What’s with all the US ONLY selling threads? 4 4

[Azkaban]

I use to not ship to Canada due to a package problem I had the first time I did ship, but @thirdgreenham made me see the error of my ways 

so after I started selling Don's collection I haven't had one problem just a little more costly but it's been great 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Azkaban

[Point Five]

On 3/8/2022 at 9:37 PM, Raze said:

Can sellers not pay for postage via paypal? I have sent books to Canada and the buyer paid with paypal, so I just paid for postage on there.

Yes, you can print international postage through Paypal, which is great for sure! (I'm not sure I could do it any other way at this point.) Honestly, that stage no longer takes any more time than printing postage within the US, which is surprising.

*But* if it's an international package, you can't drop it in a USPS drop box from there. You have to wait in line for them to accept it by hand, which (to Andy's points above) is admittedly frustrating and time-consuming.

 

[piper]

On 3/8/2022 at 5:08 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

As a Canadian, I’m kinda offended.

👍 

[piper]

On 3/8/2022 at 5:47 PM, Stevemmg said:

If you have ever spent the requisite hour standing in line to do an international shipment to Canada, you would understand the hesitation. It’s brutal in my area at least. 

I do it for US shipments

[MattTheDuck]

I've said this about other things sellers do that artificially restrict the potential market for their product: it makes no sense to me.  I have the same problem with "only PayPal" threads because I don't have PayPal so I'm automatically out.  I've had the great privilege of buying some really awesome books from several Canadian sellers with zero problems that weren't caused by the unbelievably long time it takes to get a check from the US to, say, eastern Canada.  Canadian collectors seem to me like crazy patient and laid-back people.

[piper]

On 3/8/2022 at 7:10 PM, Point Five said:

I've sold internationally on the boards since 2006...took a break due to heightened covid risk in 2020, but resumed in 2021... and will continue as long as I am able. I do get why it feels crappy to see so many US-only threads. Like a slap in the face to part of our community here.

The 'waiting in long lines' thing is a very real factor though. US post offices are besieged on a number of fronts. I've moved to a small town with a surprisingly good USPS location and the lines are less of a big deal for me now. Back in NYC they were off-the-charts horrible.

I've stopped shipping internationally on ebay, and sadly don't see returning to it unless I enroll in that Global Shipping program which everyone here has warned us against. I'm not confident ebay would protect me if an overseas buyer claimed non-receipt. 

I don't have any real data to back this up, but anecdotally it does feel like it is "riskier" to ship internationally today (postal delays, weather delays, covid staffing issues, you name it) than it did five or ten years ago.  

 

Thanks Jon for shipping to 🇨🇦 

[shadroch]

K.A.T.I A.!!!!!!!!!

I refuse to sell my nations treasures to a bunch of foreigneers. 

[Kripsys99]

I'm just happy to see how many fellow Canadians are on here! 🇨🇦

[Cat]

On 3/9/2022 at 2:44 PM, Kripsys99 said:

I'm just happy to see how many fellow Canadians are on here! 🇨🇦

Australia stands by your side! 

[theCapraAegagrus]

I despise shipping internationally, even just to Canada.

[jsilverjanet]

This thread is not very Canadian

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 3/9/2022 at 7:40 AM, jsilverjanet said:

This thread is not very Canadian

[topofthetotem]

I get books drop shipped to my brother from another mother Lizards, but he’s cool and you may not have someone cool in your life.

[BEAUMONTS]

I actually don't mind them, I end up saving a lot of money on impulse buying.  The U.S. only selling threads they probably "only" lose about 30 percent of interested buyer's.  And I did love it when Andy put up his Canada only shipping thread.. Classic.

[Number 6]

I’ve actually tried to offer shipping to Canada without any success. 
 

On the one hand, I’ve offered shipping via Priority International as that’s the only rate that has tracking (so I have proof of shipment) and I’ve gotten 1) complaints that shipping is too high or 2) members willing to pay the shipping…but want to try and negotiate the cost of the books down to compensate for the shipping and I just don’t have that much wiggle room in the books. 
 

On the other hand, I’ve offered the cheaper rate of shipping that doesn’t have tracking but have asked that the buyer assumes responsibility if the package is delayed or lost in transit. Got crickets on that as I assume everyone thinks I’m trying to rip them off. 
 

