posted on October 17, 2001 05:36:24 PM new
I recently sold an item to a buyer in Australia: He wrote back after the auction and said:
(Buyer) Hi
>>>Please advise me of the air mail uninsured postage to Australia
>>>and I will pay by billpoint.Postage is generally about $5 plus
>>>packing charges
(My response) "Hello John Doe,
>>
>>
>>It should weigh about 9 oz (0.25 kg).
>>
>>Air Mail (4-7 Days estimated) $8.90
>>Economy Surface (4-6 weeks estimate) $4.60
>>
>>Insurance is included with whatever method you choose. Be patient
>>if
>>you choose Economy. Mail has been running slow lately.
>>
(Buyer's reply)Thanks.economy air will do.I will pay by billpoint. Do you need to
>send me a bill? (I sent him a billpoint invoice as he requested)
Along with the Billpoint invoice I included
the following comment is the Seller's message area:
"Sorry it took me so long. Postage is for
Economy Surface rate as requested. Please
be patient. It says 4-6 weeks but it could
be longer or (hopefully) shorter.
He did go ahead an pay the invoice. I shipped the item the next day and sent him a
notice yesterday saying that his item shipped.
(Buyer's reply to my ship notice): "Hello,
Just checked my original email to you and I requested UNINSURED AIR mail.I do not want to wait 10 weeks which is the minimum for sea mail.
noBODY WOULD WANT SUCH A SMALL LIGHT PACKAGE SENT BY SEA."
____________________________________
When he asked for postage I sent him the rates for Surface Economy and Air Mail, he said Economy Air is fine. I did send
it Economy and noted that in the invoice which he paid.
Here are the rates according to
USPS for a 9 0z. parcel going to Australia:
The package actually weighhed closer to
8 ounces. However, he said Economy was fine
and the rate wouldn't have changed.
I did add a $0.50 charge for handling
(which he also mentioned when I gave him the
inital rates. I used this $0.50 to cover insurance since I insure everything. I could've also used it to cover packing supplies but I didn't.
Question(s): Buyer said in e-mail that Economy Air was fine. I took this to mean
USPS Economy and have been told by the USPS that there is no such thing as Economy Air.
Does anyone know what he meant when he said Economy Air? (Perhaps someone from Australia will read this)
Question 2: USPS says that delivery time to Australia is 4-6 weeks. My buyer says a minimum of 10. Has anyone had experience
with sending Economy to Australia?
Question 3: He is confused as am I. I have included the complete correspondence so that you can see the whole picture. If mistakes were made, where do you think they were made and who made them?
If you have anything else to add about how you would hanfle this situation, I would appreciate it.
BTW, I insure through u-pic.com.
[ edited by professorhiggins on Oct 17, 2001 05:42 PM ]
posted on October 17, 2001 05:43:47 PM new
When he said to you "economy air is fine", I thought either he made a typo, or he was trying to create a misunderstanding. If USPS has told you that economy surface is 4-6 weeks then that's how long it is. I don't know why he would say 10 weeks. Maybe the post office in Australia has some sort of service that takes 10 weeks, but it clearly should not take that long. Economy air as he stated does not exist, but clearly since he stated "economy" I would have taken that to mean surface and not air. He clearly only wanted to pay no more then $5.00 as well since he stated to you from the beginning that he thought that should be the charge. I would just advise him that he clearly stated to you he wanted ECONOMY shipping, and assure him it should not take 10 weeks.
posted on October 17, 2001 05:49:08 PM new
Sounds like it was a miscommunication.
I think you should have double checked with him, when he said "economy AIR"
If I had gotten a mail like that, I would have double checked to be SURE that surface was what he wanted.
There is nothing you can do now, but pray he does not do a chargeback. As for requesting uninsured mail, that is typical of a scammer. If he claims he never received it, and it is uninsured, he knows there is no way to track international mail, so a chargeback would be granted.
How large was the package, and why couldn't it go small global priority envelope?
As far as surface, those estimates are just that.......estimates.
Even though the USPS says 4-6 weeks, they have no control over the mail once it leaves the country. I have had packages take 10-12 weeks going surface even though the USPS says 4-6 weeks.
posted on October 17, 2001 05:53:30 PM new
I think when the buyer wrote this:
<<Thanks.economy air will do.>>
You should have questioned him/her further.
You did not quote an "economy air".
And since he only asked for an air price I would never offer a surface shipping price. It is true, it takes way too long.
Also, would your item have fit in the small global priority envelope? That would be $5.00. You get a lower shipping price and air.
~Not barrelracer on ebay, don't pick on them!~
posted on October 17, 2001 05:53:40 PM new
The thing that is especially puzzling
to me is that Austrlia does have a service
called Economy Air (i've ordered from Australia before). However, the U.S. does not have such a service. I even asked a USPS guy and he assured me the post office has no such service.
When I told him that Australia does, he smiled
at me and said "what do they do...keep it in storage for a week and then throw it on a plane.
