ninerfanzz
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posted on October 18, 2004 04:40:23 PM new
I hate shipping globally! All the forms, the hard to understand emails, unconfirmed paypal addresses and no USPS tracking.. but I just cant turn down the money. Is it really worth it to you to ship globally?
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classicrock000
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posted on October 18, 2004 04:54:37 PM new
I have been shipping overseas for 3 years.Its a pain with the customs form,but moneys, money and so far I havent had a problem.....except for the horrible post offices in Canada.
btw-you actually admit your a niners fan??
They lost again yesterday-God do they SUCK
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ninerfanzz
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posted on October 18, 2004 05:06:58 PM new
Ive been shipping overseas for awhile as well. I have had packages lost or stolen. People filing paypal complaints knowing I cannot track the item so if they get it I have no idea and paypal will take their side. Also the forms!! God I had the forms!
Does anyone use Endicia for overseas mailing?
LOL about the Niners. Its ok. All teams go through bad times. Ive been a fan since the early 80s and Im not gonna switch team because of a bad run. Its ok we are still 5 for 5 in Super Bowls which is more than most teams can say.
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OhMsLucy
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posted on October 18, 2004 05:08:28 PM new
Hi Ninerfanzz,
I ship internationally and it's definitely worth it.
There have been several items that probably wouldn't have sold to US buyers for a decent price. Example - a paperweight from the Isle of Wight. Sold to a fellow in England. When I researched it I saw nearly all bidders on similar pieces were from UK.
As far as the customs forms, for the green ones it's not a big deal. I copy/paste the buyer's address to tape on the box anyway (just to be sure I don't goof it up...) So I copy it a couple times more. I tape one to the customs form. Stick my return address label in the sender part.
One caveat - the PO doesn't give back the stub from the green customs form so I run a copy of that to keep, just in case there's any questions.
Re Classic's comment about Canada... I sent a package there on 9/27, it arrived today. That's awful! Shouldn't take that long. No wonder Canadian buyers get upset. Mine didn't. Maybe she understands it's not us, it's their PO.
Lucy
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fenix03
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posted on October 18, 2004 06:11:32 PM new
I ship almost exclusively internationally. I market directly to the UK because many of the items I sell go for much more there than they do on the US site.
The big question in considering feasibility and payoff is - what is it that you are shipping? If your package is under 11oz you don't need a customs form. If you are shipping larger packages that need customs then add an extra buck or two into the postage as your pay for filling out the forms and be glad that you have buyers... A lot of sellers don't 
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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virgo47
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posted on October 18, 2004 06:42:27 PM new
For me the answer is a definite YES.
I get higher bids and faster payment from my International bidders.
I use UPIC insurance and pay a monthly flat rate to insure every parcel I send no matter its destination or method of shipment. This allows me to ship insured via Global Priority or Air Letter Post.
I find the green or white customs forms are simple and no bother.
In over five years I have had only one International parcel go completely missing (on its way to the UK) and UPIC paid my claim in less than three weeks.
Tomorrow I have 160 pieces of jewelry going to Germany. The bidder didn't even blink at the shipping cost and paid within two hours of the invoice.
Maybe the international jewelry bidders that I sell to are unique but they are great and absolutely no problem.
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Libra63
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posted on October 18, 2004 07:37:34 PM new
I ship internationally and many times they pay with money order. Most PayPal and sometimes cash. I have had no problems. I always put a customs for on everything I send. I put a mailing label where my address is and I make a label for my buyer. I fill in the item and price and sign. Takes less than 5 minutes. What is nice is that if you notice on your PO receipt that the customs number is scanned and appears on your receipt. It might not beable to trace but it does give you proof of mailing.
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ninerfanzz
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posted on October 18, 2004 08:41:44 PM new
If it is under 11oz I dont need a customs form? Arrrgh! Why didnt I know that? I sell hats mainly and beanies and most are under 11 oz even if I ship them in a 7x7x7 box. Are you positive I dont need a form under 11oz?
