Do I smell bad?

[Point Five]

About 6 months ago, I had a PP rep on the phone with me and went over between 6-9 Priority Mail international packages I had sent within the previous month. About half were flat rate boxes, the other half shipped by weight. The PP rep actually checked the USPS tracking website on each one of the packages while we were on the line. In every instance the rep claimed that IF the buyer had claimed INR they would have refunded the buyer and deducted funds from my account. IIRC some of the tracking even said that the package was at a local delivery unit prior to being delivered. The PP rep basically said that with US delivery confirmation they were sure packages got to at least the right zip code but internationally they couldn't narrow it down far enough.

Sadly, I find that very easy to believe. Thanks for the info.

 

 

[Comicopolis]

Why do I see so many eBay auctions with this;

'I only ship to locations in the U.S. '

 

My money isn't as good as yours??

 

With the $AU near parity with the Greenback, make the most of the export dollar my American friends!! (thumbs u

 

P.S I'm in the mood to buy! (I'm not farking kidding. )

 

 

 

 

A lot of this I can understand, with the various reasons noted by many people above.

 

What I don't understand is the sellers on these very boards who say 'no international shipping'.

 

And yes, you probably do smell bad

[Not*Sure*]

I love international buyers. I have had guys in Australia pay big bucks for stuff on Ebay. I love Canadians they tended to buy magic the gathering stuff for way more than Americans.

 

The problem I have had lately is that everytime I list and have international buyers I have had problems with the transaction.

 

Problems range from people wanting free shipping that is offered to US only, to the items being help up sometimes for weeks longer than quoted postal time. That is where it starts to suck. Ebay wants me to track every single package but not charge a lot for shipping. Putting up the rate calculator, I had several buyers just change the amount to what they thought was appropriate thinking I was way off.

 

But before all the "free shipping BS" and new sucky ebay features..I loved seeing out of US bids.

 

Speaking of out of the US..I have some packages to mail..

 

I don't think interntional buyers smell..but..comic book guys in general do have a distinctive old book smell..musty..with a hint of cheeto..

 

[InvstmntComcSuply]

To follow up:

 

The majority of my international shipments have been $100-$250US of supplies. (Mylars, microchamber paper, etc.)

 

I had a few in a row over $250 which is the cutoff for PP without signature, thus the reason why I checked with them.

 

Here is the best tracking I would get with USPS Priority:

 

Delivered Abroad, September 21, 2010, 10:52 am, GREAT BRITAIN

At Foreign Delivery Unit, September 21, 2010, 3:35 am, GREAT BRITAIN

Out of Foreign Customs, September 20, 2010, 6:26 pm, GREAT BRITAIN

Arrived Abroad, September 20, 2010, 1:17 pm, GREAT BRITAIN

 

According to the PP rep, "not good enough".

Thomas said that Denmark has more detailed tracking info on their end. But I am sure not all countries have that information online and this is PayPal we are dealing with. They are not going to find that info (if available) for you.

[VintageComics]

Have you tried the US tracking number on the UK Post website?

 

I know that when I ship a package from Canada, it "disappears" once it crossed the border to the US but then I can track it on the USPS site.

 

R.

 

 

[InvstmntComcSuply]

Putting up the rate calculator, I had several buyers just change the amount to what they thought was appropriate thinking I was way off.

 

Account>Site Preferences>Payment from buyers>Allow buyers to edit payment totals>change to No

 

Also change > Include my items when buyers pay all their sellers at once using PayPal> to No.

[InvstmntComcSuply]

Have you tried the US tracking number on the UK Post website?

 

I know that when I ship a package from Canada, it "disappears" once it crossed the border to the US but then I can track it on the USPS site.

 

R.

 

That is what I understood with Denmark also.

If I get an INR it will be the first thing I check with the receiving country. I imagine that many people who have had their USPS "tracking" denied have never thought about it. PP definitely didn't volunteer this info. And who knows if it would meet PP "requirements"

[skypinkblu]

[despite the pitfalls of shipping, if a seller doesn't have the presence of mind to make exceptions and/or work on a one-by-one case with buyers that demonstrate a willingness to co-operate, they really don't deserve to be selling on eBay.

 

I kind of agree, but how are they supposed to do that?

 

If the seller only ships to the US, then it turns away 99% of interested Canadian buyers (the other 1% may email and beg), while if he leaves it wide open, the scammers and fraudsters will rob him blind.

 

Here, I'll ship to anyone, although first class shipping is more difficult since you can't print the postage, I do it anyway,because we are all collectors (or most of us).

 

On eBay,I put it into the auction text, to ask if you want to bid. That way I can review the feedback. I've only turned down one or two people, overall it's fine. I also pay for private insurance, so I can't get too hurt. If you have to pay for insurance overseas on an individual basis, it's very expensive.

[joe_collector]

On eBay,I put it into the auction text, to ask if you want to bid. That way I can review the feedback.

 

But what good does that do, as there's no buyer feedback anymore?

 

All the rampant scammers I've heard about have sterling 100% feedback ratings, as buyer feedback no longer exists, just positive ratings and positive comments.

[HeyMoe]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I understand the pitfalls to shipping out of your own country.

About six months ago I had an American hit the BIN on an eBay auction I had.

(It was for a 4 issue run of The Simpsons IIRC)

Postage was about AU$15. The buyer had no problem with the cost or the slight wait in delivery. All went smooooothly.

Back when I first started selling on eBay, about 10 or 12 years ago, I only listed on the US site!! The dollar was hovering around the 50cent mark!

Because of this I could offer cheap postage rates.

And I sold about 20 DC Silver-Ages and a few Atom-Age horrors, in a two month period, without having a single package go missing or a buyer trying to pi ss me off.

The only problem I did have was a non-payment, and that was from a fellow Australian!!!

 

It's just a damn shame that there isn't a way to weed out the filth who it up for the rest of us!

 

 

[Bosco685]

It's just a damn shame that there isn't a way to weed out the who it up for the rest of us!

That's it right there - the real root problem.

 

Sure, some packages can go missing. It happens. But when certain buyers seem to have it occurring more than is usual, ...

[HeyMoe]

Before I forget...

 

A big ol' (thumbs u to those on these boards who have sold to me in the past.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Point Five]

Before I forget...

 

A big ol' (thumbs u to those on these boards who have sold to me in the past.

 

Thanks!

 

Morris...

 

 

[nocutename]

To follow up:

 

The majority of my international shipments have been $100-$250US of supplies. (Mylars, microchamber paper, etc.)

 

I had a few in a row over $250 which is the cutoff for PP without signature, thus the reason why I checked with them.

 

Here is the best tracking I would get with USPS Priority:

 

Delivered Abroad, September 21, 2010, 10:52 am, GREAT BRITAIN

At Foreign Delivery Unit, September 21, 2010, 3:35 am, GREAT BRITAIN

Out of Foreign Customs, September 20, 2010, 6:26 pm, GREAT BRITAIN

Arrived Abroad, September 20, 2010, 1:17 pm, GREAT BRITAIN

 

According to the PP rep, "not good enough".

Thomas said that Denmark has more detailed tracking info on their end. But I am sure not all countries have that information online and this is PayPal we are dealing with. They are not going to find that info (if available) for you.

 

I could be wrong but I believe Express Mail International from the post office has signature required option. That is covered 100% by PP. That is how I shipped to Canada. I also look into this to ship to Italy with PP and they confirmed that this is the only option via USPS. You can always use Fedex which their normal shipping has a tracking and signature requirement.

[nocutename]

[despite the pitfalls of shipping, if a seller doesn't have the presence of mind to make exceptions and/or work on a one-by-one case with buyers that demonstrate a willingness to co-operate, they really don't deserve to be selling on eBay.

 

I kind of agree, but how are they supposed to do that?

 

If the seller only ships to the US, then it turns away 99% of interested Canadian buyers (the other 1% may email and beg), while if he leaves it wide open, the scammers and fraudsters will rob him blind.

 

Here, I'll ship to anyone, although first class shipping is more difficult since you can't print the postage, I do it anyway,because we are all collectors (or most of us).

 

On eBay,I put it into the auction text, to ask if you want to bid. That way I can review the feedback. I've only turned down one or two people, overall it's fine. I also pay for private insurance, so I can't get too hurt. If you have to pay for insurance overseas on an individual basis, it's very expensive.

 

The text in your auction is meanless. If the person bids and wins, ebay requires you to sell it. If you don't want to sell internationally, you need to set up your shipping locations properly in your ebay account page. Otherwise, the bid is binding.

[Not*Sure*]

On eBay,I put it into the auction text, to ask if you want to bid. That way I can review the feedback.

 

But what good does that do, as there's no buyer feedback anymore?

 

All the rampant scammers I've heard about have sterling 100% feedback ratings, as buyer feedback no longer exists, just positive ratings and positive comments.

 

That was one of Ebays worse failures! I have had people who really deserved a neg not get one because Ebay doesn't care if I get screwed.

 

[Thomas Nielsen]

Got my package today and here are the tracking info, USPS vs my local mail service

It even has a picture of my signature, looks like something a 5 year old wrote

 

USPS:

 

Delivered Abroad, October 20, 2010, 10:45 am, DENMARK

At Foreign Delivery Unit, October 19, 2010, 11:21 pm, DENMARK

Arrived Abroad, October 19, 2010, 8:08 am, DENMARK

International Dispatch, October 16, 2010, 4:27 pm, ISC LOS ANGELES CA (USPS)

Arrival

Acceptance, October 15, 2010, 3:10 pm, SANTA MONICA, CA 90405

Electronic Shipping Info Received, October 14, 2010

 

www.postdanmark.dk:

October 15, 2010 03:10 PM Identified abroad

October 16, 2010 04:27 PM Sent to Denmark

October 19, 2010 08:08 AM Arrived in Denmark

October 19, 2010 11:21 PM Arrived at 705 Taulov Pakkecenter (central collection HUB)

October 20, 2010 06:17 AM Arrived at 8700 Horsens Posthus (local postoffice)

October 20, 2010 10:45 AM Delivered to a private recipient (that be me )

 

 

 

[Bosco685]

My shipment to a Canadian forumite arrived safely!

 

He stays on the exception list. The rest of you Canuks....

 

[Thomas Nielsen]

I just wonder why usps don't provide the info on those last couple of steps. Just checked an old tracking # from Canada and canadapost.ca provides the info, why not usps ?

[InvstmntComcSuply]

I just wonder why usps don't provide the info on those last couple of steps. Just checked an old tracking # from Canada and canadapost.ca provides the info, why not usps ?

 

This is the only step that is missing:

October 20, 2010 06:17 AM Arrived at 8700 Horsens Posthus (local postoffice)

 

With that step included, it "should" be acceptable to paypal for tracking purposes because it shows that the package went to the proper ? local PO before being delivered to an individual.

 

I don't see why USPS does not show this scan when the information is obviously readily available.