Country specific exchange area?

[cacatman]

I'm pretty sure this is an extremly long shot, with odds only being slightly better than obtaining (or even seeing) a Rapha Jawbone...I was wondering if there was any chance that we could have a country specific (exchange) area where people from the same country could trade/buy/sell or share local info.

If this has already been discussed, please pass me the link. I did a cursory search and came up with nothing.

Better still, if there was some way of allowing people's "country of residence" to be a searchable thing in the exchange areas, this would help people not living in the USA.

The reasons I'm suggesting this is:-
1. If the item is relatively cheap ie. <USD200 - Postage kills us non-US residents, especially for cheaper items e.g. <$200 USD, where postage and paypal fees are close to 10-15%. The cheaper the item, the higher the percentage of postage/non item related costs.
2. If the item is >USD750 - Customs kills us (providing you actually declare the accurate cost of the item), which should be done (ethically speaking), but additionally, it probably needs to be done if the item is to be insured appropriately.
3. It might actually help people in other countries call in favours from people to check out deals in the flesh for them.
4. It would help with the "deals" stuff as well if there was a separate country specific area.

 

[dingo ate my baby]

I'm pretty sure this is an extremly long shot, with odds only being slightly better than obtaining (or even seeing) a Rapha Jawbone...I was wondering if there was any chance that we could have a country specific (exchange) area where people from the same country could trade/buy/sell or share local info.

If this has already been discussed, please pass me the link. I did a cursory search and came up with nothing.

Better still, if there was some way of allowing people's "country of residence" to be a searchable thing in the exchange areas, this would help people not living in the USA.

The reasons I'm suggesting this is:-
1. If the item is relatively cheap ie. <USD200 - Postage kills us non-US residents, especially for cheaper items e.g. <$200 USD, where postage and paypal fees are close to 10-15%. The cheaper the item, the higher the percentage of postage/non item related costs.
2. If the item is >USD750 - Customs kills us (providing you actually declare the accurate cost of the item), which should be done (ethically speaking), but additionally, it probably needs to be done if the item is to be insured appropriately.
3. It might actually help people in other countries call in favours from people to check out deals in the flesh for them.
4. It would help with the "deals" stuff as well if there was a separate country specific area.

That would be a lot of listings . Maybe one like Canada, Africa,Australia,Europe,Asia,South America,Russia, Middle East,

 

[Sun & Sand]

If country-specific listings were to be implemented, perhaps they could be implemented in the existing exchange area: the country or region name could be a prefix or suffix on the title of the exchange thread, similar to the Buying/Selling/Trading/... prefix currently in use.

 

[jdd32]

I'm pretty sure this is an extremly long shot, with odds only being slightly better than obtaining (or even seeing) a Rapha Jawbone...I was wondering if there was any chance that we could have a country specific (exchange) area where people from the same country could trade/buy/sell or share local info.

If this has already been discussed, please pass me the link. I did a cursory search and came up with nothing.

Better still, if there was some way of allowing people's "country of residence" to be a searchable thing in the exchange areas, this would help people not living in the USA.

The reasons I'm suggesting this is:-
1. If the item is relatively cheap ie. <USD200 - Postage kills us non-US residents, especially for cheaper items e.g. <$200 USD, where postage and paypal fees are close to 10-15%. The cheaper the item, the higher the percentage of postage/non item related costs.
2. If the item is >USD750 - Customs kills us (providing you actually declare the accurate cost of the item), which should be done (ethically speaking), but additionally, it probably needs to be done if the item is to be insured appropriately.
3. It might actually help people in other countries call in favours from people to check out deals in the flesh for them.
4. It would help with the "deals" stuff as well if there was a separate country specific area.

That's a pretty cool idea but from what i've seen the majority of international members get away with import restrictions and the said shipping costs by making use of trusted connections from friends met here on the forum. For example I've helped out a lot of Aussie and NZ collectors by bringing stuff in and out of US on a frequent basis with ways to maximize postage savings and avoid taxation issues

 

[donkeanu]

Or perhaps the 'Location' in each member's Profile should be filled up.

 

[iamFLIP]

Or add location specific in the title -- [EU only], [JPN only], [US/CAN only]

 

[OakleyBoss]

Think it's tough to do country specific, especially these days as you can ship an item ANYWHERE. Would say there are a very small amount of items which require local listings (display cases, other large items etc.), but a majority are very small!

 

[Ecko]

Why not specify in the title?

 

[cacatman]

Think it's tough to do country specific, especially these days as you can ship an item ANYWHERE. Would say there are a very small amount of items which require local listings (display cases, other large items etc.), but a majority are very small!

Even if we could narrow the search by country, I would find it helpful. The trouble is that for a $100 pair of sunglasses from the US, cost of postage might be upwards of 25% of the cost which is prohibitive, but if we could do a search by country, then this would be mitigated. The issue with expensive items is the customs duty it attracts, even if the item is small. So local purchases are more attractive for similar value items.

 

[cacatman]

Why not specify in the title?

Because not everyone would do it, so it wouldn't be that helpful.