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Wal Bass Club.

#4,781
Toolmybass said:
Interesting!....the 2 I imported from other countries, the duty officer never asked what kind of wood it was
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they did on one MkI that came to me. The seller shipped it in a Fender box and marked it as a Fender bass on the form. They opened it, and called me on the phone and said "yeah this isn't a Fender bass, what's it made of and made and is it made un UK?" I simply said maple and mahogany, yes UK. Still delayed it almost a week before releasing it.
 
#4,784
Janforth said:
Many thanks to you Jason, it was difficult trying to figure out the duty factor, I love my Lacewood bass, is it true that there may only be one other Lacewood Wal out there?
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TMB and I have spoken about our lacewoods, and as far as either of us could find, they were the only ones. I've poured through the database and couldn't find any, and no other photos have popped up. Man I'm so glad you love it, happy it found a good home!
 
#4,785
Janforth said:
Many thanks to you Jason, it was difficult trying to figure out the duty factor, I love my Lacewood bass, is it true that there may only be one other Lacewood Wal out there?
Click to expand...
100_0993.jpg
 
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#4,786
Maedros said:
Thing is, if you pay through PayPal using your credit card, not only will you be charged a high currency exchange rate, but you'll also be charged a fee for doing the conversion (I think it was +2.5% when I spoke with Visa last week), which will add up over multiple payments. I had that black Geddy bought last week and it ended up falling apart because of all the fees and additional costs.
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about paypal and credit cards...Digitalman actually corrected me on this since i had the same notion...its actually false and he showed me what he got tagged with using a credit card and its taken out of you credit card AS USD$ but the exchange is done at Paypal's level........(digitalman hope you don't mind me posting this):

Payment amount:
(in currency funded)

-$1,749.34 USD
Your fees:
£0.00 GBP
Your total charge:
-£1,041.00 GBP
Payment amount:
-£1,041.00 GBP
Electric Wood Ltd's fees:
-£40.80 GBP
Electric Wood Ltd receives:
£1,000.20 GBP

Conversion from:
-$1,749.34 USD
Conversion to:
£1,041.00 GBP
Exchange rate:
1 U.S. Dollar = 0.5950 British Pounds

so no real difference from using a credit card but having to pay whatever finance charges you have for carrying a balance.
 
#4,787
Hrm odd, I just went through this, I spoke with Visa and PayPal and both claimed that if I use my credit card rather than bank account to pay with, the exchange is made at the credit cards rates, plus I'd be liable for the 2.5% conversion fee from the credit card, not PayPal. I did a lot of reading as well and most of what I'd found confirmed that if PayPal's rates are high, you can use your credit card rather than bank account and use their exchange rate instead. Either way, the whole thing is kind of a mess.
 
#4,788
i just did this now and you can choose two options when sending:

Convert with PayPal
The transaction will be converted through PayPal at a rate of 1 USD = 0.6098 GBP.

Convert with card issuer
The card issuer will determine the conversion rate, and the final amount will be on your card statement.
 
#4,789
ya i used to think paypal was the devil when it came sending payment internationally, but looking at what i got hit with when i bought my Wal 5er from theGallery using my credit card....and the time i spent in the bank to do the transfer and fill out the paper work and stress i went through sending a good some of money to a fellow BassChat user bank account and having to 'wait a couple day' to check on a successful wire transfer (which they almost sent as Euro if i hadn't caught it) for my black Mk3, using paypal now is a no brainer.
 
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#4,791
I dunno, in all my talks with PayPal which was several phone calls over 2 days, there was a lot of confusion and contradictory answers, there was even some talk that PayPal has changed and that I'm using the old website somehow, even after refreshing the page. In the end, the additional charges using PayPal amounted to something close to $1000, and this was with a tier 2 CS agent on the phone with me walking me through the process.
 
#4,792
Maedros said:
I dunno, in all my talks with PayPal which was several phone calls over 2 days, there was a lot of confusion and contradictory answers, there was even some talk that PayPal has changed and that I'm using the old website somehow, even after refreshing the page. In the end, the additional charges using PayPal amounted to something close to $1000, and this was with a tier 2 CS agent on the phone with me walking me through the process.
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well i'm going by experience with Digitalman who will probably chime in....but going through the steps (except actually sending it) and reading what i'm seeing on screen, its pretty straight forward:

PayPal Balance(USD)No Fee

You'll Pay£521.00 GBP
You're paying [email protected] will get
Amount £521.00 GBP £521.00 GBP
Fees £20.52 GBP
Total £521.00 GBP £500.48 GBP
Conversion rate: 1 USD = 0.6098 GBP



looking at the rates from xe.com.... they show a conversion rate of 0.62 right now, so i don't see any inflation to the conversion rate
 
#4,796
As I'm sitting here calculating what's being posted if using Paypal. It seems that would only be worth it if making small payments along the way, because the % Paul asks for really multiplies if making a large payment, like say 4 or 5k to pay for half the bill up front.
Because while my bank charges a $50 intl wire fee, if I do it in two payments I'd only be in fees about $100 bucks.
 
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#4,797
j.kernodle said:
Shipping was £310 for me.
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according to Intl conversion calculator:
310.00 GBP = 495.957 USD
British Pound ↔ US Dollar

Then Customs/taxes is also going to be different depending on which State you live in, as another TBer found out he got charged a use tax by the State of MA in addition to the customs fee when delivered.
Here in WA, it's only a customs fee.
 
#4,798
Not sure about bad info. What I paid and what was reposted above was a cut and paste from PayPal screen shots of my actual payment.

When I did a bank transfer I got hit with a bank fee on my end, a conversion "penalty" of dollars to pounds. And after that my £500 pound transfer became £480-ish after additional fees by the receiving bank.

PayPal cost less overall and gave me cost certainty. The amount PayPal showed me was the exact amount Paul credited me with. And the transaction took a day instead of half a week.
 
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#4,800
kulit17 said:
Jim, does Paul still ship UPS?
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Yes indeed. And he does a great job of packing as well. He wraps the case in protective foam wrap then void fills the area around the case. The box walls are reinforced inside with this custom cut material the looks like insulated Sheetrock. He also uses an airmail shipping method that moves extremely quickly. He shipped from Britain on a Monday and if not for a mechanical issue on the ups side it would've been delivered on Wednesday. Given the size, weight, packaging materials and expedited shipping I'm actually going to say it's worth what he charges.
 

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