paulnsoo

We are moving to Spain in September and will be running our little
UK EBAY shop and website. from there. (inland Malaga)

is there a market for Top Branded computer products at keen european prices...........? (HP, EPSON, LEXMARK ETC

we may also sell in Spain on Ebay and by advertising in Local Mags

any advice will be welcome.

paulnsoo

pete_l

How are you planning to take payment from your spanish customers?
ISTM that credit cards aren't used as much as in the UK, tho' I don't
know about how much eBay is used.
Also, it seems to me that you may have more difficulty distributing stuff
as the postal service is not as fast/efficient.

I have heard from others that couriers are not as common in spain either.

Pete

paulnsoo

thanks for that Pete,
i hear that "paquete azul" is quietly efficient as a means of distribution,
also we will take paypal (which i hear is growing in Spain)a great means of sending and receiving payments

i have done quite a lot of deliveries to Spain from The uk already
over the last 18 months or so.

i don't foresee to much difficulty.
i have suppliers already all over europe

cheers

Mitzyboy

Hiya

Were you aware that if people pay by paypal and you don't use a fully tracked delivery service, the receiver can claim non delivery and paypal will debit your account and credit the buyer automatically? Now, normally in the UK that is OK, but I can tell you that a tracked service from a to b internationally is hugely expensive. In the UK for instance a tracked item (camera lens) with a final signature (only to UK border) was £7.80 ish, but to get it tracked fully to destination overseas with signature cost over £35

I'm talking from experience because I used the tracked to border system for a shipment to the states, the buyer claimed it didn't arrive, and as I couldn't provide a complete tracking number my paypal was debited (into a minus figure) and frozen until I re credited it and the buyer was credited. For dishonest people its a real boon!!

You may be able to get around it using couriers, but it may be costly.

paulnsoo

hi there
thanks for your input............really appreciate it.
however i am a uk Powerseller so i know all about the first part as i have been caught a few times and have had to take hits on it.
its a source of much discussion in the forums......

as for international tracked i already do a lot of that so yes i do know how expensive it is.
if we open a Spanish Ebay shop too then we will be sending from within Spain as we are moving there in 6 weeks time. it will probably be in the new year after we've settled the uk operation down.
so the excess costs won't apply.

thanks again for the reply
paul

mikelincs

Plenty of opportunity to sell, E bay is very popular among the ex pats for getting things from the UK, we use it all the time, and to get inks etc for our printers. We've had no problems here, but haven't bought anything from a spanish e bayer as yet, we would always use paypal.

paulnsoo

thanks for the input!
sounds like there might be a market for us there already existing then.?

i do already deliver alot of original cartridges(and cd-r's) to spain anyway, (probably to the people you already describe.) so i could maybe be a little more competetive as i won't have to deliver from the UK..

cheers
paul

mikelincs

There are already a few people offering ink cartridges, but the local one is actually asking more than I can get them from the Uk for, including postage!

paulnsoo

thats a good sign!

our aim in the uk is sell branded stuff cheap and sell lots of it.

thanks

coralsoft

Maybe they cost more to buy wholesale in Spain.

Watch out, too, for the surcharge on blank CDs and DVDs. I found it cheaper to ship from UK companies. Though now I'm working back in London near, allegedly, the cheapest PC media seller in the UK, I don't think I'll be having a problem.

paulnsoo

thanks again for the input.

yeah i have heard of the surcharge, don't know what its all about.
initially anyway we will continue only with our uk operation. Running it remotely from Spain. IF we open a Spanish EBAY STORE or even a .ES website (e-store) it will be selling mostly original branded inks and toners and photo paper.
although if its a level playing field then dvd's and CD-r's too because we can buy as well as anyone.
It may be slightly more expensive to Buy from Wholesalers in Spain, i'm not sure. But i buy most of my stuff even now from Holland and Belgium

so will be able to buy at the same prices, or maybe even cheaper as my supplier says that if i Pay in EUROS i can save a little more.

thanks again for the input and would be interested in who it is who thinks they are the cheapest in the UK????????????

PAUL

mikelincs

Just had a quote for a set of Epson inks for an R300, from the UK, postage £13.49!!,

GCM

I think you are onto a winner, computer parts are so expensive in Spain and also running a computer/Internet business is a good way of surviving in Spain as opposed to running a bar or becoming a builder, like everyone else does.

Mark

paulnsoo

compatibles

i sell only originals on ebay but Compats inc p+p to Spain from me
is £12.00

thanks

paulnsoo

or are you saying the postage alone was £13.49?

if so thats disgusting.

P+P from me is £5.00