Isolationism (online equipment sales)

eubielicious · Jul 5, 2006

During my time on ebay - mainly selling off my clutter - I've realised that not being prepared to sell internationally is a complete folly, a bit like not allowing Paypal because of the fees. The minor extra hassle is, for me, worth having a much wider audience for my items. It's also worth notice that the only problem I've had with an item going missing has been inland, not overseas.

The only downside with selling internationally is the extra time that it takes to deliver an item.

Euan

Steve Roberts · Jul 5, 2006

Ian Grant said:
This is an international forum, and it's excellent.

However there does seem to be the odd occasional isolationism and disregard for the rest of the world by a small number of US members. They aren't the norm Ian

I find that on eBay the reluctance to deal internationally by US sellers is usually overcome by an email - many don't seem to think that people are prepared to pay the price of overseas shipping when, in fact, that may not be the case.

More often than the US, I'm aware of German eBayers who have a "Germany only" policy but I've never tried to talk any of them around after once running into huge problems with the language barrier (ie they didn't speak English and I didn't speak German!)

Steve

Curt · Jul 5, 2006

How do you feel about sending and receiving packages to and from North Korea?

unohuu · Jul 5, 2006

Int'l shipping

Sparky said:
I suspect it's just 'fear of the unknown' that people are avoiding. Am I wrong?

My 645 came from Greece; my 300mm f/4 from Canada; I have shipped to England and Italy; all without a hitch or damage.

I save the stamps for my kids. We live in a great time in a great world.

Harrigan · Jul 5, 2006

I buy from international sellers and ship international it takes about 30 seconds to fill out a customs form, big deal. The increase in the final auction price is will worth the minimal effort. People who refuse to ship internatioanlly are losing out on bids. I certainly cant comprehend why people in the lower 48 refuse to ship to Hawaii/Alaska its no different than any other address. However I do not accept paypal and the reasons have nothing to do with the fees. Paypal payments are revocable and i've had this happen to me fraudulently. A buyer insisted they never received my shipment and paypal immediatly yanked the funds from my account. I had to go online and get the tracking info, which included the buyers signature and the $ was put back. The point is I had to prove they got the item before the $ was put back so as you might expect I dont accept paypal anymore.

Dan Fromm · Jul 5, 2006

Steve Roberts said:
I find that on eBay the reluctance to deal internationally by US sellers is usually overcome by an email - many don't seem to think that people are prepared to pay the price of overseas shipping when, in fact, that may not be the case.

More often than the US, I'm aware of German eBayers who have a "Germany only" policy but I've never tried to talk any of them around after once running into huge problems with the language barrier (ie they didn't speak English and I didn't speak German!)

Steve

www.freetranslation.com Its lousy, but sometimes good enough. And asking is cheap.

For me, the big problem with buying from Europe is paying. The cost of wire transfers is prohibitive for small transactions and not all europeans who sell on eBay will accept cash ($US, Euros bought at a ridiculous price from American Express travel agencies) sent by registered mail. Western Union and MoneyGram aren't cheap either, alas.

BrianShaw · Jul 5, 2006

Curt said:
How do you feel about sending and receiving packages to and from North Korea?

North Korean law requires parcels from Western countries to be delivered via missile. I read this on the internet so it must be true.

cdholden · Jul 5, 2006

Harrigan said:
it takes about 30 seconds to fill out a customs form, big deal.

30 seconds for one package maybe. Then more forms for more packages. Then there's standing in line for 30-45 minutes at the post office.
I'm a big fan of the 24 hour kiosks. As long as the parcel is small and doesn't require insurance over $200... hooray for domestic shipping. Some of us have better things to do than stand in line at the post office.
Chris

eubielicious · Jul 5, 2006

Curt said:
How do you feel about sending and receiving packages to and from North Korea?

Well, I think the practicalities make it almost impossible, but in principle, I assume that your average North Korean isn't much different to your average American, Brit or whatever.

It's usually a good idea to separate nasty regimes from the people that have to live under them...

Euan

TheFlyingCamera · Jul 5, 2006

BrianShaw said:
North Korean law requires parcels from Western countries to be delivered via missile. I read this on the internet so it must be true.

If you ever have to send Kim Jong-Il a package in a hurry, I've got some friends with the boys in blue whose motto is, "when it absolutely positively has to get anywhere in the world in 30 minutes or less". Don't ask for shipping insurance though...

pelerin · Jul 5, 2006

cdholden said:
30 seconds for one package maybe. Then more forms for more packages. Then there's standing in line for 30-45 minutes at the post office.
I'm a big fan of the 24 hour kiosks. As long as the parcel is small and doesn't require insurance over $200... hooray for domestic shipping. Some of us have better things to do than stand in line at the post office.
Chris

Hahahahaha, parcel post advice from a fellow who's avatar resembles the police sketch of a mail bomber. Yikes

moose10101 · Jul 7, 2006

Ian Grant said:
Paypal and credit card systems are now international.

Unfortunately, PayPal offers little or no protection if international sales go wrong. Many people who accept PayPal from US buyers will require buyers outside the country to use a different form of payment.

People in the USA are also wary of bank transfers; while they may be routine in the EU, they are rare here, and requests for bank account info raises suspicion that they are being scammed.

Dan Fromm · Jul 8, 2006

moose10101 said:
Unfortunately, PayPal offers little or no protection if international sales go wrong. Many people who accept PayPal from US buyers will require buyers outside the country to use a different form of payment.

People in the USA are also wary of bank transfers; while they may be routine in the EU, they are rare here, and requests for bank account info raises suspicion that they are being scammed.

I'm very wary of bank transfers, but not because of fear of being scammed. My bank charges a minimum of $30 for one. This makes small purchases uneconomic.

sanderx1 · Jul 8, 2006

Ian Grant said:
Ill elaborate, I post looking for an enlarger lens, I get offered one, and as soon as the person realizes Im not in the US the offer is dropped, & emails are not answered. The same happens on Ebay, despite the fact that UPS actually have their own delivery service in many European countries and also on other continents. Paypal and credit card systems are now international.

I should add that I buy regularly from the US, via this site & Ebay and its only a small minority who have blinkers on trading overseas.

Ian

I'm ok with people selling only to US ... What I'm not ok with are people who list as ship worldwide and then condradict themselves in teh description (as far as I'm concerned its a scam to get higher bid prices and to settle outside ebay) and those who require feedback levels, often high feedback levels like 50 frm international bidders (we weren't born crooks just because the birthplace was different to yours).

lee · Jul 8, 2006

Ian Grant said:
This is an international forum, and it's excellent.

Ill elaborate, I post looking for an enlarger lens, I get offered one, and as soon as the person realizes Im not in the US the offer is dropped, & emails are not answered.
Ian

I had a 150 enlarger lens that I would have sold Ian until during one email he made an off colored remark about the US. I took exception and broke off any contact with him. I was polite and never said anything about his country but he decided to let his big mouth run away from him. If it was me he is talking about it had nothing to do with dealing with selling items overseas. It had to do with him being rude for no reason.

lee\c

coriana6jp · Jul 8, 2006

I am in Japan and buy/sell internationally all the time. I agree that the customs forms are easy and very very painless. I keep a stack of EMS labels and customs forms at home, so all I have to do is drop it off at the post office very quickly. Using EMS, it generally takes less than 5 days to post parts of the world, that includes insurance and a tracking number. For a lens that is less than $15.00 USD, its no more difficult, nor that much more expensive than shipping domestically. My paypal account is verfied, offers the same protections as anyone else.

I do think that people who wont accept international orders are shooting themselves in the foot. That said, there are a few countries where I refuse to ship do to fraud problems. But they are not usually interested in the items I am selling anyway.

Getting off my soapbox.

Gary

jmailand · Jul 8, 2006

I must admit that I do specify U.S.A. only in my auctions. I just do it for convenance for me. I can print the shipping label for my package at home, take it to my local post office which is about a 3 minute drive, drop it off, and be done with it. I take the risk that the U.S.A. is a big enough market that I don't need to look elsewhere for sales. I only sell stuff that I no longer want for extra cash. I'm not trying to make a living off ebay. If I was regular seller I would ship internationally. I have a feeling that many ebay seller are amateurs like me just wanting to some extra money with out much hassle, so they don't look into what is required for international shipping. So I my case its nothing personal, I'd just rather be doing things other than paperwork.

James

Isolationism (online equipment sales)

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