Advice when it comes to trading guitars internationally

[algeriet]

Hey guys

Some of you may have seen my thread a while ago about me being interested in trading my 1990 RR Pro. Anyway, one dude has contacted me through my ad and he lives in Finland, I live in Sweden.
He has a kewl ESP Roope Latvala that he wants to trade and I am interested.

Can you guys recommend the safest way for us to trade our guitars without actually meeting in person?

Thanks

algeriet

[Sephiroth]

Don't know if it works for your countries, but when I trade internationally, marking something as a "gift" avoids taxes and tariffs

[javert]

Taxes won't be a problem since both Finland and Sweden are in EU. I've traded guitars internationally with various people and never had any seroius problems. Communicate a bit and see if you think you can trust the person. Exchange lots pics of the guitars and the packaging procedure and exchange tracking info.

[algeriet]

Yeah but there's that problem with trust. The dude from Finland doesn't speak English that fluently so its hard just to get some internet vibes from him.
Anyone know any ways to send a package and insure that you don't get tricked?

Thanks

[DonP]

This is why I personally don't like trades.

[javert]

Hmm, yeah, that's a tricky situation. I don't know if there really are any alternatives to trusting the person in that situation...

[MetalDaze]

Not to scare you too much, but I've heard a story where someone tried this approach:

"Let's both ship at the same time and trade tracking numbers and then we can verify if the weight of the package in the tracking info is correct. If something doesn't look right, we can just call the courier and have our package rerouted during transit".

Well, the weight was right, but when it arrived it was a box of rocks (should have been an amp head).

I believe there are more success stories than failures, but it is always a risk unless you know the person. Longevity on a message board (like this one) can create some level of trust, but you never really know.

[axe dude]

I believe there are more success stories than failures, but it is always a risk unless you know the person. Longevity on a message board (like this one) can create some level of trust, but you never really know.

This^^^

[Maiden89]

I've been in situation were this guy 2,000 miles away wanted to buy 2 guns from me, but in the end I canceled the deal. He wanted me to send them first and he'll send a money order and I wanted the money first. Either way, he didn't trust me and I didn't trust him, since we didn't know each other at all. I wasn't willing to lose $2500 in guns and he didn't want to lose his money. I found someone 2 hours away to sell them and felt a lot better.

Thats why it's kind of hard to deal with people outside of system with guarantee's like Ebay and Paypal (even then it can be hit or miss). I've never bought, sold or traded anything through a forum or without a shopping system.

If someone on this forum had a high post count and had people that have had good dealings with him, then I would feel more comfortable with a trade, sell or purchase.

[jdr94]

Ive gone by reference. For example 7/10 i have had more trade reference therefore im considered the safer one so they ship first. I get the guitar and then i send mine. Theres always a risk. You could ask for his ebay name if he has an account and see what type of character this person has. If you check their ebay, just be sure you message him through ebay just to confirm that its him and that he didnt search ebay for someone with good feedback.