As If Ebay Isn't Bad Enough

[William Whitaker]

I sold a small item to a buyer in Japan. A small flat-rate priority box to Japan was $23.95, so not too bad. Tried printing a label online through USPS website, but it wouldn't take his address as valid and the USPS website isn't smart enough to recognize the address formatting of other countries. So I had to take it myself to the post office where the clerks groaned about having to fill out customs forms. The small priority box is advertised as allowing an insured value of up to $400 at additional charge. It was a $350 sale, so should be good, right? Wrong! The postal clerk couldn't get his system to assign additional insurance unless it was in a medium or a large box! And a medium box would have been $60 - more than twice the price of the small box. So I sent it in the small box uninsured. That's not right.

USPS has been a pain for a long time with international shipping and indemnity limited to unreasonably low amounts like $650 to European countries. But now they're doing bait and switch - else outright lying!

The obvious solution is simply to curtail any international selling on Ebay and elsewhere, including this forum.
Just too much grief! But that restricts unfairly folks outside the U.S. who want to purchase an item here. And it limits my sales potential. But high and/or indeterminate shipping costs deter buyers. My point here, though, is that when USPS revamped their pricing and procedures last winter, they made it unnecessarily complicated.

[BrianShaw]

I can see why it is grief-ridden. I don't do international shipping either. But what does ebay have to do with it?

[Tracy Storer]

I think he means the part about Ebay sucking in general.

[IanG]

It always amazes me that many items I buy from the US are poorly over packaged in boxes way to large. You just answered why they want to charge more.

In the UK they use Volumetric weight or actual weight, which ever is greater, so a small heavy object well packkaged costs less than an an over packaged light item woth a greater volumetric weight.

I ship about 100 ground glass focus screens a year and make my own packaging bnecause I can make a small light box to package say a 10x8" screen that ships at way below the cost of a Post Office postal box and is far stronger.

Ian

[Corran]

Over 100 sales abroad and I have never had anything but awesome experiences with USPS. I think you got a new/unqualified clerk with an attitude.

Just sent a package insured for $1400 to Japan yesterday. Priority mail, not a "flat-rate" box, and it was $61. Charged the customer $50, but I knew it was going to cost more. Charging a little less net me the sale (making a slight attrition to help curb the ridiculous int'l shipping charges some sellers charge).

[Jody_S]

I'm thinking of offering my Ross #3 C-de-V Petzval for sale, free shipping anywhere in the world, no US sales. Just because. No one else in the world seems to have a problem filling out a customs form and negotiating postal services and insurance options.

[Brian Ellis]

One of many reasons why I stopped selling internationally on ebay. The problems differ from sale to sale but there were always problems.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Aside: in the earlier days, before Pay Pal, I had a winning bidder from Japan who sent the hundreds of dollars in USD cash via registered mail.

[alpenhause]

I won't accept credit card payments from countries outside the USA and Canada on ebay, if the folks buying the item really want it they can pay by Wire Transfer, International Money Order or Western Union, ebay does not want people to use those methods for payment but Too Bad! It is really none of ebay's business if both parties consent to a given payment method and the transaction goes well.

Once you get away from foreign credit card payments suddenly USPS shipping has more choices for reasonable shipping options.

PayPal and other credit card processors approved by ebay require well documented, trackable with signature required shipping to help avoid chargebacks, Most chargebacks however resulting from a foreign sale are almost always settled in favor of the buyer hence my iron clad rule of no foreign credit card sales. The "Not As Described" claim is a definate loser for the seller even for domestic transactions.

I have sold items on ebay to problematic countries using Western Union or other methods, low and behold these transactions are trouble free, it is solely up to me to decide about refunds not some "heavy handed" outfit like PayPal that is totally uninterested in evidence of you having shipped the item correctly.

There are just too many rotten tricks that foreign buyers can use for free stuff using credit cards.

Get Paid and Stay Paid

[Lachlan 717]

Yet again, your problems have put those of the whinging, whining Third World into perspective. I get so sick and tired of hearing them complaining about having no food or clean water, being under totalitarian rule, only having a life expectancy of under 50 years.

Imagine if they had to actually go to a Post Office and deal with someone with a bit of an attitude? Never hear the end of it.