ebay Sellers: Problems regarding shipping outside the US

[Black Lantern]

btw, never thought this thread would get so heated up. but it's fun (thumbs u

i hope nobody takes it to personal

 

..A little bit,...you talk a lot of smack for someone who has probably never had to request an insurance claim for a lost USPS package,...if you ever had you would realize what a MAJOR PAIN IN THE AZZ it is and how it takes forever to process,..and that's for a package with the CORRECT amount declared on the customs slip,....when I ship FULL value goes on the slip,...PERIOD,....you sound like one of those whinny-butt E-Bay buyers who refuse insurance and then complain the your slab is cracked and want a refund,...

 

fine by me if you take it personal you whinny-butt seller (thanks for the compliment btw). no i don't complain because i vouch for what i did and asked for.

[CKB]

I'm one of the sellers who, as a rule, will not play games with the customs forms. I do ship quite a few glasses and Golden Age books overseas.

 

Rules are made to be (wisely) broken, and if I am dealing with a known quantity (meaning a buyer whom I have a decent level of trust) on items worth less than $100 or so, I will put whatever value the seller asks me to put, within reason. The buyer has to agree to take full responsiblity for any problems. There is no downside to this on the First Class service when insurance is not an option. I do not like doing in on Priority Mail where a certain level of insurance is included in the price.

 

What I won't do is declare something a gift that isn't a gift. Or say that the contents of the package is "documents". Value, on the other hand, is a subjective measure regardless of price paid.

 

I have to give paypal props - they have really made creation of the customs forms much easier.

 

And everything in the USA is on sale right now, so eat the customs fees and be happy!!!!

 

[Silver Surfer]

As far as I'm concerned there is no harm in asking if a seller can ship a book with a nominal value. I never ask for it to be declared as a "gift" but most guys don't have a problem declaring a package with a value of $20. It sure does save me one big hassle. If they won't do it then I just have the book shipped to a board member in the US and have them routed to me at a later date.

[hesdeadjim]

Hey Lantern,

 

here's what I would do:

 

1 - stop buying on ebay

2 - try this instead:

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=56&page=1

3 - talk to the sellers about your customs issues. You'll be surprised at the reactions!

4 - don't get all wired up about your government. it's what they expect!

5 - lean back and grab an ice cold Zipfer.

 

Life can be so easy (thumbs u

[chromium]

If they won't do it then I just have the book shipped to a board member in the US and have them routed to me at a later date.

 

Interesting idea...I might look into that

[Stromm]

once you ship the package you will never ever have a problem with it anymore regarding what you have written on the form.

 

- I can really understand why more and more US sellers are refusing to ship overseas. Guarantees like this are worthless, and as you obviously do not know, repeat "gift" offenders are sometimes investigated and fines levied.

 

But no, you absolutely guarantee that no one will ever have any problem based on anything that has ever been written on a customs form.

 

please tell me only one case where some seller had problems because he had written a lower value on the form? and tell me also who would make you the problems? do you think the austrian government is coming to your door?

 

I'm not afraid af any government agent coming to my door, don't even mind marking it as a gift. But I will not undervalue it. I have had overseas buyers ask me to do what your asking, and lo and behold, the $100 package never gets there for some reason or another. Then the buyer wants his money back, and gets it through paypal, and I'm left with a $10 in insurance claim money.

SO Mr. "honest, I'll never treat you that way" I'm not giving you the option too.

don't like it? don't buy it.

Nuff said!

[blutobc]

How about folks just acknowledge that the custom fees are your law. Your leaders created the laws. Don't blame sellers in the U.S. or otherwise for your laws. Pay up...or change the law. What do the customs fees pay for in Austria? Socialized medicine, roadways...really I don't know...do you??

 

If dealing with an overseas person in a manner that involves U.S. laws I certainly want them to follow the U.S. rules.

 

All that being said, I have on rare occasions marked the form other than actual for a few well known and well thought of buyers, i.e. someone whom I knew wouldn't rip me off in return for my trying to be nice.

[drewincanada]

Can't believe how heated this thread is getting.

 

I live in Toronto. I buy from US sellers all the time - through Ebay, this board, Heritage, Comiclink, Pedigree, etc.

