posted on July 9, 2001 12:35:50 PM new
NEED SOME ADVICE ON INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.
I HAVE PEOPLE E-MAILING ASKING IF I WOULD SHIP TO THEIR COUNTRY SINCE I STATE THAT I SHIP TO USA ONLY. CAN ANY ONE TELL ME THE
UP SIDE & DOWN SIDE TO SHIPPING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY,SUCH AS MONEY EXCHANGE,AIRMAIL,
AND RETURNS ETC. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE
ANY INFO. THANKS
PAT
posted on July 9, 2001 12:37:38 PM new
Certain countries (e.g. Indonesia) are notorious for fraud. If you send anything there you are asking to be defrauded.
posted on July 9, 2001 12:40:47 PM new
i would suggest making bidpay your ONLY payment option for int'l winners....excluding canada that is.......i have had over 100 int'l sales, zero problems.have sold to japan, netherlands, belgium, germany, argentina, austrealia, england, iceland, spain among others...all paid with bidpay and i did not ship until i recv'd m.o from bidpay.....to me the biggest hassle has been shipping quotes.....i find that sometimes when i get an online quote it is different than what the postal thugs want ot try and charge me...thats why i alwaysprint a copy of the online quote and then dicker with them if there is an increase at the counter..usually have to see the postmaster or supervisor but i have nto lost yet
posted on July 9, 2001 12:54:05 PM new
When I listed on Yahoo about 25% of my shipments were International. For some reason ebay does not seem to have as a big an International following.
I have never had a problem with these shipments. Packages get to Hong Kong faster than they get to California for some reason.
I ship Global Priority most times. If insurance is necessary I use Express. I use airmail if the customer wants to save money. I have never had a shipment go missing. I have sent at least 50 packages, mostly Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. I don't offer returns, so that was never an issue.
Once these buyers find a seller they are comfortable with, they will stick with them. Almost all of mine were repeat buyers.
The only snag I have come accross is online payment. I state in my auction that International bidders wishing to pay by PayPal should sign up with them before bidding. I had one or two winners try to sign up after winning who weren't approved. Believe it or not I've gotten U.S. currency as payment from different countries. BidPay seems to be the most trouble free for International payments.
I miss my International customers. I find them very pleasant to deal with. They will aslo pay a premium for items they cannot get where they are. I plan on contacting some of them and asking them to visit me on ebay. If that doesn't work I might start putting a few things on Yahoo again.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:00:09 PM new
Also, as far as payment goes: other than online payments I only accept International Money Order. These are available in post offices in most countries, are payable in U.S. dollars, and there is no problem when you deposit it with your bank. Foreign customers have no problem obtaining sending U.S. funds.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:03:06 PM new
One more thought- I once had a winner ask me for my bank account number so they could wire funds. Needless to say I declined.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:03:40 PM new
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP
I DONT HAVE BIDPAY,DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. PAY PAL IS ALL THAT I HAVE AT THIS TIME.
SO THE CONVERT MONEY TO US DOLLARS. DOES IT TAKE VERY LONG FOR THIS PROCESS?
I HAVE A GUY WANTING TO SEND U.S.DOLLARS IN CASH? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
PAT
posted on July 9, 2001 01:08:26 PM new
Sign up for PayPal depends on the country. I have had customers be able to use it immediatley, and others take a week or more. Also, PayPal is not available for all countries. There is a list on their website. I say take the cash if your afraid of a delay. You should have it about 6 days from when they mail it.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:11:16 PM new
For payment, I've gotten international (Pink)postal moneyorders from Canada, Italy and Japan (Our post office will cash 'em at the same time you mail the package )
Aussie's and Brit's seem to like to pay in US Greenbacks, and that's fine, but don't let them make you responsable for lost payments I never had a payment like this lost, but one from Austraila took 6 weeks via Air Mail. We (the buyer and I) both thought it was "lost" after a month, and he resent, I got the second payment, shipped, and here came the first payment, correctly addressed.... I mailed it back to him.
Bidpay works great. You get a western union money order issued out of New York.
I've had a few overseas buyers that had US bank accounts, and send checks drawn on banks in the states. One I was worried about came from a buyer in Hong Kong, but the check cleared the California Bank just fine.
Some international buyers are BIG SPENDERS, and I LIKE big spenders.
