Hello, I am looking at getting one of these however they're from Germany and require bank transfer for payment.... ...should I be okay with this? Seems a bit odd in this day and age.
I did look at those and going by several youtube videos the DXRacers have a very soft foam. The maxnomic is much firmer which I'd prefer. edit: I also didn't want the plastic cut outs where seat belts would go and the plastic clip on parts on the base look cheap and I'd image break and fall off over time.
Who are you looking at buying it from? Simply that i've dealt with a few of the larger German online stores in the last couple of years, as they're sometimes cheaper than buying in the UK, & it's kind of standard for them to either charge extra for credit card or PayPal payments, or to only accept bank transfers... ...although http://www.needforseat.de/eu_english/shipping-info.php suggests that you can buy things from the company themselves with PayPal - though i've no idea if you've found it cheaper elsewhere.
Yeah I was going to buy direct from them. €299 + €25.90 = €324.90 = £232.12 So about the same (£5-10 more than) those chairs from OcUK but with a firmer cushion and a style I like a bit more.
Have you included your bank's currency conversion charges? Simply that a quick check on PayPal's fabulous exchange rate & 324,90 Euros is coming up as being ~£241. Yeah, it's not megabucks in difference, but it's a couple of extra pints you won't be able to buy.
I asked Need for Seat for the IBAN number and I'm heading to the bank now to see what they will charge me as doesn't state online anywhere. I was charged £25 for transferring €5000 once to a French account when I did a season snowboarding so it could work out cheaper to PayPal it. edit: Am I likely to be charged VAT or a duty tax when receiving goods from mainland Europe? I think Germany's VAT is less than ours so not sure how it works.
As we're in the EU, there's the VAT is paid at the rate of the where you're buying it from - so it's almost certainly @ 19% d.t. what you're buying from Germany. Then, whilst there's one or two exceptions when things are posted (for example tobacco) vs brought across in person, the general principle is that there's no duty between member states. So, what you actually pay to the company for the item & shipping is all it'll cost you.
I would not pay that much money, to any company selling over the net, by bank transfer. If you pay by credit or debit card you have redress through your bank or credit card provider, if you pay by Paypal you have their protection as well, if it all goes wrong. Pay by bank transfer and you are stuffed.
Whilst it's true that there is additional protection using credit or debit cards, purchasing goods is one element where, under EU law, you can instigate a small claims court case against a company in another EU country in the country where the goods were supposed to be delivered to. So it's not entirely true to state that 'you are stuffed' or would have to arse about take action in the other country no matter what the circumstance are if there were some issue... ...though clearly you would be if the business were to go bankrupt or, depending on the type of business, simply cease trading. Obviously it pays to have some common sense & do some research about any company online - & using a bank transfer to pay the equivalent of Dabs or eBuyer or whoever is likely to be much safer than some tuppenny ha'penny outfit... ...however, imho, you'd be far more likely to have no actual comeback if someone decided to rip you off buying something on the marketplace here or, more commonly, doing a private deal with an eBay seller than you are dealing with a company with a decent rep.
