For Sale Comment about shipping from USA to other countries

Graham_Martin · Nov 1, 2011

I recently sold two RB67 lenses here to another member in Sweden. I am somewhat choosy as to which countries I will ship, but I felt comfortable with Sweden. I shipped by USPS Express Mail International on October 25 and it was delivered today. It would have been delivered on 10/31 except that my buyer was not home that day to sign for it. I was able to keep reasonably good track of the shipment while it was in transit. I was very pleased with the speed that my package took to get shipped from the US to Sweden. The post offices along the way did a good job.

Anyway, I thought I would post this comment for the benefit of anyone who is hesitant about shipping beyond the borders of the USA. Many times sellers will restrict their sales to US buyers. Sometimes I do the same. By broadening my base of potential buyers I was able to make a sale. As in all situations your experience may be different.

moose10101 · Nov 1, 2011

How much did shipping cost? And how were you paid?

Dan Quan · Nov 1, 2011

Today or tomorrow I am shipping a package to the Russian Federation and another to Italy, both via USPS for a fraction of the cost to ship UPS. So far I have been blessed with good buyers, and good shipping experiences.

edit to add: shipping to Russia is $55.00 not including the box and peanuts so add $10.70 ish. The box is 16x16x16 and weighs about 6 ish pounds. Shipping to Italy is $36.00 and weighs about 3 or so pounds.

Graham_Martin · Nov 1, 2011

The shipping cost, which varies by size and value, was just under $60.00. I was paid by PayPal. With non-US buyers I don't think that they are able to confirm the buyer's address. However, since my buyer was a well established APUG member I didn't let that bother me. eBay would have been a totally different story. For the most part I won't ship overseas on my eBay sales due to some unscrupulous buyers in certain countries.

Graham_Martin · Nov 1, 2011

Dan Quan said:
Today or tomorrow I am shipping a package to the Russian Federation and another to Italy, both via USPS for a fraction of the cost to ship UPS. So far I have been blessed with good buyers, and good shipping experiences.

I have had the same experience of USPS versus UPS. There seems to be a greater tendency of Customs authorities in other countries to delay UPS shipments much more so that those going through the postal system. Anyway, that has just been my experience.

bobwysiwyg · Nov 1, 2011

I too have had good luck with international shipping via USPS. I acted as an intermediary on an eBay transaction for a vintage bike forum member in England. The item was shipped to me (because the seller would not ship internationally). It was a motorcycle seat so is was a sizable box. I reshipped and I was able to track it all the way to the recipient's home and it included two attempts at delivery because the recipient was not home the first time. I don't recall the cost, but I believe it was around $45.

JMC1969 · Nov 1, 2011

Sweden actually looks for lost packages. My wife is from Malmo and we send gifts to family members and friends on a regular basis. Only once was there a problem with a B-Day gift, but somehow 2 1/2 months later (and written off as gone) it arrived on my mother-in-laws doorstep. She does live in the countryside, 20 minutes out of Malmo.

Of course, then you have right here in USA, where a package can't make it from SoCal to Florida. Shipped in July, still don't have it or any word on it's whereabouts.

waynecrider · Nov 1, 2011

Timely topic and International shipper beware!

I am now in the midst of refunding a purchase due to the fact that articles I shipped did not arrive. I shipped USPS First Class Mail to Italy. You cannot track 1st class package mail overseas but I was not especially fearful of this as it was 1st class mail. The package was priced 1st Class and Priority shipping and shipped 1st Class because it was the cheapest. To track a package you actually have to ship the more expensive Priority Mail International route. I found out later while researching what could be found out about the package in the USPS site that Italy does not allow dutiable items in First Class Mail International shipments. So I caution everyone shipping overseas to read the Prohibitions for that country. In the case of Italy there is a whole list of items not allowed including such things as Exposed photographic and cinematographic films, albums of photographs, tobacco, toys not made wholly of wood, bells, playing cards of any kind, products containing saccharine etc, etc. So do yourself a favor and read the USPS site concerning prohibitions for that country.

