posted on August 29, 2001 05:41:13 PM
I am from Canada and from what I've read so far, I would not expect that the seller was shipping Internationally for the price stated.
If the seller stated within the body of their auction that they shipped worldwide for $5.20, then I would believe that.
That is not what they did. They checked "Ships Internationally", they checked "See Description for Shipping Info" and then placed a generic shipping rate in the body of their auction that probably covered 99% of their customers (the ones in the USA).
Even though they have a high feedback (1000+), it is not surpising that they have not run into this problem before. Most Non-US bidders expect to pay more for shipping than what is stated. If they are running into the same level of Non-US bidders as I am (2-3%) then they would have had the possiblity of a problem maybe 30-40 times since they have been selling.
But, like I said, most Non-US bidders expect to pay more for shipping. That means they probably haven't had anyone try to hold them to something that they did not intend.
Our IDs have a combined feedback level of over 15,000. We still run into little variations that people throw at us that cause us grief. Our TOS within the auction is pretty specific now because it has been refined over the last 3 years.
It is not too surprising, to me, that this seller had not adjusted their TOS to be more specific yet. But I bet they will in the future! It can take some time to get around to modifying your auctions so be patient with them. On the other hand, they may consider lowprofile to be an anomaly and not bother to modify until someone else makes the same mistake.
It looks like the situation is now resolved but I think amy explained the situation best with the shipping totals. I seriously doubt this person was trying to rip anyone off and I don't think lowprofile was trying to rip anyone off either. I do think lowprofile misinterpreted the intentions of the seller by assuming something that was not true (though it may have seemed true to lowprofile).
posted on August 29, 2001 05:49:06 PMI can't understand how you can expect the rate to be the same for domestic as international, even though it's just across the border.
Capriole,
There are sellers who have a fixed rate for shipping anywhere in the world. On several of my items, I have a single rate worldwide & others here have stated they have a single worldwide rate as well.
Not everything has a drastic difference in shipping price. I shipped something yesterday to both buyers in the U.S. and a buyer in Canada. The difference in postage, less than 50 cents.
posted on August 29, 2001 06:14:44 PM
Amazing! I can only assume that those that are confused here don't ship internationally so they don't realize that something weighing btwn 1 & 2 lbs that isn't that big either can be shipped pretty much anywhere for a very low cost using Air Letter Post...
Maybe the seller ships the same or similar items all the time and some he sends next door and some to China so it evens out in the end and he just uses $5.20 for all of them...
Therefore, it would be conceivable that it could go anywhere for the $5.20 that was stated in the auction.
posted on August 29, 2001 07:20:37 PM
Well, I'm definitely not "confused" here, I understand things quite clearly and am mostly playing the devil's advocate role by now. I think we all agree the main point is that the sellers need to specifically say to what country(ies) their rate applies to, and the buyers shouldn't assume anything.
And with that, I'll go have myself a Grapico(?) and drop out of this.
posted on August 29, 2001 07:38:28 PM
"Amazing! I can only assume that those that are confused here don't ship internationally so they don't realize that something weighing btwn 1 & 2 lbs that isn't that big either can be shipped pretty much anywhere for a very low cost using Air Letter Post..."
Really? And how low is a very low cost?
go to the postal charts and do some comparing...
for 1 pound package, 1.5 pound, and 2 pound packages....
United Arab Emerates $9.25 $12.45 $15.65
..these rates seem to be consistant in most African, Asian, South American countrys (I looked at Algeria, Argentina, Bermuda and South Africa.)
Belgium and western Europe was $8.70, $11 $13.50
Australia is $9.70, $12.30 and $14.90
Mexico is $5.15, $7.45 and $9.75
Canada is $3.75, $5.05 and $6.35
All of these rates assume the package WOULD have complied with the size limitations of letter post. If they did not, the rates skyrocket!
Lowprofile...you read the ad...what were the dimensions of this plaque?
posted on August 29, 2001 07:47:04 PM
update here. I have added to my auctions that have listed yesterday and in the furture, "that all international bidders are to email me for a shipping quote, and not to go by the one stated in the auction". ...............Just to let you know, I had auctions close yesterday, with OUT this info in it, I had 3 buyers from canada EMAIL me when the auction ended, and let me know they were from canada, and what is the shipping amount that they needed to pay..........I just love my buyers and a big thank you to all........... good night all.
