Help with shipping high value books overseas

[domuhnator]

HI Guys, Iv been a member here for a little wile now but iv always been more of a lurker and not posting much. But I need a little help! Im in the process of selling about 40 books that would be going overseas to Singapore. I have a good amount of international shipping experience (I live in the states) but I have never shipped so many higher end books at once. The value for everything is about $13,000 and i was wondering what the best shipping service would be if anyone has any personal experience. Its a mix or raw books and slabs if that helps any. I am not a dealer I'm just a regular collector and someone offered me a price for most of my keys and i couldn't say no! any help would be greatly appreciated! even if anyone has any advice on how the money for the books should be transferred to me, that would be helpful also! I have no experience dealing in transactions over $1000.

 

Thanks! - Dom

Ps if this is the wrong sections Mods I am sorry in advance!

[shadroch]

How did this transaction come to be? Is the buyer a known commodity and most importantly, is he paying you before you ship?

[domuhnator]

How did this transaction come to be? Is the buyer a known commodity and most importantly, is he paying you before you ship?

 

He contacted me threw instagram after seeing my collection on there. Believe me I was very skeptical at first! but after talking to him for the past 2 days I believe he is for real. Im not sure what you mean by a known commodity. And yes there no way my books are going anywhere without payment first. but that's part of the reason I posted this thread. I have no experience dealing with this kind of value.

[roulette44]

if he is paying you via wire, bank draft, cash, etc (methods where there is no real fraud for him to perpetrate afterwards), then you're fine. For shipping purposes, I would use USPS Priority or Express Priority. Express is better because you can ask for a signature to be required on delivery. Cost will be $60-$80 for these books via Priority and $100-$125 via express.

 

if he is paying via paypal, then there still is a risk for you - I would definitely use Express priority with signature required in that case.

 

Last point - one would think this buyer has done some business previously and isn't going from nothing to buying $14K in books at once. So ask him for references of those he's bought from. I've dealt with 8 or 10 buyers in Singapore and have only good things to say, but everyone's experience can vary.

 

Hope this helps

Joey

[Calamerica]

Going back to 2001/2 I did sell International.

 

I can only recall Three Buyers from Singapore.

 

The first one was a credit card scammer and while I lost a few so-and-so books, eBay refunded me in full, and removed the clown's Negatives.

 

The last two I recall went well, but the last one refused to give me any Positive Feedback as he railed about the high cost of Express International.

 

Not that many Comic Book Collectors in Singapore. I won't guess a number, but there cannot be that many as it is a small country and the culture collects different items for their wants in said collector world.

 

CAL who once visited Singapore in 1996.

[Beige]

I have sent quite a few slabs to Singapore, and I am certain there are CGC board members from there.

 

They have a great tracking service (its a small place!) so as long as it's tracked ok, you should have no problem proving delivery.

 

All my sales went without a hitch.

 

Hope that helps

[domuhnator]

if he is paying you via wire, bank draft, cash, etc (methods where there is no real fraud for him to perpetrate afterwards), then you're fine. For shipping purposes, I would use USPS Priority or Express Priority. Express is better because you can ask for a signature to be required on delivery. Cost will be $60-$80 for these books via Priority and $100-$125 via express.

 

if he is paying via paypal, then there still is a risk for you - I would definitely use Express priority with signature required in that case.

 

Last point - one would think this buyer has done some business previously and isn't going from nothing to buying $14K in books at once. So ask him for references of those he's bought from. I've dealt with 8 or 10 buyers in Singapore and have only good things to say, but everyone's experience can vary.

 

Hope this helps

Joey

 

Thank you very much! How is there a risk with paypal? I thought it was the safest way for both parties? A wire would be great but It dont think anyone is going to wire some random person almost 14K I did send him an invoice from paypal but still. and unfortunately I dont think I can use usps. ill check again but when I did the online calculator the box i was going to use was to big. but I will have sig confirmation for sure. When your buyers got there books did they have to pay customs fees and duties? Thank you very much for all the info! It was a help for sure.

[domuhnator]

Going back to 2001/2 I did sell International.

 

I can only recall Three Buyers from Singapore.

 

The first one was a credit card scammer and while I lost a few so-and-so books, eBay refunded me in full, and removed the clown's Negatives.

 

The last two I recall went well, but the last one refused to give me any Positive Feedback as he railed about the high cost of Express International.

 

Not that many Comic Book Collectors in Singapore. I won't guess a number, but there cannot be that many as it is a small country and the culture collects different items for their wants in said collector world.

 

CAL who once visited Singapore in 1996.

 

Thank you for the reply. This is not an ebay deal which is good and bad. im glad to hear that other people have sent books to Singapore, it is a little odd he wants so many books at once but if i get paid ill send them! my main problem is going to be shipping its about 20 slabs and 25-30 raw books. Im not sure how many collectors there are but there has to be a few!