Rick A · Nov 1, 2011

I refuse to ship to Italy, too many horror stories about shipping there. I have shipped to Moscow, GB, and Germany with no problems. Wish I could say the same for Canadian shipments, both directions are a bitch.

jaybob20 · Nov 1, 2011

I did a USPS Flat Rate padded envelope internationally recently. It was 20 rolls of 120 film individually boxed. It would not fit into a flat rate small box, and a medium box is 3X as much. Some flat rate packaging items are not available at the post office but easily ordered for free. Took about a week to get the padded envelopes. I didn't get any deliver confirmation but I did get a tracking number. The film arrived at it destination in great condition. I really like the flat rate offerings from the USPS, I don't have to weight anything as long it is under the maximums and you get a free box/envelope to use.

Eric Rose · Nov 1, 2011

I know it's totally up to the seller and there may be extenuating circumstances, but it REALLY pisses me off when I see the seller will only sell to US buyers. Heck we are neighbours for crying out loud.

Diapositivo · Nov 1, 2011

Mind my words, do NOT ship anything to Italy with ordinary mail packet, whatever "class" do they belong to, unless they are "signed for" (which is only available for small packets). Use couriers for sizeable parcels, or anything containing lenses or cameras.

I received literally dozens of signed for small packets, or courier parcels from all over Europe, typically bought on eBay, without problems. I did have problems with two ordinary packets, one within Italy, the other from Amazon UK. The first got completely lost, the second arrived with three months delay.

Couriers always work well. "Signed for" small packets work well inside the European Union.
("Pacchetto postale raccomandato", small signed-for parcel, is something which is delivered by the postman with the ordinary mail. "Pacco postale" is an entirely different animal, which is delivered by the Servizio Pacchi, cannot be signed-for, I say stay away from Servizio Pacchi).

When receiving a parcel from outside the EU there is a Customs problem as well. A friend of mine had an ordinary packet from the US stopped at the Airport Customs Office. You have to go and pay a tax and queue etc. Couriers do this stuff for you, which is convenient.
Generally speaking I never buy on eBay from outside the EU as there is an additional Custom duty to pay, which adds cost and inconvenience to the, as they say, "experience".

Steve Smith · Nov 1, 2011

Graham_Martin said:
Many times sellers will restrict their sales to US buyers.

That really annoys me as it's just as easy to send worldwide as it is domestically.

Steve.

pbryld · Nov 1, 2011

Italy is probably the one of only countries where one HAS to track the shipment.

Northern Europe is especially safe and speedy, probably more than from New York to Texas. Generally there is no reason not to ship to Europe. Who cares if the shipping is a bit more expensive? That's something the buyer pays.

polyglot · Nov 1, 2011

Graham_Martin said:
eBay would have been a totally different story. For the most part I won't ship overseas on my eBay sales due to some unscrupulous buyers in certain countries.

Guess what? There are plenty of unscrupulous people in the good 'ol US of A too.

"US sales only" is an unnecessary narrowing of your market and just annoys the rest of the world. The only exceptions I make to shipping are places with systematic postal problems (Customs in Italy) and/or fraud issues (some of Africa). As long as you ship it via a trackable service, you should have little problem. I've bought literally hundreds of items from the US, Asia and Europe and nothing has ever gone missing.

Graham_Martin · Nov 1, 2011

Yes, I agree that there are many unscrupulous eBay buyers here in the US too. I wasn't meaning to imply that only unscrupulous buyers are overseas. However there seem to be certain countries, such as those you have alluded to, that seem to have a higher than average number of problem buyers. Both times that I made an eBay sale to buyers in China there were problems. In one case the buyer wanted me to ship the lens to his "sister" who lived at a different address. At that point I cancelled the auction.

Joooorsh · Nov 1, 2011

Ok here's what I don't understand:

Why are US sellers so worried about sending packages beyond the US?

It's a phenomenon which seems almost completely native to one country, and makes almost no sense.

MILK

lesm · Nov 1, 2011

As a buyer, with one exception I've been more than happy with purchases from the States to Australia. Everything has arrived in good shape and within three weeks of ordering. As Joooorsh implies, we may be at the other end of the world but these days it's only a few hours away.

thebanana · Nov 1, 2011

Joooorsh said:
Ok here's what I don't understand:

Why are US sellers so worried about sending packages beyond the US?

It's a phenomenon which seems almost completely native to one country, and makes almost no sense.

MILK

Exactly.

AlbertZeroK · Nov 1, 2011

I have had horrible luck with USPS small and medium flat rate boxes, they are not trackable or insurable, so I think they are easy targets for theft. I have sent Priority Mail and Express Mail, both only insured. I won't ship uninstured unless it's paid via a paypal gift.

I have a feeling though, that some people on ebay, will file a buyer's complaint when they get something they know isn't trackable, because with out tracking and a delivery confirmation, they will always win.

vpwphoto · Nov 1, 2011

I have shipped to the UK, Belgum, and Germany with no issues with high dollar items.

jscott · Nov 1, 2011

Yes the main problem is inability to get delivery confirmation; and then the possibility of the purchaser demanding a full refund. Then you are royally screwed, paying good money to send free items around the world, with no recourse.

Pretty good reason for USA sales only if you ask me.

removed account4 · Nov 1, 2011

i ship silver magnets / stuff to austrailia, the eu and canada, uk
and its been pretty much trouble free ....

the only really had problems shipping IN the usa, but that
was 11 years ago, and it might have been something fishy on the other end ...

i think some folks don't want to deal with shipping outside the states because of customs forms
and some people wanting sellers to lie about what is in the package so the buyer doesn't get
hit with customs fees ... or people claiming they didn't receive something when they did,
and because there is no "tracking" there is no way to know for sure ... or because sometimes
buyers complain about shipping costs .... but people in the states do the same thing ( except for customs )
so it is really 6 of one and half a dozen of the other ...

Joooorsh said:
Ok here's what I don't understand:

Why are US sellers so worried about sending packages beyond the US?

It's a phenomenon which seems almost completely native to one country, and makes almost no sense.

MILK

Graham_Martin · Nov 1, 2011

I have a theory about why many US sellers don't want to ship overseas. Before I retired I was in International Banking here in Florida. When I would try to encourage companies to export many of them were reluctant to do so because they didn't understand how to do business overseas, plus they felt that the US market was so vast that they didn't need to sell overseas. In most of the rest of the world, especially Europe, the countries are smaller and so they had to trade with each other out of necessity. People trade with other countries as a routine event. I think that some of this applies to the sale of photographic gear and, I suspect, a whole range of individually owned goods. Most US sellers are simply not used to shipping to another country and don't want to get involved in filling out various forms and being worried about not being able to track the shipment. The market for used photo gear is very large in the US, and so one can almost always sell one's items "at home" without having the perceived additional "risks" of shipping overseas.

Due to my background, plus having been born in another country myself, I am less hesitant to ship out of the country than many others might be.

Anyway, this is just my theory and I have no real data to back it up.

Joooorsh · Nov 1, 2011

jscott said:
Yes the main problem is inability to get delivery confirmation; and then the possibility of the purchaser demanding a full refund. Then you are royally screwed, paying good money to send free items around the world, with no recourse.

Pretty good reason for USA sales only if you ask me.

Send with a carrier that requires delivery confirmation? Not that difficult.

I've sent stuff all over the world including the US and if you just use a useful carrier you never have any issues. And if you do, its all trackable and insured.

The US market is huge, sure, but It's ridiculous to exclude members from buying products (which you'll never find locally) just because they don't live in your country.

MILK

For Sale Comment about shipping from USA to other countries

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