Hi! I came upon a dropshipper in the UK that is willing to ship to the US but they said for international orders they only accept "cash only into our bank" which I'm assuming means wire transfer. I am REALLY wary of wire transfers as all the sites say only to complete transfers if you know the other party very well - it is very fraudulent. But I found them through Esources UK website and this is ELF's website: elf.co.uk - I recieved a very professional and prompt response from them and on their website they have pictures of their warehouse, physical address, numerous contact telephone numbers and I can't really seem to find any negative info on them via internet search and the BBB I don't think reports international companies, does it? If any1 works with them or has an opinion PLEASE post! Please check out their website and tell me what you think - they have god prices and I would love to use them but I am VERY wary :/ HELLPPP!!!

I'd run a D&B on them... www.dnb.com

I know of some Nigerians who may be able to help you with those wire transfers.

Yea, they'll go out of their way to assist you with the transfer.
A very accomodating bunch they are...

My personal opinion:

It stinks.. DO NOT deal with them. No 5 Million Dollar company makes business this way.

this is the info I got from the domain:



-----------

Domain name:
elf.co.uk

Registrant:
Elf Limited

Registrant type:
UK Limited Company, (Company number: 2836327)

Registrant's address:
Unit 17/18 Nimrod Way
East Dorset Trade Park
Wimborne
Dorset
BH21 7SH
GB

Registrant's agent:
L D S Technology Ltd [Tag = LDS]
URL: http://www.lds.co.uk <----------------------------------------------------- see this

Relevant dates:
Registered on: before Aug-1996
Renewal date: 08-Jul-2007
Last updated: 11-Jul-2005

Registration status:
Registered until renewal date.

Name servers:
ns.lds.co.uk
ns1.lds.co.uk
ns2.lds.co.uk

WHOIS lookup made at 23:32:21 28-Mar-2006

--





Domain name:
lds.co.uk

Registrant:
LDS Technology Limited

Registrant type:
UK Limited Company, (Company number: 2425936)

Registrant's address:
22 Albany Park
Cabot Lane
Poole
Dorset
BH17 7BX
GB

Registrant's agent:
L D S Technology Ltd [Tag = LDS]
URL: http://www.lds.co.uk

Relevant dates:
Registered on: before Aug-1996
Renewal date: 29-Nov-2006
Last updated: 20-Dec-2004

Registration status:
Registered until renewal date.

Name servers:
ns.lds.co.uk 194.73.88.1
ns1.lds.co.uk 194.73.88.25
ns2.lds.co.uk 194.73.88.2

WHOIS lookup made at 23:42:13 28-Mar-2006

--------------------

So they use LDS as a host. And?

Look at it from their point of view. I wouldn't send a bunch of electronics to another country unless they paid me in advance. Would you?

I agree

I live in the UK, is there anything I can do to help you?

Thanks for the input guys - I tried running a search for them in the BBB but didn't see anything - they seem pretty legit but of course I am skeptical...

senioremporium- thanks for the info you found but what was the point you were directing me to about http://www.lds.co.uk/ link?

And I totally understand that they would want to be paid before shipping items but its just the bank transfer method that makes me skeptical. I found them through the following web site that has other well established dropshippers who use paypal, credit cards etc [site was http://www.thewholesaler.co.uk/] but I really liked the products and prices of Elf Ltd. I was hoping maybe someone had dealt with them before...hmm, I guess the only thing to do is maybe place 1 order with them and do the wire transfer and see if the item comes through but I'm just worried lol.

Anyway, anyone with other opinions please post!

Get something in writing between the two of you as a legally binding agreement - and only after that has been understood, dotted and signed... do you begin to do business.

At least then if they attempt to fraud you, you have some kind of paper trail?

Or... you could try one of those companies that act like a middle man.. you give the money to them, and they don't pass it on to the other person until they've given you what they've promised... i think it might be called an escrew service... but i could, as always, be totally wrong! *L*

i read about it in an e-bay book once, however, i don't think it will be completely suitable for this scenario - but who knows?

Good luck!

In the UK there is a government body called Companies House, they keep track of all the registered businesses in the UK. They offer a free company lookup service, I found Elf Ltd on there, you can view the info with the link.

Companies House

My point was to let you see all the parties involved on that domain, who owns it, who registered, addresses, numbers, date of creation, phone numbers, names, private names?, business name?.. etc. Sorry if I am paranoid that way, but It has ALWAYS paid off for me andmy clients.

Good Luck

Scooter

Thanks for all the input guys ;) That is a really good idea to get something in writing - they've just told me that it will cost about $60 or more per laptop/ computer or whatever, to ship to the US plus VAT which is like sales tax of 17.5% so no sure there is really much of a profit margain there anymore. All the info has been great though and I will definately use it in the future

Hi there, I am about to purchase a laptop computer from the same company - Elf Ltd in UK - can I ask you if you proceeded with your transaction and did it all work out ok? Did you use an escrow service in the end?

Thanks,
Aston