This reply shocked me...

[ketut]

Asked about light box to a seller in this forum and got this answer:

Me: How much for 6" RC Scope?
Seller: Sorry mate, do not send overseas as freight is far too expensive
Me: You don't have to ship it oversea. I will visit Australia in this year so you can ship it to my hotel where I stay. Would you please inform the price please?
Seller: Sorry mate, not interested in this one

Wowww....

[Sundog]

Hi Ketut

Welcome to IIS. I saw your milky way photo in the Images forum - a very interesting shot.

Well I have no idea of that person's reasons to not want to converse with you about the telescope but many people are wary of dealing with people that live overseas - too many scammers out there.

Although, a person trying to scam would probably not post about being turned away by a seller. That would mean you're actually a genuinely interested buyer.

So, when will you be visiting Australia and where will you visit (what cities)? Are you coming for holiday or other?

[jenchris]

Sounds like he's with Aami.

[multiweb]

I think you should sort this out privately with the seller. He has a lot of happy customers here on IIS. Not interested to read on how you feel about it. Who ships to an hotel room anyway. Are you for real? :shrug:

[Hagar]

I doubt the seller involved would take your approaches for real. If the whole story had been spelt out to him in the first place then maybe but for him to see you are from overseas, have only 1 post would have bells ringing for him. There is not a great profit in these boxes so one lost to a scam takes a long time to recover the cost.
Sort it out with him offline and you never know.

[tlgerdes]

Make friends with someone on IIS, pay for it in advance, ship to friends house, pickup and have lunch when visiting.

The seller is a reputable member here and has been for many years, work out out in private.

[raymo]

I think multiweb's reply was unfortunate, hostile, and bordering on offensive.
I for one can understand how this person feels. Thanks to the other members for your more reasoned and helpful responses.
As long as payment is received before shipment,[even to a hotel] how can it be a scam?
raymo

[multiweb]

Whatever. So you're going to spend time making a lightbox for someone who lives O/S, new to the forums, has an incomplete profile with two posts count and their second post is to complain about an existing member, then ship to an hotel room?

When I post for the first time in a new forum, I say hello, introduce myself, leave some meaningful information in my public profile so others have an idea of my name and place of residence, then I refrain from badmouthing anybody referring to a PM correspondence.

[raymo]

As this person lists himself as Ketut, I'm going to assume that he is probably Indonesian, and may not be that familiar with forum etiquette.
If the vendor asks for payment up front, before building the lightbox, he
can't lose can he, regardless of where he is asked to post it to.
Sorry, I just thought it was unnecessarily harsh.
Being an old man, and having no experience of forums other than IIS, perhaps I have a different point of view.
raymo

[Hans Tucker]

I know a few people that have equipment shipped to hotels they are staying at, particularly when they visit the USA and the vendors don't have an issue with it..don't be so judgemental.

[multiweb]

Not judgemental, just business wise. To each their own.

[Exfso]

It is obviously time for me to jump in here. As Hagar has stated, alarm bells did go off for me as the whole idea of sending a light box to someone who is brand new to the forum from overseas, to a non descript hotel room in the distant future did not seem realistic. My first impression was this is a spam post!!
Those of you who have my light boxes know I take a great deal of pride in building something that actually works for a very reasonable price.
I certainly did not mean to get this person "off-side", but and I believe most here would agree it did not seem a very realistic request. When I responded to him saying I do not ship overseas, this was his response:

(You don't have to ship it oversea. I will visit Australia in this year so you can ship it to my hotel where I stay)

I am happy to do a quote now that he has responded and is actually a "real member of IIS"

[raymo]

A good outcome for you both.
raymo

[Exfso]

Just for information, here is the response I have sent to Ketut:

Dicky, I am sorry you got offended on this, I was under the impression that this was possibly spam and hence my disinterest in responding. As you can see from the responses in the forum itself, most agree with my first impressions. However, it does appear that this is a genuine request and as such I will ask for a few details from you so I can give a quote.
I need the outside diameter of the front of the OTA in MM and also would you be requiring a dimmer. These are necessary if using a CCD cam.
If you do decide you want one, seeing that you are overseas based I would require a Paypal payment up front obviously.
I must admit I am a little wary about sending to a Hotel, as the light box takes about a week to construct and about the same time for it to ship to a destination within Australia. If you had a post office box in Australia I would reckon would be a better option, or a friends address that it could be sent to. If you were only staying at a hotel for a couple of days, the chances of missing a package being sent to the location are in my opinion quite high. If it went missing for any reason I would have to refund you via paypal an in my opinion the financial risk for me is high on this one.

Obviously I am very wary about sending a lightbox to a Hotel, I would as stated prefer to send to an actual address or if possible a temporary PO box.

[raymo]

Sounds good, but if it is sent with a tracking number there is no onus on you to replace it if it is lost in transit. I don't know what they cost, but if it is substantial, the buyer can always elect to send it registered or insured.
raymo

[Exfso]

Yeah Raymo, definitely would go registered, as I always do, but in this case would have insurance added as well.

[Hagar]

Lucky boy Pete you have Raymo's approval.

[Exfso]

Yeah Doug, I caused a crap storm hey:P

[Sundog]

Great that this may be sorted out for you Ketut.

All helpful responses, especially for a newcomer (except for the unrelevant joke in post #3 - not appropriate way to welcome for a newbie from a different country jenchris).

[LewisM]

Me thinks some need a course of these...

[Jen]

:party::party::party:

[Exfso]

I note that this has been closed, however I wish to add that the guy has been in contact with me and he is not even sure he will be coming to Australia let alone when and where, so it was all a load of cobblers.
This is why I prefer to keep my light box stuff for IIS members and friends who are resident here, it saves a lot of grief.:rolleyes: