Ebay: if you're not shipping internationally you're losing out

[axiology]

As valid a criticism as me saying people outside the U.S.A. can't read... as you obviously didn't read all of the posts before yours.

Also make sure you don't ship to Canada in summertime as they all live in Igloo's. Them Igloo's melt - you can't deliver a guitar when all that's left is a puddle of water.

 

[NotWesYet]

I normally do not ship outside the US simply because the local office of Fed Ex and UPS do not have very much experience with shipping to these countries. I have shipped to the Netherlands and Australia without exceptional high costs to the buyer but the packages were "normal" size. I tried to ship a jazz guitar to singapore, but due to the size of the package, both UPS and Fed Ex alter the shipping charges using what they call "dimensional weight."

If the package is too large or irregular, they add to the weight calculation. In this case a jazz guitar in a hard shell case "weighed" as much as I do! The cost was over $300 to ship.

I even looked for a local seller of guitars in Singapore as I felt sorry for the guy (and this was an off the shelf guitar) but the prices there were extraordinarily high.

I have a rare, custom built Ariston turntable I am planning to put on Ebay and thanks to the thread and discussion I may just offer international shipping. Thanks for a great thread!

 

[crosse79]

These are the usually magic terms & conditions I put with US Sellers and it works most of the time.

1. I communicate well
2. I will handle all custom issues at my end (including payment of the taxes)
3. Politeness
4. If shipping is more I'll absord the cost, if it's less, then the seller refunds. (I know the shipping rates pretty well).

I think so far I've got about a dozen pedals and 3 guitars

 

[nmiller]

These are the usually magic terms & conditions I put with US Sellers and it works most of the time.

1. I communicate well
2. I will handle all custom issues at my end (including payment of the taxes)
3. Politeness
4. If shipping is more I'll absord the cost, if it's less, then the seller refunds. (I know the shipping rates pretty well).

I think so far I've got about a dozen pedals and 3 guitars

I have made exceptions for folks who follow these rules (especially #2) and would have no problem shipping to you. However, most of the time the only communication I get from international buyers is "U ship Indonesia?"

 

[guitarmandp]

I'm willing to take less money, to avoid the risk of something bad happening.

It's $400 to ship a guitar to Australia from the US using UPS or FedEx. Guitars usually don't pass the size requirements if shipping USPS

 

[gulliver]

Name goods ... Fender, Gibson, especially get good bucks overseas. The best is when overseas people bid the item up, but the winner is in the US.

Paperwork has always been easy through USPS.

I don't know how one can fault someone for not wanting to bother, though, I don't think it's narrow minded to select the borders you want to deal within.

 

[Smakutus]

On a two grand guitar, will $300 be a reasonable price to add on for all the shipping costs?

Pack it up and go get the exact price for shipping before they pay you for it.. Why guess?

Jeff

 

[GreenKnight18]

Through TGP and another forum I have shipped a guitar to Australia, and pedals to Germany, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, and Sweden.

One does have to wait a little longer for confirmation, and fill out some extra customs forms, but I think it's kind of fun. I avoid selling on eBay.

 

[Jon C]

The main reason I won't is that IMO eBay offers little or no protection for sellers now.

I'm not in the business of selling gear, I don't want extra hassles, extra paperwork, extra time & work to figure out accurate shipping costs, difficulty in tracking shipments & deliveries, etc., etc.

It's nothing personal -- if an international buyer wants to send me an irrevocable wire transfer and gives me their worldwide FedEx shipping account number and has the shipping billed directly to them, that's OK with me ... but I have yet to see that.

 

[mcdes]

Luckily I have family in the states, so I ship there first............ Then I cover the rest of the cost and risk myself, to get it to me, as it should be.

 

[PeeCee]

I have more than one hundred big overseas eBay transactions and tens of big TGP transactions. Just this week I had TWO 1962 strats sent to me here in Japan via USPS International Priority. FedEx and UPS suck big time in Japan. I try to be as clear as possible about what I need when I ask people if I can bid, and I find that I only have one in twenty or so sellers say that they won't sell to me. I don't ask people to do any funky stuff and I have never left bad feedback for anyone. I realize that it is is a hassle to ship stuff over here. That's why I pay BIN and try to make the seller understand that I understand that it is a PITA, but that it IS going to be worth his or her time.

If sellers refuse to ship something to you, you probably aren't making it worth the extra hassle. My advice to international buyers--If you have a booming economy in your country--prove it!

 

[teleamp]

I have more than one hundred big overseas eBay transactions and tens of big TGP transactions. Just this week I had TWO 1962 strats sent to me here in Japan via USPS International Priority. FedEx and UPS suck big time in Japan. I try to be as clear as possible about what I need when I ask people if I can bid, and I find that I only have one in twenty or so sellers say that they won't sell to me. I don't ask people to do any funky stuff and I have never left bad feedback for anyone. I realize that it is is a hassle to ship stuff over here. That's why I pay BIN and try to make the seller understand that I understand that it is a PITA, but that it IS going to be worth his or her time.

If sellers refuse to ship something to you, you probably aren't making it worth the extra hassle. My advice to international buyers--If you have a booming economy in your country--prove it!

Great post and good point, making it worth the sellers time would help.

Also, if a potential buyer would get their own shipping quotes (most of you know the size and weight of what your buying), that would pleas me as a seller.

It might even be worth while to get your own account with your preferred carrier... I would definitely consider international shipping!!!

In reality, the only way I will ship internationally is a private sale.

 

[MeMota]

Well some of us overseas buyers GET the fact we have to pay duty and that customs will be involved, which for the 10 or so things I've bought go like this... arrived customs 12:01, left customs 12:02 - in other words here in Australia they go straight through. The time it gets opened I'll be relaxed about it. That's what insurance is for isn't it?

Now, I've only bought a couple of things off ebay, but if the buyer seems genuine isn't that worth something? I keep reading of deals gone bad within the US so let's not use a broad brush.

I've paid by money transfer... the risk is totally on me that it'll be sent in that case. I guess it depends on the value of the item which way everyone's comfortable with, which is the main issue here. **** I've had dudes come to my house to buy my Les Paul who I trusted less than internet peeps.

At the end of the day it's all about doing everything you can to feel comfortable. At least give that a go (please!).

Yours from down under.....

 

[Chrome Dinette]

I will ship out of the country, but only by a trackable method(UPS, certain pricier USPS options). This tends to drive up the price on big items, like guitars and amps, which I don't sell too often, anyway. I got burned shipping some console channels to someone who whined about saving money on shipping and then claimed to never receive them. With no tracking and signature, I was forced to refund the money, never again.

Also, I am not going to lie on the customs forms, send it as a gift, etc. And I always make it clear that it is the buyers responsibility to pay any duties or customs fees.

Usually if I am selling something on Ebay, it's a pickup or pedal or other small item, making the above points less of an issue.

 

[newswede]

Interesting thoughts here.
Every now and then I bid on Ebay (though I really can't stand that site) but as an above poster said, I have my stuff shipped to family & then I bring it back overseas myself or ship to myself. I wouldn't really think twice about $300 shipping if it was a special guitar that I couldn't get where I live. There are reasonable people out there - it is the world wide web. Where I live the money is worth close to 40% more than the US$. That could really push up some auctions.

 

[chequepoint]

If ebay would actually protect its sellers, instead of babbling on and on about how they're not protecting buyers at any cost, then maybe more of us would ship internationally. The reality is that as an overseas buyer, you could purchase my guitar, be angry about the customs fees your country charged you, file a complaint with ebay, and get both my ebay account suspended, and all the fees in my paypal frozen until we resolve the dispute.

I know, because it happened to me, and it took me nearly two years to get my ebay account back. As far as I can see, living outside the US gives you complete license to get whatever you want on ebay for free as long as the seller is dumb enough to ship it to you.

 

[grungebob]

you CANNOT use USPS for international shipping !!!!!!....the buyer must cover UPS or Fed-Ex shipping cost and insurance, no matter how high their prices are...they are the only services that offer door to door international tracking, and you absoultely need the documention to cover your butt !!!...i'm sorry about the inflated prices they charge, but if you want the item, thats the deal...

that, and i photograph the whole packing process for damage claims and item not as descibed claims !!!!!!!


..

You CAN use USPS to ship to UK and the tracking is door to door. Royal mail enter it onto their system, it works the other way round too! If I sned stuff to US via Royal Mail USPS take over the tracking once its cleared US customs.

 

[MeMota]

You CAN use USPS to ship to UK and the tracking is door to door. Royal mail enter it onto their system, it works the other way round too! If I sned stuff to US via Royal Mail USPS take over the tracking once its cleared US customs.

USPS tracking works great to Australia too, door to door. Gee, it's not that hard.

 

[vkennedy]

you CANNOT use USPS for international shipping !!!!!!....the buyer must cover UPS or Fed-Ex shipping cost and insurance, no matter how high their prices are...they are the only services that offer door to door international tracking, and you absoultely need the documention to cover your butt !!!...i'm sorry about the inflated prices they charge, but if you want the item, thats the deal...

that, and i photograph the whole packing process for damage claims and item not as descibed claims !!!!!!!


..

Nonsense.

 

[Dirtybender]

I guess I can understand some trepidation in shipping overseas, but I don't really understand the US sellers not shipping to Canada. I've bought and sold across the border many many times with no problems. Some sellers in the emprorium won't even reply to you when you ask if they'll ship to Canada.