shipping questions, international and usa/canada only?

[lordnikon]

I see a lot of people posting in the marketplace saying "USA and Canada Only". Why do so people do this, and are there disadvantages to shipping items internationally? I guess I am looking for more insight, as I have only just now started to sell off some spare items I have laying around.

Thanks!

 

[zapatistab]

I see a lot of people posting in the marketplace saying "USA and Canada Only". Why do so people do this, and are there disadvantages to shipping items internationally? I guess I am looking for more insight, as I have only just now started to sell off some spare items I have laying around.

Thanks!

Shipping internationally can get complicated...lots of shipments get lost even if you utilize tracking and insurance. Unless you use FedEx, UPS, DHL, it's difficult getting your shipments back or out of customs if there are any customs issues. Using any one of the three major carriers is very expensive. USPS is a crap shoot.

 

[Renmauzo]

I sent an item to Spain once a couple of years ago, and the postal service there held the client's package for a month and a half. The client and I were both shocked; I provided him with tracking and insurance, the shipping was approx. 45$ to begin with (items were about 130$), and when he contacted the post office, they treated him like shit. They basically decided to ransom his package back to him if he paid the post office 100$, or they would keep the package.
That was pretty extreme, but all in all, overseas shipping can often be double the price of shipping within North America. To be fair though, pretty much all the buyers/sellers I've done business with overseas have been awesome to deal with!

 

[Tyranix95]

Man, just imagine if you were shipping some uber rare AES carts.

 

[lordnikon]

Thanks for the insight guys. I will stick to selling to USA/CA for now.

I really do wish I could ship to other countries since the buyers are great people. However I just don't have the time I guess to deal with items getting lost, and then having to go through with the drama with customs/lost packages. All it would take is one bad scenario and I would be like, "Fuck great, now I gotta deal with this shit."

 

[Neo Ash]

I have always limited my eBay listing to USA only. When selling here on the forum I try to limit it to the US; however, if an established Canadian member was interest in a item I had posted, I would be OK with shipping to Canada.

I have a buddy that makes his living on eBay. In order to increase sales, he ships worldwide. He usually has at a minimum one shipping horror story for me every month or so. Some of that is because of customs some because of language barriers; he does packaged items very well.

So yeah, international shipping can be a major pain in the ass.

 

[Dr Shroom]

Never had any problems from both sides.

 

[SNKorSWM]

I'd gladly ship to Asia. Conversely, any Spanish or Portuguese speaking country is off the radar.

 

[arcadehobby]

shipping to the uk is normally ok i had a transaction from the US on here about a week ago and the package was here in five days, and im still waiting for one that was sent from the uk on the same day fucking royal mail

 

[ki_atsushi]

I'd gladly ship to Asia. Conversely, any Spanish or Portuguese speaking country is off the radar.

I hear Italy is pretty hit or miss too. As are many middle eastern countries.

 

[cdamm]

ive had issues both sending and receiving items to england and other parts of europe (but mostly england). customs can be a bitch. as long as the buyer/ seller communication lines remain open the whole time when time starts running long there should be no issues/ animosity between the 2 parties involved. i prefer to keep things in the states as i have had a item held up for 3 weeks in canada customs before as well. domestic usually gets priority from me unless i know the buyer.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Never had any problems from both sides.

Same here, i've shipped to Brazil,Spain,Russia and some crazy wee island i forgot the name of(no it wasn't the UK lol) and never had any major issues.
The worst grief i seem to get is shipping to the US though, sometimes it arrives quickly no issues other times it takes age's even with express postage :-S

 

[Dr Shroom]

Thats a problem with customs, not shipping and its expected. If I remember correctly, Coryoons game was in canadian customs for over a week, I shipped the game one day after he paid me.

Packages very rarely get lost, even when using the abysmal USPS. If you don't want to risk that then use DHL with tracking number or whatever, the buyer is paying for the shipping after all, I don't see how this would be a problem for the seller. Problem is: most people are really stingy about the shipping and don't want to pay the extra cost for the better option...then they get burned and cry.

 

[GohanX]

For me, the simple fact of the matter is I can't accurately track an international package except by FedEx or UPS, and using them for international is very, very expensive. For anything I sell in public I'll state "US Only" but I have made exceptions for forum people I know, and have sent many inexpensive items to Canada.

It seems to me like shipping internationally in the US is a huge hassle, while it's a piece of cake in many other parts of the world, especially countries that rely heavily on exports. It blows my mind that someone can ship me a controller from Hong Kong and I get it in a week on a $20 item with free shipping.

 

[SNKorSWM]

I hear Italy is pretty hit or miss too. As are many middle eastern countries.

Anywhere south of the Alps really. The only places in the Middle East I'd shipped to is the various US military bases. Those should be relatively hassle-free.

 

[CafeineCake]

From experience the real issue is customs not shipping, i mean you get random stuff lost in shipping but with about the same rate as anywere else, it is just F&^%%@#&* customs that fuck it up. So i would say with not so expensive items/non-rare ship everywere, for expensive stuff stick to local sales.
It pains me alot to say that, because it always seems the US has the cool stuff and i cant seem to be able to get my hand on anything in .nl.

 

[Renmauzo]

For me, the simple fact of the matter is I can't accurately track an international package except by FedEx or UPS, and using them for international is very, very expensive. For anything I sell in public I'll state "US Only" but I have made exceptions for forum people I know, and have sent many inexpensive items to Canada.

It seems to me like shipping internationally in the US is a huge hassle, while it's a piece of cake in many other parts of the world, especially countries that rely heavily on exports. It blows my mind that someone can ship me a controller from Hong Kong and I get it in a week on a $20 item with free shipping.

I've always found that odd as well. It's pretty 50/50 when it comes to US transactions; they're either within 4 days, or they take 3-4 weeks. Conversely, the last kit i bought came from the UK and it got here in 3 and a half days. I'm really glad folks here send to Canada, or it would be virtually impossible to get the kits I'm after