posted on March 30, 2001 04:24:03 PM
I posted this on another board, but nobody seems to be over there so I thought I would try here.
I had two auctions go to International buyers. One from New Zeland and one Canada.
In my auctions in bold I ask that International bidders email for a quote before bidding because all jewelry items must be insured and that will greatly impact the shipping cost.
Well, neither of these did that. When they responded to the EOA, they gave me their destinations and added "send it cheapest way".
I always look up "restrictions/observation" for each country I will be shipping to and when I looked up NZ it stated that if the item is commercial and not a gift, it must have 2 invoices on a special form that is available "from any business that sell forms". Not around here and even my local PO doesn't know where to get them! One goes with the package and one goes seperately (they recommend airmail so it arrives ahead of the package) to the buyer so he can use it to pick the item up. It also states that buyers must "obtain" an importers license "available through the postal service" to pick the item up!!!! Now I don't know if they enforce all of this, but I don't want to send out an item and have it get hung up in customs! I sent a quote to the buyer of $11.65 for REGISTERED LETTER PACKAGE.
When I looked up Canada, it stated that "all jewelry items MUST be sent REGISTERED"! The cost there is $9.60 for RLP.
Both buyers have responded to just send it REGULAR MAIL.
Now what am I suppose to do. I cannot afford to pay the difference nor should I be expected to! I only have the information on the USPS website to go by and I assume it is accurate. There are some countries that REQUIRE jewelry to be insured/registered! If they had emailed and I had sent them the above quote, then they could have just passed the auction up if they thought it was too high!
Both of the buyers say they have bought many times from all over the world and they have never had a problem with the items being sent regular mail UNINSURED! How did they get around the "restrictions"?????
posted on March 30, 2001 04:36:33 PM
The simple answer to your question " How did they get around the "restrictions"?????" is they ignore them.
Rightly or wrongly, the sheer volume of mail moving in any one place makes it pretty unlikely your particular piece of post will be pulled. And the consequences to you of having that piece of post pulled are likely to be trivial.
Jewellery can be confiscated, and you will probably receive a warning (unless you are sending something incredibly valuable, in which case you may come in for a great deal more hassle).
In the grand scheme of things, single parcels to single buyers from a seller is unlikely to be worth the while of a foreign government to pursue you.
If the buyers are willing to risk uninsured, you just have to decide whether you will be. If they have paid by credit card, and eventually do not get their parcel (for whatever reason), you could be liable for a chargeback if the goods are not insured.
posted on March 30, 2001 04:36:38 PM
First you need to be familiar with the USPS site for International mail. The link is:
http://ircalc.usps.gov/
Punch in your shipment and you will see links for prohibitions, forms, customs, etc... See if any of those links provide what you need.
Regarding registered mail - if they want it regular mail, do so. Tell them they are responsible for the loss and make sure you are being pay either via cash or money order. This will prevent any chargebacks. I am not sure if you have any risk if paid via Bidpay and item is loss.
You might want to do a proof of mailing. I think cost is about 75 cents. This will help to prove that you did send item out.
Regarding customs form, your post office will tell you when they run the item through what form is required. Regarding what value to put on, I would mark it gift or merchandise with minimal value. I know, everyone on this board tells you to declare exactly what is in there. However, unless you are shipping something dangerous, I am not sure anyone in the U.S. post office cares. Also, such declarations would make some of those forms unnecessary.
Problem with declaring the true value is that the item may never get there. Also, for some countries, sending anything registered would guarantee it NEVER gets there. You have better chance with just ordinary mail.
By the way, you failed to indicate the value of the items. If very pricey, I would reconsider the whole transaction and may want to pursue other strategies.
posted on March 30, 2001 05:06:22 PM
Thanks mivona I sorta figured maybe that was the case. However, my local PO clerks (very small town) grab the "BOOK" they don't trust the WEBSITE and pour over everything! Talking them into looking the other way may be impossible....
laum1 I did check out the website that's why I am concerned. They have very tough requirements in some countries!
As to REGISTERED mail. I am told it is the safest way BECAUSE it has to be signed by EVERYONE who handles it!
In most cases to INSURE you have to use parcel post and it cost about twice what REGISTERED does.
Secondly, REGISTERED usually allows you to enter an amount up to $1000 for indemnity so that takes care of the INSURANCE in a round-about way. Some countries, AUSTRALIA for one and NEW ZEALAND as I just discovered, only offer the Indemnity up to $40 on REGISTERED so you have to go ahead and send it a method that allows insurance if over that amount.
I would like to make these deals work to avoid FB problems, but I don't want to send them uninsured without something in WRITING from the buyers stating they assume full responsibility. Not that it would be worth anything, but it would make me feel better. These items went for low prices (win some lose some-I gambled and lost) BUT they can't be replaced. They are c1930 and handmade. The customs form will show what was PAID by the buyer. EVEN with double the shipping cost they both would still be making a good deal....just not the buy of a lifetime!
I understand you concerns. I am making suggestions based on my experiences of shipping overseas.
By the way, it is not true that register mail has to be sign everywhere. That is only applicable to the U.S. Once it leaves the U.S., it is subject to the rules of the destination country. The rules there may be quite lax. In fact, if you review register mail from certain country, some of them comes with very low postage. That is because registered mail is almost like regular mail and not subject to any special handling till it gets to the U.S.
Anyway, I think you will put yourself thru a lot of grief if you do try to get all the forms and everything. Since it is not expensive items, I would simply send it regular mail after getting emails from the buyers confirming they are responsible for loss. If you are really concern, do the proof of mailing.
Also, I do not know the size of your items. But, with packaging, will they fit in the global priority mail envelopes? If yes, less chance of them even being check.
posted on March 30, 2001 06:55:36 PM
HI With bidpay you are safe. I like them for overseas deals. Once you get the second e mail from them you can ship. No worrys about charge backs with them. Canada is just as easy. Small packet air Is best for small Items. If they want cheap mailing thats fine, But they take the risk. I just use the small custom slips for the Small stuff, anything after that is their concern. Hope It all works out fine for you.
posted on March 31, 2001 02:13:36 AM
Just a quick thought... Registered post in the UK doesn't cover cash, uncrossed money orders or jewellery - so sending jewllery by registered post doesn't really work.
I wouldn't sweat the NZ "importation" stuff. This is a one-off, secondhand parcel. It is not like you are going to be sending a stream of these things to the buyer. If you don't get hung up on the "merchandise" thing, and they will absolutely agree that THEY are taking the insurance risk, it should be easy.
Another option is to look into independent insurance - UPIC? (I can't remember if that is the right one...). Several posters have said they use it for insurance on posted items.
