International Ebay

Just about all of my ebay purchases are international.

Other then taking 3-4 weks for delivery I haven't had any problems. Communication has been good and all purchases were below $1000 so no problems with duties etc.

I just make sure the seller has very good feedback etc.

Yep, check the feedback and make sure you sort out mail costs before you buy/bid. A lot of sellers out of China offer cheap goods but vastly inflate the postage costs.

has been mainly good, check feed back & pay by pay pal etc & send by registered mail or courier & good luck as there's not much help when it goes wrong.
twice now have had 2 items not arrive & took about 4 months to sort out

As said above check feedback especially the negative one. Also make sure that you know what you are buying, as the descriptions sometimes aren't very exact. I buy expensive (above 200) stuff through BH or Amazon, and never had any trouble there.

Just be careful though as you cant leave negative feedback sometimes.

Have had arguements with Ebay over that.

At one time you could leave a black mark aginst a seller but Ebay changed it.

I just leave a positve one and alter the text to reflect the true feeling.

Have had only good dealings with the Chinese seller I have bought off.

They even changed te item when I ordered the wrong one and posted it back free for me..

Use Paypal to protect yourselfagainst fraud.

have had many o/seas dealings in part due to two teenage boys and have had hardly any problem. Sometimes exceptionally good service. The only problem I did have was a Sydney-based seller who disappeared from the face of the earth when the cheapo Chinese gps went haywire after 2 months.

International transaction have been great as a whole, shipping seems to be the only point of arguement over the years. Being charged say $25 postage only to have the product turn up with postage face value of say $4-6 despite being quoted postage at cost. I always confirm now if there are 'handling' charges on top of the face value of the postage.
Often car parts/accessories are found on amazon or the like for better prices than ebay, without the worry of the seller going to ground if you have a problem.

We're coming up to 400 odd transactions on ebay, 99% buying, 75% overseas.
Have only ever had one transaction problem with a US seller and that was fixed by someone (well two big lads actually) knocking on his door.
I've found that the Chinese in particular are very good, keep you up to date with the progress and are happy to sort stuff out or refund.
I've noticed lately that China Post and Aust Post have some sort of bulk deal going on as stuff must come over in a airfreight container and be posted here as it had a sticker with both companies names on it Epost.
Like others have said sometimes quicker than local Oz sellers.
Lots of Australian sellers are very slow to ship, funnily enough companies are the worst. They should take notice before even more stuff is sourced from overseas.

You have to be careful with overseas purchases.
I ordered a strong, reliable and capable 4 wheel drive, and they sent me a bloody Toyota.
Settle down kids, I was joking.
I have bought a number of items from China, Hong Kong, Malayia, and some of these have arrived faster than Sydney purchases, and to date I haven't been disappointed.
The only item I ebayed I was not happy with was locally purchased, and it's often good for a laugh reading the "Chinglish" in the item descriptions.
Cheers

I must say Michael I am a little baffled by your question. International vs Local sellers is irrelevant, when dealing with Ebay the sellers record is what counts and then paying by Paypal. I always uses Paypal, by only from reputable sellers , local or international and have never had a problem, some 350 transactions on now. Paypal protects you and so does the system when you follow those simple guidelines.