 

Sometimes the seller declares the full amount on the customs form. Sometimes they declare considerably less than the full amount. I never ask/tell the seller what to declare. If the package is lost in the mail, I understand that the seller needs to be protected, so if they want to declare the full amount, so be it.

 

Sometimes the seller ships via Fedex (Heritage, Comiclink) and sometimes via USPS. I'd guess that 75% of my shipments come via USPS, though. Again, I never state my preference because the seller usually has their own way of doing things.

 

If it's shipped via Fedex, I never have to worry about additional duty or taxes. Fedex has never come after me for anything extra.

 

If it's shipped via USPS, sometimes (perhaps 20% of the time?) Canada Post catches it and charges me duty and tax.

 

So occasionally I pay duty and taxes on the real value. Sometimes I pay duty and taxes on a "reduced" declared value. Most often, I don't pay duty and taxes at all.

 

I figure that it all balances out in the end, so I don't sweat it.

[Black Lantern]

As far as I'm concerned there is no harm in asking if a seller can ship a book with a nominal value. I never ask for it to be declared as a "gift" but most guys don't have a problem declaring a package with a value of $20. It sure does save me one big hassle. If they won't do it then I just have the book shipped to a board member in the US and have them routed to me at a later date.

 

yes, that's a really good option if you have somebody who is willing to do that for you.

[whomerjay]

Why not order some hash from the Netherlands (also in the EU) then, I can ALMOST guarantee the post office won't inspect your mail for drugs and you just might get away with it.

 

Or how about going out on the street and making some pro-Nazi public announcements, I will ALMOST guarantee that no authorities will hear it an you won't be in trouble.

 

never heard a much stupider comparison than that. this has nothing to do with the topic. i think you are low on arguments.

 

I cruise these boards for Rhetoric lessons.

[Black Lantern]

Hey Lantern,

 

here's what I would do:

 

1 - stop buying on ebay

2 - try this instead:

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=56&page=1

3 - talk to the sellers about your customs issues. You'll be surprised at the reactions!

4 - don't get all wired up about your government. it's what they expect!

5 - lean back and grab an ice cold Zipfer.

 

Life can be so easy (thumbs u

 

thanks for the advise

a cold lemon zipfer will do it the next weeks while the european soccer championships are held in austria. (und prost übrigens, du sprichst ja eh deutsch)

 

i have to tell everbody who has participated in this thread one thing. i'm really not complaining about ebay as some are thinking now. it's really only this one thing i always found annoying, but that's it. i never unterstood the reason for this, but ok, everybody has his reason. so i started this topic because i wanted to hear what some of you have to say about that. most of the times i am absolutely satisfied with ebay. i don't want to start a fight with anybody because of that. so i think it's ok now, i have some answers and that should be fine.

[Black Lantern]

once you ship the package you will never ever have a problem with it anymore regarding what you have written on the form.

 

- I can really understand why more and more US sellers are refusing to ship overseas. Guarantees like this are worthless, and as you obviously do not know, repeat "gift" offenders are sometimes investigated and fines levied.

 

But no, you absolutely guarantee that no one will ever have any problem based on anything that has ever been written on a customs form.

 

please tell me only one case where some seller had problems because he had written a lower value on the form? and tell me also who would make you the problems? do you think the austrian government is coming to your door?

 

I'm not afraid af any government agent coming to my door, don't even mind marking it as a gift. But I will not undervalue it. I have had overseas buyers ask me to do what your asking, and lo and behold, the $100 package never gets there for some reason or another. Then the buyer wants his money back, and gets it through paypal, and I'm left with a $10 in insurance claim money.

SO Mr. "honest, I'll never treat you that way" I'm not giving you the option too.

don't like it? don't buy it.

Nuff said!

 

ok, that's a good reason i understand. why haven't you told me this story right away? all the talk about getting cought or don't want to lie can be avoided when everbody comes to the point sooner. but i have one question left and that's because it really interests me: paypal knows the exactly amount of your transaction. they don't know what you have written on the package. so when the buyer get's his money back, isn't it enough for your insurance company to get the paypal infos to work on this case? they never find out what you had written on the package. it's just a speculation, pls let me know if it's not the case. but on the other hand, your insurance is a individual case and cannot be applied to all the other cases.