[domuhnator]

I have sent quite a few slabs to Singapore, and I am certain there are CGC board members from there.

 

They have a great tracking service (its a small place!) so as long as it's tracked ok, you should have no problem proving delivery.

 

All my sales went without a hitch.

 

Hope that helps

 

Yea I would imagine so! it seems like they have some money over there. Im glad to hear they have a good tracking service! And even more glad your sales went ok. Thank you for the help!

[DarthBane]

 

How is there a risk with paypal?

 

There is risk with paypal now. In 2015 the buyer dispute window was incredibly altered to 180 days!

 

So what folks on eBay were doing was waiting till about the 4 month mark when the USPS tracking info drops out of their system and is no longer obtainable. If you type in the tracking # it says invalid. So there is no proof of delivery. The scamming buyer would open an unauthorized charge dispute and the seller would lose.

 

But give eBay credit, they quickly adapted to this phenom and now when you print a shipping label, you get a confirmation email from eBay with all info in there and an external hyperlink which takes you to the stored delivery confirmation proof.

 

You could also screenshot save your tracking info once it is delivered (this is the best way)

 

But with paypal and doing a transaction on here or anywhere that is not eBay, paypal does not provide you the service like eBay does, so once that 3-4 month window passes and the tracking # is no longer valid on the USPS site, you are vulnerable.

 

Also be absolutely sure to only ship to a confirmed address. If the buyer instructs you to ship somewhere else i.e. an unconfirmed address, seller protection is out the window.

[CKB]

Paypal will not actually protect you on such a big transaction to Singapore.

 

The only way I would send those books is:

 

- you have personal references from known dealers/sellers that your buyer is a good trader

 

- you have removed the funds from your paypal account to a linked bank account and then moved the money from the linked bank account to another bank, leaving the linked account at 0.

 

- or, you have engaged the services of a reputable escrow service to broker the transaction.

 

Without these things, the risk is all on you. You are the only one with anything to lose. Paypal will side with the seller every time when they claim they did not receive anything. While international tracking is better now then anytime in the past, there are still lots of games to be played.

 

 

[InvstmntComcSuply]

 

- you have removed the funds from your paypal account to a linked bank account and then moved the money from the linked bank account to another bank, leaving the linked account at 0.

 

 

Paypal will then go after your credit rating for the above

 

I would not do this transaction through Paypal at all

[Beige]

 

- you have removed the funds from your paypal account to a linked bank account and then moved the money from the linked bank account to another bank, leaving the linked account at 0.

 

 

 

 

I would not do this transaction through Paypal at all

 

Why not?

As long as you enter the tracking number on paypals website, they retain a record.

Screenshoot the arrival confirmation and you should be fine.

 

Is it different in the USA, as I can only base my observations on shipping from Australia so it may be different, but again, I had no issues with their tracking over there.

 

If I'm missing something, please tell me as I certainly want to make sure I am protected at all times.

 

I also use a courier which has a 2 year history of orders (and tracking) - how long is fedex etc?

[domuhnator]

 

How is there a risk with paypal?

 

There is risk with paypal now. In 2015 the buyer dispute window was incredibly altered to 180 days!

 

So what folks on eBay were doing was waiting till about the 4 month mark when the USPS tracking info drops out of their system and is no longer obtainable. If you type in the tracking # it says invalid. So there is no proof of delivery. The scamming buyer would open an unauthorized charge dispute and the seller would lose.

 

But give eBay credit, they quickly adapted to this phenom and now when you print a shipping label, you get a confirmation email from eBay with all info in there and an external hyperlink which takes you to the stored delivery confirmation proof.

 

You could also screenshot save your tracking info once it is delivered (this is the best way)

 

But with paypal and doing a transaction on here or anywhere that is not eBay, paypal does not provide you the service like eBay does, so once that 3-4 month window passes and the tracking # is no longer valid on the USPS site, you are vulnerable.

 

Also be absolutely sure to only ship to a confirmed address. If the buyer instructs you to ship somewhere else i.e. an unconfirmed address, seller protection is out the window.

 

Thank you! I thought paypal was the safest option I was unaware that such rules were in place, almost all my deal are done off ebay and threw paypal, Ill have to start screen shoting everything even for smaller deals. But I plan on fully documenting everything that happens. I already have Screenshots of all of our conversations as well as the paypal invoices. Yes 100% im planing on using signature confirmation as well. Again thank you for your help.

 

[domuhnator]

Paypal will not actually protect you on such a big transaction to Singapore.

