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Would you buy a machine from Europe?

LwowiakLwowiak
edited January 1970 in Espresso Machines
Like many others I have this itch for a lever machine. Came across this one today. I am interested if anyone has experience in buying machines from Europe.
The advantage I have is that I have friends and family next door to Germany, so pickup and inspection can be arranged.
All viewpoints, advice, experience etc welcome.
As you can see, the price is substantially lower than a similar machine for sale in Australia.

This is an overseas site, so not sure if it contravenes rules here. Posting it as a reference point.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Faema-Mercurio-coffee-machine-cafetiere-macchina-caffe-/330578001988?pt=DE_Elektronik_Computer_Haushaltsgeräte_Kaffee_und_Espressomaschinen_MW&hash=item4cf7fc0044
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Comments

  • beanflyingbeanflying
    Lovely toy and a very fair price. On the ebay link thing occasionally I personally don't reckon its a problem, if your trying to sell stuff here and linking is a little different. The problem with talking to people in Oz with experience on them is your just likely to finish up competing with them to buy toys. George 'TCM' from Geelong springs to mind for one. There is a few more collectors around too ;)
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  • LwowiakLwowiak
    Thanks for the feedback. There are quite a few collectors in Europe too. ;) The machine is a nice example, and I am hoping to "open up" honest dialogue on this very contentious subject (sorry, that is a reality on another realm). The same seller also has a matching grinder. Germany seems to have an abundance of enthusiasts and espresso machine restorers. Finding it on ebay and getting it to Australia intact can be two entirely different matters. I am also sure die hard Australian collectors scour various European sites for opportunities like this one :D
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  • beanflyingbeanflying
    on 1308362697:
    The issue of Trust and Shipping are the two issues for me when buying from OS.
    At least if Paypal is an option there is some protection against DOA. Generally I try and use paypal for overseas but a few times it wasn't available a dialogue with the seller is really important to gauge them.
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  • FreshCoffee2FreshCoffee2
    Lovely machine but only you can decide if it is worth it.  You are only seeing what the vendor initially wants.....not what the items actually sell for if they are pulled off eBay to sell privately or if the vendor accepts an offer. Also factor in the cost of shipping which will be a considerable percentage over the initial cost. Think on the "what if" factor. What if you need to sell it? Do you think you will be able to recoup your investment? Note that these sites can make it look as if there is a lot more interest in coffee machine antiquities than there really is......and very often it is only a hand full of interested parties winding each-other up.......(no offense intended). This in itself can inflate your initial purchase price, but when you want to sell you are offering to people at your end of the market that want to do what you did in the first place which is to buy at the lowest possible price.....and thereby there is the possibility that either you wont get your investment back, or you will get left with the machine long term...... Just playing devils advocate for you. Good luck, Attilio very first Crema site sponsor
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  • Brett HBrett H
    Cruising around the net and I came across this Indonesian supplier: http://maharcoffee.com/products.php?product=New-Izzo-Alex-Duetto-II- Forget Europe at these prices!  Lots of interesting info here... 20amp?  At these prices some of their offerings are exciting... A Nino could be landed for effectively under a grand...?  This sort of buying is not for me.... That is until AM gets his tech/repair business up and running and then we have a tech in Bris we can trust.  Sure he'll charge good dollars but you can trust him and just look at those savings..... well... We can dream! 
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  • coffeehorsecoffeehorse
    Mahar Coffee is a scam/fraud/dupe site - see: http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/machines/543587 To quote 'Lin' from that thread,
    I want to share my experience about Mahar Coffee.... Unfortunately I was one of the fish tried to purchase the Isomac Millenium from that website. I wrote about 15 e-mails to consult details and it sounds like real. I made the order also made the wire-transfer. It's a little strange that they don't take credit card, but it's in Indonesia....so I thought not a big deal. The next day after I paid the bank called me to inform that the swift code is no longer valid so I asked Mahar coffee and then they gave me a new swift. In the mean time I had to wait for like 3 days because they were in some kind of Muslim holiday. Monday, they wrote me and mentioned a problem with their bank account and asked me to re-direct the money to another account. Then I kind of realized that's a fraud...so I called the bank for help and did some procedures to cancel the transfer in order to get my money back. Now I have to wait until next Friday to confirm that I have my money back, but I hope sharing this experience will keep other coffee lovers from being deceived......and I feel so stupid about the whole thing. Nevertheless, the price of Isomac Millenium is $550 on the Mahar coffee and I have a friend who bought one same machine for 500 euros on website and has it delivered to Germany. That's why I thought I got a good deal as he did.....but now I think he declared 500 euros probably just to make his wife feel better.
    That's an interesting item (the Faema), but it really puts the pricing of some local machines in perspective. I'll PM some advice on looking at others. If you get it, it's a fair price for a stunning item, but you'll want to be certain that you can get it here in one piece (drained, wrapped, packed, crated, bounced around, dropped on it's top, crushed in in a corner etc). You'll need to pay shipping, landing fees, possibly fumigation and customs charges, possibly shipping at this end to your door etc. Then you've got unknown restoration and parts sourcing costs - it's lovely on the outside, but what's the boiler like? If I were to buy a Faema project I'd be looking at a cheaper one than that, despite the 'rarity' and beauty. Lovely machine though, will be in my jealous place on and off if you do secure it :)
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  • Brett HBrett H
    on 1319290452:
    Mahar Coffee is a scam/fraud/dupe site - see: http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/machines/543587 To quote 'Lin' from that thread, That's an interesting item (the Faema), but it really puts the pricing of some local machines in perspective. I'll PM some advice on looking at others. If you get it, it's a fair price for a stunning item, but you'll want to be certain that you can get it here in one piece (drained, wrapped, packed, crated, bounced around, dropped on it's top, crushed in in a corner etc). You'll need to pay shipping, landing fees, possibly fumigation and customs charges, possibly shipping at this end to your door etc. Then you've got unknown restoration and parts sourcing costs - it's lovely on the outside, but what's the boiler like? If I were to buy a Faema project I'd be looking at a cheaper one than that, despite the 'rarity' and beauty. Lovely machine though, will be in my jealous place on and off if you do secure it :)
    It's the old adage that if it's too good to be true... It usually is.  Thanks CH!  The Internet is a Many-Splendored Thing!  (good thing I only gave em the wife's credit card details  ;D)
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  • coffeehorsecoffeehorse
    on 1319290886:
    It's the old adage that if it's too good to be true... It usually is.  Thanks CH!  The Internet is a Many-Splendored Thing!  (good thing I only gave em the wife's credit card details  ;D)
    hope that was a joke ;)
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  • borat123borat123
    You can buy the latest in cutting edge technology from Europe to grace your kitchen bench  ;) Untitled-1-2.jpg Or how about a Dalek coffee maker? Untitled-2-1.jpg 17invasion.jpg
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  • Brett HBrett H
    I want them all, but would have to find a new tent to live in!  Wife's credit card is no longer an option also... JOKES! ;D
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