Alright, so I'm getting tons of requests to ship internationally on eBay

[Suproman77]

I know that Ebay has officially changed their rules to add seller protection for international shipping, but I still don't feel comfortable doing it. Most of these requests are coming from places like Canada, Australia, and Singapore.

Are my worries unfounded? Should I just go ahead and do it?

:dunno

[Luke]

Do you have to show proof of delivery? If so, how would you accomplish such on a country by country basis? What is something get stuck in customs?

[jzgtrguy]

Great question. I have been thinking of selling some gear and given the current state of the economy was thinking of opening it up to international bidders. I'd sure like to hear what more experienced people think.

[Suproman77]

Do you have to show proof of delivery? If so, how would you accomplish such on a country by country basis? What is something get stuck in customs?

Well, I suppose you probably should ship with something that can be tracked internationally such as USPS Priority Mail International.

If something gets held up in customs or if the buyer gets charged heavy duties or something like that, I assume it could be very easy for them to just say 'Forget it' and do a chargeback or lie and say the item is not as described. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but it worries me.

[scottlr]

It's been a long time, but I have shipped guitars to Scotland and Ireland and Germany in the past. The one I used USPS on was to Ireland, trying to get the guy the best shipping price. USPS had the best price, but they subcontracted it to DHL. The guitar ended up in London instead of Dublin, and was about a week late. But it got there fine and they refunded the shipping charge. The Germany one was to a military address, so it was also USPS, and pretty cheap. The Scotland one was probably UPS IIRC. But this was several years ago, before all of the ebay horror stories and things like that. Today, I'd make sure the shipping method was fully insured, and signature required. I'd also state all international sales are final. If it gets hung up in Customs and they don't want to pay the duty, it's their problem. State all of this in the listing in bold letters. I never worried about shipping to Canada. Canadians know how slow the shipping is from the US to Canada.

[Chuck King]

If you want to ship internationally but don't want to deal with any of the potential headaches, all you have to do is (a) state in your ad that on international shipments, once it's out of your hands, all the risk is on the buyer---let them pick mode of shipping, but, if anything goes wrong, they bear the loss, and (b) require payment by wire transfer or Western Union.

Most people probably wouldn't buy under those conditions (I wouldn't), but if they really want to, that's a way to do it that has very minimal risk to you.

[The_Whale]

Are my worries unfounded? Should I just go ahead and do it?

:dunno

Have you seen the many threads on this topic?

[americananalog]

Don't USPS to ship to Italy.

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

I know that Ebay has officially changed their rules to add seller protection for international shipping, but I still don't feel comfortable doing it. Most of these requests are coming from places like Canada, Australia, and Singapore.

Are my worries unfounded? Should I just go ahead and do it?

:dunno


I've done it before, but it's kind of like throwing a football to someone in teh dark, in a rain storm, with dangerous lightning and gusts of wind up to 70 mph. :mad:

[phretbored]

I updated my Ebay preferences a long time ago to indicate which countries I will accept bids from.
Also for international buyers I will accept payment ONLY via bank wire transfer.
I will NEVER accept international Paypal for a high dollar item.
Also I only ship international via UPS or FEDEX.
The auction description always states that the buyer is responsible for any customs fees.
Finally I refuse to declare a lower value on the item for customs purposes.
If the buyer is not ok with this then I won't sell to them.

That is my comfort level.

[DC1]

Don't USPS to ship to Italy.

What happened?

Here's my story:

I once sent something to Italy via USPS insured. Buyer gets the thing, (late of course) and claims it's broken. He send me pics that are so closeup you cannot tell it's the item I sent him. I ask for more pics and better ones, and he refuses. I try to get a payout from USPS. They say they need an inspection by the local post office. He wont do it. He files a dispute. I file letters from USPS that they have not received an inspection from Italy. Now he says he got an inspection and USPS has the records. I call USPS, no inspection, won't pay.

My entire paypal account was frozen (money can go in, but none comes out) for months while all this nonsense was going on. I had fortunately transferred the funds out immediately so there was nothing in the account, and thank goodness I did not use eBay for my business! (Because PP had access to my bank and charge cards I closed them all and opened new accounts. I was not going to let this scammer take advantage of me if PP found in his favor.)