 

The only way I would send those books is:

 

- you have personal references from known dealers/sellers that your buyer is a good trader

 

- you have removed the funds from your paypal account to a linked bank account and then moved the money from the linked bank account to another bank, leaving the linked account at 0.

 

- or, you have engaged the services of a reputable escrow service to broker the transaction.

 

Without these things, the risk is all on you. You are the only one with anything to lose. Paypal will side with the seller every time when they claim they did not receive anything. While international tracking is better now then anytime in the past, there are still lots of games to be played.

 

 

What if I sent the funds to a separate pay pal totally unrelated to me via FNF? would they still remove it from the other persons account, say if it was a brother and law or something?

[shadroch]

How great a deal did you offer this guy that he is willing to buy all of them? Post it here, perhaps somebody will ,match it.

Seriously, an unknown buyer half the world away wants to but all your books, and you think this is legit? Either you are giving the books away at ridiculous prices or its a scam.

If its the first, sell them here and save the hassle of shipping overseas. Look at the contortions you are going through to make the sale. Why would I, a buyer in Singapore send money to a third part( your brother in law) when you have the books?

The more you post, the more I believe you will regret this deal.

[Ghost Town]

 

- you have removed the funds from your paypal account to a linked bank account and then moved the money from the linked bank account to another bank, leaving the linked account at 0.

 

 

 

 

I would not do this transaction through Paypal at all

 

Why not?

As long as you enter the tracking number on paypals website, they retain a record.

Screenshoot the arrival confirmation and you should be fine.

 

Is it different in the USA, as I can only base my observations on shipping from Australia so it may be different, but again, I had no issues with their tracking over there.

 

If I'm missing something, please tell me as I certainly want to make sure I am protected at all times.

 

I also use a courier which has a 2 year history of orders (and tracking) - how long is fedex etc?

I had noob on the boards try to pull a scam with a PayPal chargeback a few years ago. He claimed the top sticker on a slab was missing and wanted a $50 refund. (It wasn't missing.) The guy had pulled similar scams with other boardies.

 

PayPal was pretty useless even though the guy had a sleazy history. It took multiple emails saying I would give a full refund if the guy returned the book for the issue to finally go away. I've been very hesitant to use PayPal with unknown quantities ever since. They seem to side with the buyer no matter what evidence is presented to them.

[Bomber-Bob]

The more you post, the more I believe you will regret this deal.

 

I agree. Sorry but I would not go through with this deal. AT best, I would do a single transaction for a single book.

- An instagram contact ? No way, absolutely no way would I trust him.

- Have you ever seen what Customs can do to a package ? They can open everything up and throw it in a bag if they want. Large box with 14 comics valued at 14K, way too risky.

- Do you have private insurance that will cover this ? I hope so.

- You will be a nervous wreck, for days, probably weeks, waiting for this to complete. It is not worth it.

[InvstmntComcSuply]

 

- you have removed the funds from your paypal account to a linked bank account and then moved the money from the linked bank account to another bank, leaving the linked account at 0.

 

 

 

 

I would not do this transaction through Paypal at all

 

Why not?

As long as you enter the tracking number on paypals website, they retain a record.

Screenshoot the arrival confirmation and you should be fine.

 

Paypal won't accept a screenshot of tracking information as evidence. Tracking must be available at the carriers website

 

The OP was under the mistaken impression that once the money was in his PP account, the deal was done. Extrapolating from this lack of basic knowledge, he needs to limit his risk by dealing with transaction methods that are not reversible.

 

 

[domuhnator]

Ok So this did not go where I thought it would, I Appreciate everyones concern and advise. However there is a lot of mixed info coming threw so I'm going glean as much as I can from you guys and go from there. Yes i did think paypal was a safe option, However no one has as of yet yet told me of a better way. If someone did and I missed it I apologize. For the past 3 years I have used paypal exclusively to sell books on instagram (probably over 100 transactions) and I haven't had a single problem yet. At the begining of this thread my main question was how should I ship the books. I always used USPS for international shipping but the box I am going to send is to large. So Out of DHL, UPS and Fed Ex which is the best international carrier? Now As many of you belive its a terrible idea to send these books to Singapore. I can't say for sure that I'm not going to get burnt. But I believe everything is legit. The deal is finalized and the money is in my account (paypal). I am a man of my word and its to late for me to go back now. I told the buyer we are good to go and unless something happens to raise alarm, the books are going to be shipped out Tuesday. Again thank you all for trying to help me, Ill post an update here after the buyer gets the books. If I am wrong and its some grand scam ill take it like a man and learn from my mistakes. Oh and one last thing. Instagram has a thriving comic community, you guys should check it out sometime. Theres a lot of really cool people on there. Joining the Instagram comic community was one of the best decisions I have made, and has allowed me to grow this hobby into something pretty cool.

 

Many thanks - Dom