Hello from England + Troubles with Ebay

Posted by Alan Lawrence on March 22, 2015 at 4:52am

Whoops, I sent this as a message, when I think it should have gone here!  Anyway, possibly due to the popularity of Seasick Steve, here in the UK,making has started to catch on.  Anyway, I'm Alan Lawrence, from Gillingham, near London, England, have been staying in my comfort zone and making/selling basic three string fretless CBGs for a couple of years now.  I also do pre-fabricated kits that are easy for pretty much anyone to put together, and they're really popular!  As soon as I list 4 or 5 on Ebay they sell straight away.  Which brings me round to my Ebay drama, as they have now refused to list my guitars or kits if the box comes from Cuba.  Does anyone in the US or anywhere else in the world have a similar problem?  It's frustrating as the UK doesn't have an embargo with Cuba, and I bought the boxes in the UK.  Here's a link to the local press coverage of the story:     http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/ban-my-cuban-guitars-youre-33732/ 

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Replies

  • Joe O'Connor March 26, 2015 at 12:41pm

    It flipping preposterous that's what it is.

  • Coventry Halfpenny guitars March 22, 2015 at 5:36am

    yes i had the same  with ebay a few weeks ago even as my guitar was on sale for mcmillan cancer care they just kept saying it ia an embargoed product and if i relist it i would be kicked of ebay.

    • Alan Lawrence > Coventry Halfpenny guitars March 22, 2015 at 8:49am

      And they;re impossible to argue with, even though Amazon, another US company that operates worldwide deals in loads of Cuban goods!

  • Seasick Mick March 22, 2015 at 5:32am

    Hullo Alan.Personally,I don't bother too much with cigar boxes.I tend now to buy a plain box and either decorate it with cigar box labels or paint,stain or decoupage it.I believe the ban on Cuban boxes is pretty much worldwide...

    • Alan Lawrence > Seasick Mick March 22, 2015 at 8:46am

      Hi,

      It does seem ridiculous, cigar boxes being on the same list as guns, drugs, offensive material etc, but never mind, I'm starting to get hold of plain boxes as well now, also, traffic to my own site is picking up so hopefully Ebay won't be that important to me soon.  My supplier sends boxes on a "lucky dip" basis, if I tell them roughly what size I want, but their stock is nearly all Cuban.  Funnily enough I put in an order last week asking for 20 of a certain size, and when the delivery came 15 of them were from NIcaragua!

      Cheers

      Alan

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