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ninerfanzz
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posted on October 18, 2004 08:46:59 PM new
Here is the info I found on international shipping.. Would a hat be considered dutiable?
If the value of the contents is less than $400.00, affix Customs Form - PS Form 2976 to the exterior of the mailpiece. -If the value of the contents is $400.00 or more, affix the upper portion of the green customs label Customs Form - PS Form 2976 to the exterior of the mailpiece and place a completed Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note - PS Form 2976-A inside the package.
Letter-post items weighing 16 ounces or more, and all potentially dutiable items regardless of their weight, require the applicable customs forms.
A customs form is not required on the following categories of mail:
Non-dutiable letter-post items that weigh less than 16 ounces.
Non-dutiable letter-post items that weigh 16 ounces or more when they are tendered by a known mailer (tenders volume mailings through a Business Mail Entry Unit or other bulk mail acceptance location; completes a statement of mailing at the time of entry; pays postage through an advance deposit account; and utilizes a permit imprint as an indication of postage payment. International Surface Air Lift and International Priority Airmail customers and federal, state, and local government entities are considered to be "known mailers" for this purpose).
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Roadsmith
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posted on October 18, 2004 08:49:33 PM new
Let me tell you what happened at the p.o. today. I had a very small bubble envelope with two vintage metal brooches in it, shipping to Canada via Air Letter Post. The nice older lady clerk asked me what was in it (weighed only about 3 ounces), and I said jewelry. She quickly wrote "jewelry" on the outside of the envelope. I protested that someone could be tempted to steal the envelope and she said oh no, that doesn't happen with things sent to Canada. I didn't fight it--but I probably should have? Just seems so blatant, like "please steal me."
-------------------------------
Andy Rooney on "cripes":
My wife's from the midwest. Very nice people there. Very wholesome.
They use words like 'Cripes' 'For Cripes sake.' Who would that be; Jesus Cripes? The son of 'Gosh' of the church of 'Holy Moly'? I'm not making fun of it. You think I wanna burn in 'Heck'?
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Gtootie
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posted on October 18, 2004 09:10:41 PM new
ninerfanzz
I use Endicia and print the customs form there. Print it out on a regular piece of paper, cut out the part with the bar code and tape it on the box. Saves time and effort.
As of today, I am no longer accepting PayPal from International Bidders. I have never had a problem until the last two months. Seems like nobody is getting their packages. Two are demanding a refund. $90 and $84. Those a big amounts for me. The $84 one was a money order so I'm OK there. Today is the 30th day on the $90 PayPal guy. I hope that I am right that this is his last day. He has been threatening a Neg though.
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
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getalife
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posted on October 18, 2004 09:19:32 PM new
I had great luck with overseas shipping until I sold a lot of about eighty wrestling figures plus ring, chairs, garbage cans, etc. to Australia. The winner emailed me and asked about bidding on it. I said go for it. That's when I found out about the size limits on packages shipped overseas. USPS was about $60 and UPS was $300+. I had to build a box from doublethick cardboard, the kind large screen TV's are shipped in. Length plus girth can equal only 79 inches. That's 16x16x15 inches. I had to build two boxes. It was an interesting but time consuming project.
The other part of the story is I don't take Paypal for international shipments so I told him to use Bidpay. I googled "Bidpay Australia" and got a link to iKobo which I assumed was Australian Western Union. The bidder tried iKobo but they wouldn't take over $200 from a first time user. He finally got to Western Union and they came through. We finally did the deal but it was a royal pain. I did learn quite a bit though. Mainly make sure the item you are selling is small enough to ship at a somewhat reasonable cost(USPS surface, not UPS).
[ edited by getalife on Oct 18, 2004 09:21 PM ]
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stonecold613
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posted on October 18, 2004 10:01:42 PM new
If it is under 11oz I dont need a customs form
This is false. Sort of. The under 11 ounce rule only applies to basically letters. For anything you are sending, mainly purchased items, the customs forms are required.
http://www.rense.com/general51/dump.htm
Democrats support anyone but Kerry in 2004.
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