I’ve also received requests to ship books basically between just two pieces of cardboard in a Manila envelope to save on shipping cost.  Which I’m not going to do as I don’t think that’s a secure way of shipping. 
 

So now I just list US shipping. I don’t expressly forbid shipping to Canada, I figure if someone is interested enough they’ll ask. So far, I don’t seem to have anything Canadians really want. 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 3/9/2022 at 9:55 AM, Number 6 said:

I’ve actually tried to offer shipping to Canada without any success. 
 

On the one hand, I’ve offered shipping via Priority International as that’s the only rate that has tracking (so I have proof of shipment) and I’ve gotten 1) complaints that shipping is too high or 2) members willing to pay the shipping…but want to try and negotiate the cost of the books down to compensate for the shipping and I just don’t have that much wiggle room in the books. 
 

On the other hand, I’ve offered the cheaper rate of shipping that doesn’t have tracking but have asked that the buyer assumes responsibility if the package is delayed or lost in transit. Got crickets on that as I assume everyone thinks I’m trying to rip them off. 
 

I’ve also received requests to ship books basically between just two pieces of cardboard in a Manila envelope to save on shipping cost.  Which I’m not going to do as I don’t think that’s a secure way of shipping. 
 

So now I just list US shipping. I don’t expressly forbid shipping to Canada, I figure if someone is interested enough they’ll ask. So far, I don’t seem to have anything Canadians really want. 

This is totally fair.  I think most Canadians understand it’s going to cost more and will happily pay the extra fees.  It’s the outright banning of Canadian buyers that sucks.

[F For Fake]

I salute our frosty brothers and sisters of the Great White North!  When I'm selling on the boards, I am more than happy to ship to anyone who is willing to pay the actual shipping cost, regardless of where they live. This is because the boards have historically done a great job of weeding out troublemakers, so I'm not concerned about getting hosed.

On eBay, however, I switched to GSP years ago, and haven't looked back. I 100% understand the buyers who hate it, and why they hate it, but from a seller's perspective, it was either that, or no more international shipments at all. Over 25 years of eBay selling, the overwhelming majority of problems I had were with international packages that got "lost", where tracking was useless. It was no longer worth the hassle, and life is much simpler as I ship those packages off to Erlanger KY, and let eBay sort it out. To address the earlier comment about eBay handling any GSP issues, I've had one or two packages that had issues, and eBay 100% took care of it. I didn't have to lift a finger. Not sure if that is always the case, but I've had zero regrets about using GSP.

But yes, for my fellow boardies, on the rare occasion I sell here, I'm more than happy to ship to Canada, the great land which gave us SCTV, Kids in the Hall, and to a lesser extent, Anne Murray.

[Terry JSA]

Shipping to Canada is so costly now.

[Point Five]

On 3/9/2022 at 10:43 AM, F For Fake said:

On eBay, however, I switched to GSP years ago, and haven't looked back. I 100% understand the buyers who hate it, and why they hate it, but from a seller's perspective, it was either that, or no more international shipments at all. Over 25 years of eBay selling, the overwhelming majority of problems I had were with international packages that got "lost", where tracking was useless. It was no longer worth the hassle, and life is much simpler as I ship those packages off to Erlanger KY, and let eBay sort it out. To address the earlier comment about eBay handling any GSP issues, I've had one or two packages that had issues, and eBay 100% took care of it. I didn't have to lift a finger. Not sure if that is always the case, but I've had zero regrets about using GSP.

Thanks, this is helpful. Thinking about trying it.

For a book that I value at a few hundred $, I usually list a flat domestic shipping rate of (say) $12 to cover US Priority shipping with sig confirm. If a Canadian buyer is viewing my auction, will they automatically see the higher GSP shipping rate and not the $12?

 

[Point Five]

On 3/9/2022 at 9:55 AM, Number 6 said:

2) members willing to pay the shipping…but want to try and negotiate the cost of the books down to compensate for the shipping and I just don’t have that much wiggle room in the books. 

Right, this sort of thing can be an issue too... maybe not a dealbreaker in and of itself, but more sand in the wheels of transactions.

Plus a potential return (for an overlooked flaw, etc) could get super costly with shipping both ways. Another reason why I prefer not to deal with unknown overseas ebayers, but am more willing to work with overseas buyers on the boards.