off topic: japan import question

[rche]

Hi folks - I have an off toy topic import question stemming from an issue I am having.
I have a vintage guitar purchase from Buyee (proxy for Yahoo auctions in Japan) that they are not wanting to send due to the possibility that it has ebony wood in the construction. They are basically stating that they are not able to ship, but also cannot return the item to the seller for refund.
Does anyone here have any similar experience or advise as to how I can handle this beyond trying to get a refund from Paypal or my credit card?
It is a vintage item and Buyee is basically asking for my permission to destroy it on my dime. Ugh

[Nostalgiabuff]

wow, what a cluster. why would they want to destroy it? from what I know, ebony wood is very valuable

[rche]

They say they can't ship it. They are a proxy bidding service, so they are not able to send back to seller and refund. Thus the guitar is in limbo. Either I can find someone in Japan to ship it to, since that is not international shipping, or they will destroy it for me and charge me a fee for that service. There is no ebony on the guitar. I believe the fingerboard is a dark stain on rosewood. again; ugh

[J.B.]

I'm a bit confused. Why does Buyee think there is ebony wood in the guitar? Does the Seller list it as having it?

[rche]

The seller did not list anything about composition of guitar. I am supposing it went to whatever department deals with packing and customs once it reached the Buyee warehouse and someone flagged it for some reason. It really should have no ebony on it, and from pictures looks to be more of a dark stained wood for the fretboard. Massively frustrating as it is a fairly rare bird and not exactly something I can financially blow off, but I am not in Japan and cannot go pick it up or anything like that. Language barrier is a bit of a pill, along with the feeling I have that the company is not really concerned about my end of this deal.

[Jorge Galvan]

Just out of curiosity, what did you get?

Ibanez?

Fender?

Gibson?

Washburn?

[rche]

At the moment I did not get anything other than a note asking me if I will give permission to destroy the item since it cannot be shipped.
The guitar in question is from Greco, a Japanese company that made various styles of guitars and is known for quality versions of Fender and Gibson copies. Some of the factories that made guitars for Greco also worked for other Japanese brands such as Ibanez and Aria, and become the 'official' makers of those US brands when those companies moved some of the production offshore. (squire and many epiphone items).

[J.B.]

I know very little about guitars, but all things Japan fascinate me.

are-there-ebony-fretboards-on-japanese-vintage-guitars

greco-les-paul-custom-owners-need-some-advice

[Jorge Galvan]

Greco? Huh. I think maybe at one time Kyoji Yamamoto of Bowwow/Vowwow fame played one.

Anyway, here is an option, one I would do if this happened to me. Seek out a guitar dealer here in the US and see if they have any affiliates in Nippon who they deal with. Make a deal if they do and get them as middlemen to get your guitar sent to you.

Option 2. Go to yahoo Japan and basically seek out a guitar dealer and ask if they can ship it to you. If you really want this AXE. You might have to spend extra,but it's better than losing it altogether.


Good luck.