Classifieds: Shipping to North America only. Why?

[Spyro]

Just out of curiosity.
I've ordered tons of stuff from the US and never had a problem.

 

[JRG]

I suspect that it's something like this: If you live in the USA, you can ship via USPS to anywhere else in the USA at very low cost. You can also get insurance at very low cost, insurance that can actually be redeemed with no fuss, if need be. And, most important, if that insurance is for more than $200, it absolutely forces a signature at delivery. You can get a copy of that signature to show to PayPal; it's one of the few bits of evidence that they will accept in case of a dispute.

All of those advantages disappear the instant that the shipment crosses the US border, even if the parcel is headed only a couple of miles into Canada.


I've been through this issue many, many times by now. I will, occasionally, ship outside the USA, but only as a last resort. As the seller, it's very much to my advantage to find a buyer with a US address.

 

[Ducky]

I'll plead just plain lazy. With conus only I can print a prepaid label directly from paypal, stick it on the package and hand it to the postal delivery guy. Otherwise there are customs forms, special envelopes and a longer wait til confirmed delivery.

 

[whatever]

I'll plead just plain lazy. With conus only I can print a prepaid label directly from paypal, stick it on the package and hand it to the postal delivery guy. Otherwise there are customs forms, special envelopes and a longer wait til confirmed delivery.

ditto, + I offer satisfaction guaranteed and I don't want to pay for return shipping out of U.S.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

It takes a couple of minutes to ship a package using a Postal Machine if it goes within the US. Out of the US, stand in line to have the customs forms processed. I still send a lot of stuff overseas. It can be time-consuming.

With that stated, I responded to a WTB posted on a forum only to be told the potential buyer was in the UK, and did not want to deal with buying outside of the UK. So it works both ways.

 

[David Murphy]

I ship overseas, but I don't know how much longer I'll be doing it. Today for instance I sent an Express Mail package to the UK. I spent 10-15 minutes at home doing the paperwork (two forms and an address label), and the postal clerk needed 10-15 minutes to process it. Every detail of the address has to be laboriously entered into a computer. The computer system USPS has imposed on us is not sophisticated enough to understand how variations in addresses in the multitude of countries in the world are formatted adding to additional grief.

The problem is that the US government: US Postal Service AND Homeland Security AND various government agencies that monitor exports here have layered paperwork requirements and computer entry requirements on shippers. The requirements and complexity of this has been ratcheted up in the last two years or so. If one ever needs a tangible example of how government bureaucracy can drive up costs and slow down or eliminate commerce, this is it.

 

[LeicaFan]

I'll plead just plain lazy. With conus only I can print a prepaid label directly from paypal, stick it on the package and hand it to the postal delivery guy. Otherwise there are customs forms, special envelopes and a longer wait til confirmed delivery.

Bingo. I've always suspected that people who only want to ship within the United States are too lazy to fill out a customs form. It isn't bad, really. I can fill one out in just a couple of minutes. Some people claim that it is because of the higher shipping cost, but in my experience, the buyer has never complained about the increased cost.

 

[sepiareverb]

Overseas shipping via USPS has gotten a lot more expensive over the last few years, plus maximum insurance coverage has been reduced for mail going to many countries. UPS going overseas can be a real pain as well, the customs forms are more than tedious, and many local USPS and UPS workers have no idea how to complete paperwork (around here anyway).

 

[Spyro]

Fair enough. I guess I'm spoiled by Australia Post which doesnt add any significant paperwork for o/s sales, just a customs dec where I have to describe the item and sign.

Shame because the weak $USD makes US sellers very attractive.

 

[David Murphy]

Spyro it used to much easier here too. The expense is not an issue, at least in my case. I'm certainly not going to pay the cost of shipping for overseas buyers (nor the return if there is one).

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I've seen sellers here post "EU Only" and other limitations to where they will send a package.

I've also had three packages sent from overseas get lost. I had to process one claim for a package lost going to Europe, and it took one-year for the follow-up.

 

[David Murphy]

If it's over about $60 in value I only ship Priority or Express - never lost one of these yet. First Class international is unreliable to many countries.

USPS insurance is quite the scam. They takes months, and months to process and they often deny claims. That's what one can expect when the insurance inspectors are have a vested interest in denying claims! Fortunately loses are rare (at least for me). I lost one package to Thailand (I never ship uninsured there now) and had one package returned from Indonesia about six months after I had sent it (with no explanation).

 

[Neare]

But you never know, shipping overseas on an auction site could lead to getting much more money. I've seen people offer crazy amounts for items that are rare in their own country. In fact that applies to me too, finding nice camera gear in New Zealand is impossible so buying overseas is the best option.

I've personally never had any problems with the delivery though. And even so, it's the only real way to get the gear I want.