As I live in Sweden, I do not see many - if any - lamps and lanterns of the British brands Tilley, Bialaddin, Vapalux and Veritas around. So in order to buy such lamps I turn my head towards GB and there I know only eBay as a general marketplace. However, eBay is not perfect: a lot of sellers are not willing to ship out of the UK and I have a feeling that only the worst and/or the most expensive lamps are available this way - the best being reserved for local buyers. Additionally, I have got a bit frightened from the discussion about fraudulent behavior on eBay, and that makes it difficult for me to trust sellers there. Now I see criminals everywhere on eBay. I have also noticed, as some of you have pointed out in another thread, that I have very limited possibilities to get out of a bid on a fraudulent auction - it is close to impossible to escape when a bid has been made. So maybe there are other and better places to go? - Where the lamps and sellers can be trusted and the prices are fair - and where sellers see no problems in shipping to Sweden. Does anyone here know about such places? Could be auction sites or other kinds of online markets.
I wouldn't worry about using eBay. I have never had any problems with them or sellers there, regardless which country I bought from. And most seller I see will ship to Sweden. Check their feedback well. It's a good indicator. Out of curiosity... why are you looking for UK lamps specifically? If it's just that you have gotten tired of Swedish lamps, it's a much larger market in the US with more diverse lamps. Or the continent with Germany as main source. Then you'll also get a much more decent shipping cost compared to the UK. And a faster delivery.
Yes, Christer, you are right about more lamps being available in other countries - and shipping costs from Germany being closer to decent. But for some reason I simply like the Tilley lamps A Petromax or its clones, be they from a Swedish or any other manufacturer, consist of more than 200 parts, a Tilley lamp consists of about 50 (I didn't count them), and somehow this simplicity speaks to me. The design, or let's call it the visual appearance, is often a bit odd compared to modern industrial design - or modern lamp designs - but I find it charming. Another reason for my interest in the Tilley lamps - being a Dane (but living in Sweden) I grew up in Denmark where pressure lamps are not common in general and where anyone you do stumble into would typically be a Petromax. Still, the first pressure lamp I bought, and that actually not long ago, happened to be a Tilley - bought in Denmark. So it was my first kiss, so to speak, a bit unusual and never to be forgotten Swedish lanterns and lamps - well, the best and most collectible of those are selling at prices I cannot pay. Table lamps and hanging lamps especially are often sold at many thousand SEK. So I can collect only Optimus 200's and 300's, which are common and cheap. Maybe I should add that I do have a couple of those and that I do like them. When it comes to shipping... well, many UK sellers will ship if I just ask them first. But the common listing on the UK eBay seems to be for UK only. And when I ask I do get a yes in many cases but also some strange no's, claiming that it is forbidden to send lamps, that insurance will not cover because there is glass in the package, that the customs control would get suspicious when smelling the paraffin - and the most common one; that it would be too expensive to ship it. I recently bought a lamp where the seller afterwards cancelled the sale because he found the shipping costs to high - even though I had already agreed to pay them. Criminals on eBay: having been an eBay-user during many years but without buying a lot, I still have run into some strange situations along the way - but never been exposed to any major crime, the typical one just being that the item bought wasn't really as good as the listing had claimed. But it did make an impression on me to learn, from another thread, how it is possible to create several accounts and let them bid on each others auctions - without eBay being willing to do anything about it. Because of that, I tried to find out how I could cancel my bids with a suspicious seller - and found out that it is actually not really possible. I simply have to accept doing business with someone who clearly breaks the rules. And that is not in accordance with my understanding of fair business. I find that eBay is out of line on this and I am not happy to support their unfair rules. then better do business somewhere else.
