Ebay shipping

[TMBN]

Hello everyone

 

As most collectors i look through the pages on ebay, trying to find patches for my collection. Then finding a patch i want but the seller will not ship outside the US, makes me frustrating sometimes. Just want to make clear, that i have full understanding for those that wish not to send outside their country.

 

Just found that one patch id like, but unluckily he will not send outside US.

 

Does anyone here have any experience of buying patches for foreign collectors and then sending to them?

[LuftStalg1]

I’ll take a shot at it.

 

In my experience most other countries do not have all the options for mailing that the US does even the basic tracking or insurance. Thus it is easy for someone to say they did not get it. Otherwise when they do have an option it is prohibitively expensive to send it in a way that requires you to sign for it. It becomes a high risk of the seller to make the shipping reasonable and hope the buyer is not the unscrupulous type. Then there is the common request to falsify the customs form so you don’t have to pay tax on it. I think most sellers just chose not to deal with the possible headaches of overseas sales.

:dunno:

[bmbrzmn101]

I'll agree with what has been said above. I have been shipping overseas for the last 2 months and I don't mind doing it for my fellow collector. The things that bug me are the ones that want shipping thrown in with the purchase price(ain't gonna happen), or those whose Johnny on the spot with those last second bids and then take 6-7 days to pay. I have a generous 5 days to pay but some can't even do that, And with Paypal it's immediate so I don't see why you don't pay quickly. All that being said and the paperwork,shipping costs, and worries if they are shipping something that may be seen as illegal to export are just some of the reasons. I will continue to ship overseas I guess until I get burned, I just hope that doesn't happen.

 

Chris

[Bob Hudson]

This topic has been debated over and over on the forum. I will say that the US Post Office has made it a lot easier to ship something like patches with some degree of security using Priority Mail. I do not use first class mail even in the USA but they now had the Priority Mail Flate Rate envelopes that can be sent to any country for something like $13 (also Small Flat Rate Boxes for the same price). I ship a lot of stuff in these (you can even squeeze an ERDL shirt in to the envelope). I can do all my postage buying and customs label printing online at the USPS web site and put the envelope or small box in my home mailbox for pickup. I do not use any form of shipping that requires me to stand in line at the Post Office, such as 1st Class International: a trip to the post office and a wait in line can easily consume an hour or more of my time and that just is not worth it for low-priced items (and for high-priced items I for sure what the tracking available with Priority Mail International). If the buyer can accept paying $13, then it is very easy for US sellers to ship overseas, but if you can't accept that, then it is usualy not worth the seller's time to use 1st Class International.

[Jack's Son]

Here is the latest thread that Forum Support referred to.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...c=85242&hl=

[nuke41]

The reason why I stopped shipping overseas: I sold a US MK 1 1918 knuckle knife on eBay (right before they banned selling them), the buyer was in the UK. I asked him if customs was going to be a problem and he said no, just describe it as a “knife” and he’d take responsibility if there was a problem. UK customs seized the knife and of course the buyer asked for his money back from paypal; I was out a very expensive knife and the money.

 

I had another buyer after I blocked foreign buyers on my eBay account win a knuckle knife auction, he was registered in the US, but lived in Italy. He asked me to mail the knife to Italy and I declined. He then asked me to mail it to a friend in the US (his registered eBay address) who would mail it to him, I said yes. I wasn’t at risk for loss since I could prove delivery to his US address, the foreign shipping was on him. I have no idea if the knife ever made it to him.

 

Bottom line is there is a good enough market for my edged weapons here in the US; I don’t need to run the risk of “donating” anymore of them to foreign customs.

[Robbo]

Without wishing to flog the proverbial "dead horse", I'll just say this on the matter. I can quite understand why sellers of any country are sometime reluctant to send overseas. With buyers paying with PayPal, it is so easy for unscrupulous buyers to lie and say that an item has not been received and 9 times out of 10 they can get they're money back.

These instances are few and far between but bad news travels fast and people remember. The few have ruined it for everyone, whatever nationality they may be.

 

I would also say that some sellers are just wary of it and a quick email to them will often yield good results. A polite message stating that if they were to send abroad, they could choose the shipping method blah blah blah. If they want to use a fully insured shipping method and you don't want the expense, then I'm afraid you just forget it and move on.

 

On the subject of under valuing the package. Well, thats up to the seller and the buyer if they wish to do business.

 

Rob