second-hand Akai MPC 1000 or an Echo Layla 3G (or Audiofire 8)? :tongue:

[Ronnie Wibbley]

Hello all - I'm selling a few things on the site at the moment and wondered what the situation is regarding Paypal payments. I've heard of the payments being reversed after goods have been sent, leaving sellers high and dry - could someone enlighten me about how this works, and what I should do to cover myself?

Cheers

Ron

[Peter Conz Connelly]

Hello all - I'm selling a few things on the site at the moment and wondered what the situation is regarding Paypal payments. I've heard of the payments being reversed after goods have been sent, leaving sellers high and dry - could someone enlighten me about how this works, and what I should do to cover myself?

Cheers

Ron

Hi Ron,

I have heard of this but don't know of one case where it's actually happened. I have been using PayPal for many, many years and not yet (touch wood) had any problems.

One suggestion for added security would be to tell the buyer to allow you 5-7 days for the money to reach your bank account from PayPal. As far as I know, nothing can be reversed if there are no funds in your PayPal account.

P

[Forum Admin]

This email has been passed on to us a few times today by users of SOS Readers Ads who have gear on sale. We recommend a wide berth!!!!

Hello seller,

I am an engineer based in Ireland . I deal with used merchandises, I saw your advert on the internet, and i must tell you that i am really interested. I want to know the present working condition for it. Please do go ahead and tell me the present condition and the {least price} that it will be sold for. Also I’ll appreciate if you could send me pictures for it.

Get back to me quickly to avoid further delay in the purchase, you don't need to worry about the shipment to my location as my shippers are ready to come for the pick-up once payment as been confirmed by you.

Get back to me Via My Private Email Address: engr_sunnymail@yahoo.co.uk

Regards

Engr Sunny Mail

[Ronnie Wibbley]

This email has been passed on to us a few times today by users of SOS Readers Ads who have gear on sale. We recommend a wide berth!!!!

+3 here as well. Thanks for keeping everyone informed.

[hogberto]

This email has been passed on to us a few times today by users of SOS Readers Ads who have gear on sale. We recommend a wide berth!!!!

+3 here as well. Thanks for keeping everyone informed.

i offered to deliver my synth to his church in ireland and pick up the cash when i got there.

he's gone all quiet now. :D

[Kwackman]

i offered to deliver my synth to his church in ireland and pick up the cash when i got there.

he's gone all quiet now. :D

Don't suppose you got an address did you?

[leslawrenson]

I had that bloke try to scam me about a year ago when I was selling a guitar and my Tannoy Reveals. Exact same email.

[hogberto]

i offered to deliver my synth to his church in ireland and pick up the cash when i got there.

he's gone all quiet now. :D

Don't suppose you got an address did you?

no, but i got a couple of phone numbers (for what it's worth).

presumably this guy is in that well-known irish town called lagos.

[tea for two]

I was feeling a bit left out ... lo & behold


Fri 21 Sep 2007

From: engr_sunnymail@yahoo.co.uk

Hello seller,
I am an engineer based in Ireland . I deal with used merchandise, I
saw your advert on the internet, and i must tell you that i am really
interested. I want to know the present working condition for it. Please
do go ahead and tell me the present condition and the {least price}
that it will be sold for. Also I’ll appreciate if you could send me
pictures for it.

Get back to me quickly to avoid further delay in the purchase, you
don't need to worry about the shipment to my location as my shippers are
ready to come for the pick-up once payment as been confirmed by you.
Get back to me Via My Private Email Address: engr_sunnymail@yahoo.co.uk

Regards

Engr Sunny Mail



Thank heavens for that. I can rest now :D

[hogberto]

Welcome to the Sunny Mail fan club.

In case anyone wants to try calling him up, he said:

"You can reach me on this numbers 02084781433 When am in London or +447031836598 ,but it is better you send me emails because i might be busy to pick my calls......"

In case anyone wants to send him an e-card, he used two e-mail addresses:
engr.sunnymail@gmail.com
engr_sunnymail@yahoo.co.uk

If only I had the time to toy with this scammer. :headbang: