International shipping!?!

I have always wondered why some US sellers on ebay refuse to send stuff internationally
Personally I’ve had shipping problems twice, once from HK and once from UK but never from US

i'm not sure how it is for others shipping to the US, but international seems to be a pain in the arse when going out of the US. I ship a lot of stuff, I mean a lot of stuff for work. Mostly using UPS, Lone Star overnight and USPS. The cheapest way international seems to be flat rate USPS, but unless you have an online account and the proper supplies on hand, this is a bitch. One trip to the post office will make you want to shoot somebody. Thus the term going postal. Lately, I've been ordering flat rate boxes online and printing my own USPS labels. This seems to work ok, but not everyone is willing or able to take the time and get set up with USPS to do this. A large flat rate box to England runs about $55 - $60. Once you declare a value for the items, they can hit up the receiver for the customs fee. So in reality it cost roughly $90 to ship one large flat rate box with customs fees. I would really be interested to hear what the exact same service costs in reverse (from England back to US). Something tells me it isn't as expensive, but I could be wrong.

I usually find that regular shipping thru usps is cheaper than the flat rate boxes. Problem is, everyone always wants the item declared as only $15-20, and I HATE shipping overseas without insurance. If I ship a $100 item and declare it as $20, I can't put insurance on it. Then I can't cover my own ass. On the other hand, If I declare it at full value the buyer gets hit with ridiculous customs fees...It's just a shitty situation for everyone, and has really made me stop shipping overseas. I'll still ship some smaller value items that don't really require insurance, but the bigger stuff...I just can't do it. Nobody wants to pay those fees and I can't afford to ship anything expensive without covering my ass.

I echo the insurance/tracking/customs sentiments above. The cheapest USP international with shipping for a package is like $34.99. If you don't have tracking and it doesn't show as being delivered then the buyer can hit you with a paypal claim of non-delivery and fuck you. Considering that I have had 3 packages in the last 3 months take over 2 months or longer to arrive at an international location (one is still lost in japan, meant for Germany), this is a real threat. Plus, you also have unscrupulous people who will just claim that they never received the item if there is no tracking. Or they get pissy if it's stuck in customs and/or have to pay the fees. the downside is that I often get more money on ebay for stuff sold internationally, so I still do it, but it can be a real pain. Italy's post and Greece's post seem to particularly suck, and South America, forget it.

i dont like shipping overseas, because time+money+paperwork= headaches usps is the cheapest, but also the worst, speaking about tracking, updating info, and the lines

The import taxes in the UK are a pain in the ass! Although avoidable if the item is marked as a 'gift' when shipped. That still allowas the shipper to put the legit commercial value down. Is that correct?

Attila The Dan wrote:The import taxes in the UK are a pain in the ass! Although avoidable if the item is marked as a 'gift' when shipped. That still allowas the shipper to put the legit commercial value down. Is that correct?

Well, I don't know if it works the same way in the UK as in Sweden (but since we're both in the EU I think so).
Anyhow, when I contacted the customs they told me that the commercial value (incl. shipping) is the sum fees are calculated from. And they know about the 'gift'-trick so you sometimes get caught anyway if the value is to high or the sender is a company

The safest way is to ship with tracking, that way the buyer can't say he didn't got the item.
And if he/she claims a refund due to broken goods etc. the item must be shipped back in most cases.

Hope it's understandable

It is simply more complicated to ship overseas, and not everyone understands all of the different fields you need to fill out to properly complete an overseas shipping invoice.

Also you need additional supplies in order to ship overseas, which is usually some kind of envelope that gets affixed to the outside of the package that holds the various copies of the shipping invoice. These envelopes can be gotten for free if you plan ahead, but a lot of times the post office or UPS Store won't give them to you unless you are shipping from that location (which is more expensive than printing out online shipping).

Because these envelopes need to be used, you are also restricted to the size package you need to use. Even if the toy or whatever is small, it has to be put into a box that the shipping invoice envelope will fit onto without being folded around the side (the paperwork has to come out easily or they won't ship it in a lot of cases). Of course with overseas shipping the size of the package is often directly related to the cost of shipping (where domestic costs is often mainly based on weight).

Shipping overseas also costs more. A LOT more. I know some people are willing to pay to have stuff shipped to them overseas (on eBay I have often shipped $15 toys to places like Taiwan that requires $30+ shipping), but in general people feel weird about selling a toy that costs so much more to ship than the actual value of the toy.

And then there are the added bonus that several countries (not the UK) have very unreliable postage systems. It just strange how often merchandise simply goes missing in certain countries, or will be marked with a "return to origin" tag on the shipping info (if it is updated at all) yet somehow never make it back. And when this happens what exactly can you do? Usually if its an eBay transaction you have to pray that the package makes it home to you, because eBay forces a refund in this type of situation.

Mostly its just a pain in the ass to ship overseas. I am usually willing to do so, but I won't pay for it out of pocket and depending on the value of the item always recommend (or force) shipping insurance.

wpaarts wrote:

Attila The Dan wrote:The import taxes in the UK are a pain in the ass! Although avoidable if the item is marked as a 'gift' when shipped. That still allowas the shipper to put the legit commercial value down. Is that correct?

Well, I don't know if it works the same way in the UK as in Sweden (but since we're both in the EU I think so).
Anyhow, when I contacted the customs they told me that the commercial value (incl. shipping) is the sum fees are calculated from. And they know about the 'gift'-trick so you sometimes get caught anyway if the value is to high or the sender is a company

The safest way is to ship with tracking, that way the buyer can't say he didn't got the item.
And if he/she claims a refund due to broken goods etc. the item must be shipped back in most cases.

Hope it's understandable

Yeah that all makes perfect sense

Yeah i imagine the 'gift' trick wont fly if they notice the shipper is a company. Worth a try though. I understand that sellers / shippers need to protect themselves so i dont mind the commercial value being noted.

I got a squadt a month or two ago for $70 which was a good deal, got a slip from the post office saying that i had to pay £18 (about $30) import taxes before i could collect it which pissed me right off.

Not sure what its like shipping from the UK as i havent sold anything as of yet

Attila The Dan wrote:Not sure what its like shipping from the UK as i havent sold anything as of yet

Propably like in Sweden.
You just stick a little note on the package with all the info, very simple
A bit more complicated if you want tracking/insurance.

US Customs forms aren't so simple. They are full of confusing wording and deceitful fields that may or many not require some kind of value to be entered. They also have 4 pages to them (though they are mosly the same...)

Maybe EU International shipping is simpler, because most international shipping for Europe is like shipping to the next state is to us. Just a guess though, I don't really know.

As Whacko said, there are also some countries with very unreliable/trustworthy post offices. France is notorious. Frank Kozik has said the boxes are almost always opened, tampered with, missing items, damaged or never arrive at all.