Shipping Overseas from the US

[AndyHayes]

There are a number of people who have put pens up for sale in the US who wont ship overseas, possibly due to a bad experience. I respect your right to make that choice, but I wonder what would persuade you to change your mind.

 

I have seen some pens that I would really be keen to get my hands on, but that the seller wouldn't ship to me.

 

What would make the difference to you? How about if I provided references from other FPN sellers that I have dealt with? Or what about if I let you hold onto my money for x days and then you shipped? Or is there something else that would persuade you, or are you beyond persuasion!?

 

I am not just asking from a personal point of view, I am asking for all say UK buyers. I am ignoring import duties issues at this stage.

 

Answer here or send me a PM if you would prefer.

[jmkeuning]

One of the first pens that I sold went to a buyer in England who had me ship it to France. The buyer had two posts here on FPN. I was nervous because I had recently bought a pen from a seller in France and it took 6 weeks to get to me. -- I did not want trouble from an unknown buyer. So, there's that.

 

Then, there is the problem with having to go to the post office. I can print domestic labels and drop the packages in the mailbox. For international, I need to go to the post office. So, there's that on top of it.

 

Also, for domestic buyers, the buyer knows (and I know) that I can always track the person down. Not that I would use extra-legal remedies... there is nothing illegal about knocking on someone's door with a bunch of your friends! So, there is that on top of all that!

 

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I recently sold about ten pens here. I noted, and posted, that shipping in the US was $1.13; shipping to AUS and the UK was $.91.

 

I just bought a pen from Jim in Australia and then sold him one in a separate transaction. I find those deals to be very satisfying. Sort of personal international relations, if you will. Some people are not interested in such transactions!

 

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I will act as intermediary in deals for people. You can pay, I can pay and you pay me, or whatever. I work two blocks from the post office so forwarding is no big deal to me!

 

 

[AndyHayes]

I will act as intermediary in deals for people. You can pay, I can pay and you pay me, or whatever. I work two blocks from the post office so forwarding is no big deal to me!

 

Now this is a great idea. You could take a cut from each party then everyone is happy! Can we trust you though :roflmho:

[I am not a number]

The element of risk lies with our postal service... Luckily the seasonal workers dragged in off the streets can do little to further undermine the core values of the revamped Royal Mail.

[jmkeuning]

I thought that the Royal Mail was supposed to be the best in the world... isn't everything there delivered the next day?

[AndyHayes]

Sometimes the same day. I had one that was posted at 11:30 and delivered to me at 13:45

 

Then again I had one recently that took over two weeks to get to me by first class.

 

Recently they have found some sacks of mail at the local-ish office Aberdeen that were last years xmas mail that had been overlooked!!

[wdyasq]

I've shipped several things overseas that eBay sellers wouldn't. It does take a trip to the Post Office and the filling out of customs forms. Where I am now living, it isn't a problem. When I lived in in a large city, I heard reference to the Post Orifice. A visit to said place, the time spent in line, the treatment at the counter reinforced the named reference was not of an ear, mouth or nose. Why would one want to subject themselves to such time and abuse for a minimal return.

 

From that point of view one goes to the nice folks in 'customs' of another country. While your customs may be great, there are some countries where it is common for valued items to just disappear.

 

I just let things like that slide. If I lived overseas, I would just ask. If it were too much trouble I would try to arrange for the item to be purchased and shipped by a trusted one there or just gather a batch up and ship by personal carrier.

 

But, I will again reflect, if I have a successful business selling 'whatever', why should I go to a greater trouble for an overseas customer without just compensation? As jmkeuning stated, he has to go to the post office to ship overseas. To him, and to me, it is not a big deal. If I had to go to a large Post Office and fight the orifices there, I'd have a different attitude. If I shipped to a country that had a problem with long delivery times or missing packages ... forget it.

 

Ron

 

 

[Opus104]

I have no such shipping issues. As long as expenses are covered and Paypal clears. I'm always a bit nervous until I get a delivery confirmation, regardless of where I send a pen. I always use priority mail service.

[AndyHayes]

Sometimes it might be the difference between selling it overseas or not selling it at all I suppose. Yes it is extra aggro, but I tend to think of the joy on my face when a really nice pen turns up in the post. If my wandering up the road to the Post Office (I walk to it) makes someone smile when they get their parcel then I am glad to have been part of that. It is less of a commercial transaction when I sell something these days and more to offer something to someone at a reasonable price that will make them happy. But perhaps I am just getting old and soft. I must be because I generally give stuff away to save the hassle of selling it.

[jmkeuning]

I will trade pens for Kinder Eggs.

[RaymondvW]

Do the eggs need to arrive in one piece? :roflmho:

[I am not a number]

I will trade pens for Kinder Eggs.

By Kinder do you mean organic free-range?

 

(IANAN does't do smilies, but if he did...)

[artaddict]

Shipping overseas means an extra step of filling out a Customs form. So far it has been pretty smooth - I've shipped to Australia, Norway, the Netherlands. Hopefully the one I sent to Italy has arrived too.

[AndyHayes]

I wish you luck with the Italy package. They seem to have a fairly hopeless reputation for lost packages.

[Ghost Plane]

I currently have a complaint in with the Consumer Affairs branch of the US Post Office. Be interesting to see if I actually get the promised call back. If you had to deal with my delivery [or lack thereof] and the snarling incompetency of the local office AFTER spending nearly an hour in line, you might not want to deal with them either. Additionally there's the need to actually go there and get forms, get weighed, etc. Often I have to go through the line TWICE just to get one parcel gone. It's SO not worth it.

[artaddict]

I wish you luck with the Italy package. They seem to have a fairly hopeless reputation for lost packages.

 

Now ya got me worried. I'm going to PM the buyer right now.

[RaymondvW]

I personally think that the newly revamped international shipping methods of the USPS are great. Especially the priority one. Costs $11 for a large envelope (amazing what fits in there) and something like $20 for a standard package. Shipping times to NL are a matter of days (excluding the time spent at customs, which averages 3-6 working days), and best of all: it's trackable online.

Always nice to read that your package has gone "into foreign customs" (NOT! :ltcapd: )

[AndyHayes]

I pay up to $40 for shipping USPS from the US to the UK, but the goods have always got here without problem so it still seems reasonable to me, especially when you consider the savings on a pen.

[I am not a number]

There is also the fact that buying a pen made in England from a seller in the US is invariably cheaper than buying it in the here.

 

You also have a much wider range of pen sellers.

[James P]

I have shipped, literally, thousands of packages, with a good deal of those going overseas. I think I've shipped to every continent with the exception of Antartica, and dozens of countries and have never lost a package (as a result of postal issues. Corporate mail rooms are another story).

 

There is a little more effort, but international postage labels and customs forms can be printed online, so there's no trip to the Post office necessary. You can either use USPS.com, or PayPal to print labels and pay postage to virtually any country in the world.

 

I have issues with shipping overseas, but none of them are post-office related. Instead, it has to do with the limitations of my shopping cart software, which means that each order needs to be manually processed. And that is a relatively time-consuming process. The other issue is that accepting cross-border payments often means I get hit with considerably higher fees from payment processors - either PayPal or a credit card company.

 

But I consider those charges to be a cost of doing business, and I will not pass those additional costs onto a buyer. Even if they offer. I hope that the goodwill that generates more than compensates for the few dollars those transactions cost.

 

James