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

The insurance is through the post office for most people, so the value you put on the package/customs forms is the insurance amount since it's included in the shipping charge for Priority Mail international.

 

[Black Lantern]

How about folks just acknowledge that the custom fees are your law. Your leaders created the laws. Don't blame sellers in the U.S. or otherwise for your laws. Pay up...or change the law. What do the customs fees pay for in Austria? Socialized medicine, roadways...really I don't know...do you??

 

If dealing with an overseas person in a manner that involves U.S. laws I certainly want them to follow the U.S. rules.

 

All that being said, I have on rare occasions marked the form other than actual for a few well known and well thought of buyers, i.e. someone whom I knew wouldn't rip me off in return for my trying to be nice.

 

i don't blame the sellers for the law. never said that. so pls don't talk about something i never said.

 

you can trust me if i say, that the people in austria pay automatical for everything (medicine, etc.) with our income. it get's deducted every month from the income. and other things like roadways have to be payed extra. and to pay taxes on used books is a joke in my opinion. these are no real values like a value of a car or so. that are only prices a collector is willing to pay. some more, some less. but you can't charge taxes on a collector value in my opinion. so that's why i don't want to do this.

[Black Lantern]

The insurance is through the post office for most people, so the value you put on the package/customs forms is the insurance amount since it's included in the shipping charge for Priority Mail international.

 

ok, good to know.

[G.A.tor]

 

ok, that's a good reason i understand. why haven't you told me this story right away? all the talk about getting cought or don't want to lie can be avoided when everbody comes to the point sooner. but i have one question left and that's because it really interests me: paypal knows the exactly amount of your transaction. they don't know what you have written on the package. so when the buyer get's his money back, isn't it enough for your insurance company to get the paypal infos to work on this case? they never find out what you had written on the package. it's just a speculation, pls let me know if it's not the case. but on the other hand, your insurance is a individual case and cannot be applied to all the other cases.

ah, but the Post office does know the amount you claimed on the customs form, because they file it and that is what is used for the insurance claim....so, if a seller writes $10, that is all he is going to be able to claim... paypal plays no part in it, when dealing with the PO

 

[Black Lantern]

Why not order some hash from the Netherlands (also in the EU) then, I can ALMOST guarantee the post office won't inspect your mail for drugs and you just might get away with it.

 

Or how about going out on the street and making some pro-Nazi public announcements, I will ALMOST guarantee that no authorities will hear it an you won't be in trouble.

 

never heard a much stupider comparison than that. this has nothing to do with the topic. i think you are low on arguments.

 

I cruise these boards for Rhetoric lessons.

 

wow, you are a really nice board member. thanks for making fun of me because i make some errors with a foreign language. can you even speak a foreign language which you not learned from your parents? probably not, as most of the US people who didn't grow up bilingual.

[Calamerica]

I'm with

 

Skypinkblu on this one:

 

she has it right

 

I am the unfortunate one that has had high-grade CGC's "lost" in France, UK, and one in Germany and a few other places. In 2007 I had THREE( 3) ASM 9.4's "lost" in Canada that turned the tide. For those who are unfamiliar with my eBay auction format, I ALWAYS put the CGC serial number on the auction so the prospective Customer can call CGC for grader notes. I save ALL CGC sales via my Vendio site so when I say I lost an ASM # 77 CGC 9.4 WHITE I can provide the CGC Serial number and I have been called on that, even on this Board.

 

The breaking point was that PayPal just "froze" the money the first time and after the item did not "appear" the Buyer was refunded including his ship costs. 8 months later I see THE EXACT CGC comic on sale on ebay. Boy was I steamin'!!!

 

But eBay, the corporate cold-blooded company they can be, must have sent a 5-paged email on WHY they can't do anything, yadda yadda yadda, and without proof I was left in the cold.

 

So now I charge that EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL that many have villified me for, but I can get the item tracked/signed for and this has eliminated the "missing" problem.

 

Matter of fact the very first one that was "missing" was a CGC Board member I sold him an IMSM raw NM- 9.2 and he was unhappy with the first one( all of a sudden he turned out to be this grading expert and said my NM- 9.2 was close to VG/F 5.0 - 6.0) but without questioning him further or asking to see a scan of the comic in it's current state( it may have been damaged or whatever) I sent him a raw 9.4 to keep him happy. The 9.4 was "lost" but I reported to Int'l Customs and they sent that letter stating that the man DID receive the item and the claim was denied( on his end). It seemed at the time that 9 out of 10 CGCers took up for this person, and I was not happy.

