Advice needed please

Hello all I am wanting to purchase a laser host from a member here on the forums. Through several PM's we decided on a price and everything. My dilemma is he wants me to send the PayPal payment as a gift. He says that he doesn't want to be scammed. I understand I do not have feedback here, however the fact is that I am the buyer not the seller. I do have stellar feedback on a website called RunRyder. It is an R/C Helicopter website. I even created a post that includes my username here as well as his username here. You can see my feedback here....Classified Feedback Blade_Helis - Page 1
Also the post I created is here...Please vouch for me - Page 1

I do not want to stir any unnecessary drama. I just do not feel comfortable sending a decent amount of money to someone outside the US as a PayPal gift. So if someone would be kind enough to offer me some insight as to what I should do. I really want the laser host in question but like I said do not feel very comfortable sending payment as a gift. Thank you all for your time.

You should also mention that the "member" is a vet and not a new member without history... :beer:

Your username and avatar doesn't really inspire confidence either

I think you're sol in this case, if it's a trusted member maybe try, trusting the member.

So I am being judged because of my username and avatar? That's quite ridiculous honestly. Did anyone bother checking the links I posted? If I purchase something online from Wal-Mart or any other company accepting PayPal, I wouldn't be asked to send payment as a gift would I? Please enlighten me as to how sending payment as a gift helps the SELLER from being scammed? If anything it would be the opposite. But to judge me because of my username is down right ridiculous. It's like not serving a black person in a restaurant because they are black. Where's the humanity in this world?

Devilz Rej3ct said:

So I am being judged because of my username and avatar? That's quite ridiculous honestly. Did anyone bother checking the links I posted? If I purchase something online from Wal-Mart or any other company accepting PayPal, I wouldn't be asked to send payment as a gift would I? Please enlighten me as to how sending payment as a gift helps the SELLER from being scammed? If anything it would be the opposite. But to judge me because of my username is down right ridiculous. It's like not serving a black person in a restaurant because they are black. Where's the humanity in this world?

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Not that I think you will scam the seller, but you asked.
If you pay through PayPal, a dishonest person can receive the item and then open a claim to get their money back, saying the item never arrived. However, if you give a gift payment over PayPal, their was never any item that needed to arrive, so you can't get your money back that way.
You have been on this forum a long time, I don't see a reason not to trust you. However, many people dislike doing sales with users that don't have much reputation around here, or many posts.

-my $0.02

I totally understand that. However like I said before I posted a few links where the seller can clearly see that I am an honest and stand up guy. A dispute with PayPal over a "not received" item would require the seller to submit tracking information to verify that the item was indeed delivered. I don't want to send payment as a gift because I don't not trust the seller. It's because he is outside the US and things can happen with customs or whatever. If anyone doubts my integrity please check the links I have provided as they clearly show my feedback in deal ing with transaction on forums with other members.

Do you mind saying who the seller is?

Yeah he is well known here and has awesome rep. Like I said I trust him but just not comfortable sending payment as a gift especially out of my country. The seller is grainde.

I thought as much.

another reason. pp has a no laser above 5mW policy. so if you try to buy one, admit it is over 5mW, and try to open a dispute, it may result in two screwed people and pp accounts.

I have payed for stuff from members here as a gift MANY MANY MANY times, never been screwed. that's not to say it can't happen.

no one spends hours on here building rep and post count just so they can rip someone off at some point, once. once because if it happened, the forum would hear of it, and that member would not be a trusted vet very long.

was going to say more but decided against it. loose lips and all.

point is, you'll be ok trusting a pp gift

And what happens when customs decides to confiscate my package? What then? It'snot that I don't trust the member. It 's more of a peace of mind thing. I'm not angry at anyone. This thread's intention was just to gain a bit of insight on my situation.

If you're worried about the user (which is 100% understandable) I suggest using a middleman which both parties trust. You would have to work out shipping to the middleman (and in some cases a little bit of compensation for the trouble. Most would do t for free though). This is the safest method I know of.

Thats just my 2 cents. :beer:

what happens when customs decides to confiscate my package? What then?

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this could happen regardless. it is an item banned from import into the U.S.A.

you would get a letter saying they took it or you'd maybe get the rest of the box with lasers removed, if you were luckier.

I'm not trying to be angry, just informative. based on my experience chances of this are around 1/10, but they might be more or less diligent at any time. If you absolutely refuse to risk it, don't import. I will say that IF they actively screen packages originating from known laser manufacurers, how likely is it they would screen those packages originating from private citizen's? not very, it would have to be a random check, or maybe they are watching the entire global population already, and know everyone's affairs:tinfoil:

I have had one package checked, the most recent, and it contained no lasers, only host parts, unlucky haul for them. it's possible, given WL's recent declaration, coupled with that of laserglow (to no longer ship >5mW lasers to the U.S.), that there is a crackdown underway. given current trends, it will only become more difficult to aquire a laser. maybe it's better that way to, who knows.

this is the risk every importer runs, and the primary reason many U.S. members chose and choose to build their own or have people inside the country do so whenever possible. I myself migrated to this camp. after a proper LPF education. the totally awesome part is that it's cheaper, faster, and more gratifying, to do it yourself (well maybe not for DPSS wavelengths)

technically people aren't supposed to sell them in the country either, but parts are ok, which is why DTR sells parts. the difference is internal mail is not checked like imported mail, so you are almost surely likely to get away with even a completed one. it's still always a good idea to get batteries seperately

I hope I spelled it out for you well enough

I certainly don't condone this stuff

Thank you for that! Very true. Since I'm just buying a host it should be all good.

Trust the member. I ask for payments as gift, too- likewise, whenever paying someone, I send as gift. The seller gets their money instantly which is nice, and the stupid PayPal fees are avoided completely. You aren't buying anything illegal, you have nothing to worry about

About buying lasers separately. When I received my 1.6 watt 445, the batteries were already in the laser, with a piece of paper blocking the connection.
This way of shipping keeps the batteries hidden in the metal shell.

Also, I hear that it is not illegal to sell or import, but the seller must have a variance and the product must meet all the stringent requirements which most companies don't do.
Am I right!