Just thought I would add this bit of information if it helps anyone offer advice.
When I saw the word Economy I sent it by Economy (which also matched more closely his
$5.00 estimate).
posted on October 17, 2001 06:00:34 PM new
I didn't think about a Global Priority Envelope because that service didn't cross my mind.
It was a DVD so perhaps it would've worked.
I obviously won't be able to tell now.
posted on October 17, 2001 06:31:01 PM new
Just all-around miscommunication. It happens, but it can get ugly. I think I'd be inclined to ask you why you offered a surface rate, when his initial request was for "economy air".
I put myself in your shoes, and ran the 8 oz package through the USPS international calculator. The options that popped out were:
$5.00 for the small Global Priority envelope
$7.10 for airmail letter post (which is the closest thing to economy air in my mind)
$14.50 for airmail parcel post.
I'm not sure how you found a $8.90 option (unless you're adding handling).
If I were you, I'd be making my very contrite apologies.
posted on October 17, 2001 06:38:35 PM new
When I gave him the initial rates I thought the
package would weigh around 8.5 ounces. When I gave him the rates I based them on a 9 ounce parcel. Since he chose economy the rate wasn't affected. If he would've taken the $8.90 option (actually $8.40 + $0.50 packing/insurance charge) I would've given him a refund for the shipping difference through billpoint since that is how he paid me in the
first place.
The parcel actually only weighed 7.8 ounces
but I didn't know that until I had packed it.
[ edited by professorhiggins on Oct 17, 2001 08:21 PM ]
posted on October 17, 2001 07:18:37 PM new
I see, now.
What an unfortunate mess. My thoughts are still to apologize and do as much damage control as possible. I don't believe the buyer is trying to scam you, I think s/he's just very disappointed, whether it'll take 4-6 weeks, or 10 weeks.
posted on October 17, 2001 11:38:08 PM new
Hi Prof, It looks like no Aussies have replied to you yet, so here goes.
I am a seller in Australia and I can see where the confusion has arisen.
From here we have three basic postal services for overseas mail.
AIR MAIL. Delivery is 5 to 7 days.
ECONOMY AIR MAIL. Delivery is normally 3 weeks.
SURFACE MAIL. Delivery time is aprx. 12 weeks.
What happens with Air Mail is this. Anything sent Airmail goes straight through the system and is delivered to you within a 5 to 7 day timeframe.
Items marked Economy Air Mail are not rushed through but go into a queue. They will not be kept in this queue for more than two weeks.
Sometimes, if the plane carrying AIRMAIL is not completely full, it is filled up to capacity by topping up the payload from items put aside as Economy Mail, so sometimes, if payloads and the volume of Airmail is low, items posted Economy can often arrive overseas very quickly.
With regard to price, the postage cost to Australians for Economy Air Mail is aprx. half that of Airmail.
e.g. An item sent by AIRMAIL costing say $30.00, can be sent via ECONOMY AIRMAIL for $15.00.
To address your final issue, I have found that despite what your postal services quote as being 6 to 8 weeks leadtime for your Surface Mail, it is most often 10 to 12 weeks before we receive the package.
Sorry if this is long winded but I hope it clarifies things for you.
posted on October 18, 2001 03:02:59 AM new
Hi Prof,
How are you "insuring" the package? Letter Post (either surface or airmail) and Global Priority are not insurable. Are you taking on the risk yourself? In order for the package to be insured you need to ship regular surface or airmail. These are almost twice the price, which is why your customer didn't want insurance to begin with. I don't believe He/She is a scammer.
My impression of the customers email is that they wanted airmail.
posted on October 18, 2001 06:21:33 AM new
I've sent items to Australia before. Unfortunately, despite what the USPS site says about Surface mail taking 4 to 6 weeks, forget it. It will take 2 to 3 months, no matter if it's Australia or possibly even Great Britain. I know because International customers have told me so. 2 months after I ship, and they're still waiting for their package.
So, in my auction ads I specify 2-3 weeks for Surface to Canada and 2-3 months for Surface elsewhere. I repeat this in my EOA notices as well.
And since your buyer mentioned both Economy and Air in the same phrase, that's a dead giveaway that he didn't know what he was talking about in regards to the options your quote and further clarification was needed before shipping.
Now, as the professor stated, u-pic is a viable option here. If you are seriously in doubt as to whether this person might try to scam you, I think you can still insure the package through them since it sounds like it just went out.
posted on October 24, 2001 11:10:14 PM new
Yay! My "problem" is solved. I was very apologetic to the buyer and today he told me that the parcel had arrived today (only 8 days after I mailed it). Even though it was marked SURFACE, it was sent by Air Mail. I was pretty happy.
I'm guessing that my package must have been sent on one of those new USPS flying ships OR
perhaps they put the ship in a plane and flew it over that way!
Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane,
no its A FLYING SHIP!!! The USPS never ceases to amaze me.
I suppose that the fact that it was a very small parcel may have "helped" things.
