posted on March 7, 2005 05:09:29 PM
ITALY HAS GOTTEN FASTER WITH THE CUSTOMS CHECK.IT IS EXPENSIVE TO SHIP THERE.
JUST FIGURE OUT WHAT YOUR THRESHOLD IS FOR A LOSS, IF THEY DON'T GET THE ITEM. CAN I AFFORD THE LOSS? THEN EITHER SELL INTERNATIONALLY OR YOU DON'T?
WE DEAL IN SMALLS TO WWII COLLECTORS AND IT IS REALLY AN INTERNATIONAL MARKET.WE DO NOT HEAR OFTEN FROM THE NIGERIA'S ETC.. ON ITEMS WHICH ARE IN THE FRAUD CATAGORIES OF COMPUTORS ELECTRONICS ETC. JUST BE CAREFUL OUT THERE. AGAIN CAN YOU AFFORD THE LOSS?
THEN DO BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY AND FOLLOW ALL THE CUSTOMS AND PACKING PROCEDURES AND HAPPY SELLING.
posted on March 11, 2005 05:43:30 AM
Hey Wayne - I just sold a leather box to a guy in Italy. How did your transaction go and how did your buyer pay??
tnx
I actually cancelled the transaction, filed for FVF, and the buyer was okay with it. It wasn't a pricey box for me so it just wasn't worth the possible problems. Had it been the one that sold for $300+, I might have tried to figure out a way to make it work.
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
posted on March 11, 2005 11:46:21 AM
I would NEVER SHIP anything larger than a video to Italy.
For one it isn't so much a customs issue.... they frankly don't care so much about that.
The issue is the lazy and corrupt postal system. These people live in a system where public transportation goes on strike every 3rd week for a day and their Parliament crumbles every other year. So shopping from the mail bin under an ambivilent system means your package may not get to your paying customer.
Another big issue is the housing in Italy. And really any major city in Europe.
You've all seen the beautiful buildings people live in right???
WHERE ARE THE MAIL BOXES??
Inside the PORTONE (big door) there is an apartment style wall unit for mail. The kind you'd see on an old small building of 8-10 apartments. If it doesn't fit in the box it will sit on the ground.
If the Portone is left open and it is quite often during the day any passerby/neighbor/thief/gypsy/tourist can easily see it and pick it up.
I LIVED THERE SO I KNOW
Any package I had sent to me I had it delivered to my friends restaurant where I KNEW it would be accepted and not abandoned.
Shipping a package out of Italy was a whole new level of suckiness. Any package over a couple pounds had to be in a sturdy box AND
A. Wrapped in brown paper
B. All seams and paper folds had to be sealed with tape
C. It had to also be bound with twine or Jute and the knots had to be sealed with metal clamps.