Because I had so much documentation, and because of his refusal to get an inspection, PP found in my favor, but I will never trust this process again. It is too damn easy for scummers to game the system IMO. So, I have closed my PP account and not used eBay since. 100% positive feedback btw.

I'm sure our brothers and sisters in other countries are just as honest as anyone else, but there are bad people in every country, and the eBay PP system can cause you immense misery if you sell to one of them overseas.

None for me.

DC

Want some real horror stories?

http://www.paypalsucks.com/

[Suproman77]

Have you seen the many threads on this topic?

Not the same topic...the rules have changed recently.

[Millul]

Don't USPS to ship to Italy.

Why? I'll probabily have a guitar shipped to me by USPS Priority mail in the next week or so..do I have to fear anything? I now our services can be slow, but the shipping will be fully insured, and I don't mind waiting a bit more in order to receive my guitar! and I can't afford a $350 UPS shipping!

[Bill Brasky]

Well, I suppose you probably should ship with something that can be tracked internationally such as USPS Priority Mail International.

If something gets held up in customs or if the buyer gets charged heavy duties or something like that, I assume it could be very easy for them to just say 'Forget it' and do a chargeback or lie and say the item is not as described. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but it worries me.

I've been told that USPS Priority Mail International can be tracked/show proof of delivery, then was told that it cannot. I get a different answer from every post office clerk I talk to. UPS/FEDEX might be trackable but no one wants their stuff shipped by them because of cost/brokerage fees.

[americananalog]

I sent a pedal to a buyer in Italy and it was never seen again. I had to refund the item because the buyer said he never received it. There were no records, no customs form, no information, and a complete lack of transparency. USPS couldn't tell me anything, and the Italian Post Office couldn't tell me anything. It was simply just gone.

I would say, Get everything insured and see to it that each handler must sign for it along the way.

[aram]

when i ship overseas, i explicitly state for the seller to contact me BEFORE bidding.

I also require that international bidders have 25+ positive feedbacks.

Here's a current ad I have up. One nice thing about shipping overseas is that you can sometimes get a higher price. These eqs sell for around $300 in the US- but I've seen them go for up to $500 on international auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=320318429762

[Jagsound]

Great question. I have been thinking of selling some gear and given the current state of the economy was thinking of opening it up to international bidders. I'd sure like to hear what more experienced people think.

You better be quick because the rest of the world economy is going down the can as well!

Even when it does, you will still reach more buyers.

Regarding postage between the US and Australia - I use an insured post method and it can be tracked on the USPS website whether it's sent by me here in Melbourne or from someone in the US to me, and it says when it has been delivered. Only problem is I wouldn't know what the USPS name is for this postage method, and it's probably a bit more expensive. Also, there is no customs duty to pay in Australia for items from the USA that are valued at a maximum of $999 AUD, so about $650 USD at the moment.

[KennethC]

I know that Ebay has officially changed their rules to add seller protection for international shipping, but I still don't feel comfortable doing it. Most of these requests are coming from places like Canada, Australia, and Singapore.

Are my worries unfounded? Should I just go ahead and do it?

:dunno

I'd say get the person to give you a ring on your cell and have a chat before making any moves. I've bought guitars/efx repeatedly from TGP/hcfx/ebay(and even craigslist!) and have hardly had a problem. In fact, the only problem I've encountered is with an actual brick-and-mortar shop (American Guitar & Band) where the guitar had obviously been worked on before/had a poor build, but was sold as brand new. Internet international deals aren't that scary, truth be told. You just need to be more discerning. The guy who sold me the Tyler I currently own requested that I ring him up and chat before I sent any money over. I made a friend that way, too! Same thing for a few of the other guitars I've bought online via private sellers. If the potential buyer has some issues with chatting over the phone, or seems like a dodgy person, then you should refuse, even if the offered price is tempting. Many of these buyers, however, are genuinely interested in purchasing a good guitar with as little hassle as possible. I'm from Singapore, btw. Hope you find a decent buyer!