So where can I buy from?

[Mudkip Orange]

I've got a month more to sit on my hands while my power tools and my flextrack sit in a storage unit in Houston. So I thought, hey, I'll start assembling a bridge. Why not?

 

I want to order two copies of the Greenmax truss bridge. Here's the issue:

 

---I signed up for a HS account, but they're still restricting payments to Paypal only. I have zero interest in setting up a Paypal account.

 

---HW is out of stock.

 

---Hit-Japan and Plazajapan both have it, but then I'd have to create an eBay account and I'd STILL be stuck dealing with Paypal.

 

---None of the english-language retailers carry Greenmax, not even Newhall Station

 

---couldn't find anything in Amazon stores.

 

 

Is there any way at all to get this bridge kit without having to deal with Meg Whitman's evil empire?

[Mudkip Orange]

Hobby Link Japan is out of stock.

 

Tokyo-rail doesn't carry.

 

Rainbow ten doesn't carry.

[KenS]

You don't need a Paypal account to use Paypal, just a credit card.  When you go to the payment web page at paypal using the link HS sends you, instead of logging in use the link to pay without an account (lower left, I think).  Then just select your country from the menu (it defaults to Japan) and pay as usual.

 

Note that the "confirm" page is a post-sale confirmation.  The text seems to imply it's a last chance before comitting page, but HS doesn't implement it that way.

[bill937ca]

Japan Model Railways in Germany.

 

http://shop.strato.de/epages/62531443.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/62531443/Categories/6/7/46

 

Wellington Models

 

http://www.wellingtonmodels.com/10440/info.php?p=11&pno=0&cat=&search=&sought=1

 

Lees Trains

 

http://leestrains.com/N%20Scale.htm

[Hobby Dreamer]

I have zero interest in setting up a Paypal account.

 

Great thread!

 

I feel the same way and have not bought from HS for this reason. I got screwed by PP so its over for me with them.. And I'm the type that would get screwed by eBay so I don't bother there either.

 

This is a great bunch of guys because I now feel OK to buy from HS. A lot of forums are "pissing matches" or whatever but here I have learned so much, feel that I can ask and always get good honest info and help!!

 

Thanks Guys...

[bill937ca]

I have zero interest in setting up a Paypal account.

 

Great thread!

 

I feel the same way and have not bought from HS for this reason. I got screwed by PP so its over for me with them.. And I'm the type that would get screwed by eBay so I don't bother there either.

 

This is a great bunch of guys because I now feel OK to buy from HS. A lot of forums are "pissing matches" or whatever but here I have learned so much, feel that I can ask and always get good honest info and help!!

 

Thanks Guys...

 

On eBay I prefer to use Buy It Now.  That way I know the price and don't have any financial surprises.

[Martijn Meerts]

If HS or ebay are the only places that have them, you could ask someone to order it for you and have them forward it to you.

 

I tend to use paypal whenever I can, because it's easy (a bit too easy at times ;)), but then again, I've never had any problems with them, so I don't really have any reason not to use it.

[cteno4]

does the paypal checkout that hs uses allow you to just use your cc w/o a pp account? sorry i never checked when i have done a checkout. the standard paypal checkout system lets you have folks just check out with a cc thru paypal w/o an account. only hitch is you cant use a cc number that is attached to a pp account, to use that number you need to log into paypal to use it.

 

i use only cc with paypal so that if there is ever an issue i can always backup to the cc to dispute the matter if things dont work out with pp. so far never an issue with paypal for me with years of using it with ebay and now japan stores. also i use their free checkout system with a number of non profit clients and not had an issue yet with any of those or a couple of clients small store front for their products. i know some have had problems with them, but many hundreds of transactions for me and maybe a few thousand with the clients checkout systems and nary a hitch...

 

if you dont like having a bank account attached to their pp account then use a free savings account with $50 in it for the pp. most banks will let you set one up if you have other accounts, no interest of course, but there just for pp...

 

after 10 years with ebay and hundreds of transactions, only one problem there for $12 and i should have been suspicious of that auction... cc disputed it for me and got the $12 back from the seller's account. i always check a potential sellers ratings before bidding. maybe i live a charmed life, but no issues and lots of great deals over the years and a few items i would never have gotten elsewhere!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[KenS]

I had a paypal account (probably still have, but I haven't used it in 10+ years) with another email address than the one I use now. I use a credit card with Paypal all the time without providing it.  It's possible they correlate my street address to the old account somehow, but I doubt it since they offer the "pay with a credit card" option on the first page, long before they know who I am.

[cteno4]

with their cart checkout system you get a screen that asks for the login (and fills in your userid if you are a pp member and have the cookies for it), but also has the link to just do the cc w/o paypal account.

 

its once you fill in the cc number and submit that that it will kick it back if that cc is linked to a paypal account and ask you to log into your pp account to use that cc number thru pp login. at this point you can either log into your pp account and use the that cc or use a different number not connected to a pp account. I have not verified this myself for a while now, so maybe it changed, but it was the only major headache with using the pp shopping cart/checkout system. we put warnings on all the sites to try and explain this to people, but its a sort of loopie thing to explain! a few folks got mad as they said their cc number was kicked back as being linked to a paypal account. turns out all those had either forgotten they had a pp account or their spouse had attached the number to a pp account that they didnt know about (someone's ebay hobby busted!)

 

actually i just tested it on a clients checkout and now when they detect the pp account associated with a cc number they give you the option to login and pay via paypal or continue with the cc checkout w/o your pp account! much much better!

 

now the question is does the hs payment screen have that link that says pay with cc or debit w/o a paypal account! will look on my next payment. if so then you can do cc transactions w/o paypal account. paypal is just acting as a merchant account then for HS and you have all the same protections you do using your cc anywhere

 

cheers

 

jeff

[KenS]

now the question is does the hs payment screen have that link that says pay with cc or debit w/o a paypal account! will look on my next payment. if so then you can do cc transactions w/o paypal account. paypal is just acting as a merchant account then for HS and you have all the same protections you do using your cc anywhere

 

I did this last night.  The paypal page you get to from the link HS sends has the Paypal login fields on the top right,

and one link on the lower left (which said something like "pay with credit card" or "pay directly") buried in some other text.  That took me to the credit-card page I described earlier. This worked the same as I recall it working since they added this feature last summer.

 

I never used this card with my old paypal account, and the email address that auto-filled isn't the one I use with HS (it's one I used with Ebay once, also paid via credit card), but I didn't log in, and I provided my HS email on the credit card page (I've never received any confirmations via the old ebay email for my HS orders, so I don't think the auto-fill gets passed along).

 

It would appear to me that anyone could use this to pay via credit card without a Paypal account.

[cteno4]

Ken,

 

thanks mucho, then its cool you can just use a cc w/o a paypal account. pp is just acting as a merchant bank then for the transaction, just like anyone else's cc merchant account would have (ie b of a, etc) and how their shopping cart system works. none of the paypal or ebay stuff then applies to this form of checkout as its just a pure cc transaction handled by pp for hs. any problems you just call your cc and they will treat it just like a problem with any other transaction.

 

its good they are opening up their stance some with this, but they still are trying to drive folks into paypal as much as they can as they make more money that way if you use pp funds (ie they get the same fees as a cc but much fewer costs for them and they hold the balance!)

 

at least the pp cc transaction is pretty secure and no third party or the merchant ends up with the cc info, thats the place that usually gets hacked all the time and probably where hs got hit...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Mudkip Orange]

Well I tried going all the way through HS again. We'll see what happens when they send the "paypal confirmation email"