 

But the point is that this unfortunate incident that happened in the UK not only cost me two IMSM "pets" that have gone up in value, that incident should have told me something - do NOT take chances.

 

It seems I have lost a high percentage of stuff but please bear in mind that I DO have high sales volumes whaen I am on a selling kick.

 

Sorry about this rant but the foreign buyers have no idea what it is they are asking when they want cheap shipping, low value declared, etc. The SELLER gets the short end of the stick, especially with PayPal.

 

CAL still steamin' about "lost" ASM CGC 9.4's that were sold elsewhere.

 

[Black Lantern]

I'm with

 

Skypinkblu on this one:

 

she has it right

 

I am the unfortunate one that has had high-grade CGC's "lost" in France, UK, and one in Germany and a few other places. In 2007 I had THREE( 3) ASM 9.4's "lost" in Canada that turned the tide. For those who are unfamiliar with my eBay auction format, I ALWAYS put the CGC serial number on the auction so the prospective Customer can call CGC for grader notes. I save ALL CGC sales via my Vendio site so when I say I lost an ASM # 77 CGC 9.4 WHITE I can provide the CGC Serial number and I have been called on that, even on this Board.

 

The breaking point was that PayPal just "froze" the money the first time and after the item did not "appear" the Buyer was refunded including his ship costs. 8 months later I see THE EXACT CGC comic on sale on ebay. Boy was I steamin'!!!

 

But eBay, the corporate cold-blooded company they can be, must have sent a 5-paged email on WHY they can't do anything, yadda yadda yadda, and without proof I was left in the cold.

 

So now I charge that EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL that many have villified me for, but I can get the item tracked/signed for and this has eliminated the "missing" problem.

 

Matter of fact the very first one that was "missing" was a CGC Board member I sold him an IMSM raw NM- 9.2 and he was unhappy with the first one( all of a sudden he turned out to be this grading expert and said my NM- 9.2 was close to VG/F 5.0 - 6.0) but without questioning him further or asking to see a scan of the comic in it's current state( it may have been damaged or whatever) I sent him a raw 9.4 to keep him happy. The 9.4 was "lost" but I reported to Int'l Customs and they sent that letter stating that the man DID receive the item and the claim was denied( on his end). It seemed at the time that 9 out of 10 CGCers took up for this person, and I was not happy.

 

But the point is that this unfortunate incident that happened in the UK not only cost me two IMSM "pets" that have gone up in value, that incident should have told me something - do NOT take chances.

 

It seems I have lost a high percentage of stuff but please bear in mind that I DO have high sales volumes whaen I am on a selling kick.

 

Sorry about this rant but the foreign buyers have no idea what it is they are asking when they want cheap shipping, low value declared, etc. The SELLER gets the short end of the stick, especially with PayPal.

 

CAL still steamin' about "lost" ASM CGC 9.4's that were sold elsewhere.

 

 

ok, i understand that you don't want to take any chances. this really sucks. i have heard this before that paypal is not very fair to sellers.

[whomerjay]

Why not order some hash from the Netherlands (also in the EU) then, I can ALMOST guarantee the post office won't inspect your mail for drugs and you just might get away with it.

 

Or how about going out on the street and making some pro-Nazi public announcements, I will ALMOST guarantee that no authorities will hear it an you won't be in trouble.

 

never heard a much stupider comparison than that. this has nothing to do with the topic. i think you are low on arguments.

 

I cruise these boards for Rhetoric lessons.

 

wow, you are a really nice board member. thanks for making fun of me because i make some errors with a foreign language. can you even speak a foreign language which you not learned from your parents? probably not, as most of the US people who didn't grow up bilingual.

 

One, if you're going to call someone STUPID, do it intelligently and with proper grammar.

 

Two, when you come on here with an attitude attacking people for following a law that ends up costing you a couple of dollars, don't expect to be treated like a conquering hero.

 

Third, don't assume things about people when you don't know them. For all you know I'm a luinguist from Austria, I own the MacDonalds you work at, and am about to have you fired tomorrow morning.