Hi!
I am interested in buying a banjo, preferably a vintage gold star. But when I contact a seller on banjobuyer, I rarely receive an answer or I am ghosted. I live in Norway, but I am ready to pay for shipping. It this a dealbreaker for you guys, or am I doing something wrong?
Best regards,
Fridtjof
If you see one you like, contact me and I'll see if I can get an answer.
I suggest you research shipping methods and packing and insist on an international shipper with tracking like FedEx.
Thanks! I'll send you a PM.
Banjohangout has no way to force a seller to contact a buyer. If they are interested in your offer, they will respond. If not, many just ignore your request rather than replying with a "sold" or "not interested". It's just the way of the internet.
Shipping overseas with Customs and CITES issues with rosewood fingerboards may be too intimidating for many people. The well known vintage dealers in the USA are set up to deal with all the paper work.
You should'nt have too much trouble finding either a Goldtone, Deering, or Prucah in Europe.
One possibility is that sellers you have contacted may be wary of possible scammers. One safeguard against scammers is a buyer who has history of interacting here on BHO. That is one method that sellers of a costly item use to check potential buyers out.
What type of banjo are you interested in? There are some fine banjo makers here in the UK who can custom build you a top quality instrument. And the presence of those makers here means that ads for their used banjos can be found from time to time. Shipping from the UK rather than the US will save you money or you can put that saving into the banjo.
I’m following up with the seller
Thanks guys, for all your tips. Shipping from us is definitly more expencive than i initially thought. FedEx and UPS is suggesting $1000 in their online calulators , which make no sense when buying a $1500 imstrument. USPS can go as low as $110, but I understand that you have bad experiences with them? Btw i entered 80x60x8 inch size, and 8 lbs weight, for the shipping calculators.
I'm not good at calculating METRIC to "INCH-IC", but I know that six feet is 72 inches, and most banjos are nowhere NEAR six feet long.
Look at my avatar picture. I am slightly less than 72 inches tall, INCLUDING the Very Nice Hat.
And my banjo is about average.
Nowhere near as long as I am tall.
Recalculation might be a good next step.
I have mailed banjos here and there, never had USPS break one.
There are some things can be done to make the banjo VERY safe.
HELIX ( Larry Hill) does a FINE job of protecting his products.
I have had always good experiences with USPS. No breakage, I take extreme pains to get the banjo delivered.
Certain features don't carry over across international lines. Like tracking.
But things have changed. USPS used to offer special handling for $13, they would deliver mine by the handle.
Now they have discontinued that service and almost doubled their rates. Duuuuuude.
Thanks!! I am terrible with the imperial system, I must have calculated the size wrong. 50x20x8 inch is more correct.
Nice to hear your experiece with USPS. Their insurance only covers up to $650, but I guess thats a risk worth taking.
There are many nice banjos for sale on your side of the pond. There's no real reason to take the risk of shipping damage? Just keep searching online for your regional Bluegrass festivals, and contact regional (England, Germany...) music stores. Search for "Bluegrass" Facebook groups. Although you may not find the brand and model you are asking about? You will find a variety of very high quality banjos for sale much closer to home.
Good Luck and have fun searching
The hardware stores in the USA sell tape measures with both Metric and Imperial numbering on the same tape.
I use one of those, so do not need to convert.
A lot of potential US sellers (like me sometimes) simply don't want to deal with unknowns of doing business internationally.
Luckily a number of experienced international types have replied to your query to offer their help.
quote:
Originally posted by mike gregoryThe hardware stores in the USA sell tape measures with both Metric and Imperial numbering on the same tape.
I use one of those, so do not need to convert.
If the good Lord had intended us to use the metric system, he would have given us ten fingers.
........ NO, Wait..........
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