Who Need's a stink'n Sig. File?
posted on July 9, 2001 01:11:28 PM new
I've had international buyers pay with PayPal, Billpoint, BidPay, even with personal checks drawn on US banks.
Basically, I don't find that international buyers are trouble at all and I welcome their business. Most are quite friendly and happy to find US sellers who welcome their business.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:17:46 PM new
Pat, you should give Bidpay a try. It is nothing like the other services. There is no "account". It is strictly transactional. A customer purchases a Western Union Money Order and it is mailed to you from Bidpay. End of story.
This ususally takes one day. Once Bidpay says they have mailed it to you it is garanteed payable. There is no account where your money sits, no link to your checking account, and are no fees to the seller. The money order usually arrives in 5 days.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:49:39 PM newOne more thought- I once had a winner ask me for my bank account number so they could wire funds. Needless to say I declined
Actually, this is a very common way of doing business in Europe & other countries. A wire transfer directly into your account is quite safe.
I wire transfer money all the time to other countries without problem. The last wire transfer I did was an internal U.S. transfer for $30,000.
If you ever sent anyone a check, your giving them the VERY same information that's required (plus more) on a wire transfer.
I'd take a wire transfer ANY DAY over PayPal, BillPoint, even Bidpay.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:02:51 PM new
Eventer is correct. With a wire transfer they can put money into your account but they are unable to take it out.
Just check with your bank to see if there are charges for this.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:03:02 PM new
phawthorne...You'll just LOVE your international customers...unfailingly polite, responsive and quick to pay. Would that ALL eBay customers were so easy to deal with. Plus, they all know how expensive it can be to ship overseas so I've never had anyone haggle over shipping. I accept only BidPay (although a few have sent cash with no problems)...it's super simple and, in my experience, 100% reliable, safe and foolproof. You'll have to complete customs tags when mailing...I keep a stack handy so I can fill them out when I'm packing the item.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:13:24 PM new
Just a footnote to all the above. Don't forget that most things are more expensive in European and (developed) Asian countries. They don't mind paying the extra it costs to ship because they are used to high prices. Any one been to Japan recently??? Not cheap.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:17:07 PM new
I'm with the folks here who like doing internat'l sales. I take International Money Orders and BidPay only - I won't take online payments from anywhere except the US and Canada, and I "open" my PayPal account to let my Canadian buyers pay, then restrict it back to US only. (My bank does charge for money wired in, so I don't offer that option.)
You don't have to register with BidPay, they'll send you the money order your customer has purchased whether you register with them or not. Some people ship when notified by BidPay; I prefer to ship when I actually get the MO.
Often cash is sent - I love cash - it's always the right size and the right color.
Down side: a little extra work. When I have an interna'l buyer, I ask them to give me 24 hours to get a quote for them. I don't like the Intern'l Rate Calculator online, so I take the packages physically and have my postal folks commit to a price. So, your transaction may take a little longer. The customs forms are really no harder to fill out than US Delivery Confirmations - a little more info, but nothing you can't handle.
On the whole, I've found international customers very easy to deal with!
posted on July 9, 2001 02:18:14 PM new
Hi Pat,
I am an International trader and have traded with 23 different countries. I can send you US$ cash if you wish, it might have come from Hungary, but it is still US$ cash. I can also pay you in US$ with Paypal. Have fun with International trading, I will ALWAYS outbid a US buyer on a lot I want.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:49:39 PM new
YOU GUY'S AND GAL'S HAVE JUST MADE MY DAY!!!!
CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH !!!!!
IF I HAD A SMILEY I WOULD STICK IT ON
posted on July 9, 2001 03:52:35 PM new
I appreciate my international buyers so much, I sometimes wish there was an option for no US buyers...the "local's" are the ones that cause all my headaches!
All those threads ARE right..Canadian's CAN'T read! Which part of internal U.S. transfer don't you understand? Or have you moved to the U.S. while I was gone for a couple of weeks?
posted on July 11, 2001 05:45:32 PM new
I have to agree with the general consensus on the board that without a doubt International buyers are great.
I've had no difficulties at all, and that includes buyers from Uganda (a Brit working there), Cyprus, Turkey, and Iceland. The majority of buyers are not shocked at all by the cost to ship overseas.
)
