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A couple of years ago I lost a Gerber Legend MP800 multool that my mum had given me for Christmas, which annoyed and upset me greatly. I want to replace it, but the cheapest I’ve found is £109, however I found a seller in the US with an ex-demo used one for $47 and $33 postage, which would be saving me around £50-60. Trouble is, eBay UK blocked the purchase for trying to bypass their knife and weapon rules, the irony being I can buy one from a U.K. dealer, I just have to prove I’m over 18, so why can’t I do that with this purchase? It’s not illegal to own one.
Really annoying, shame I have no close contact in the US who could buy it for me and post it. And before someone comes along and suggests a different model without a blade, I specifically want this model, particularly because the wire cutter on the pliers is tungsten carbide, and replaceable, but there are other features I like as well.
the irony being I can buy one from a U.K. dealer, I just have to prove I’m over 18, so why can’t I do that with this purchase?
In a lot of other online transactions its the card / bank account that you pay from that effectively verifies your age. On ebay you have the problem that sellers and buyers are anonymous (and that you don't know that the person using the account is the person that created it), that private sellers are unregulated and that a PayPal account doesn't really prove anything about the age or ID of the user.
Is the seller a store or private? If the former ask if you can buy it direct.
Hasn’t the law/rules recently changed regarding knifes etc in the post anyway? May not apply with it being a multi tool.
Sure Heinnie Haynes posted not long ago about having to pick knife orders up from collection points instead so you may not have ever got it anyway. (No consolation I know) Just a thought and I may be mis-remembering what I read.
Once the Offensive Weapons Bill 2018 become law you won't even be able to buy it mail order in the UK. I understand why they want to do it but age verified payment would cause fewer problems for law abiding citizens. There's a petition here and an opportunity to put a case to MPs here.
Edit - this is the law referred to in the post above, I think. It hasn't been passed yet.
It’s probably not about age but about the fact it is a knife. There are lots and lots of things you can buy in any supermarket in the states that are illegal n the UK.
Unless it has some kind of cert saying it is Uk legal or it is a collectible and vendor is approved with UK customs you are probably out of luck.
Try something like knifeshop.com or a different vendor in Germany they offer discounted products. Better get in before March too...
I can buy one from a U.K. dealer
Then just do this, and stop being such a skinflint.
If it is really such a big deal, I'd stop being such a tightwad, and just pay the extra cash.
Its very strange legislation to try and pass and legislate as its largely in response to people making improvised use of things. Even in the link to the page of proposed legislation - the picture is a kitchen knife. Thats neither offensive or a weapon.
The corrosive substances mentioned aren't weapons.
These are things that people have improvised as weapons. Restricting the sale (of things most people already have in their kitchen anyway) just means people will improvise something else.
You can't buy a knife on ebay - but you can buy a chisel or an axe for instance. And it they restrict the sales of those then they need to get ready to restrict the sales of snooker balls and socks.
+1, maccruiskeen. That's one of the points I've made in my submission to the parliamentary committee (you could make a submission too?). Every time a useful item becomes a weapon and is restricted, the peaceful users lose out, and there' extra bureaucracy for the merchants. I'm concerned for sports like caving and kayaking where a knife is an essential safety tool. It would be better to revert to the old system where anything was an offensive weapon if the court thought you were carrying it as one, but trust in the police and courts has been lost.