[keruili]

OK, it has been banging around my brain for some time now and tonight seems right to finally let it out.
Why is it that everyone else in the world will ship an item to almost anywhere else in the world, but if an item is listed as being States-side you already know you're going to have to special request to get it shipped across anything more than an interstate border? This goes for eBay as well. I've been shopping and buying for years now and this seems to be the general rule.
Perhaps there is some kind of law either of the US itself or maybe even written into the fabric of the universe that is known intrinsically by all citizens of the lower 48, and perhaps this law states that the possibility of opening a karmic channel of negative vibes occurs whenever anything with a US return address on it penetrates an international border this making it infinitely safer to just keep shipping to the CONUS.
If there is an answer it would be great to know because I am personally baffled by this.
Thanks

[ChrisPlatt]

On this and other photo forums I have offered for sale many items, mostly of lesser value to buyers worldwide.

My experience has been that non-US potential buyers almost invariably balk at the cost of shipping
at a level that can be both insured and tracked.

It's a nuisance to provide a shipping quote and the numerous emails involved back and forth
only to have the potential buyer back out simply because they don't want to pay the freight.

Chris

[crewl1]

Bottom line is it is more hassle and cost to ship internationally (including Canada) and with so many buyers available in the lower 48 there is really no incentive to offer to ship elsewhere.

[savoche]

My experience is that the shipping cost tends to be ridiculous, at least with tracking and insurance. And most muricans seem reluctant to ship anything, even cheap objects, without insurance. I have pretty much given up looking for stuff sold out of the US even if they should offer to ship internationally.

[dadipentak]

Bottom line is it is more hassle and cost to ship internationally (including Canada) and with so many buyers available in the lower 48 there is really no incentive to offer to ship elsewhere.

Exactly. I'm an internationalist by breeding and inclination but there are practical considerations. In addition to the hassle and cost, some delivery systems outside the US can be very slow (which raises reliability concerns). Also, I imagine that international dispute resolution could get really complicated. I note that some EU sellers are wary about doing business out of the zone, probably for similar reasons.

[crewl1]

My experience is that the shipping cost tends to be ridiculous, at least with tracking and insurance. And most muricans seem reluctant to ship anything, even cheap objects, without insurance. I have pretty much given up looking for stuff sold out of the US even if they should offer to ship internationally.

Insurance or not, just the extra paperwork and cost is enough to discourage a murican.

[micromacro]

I sell on ebay from time to time, and don't ship internationally for a few reasons. First, there is potential scam, when item crosses the border, no tracking, the buyer receives the item, but claims it lost. Ebay will return money to the buyer no matter what, and I end up with headache only and negative feedback. Not having too much feedback in general, that will affect my future sales badly. Those type of buyers usually pop up when the value is a couple of hundreds dollars.

Second, it's always stressful one way or another.
1. Buyer from Canada asked my ones if I will ship my item to her. Sure, no prob. A couple hours after the auction ended, I checked ebay, and she was furious telling that she is going to leave me negative feedback because she can not pay, I blocked her. She sent me a few angry emails already. I simply forgot that my PayPal settings allow only domestic buyers to pay. Again, I was away from the comp only for about 3 hours!

2. The guy from Ukraine asked me if I will ship to him. I checked him first. He has been giving negative feedback to ALL his American sellers because "shipping is too high" Well, I wrote him, no, shipping will be too expensive, sorry

3. I've been selling 50 lb item, pretty fragile machine listed domestically only. I spotted bidder from the Middle East before the action ended. I stated clearly that I sell only within US, but she won the item no matter what. I could not block her during bidding because (as ebay worker told by phone) she or he listed American bank account in ebay profile. Of course, after the action ended she asked me to ship to Middle East. Nice. So, I closed that transaction and offered the item to the bidder after her for less money.

The bottom line: ebay does not protect such a small and occasional sellers like me, but they will protect pretty much any buyer. I enjoy that as a buyer, but hate that as a seller.
It would be great if ebay would make the second site just for domestic "garage sellers". No hassle, no international scam, and no fake "domestic sellers" from China.

[savoche]

Insurance or not, just the extra paperwork and cost is enough to discourage a murican.

I have no problems respecting that. It's just a pity it has to be that way.

[monochrome]

It just is too easy for a USA seller to be out the lens and the money if we sell overseas. I usually offer USA/Canada/UK/Australia. The most collectible and valuable items I have ever sold were bought by Australian PF members with long Feedback histories. They were sent to PO Boxes and held for pickup. They often weren't at home for extended periods. That worked out fine and they've been repeat buyers. OTOH I have learned through bad experiences Germany is just too risky. I simply won't sell there.

The only less than Positive Feedbcak I have ever received here was a Neutral Feedback from a Canadian buyer who thought the item took too long to reach him - as if I had any control over Canada Post!!

Two things

1. The USPS online postage website has become significantly better and easier to use the last six months. Pre-determining postage is much easier. Printing International Shipping documents is just as easy as printing a domestic label. USPS will drop off the plastic international sleeves the forms slide into at your front door for free just as they will give you free USPS shipping boxes. Establishing an online postage account is really easy and you get a 10% discount on postage. USPS will pick up your packages for shipment at your front door and you can schedule pickups on line when you print your labels (or any other time). I do all of that all the time.
2. The problem is PayPal Seller Protection. PayPal does not extend Seller Protection to many countries outside the USA since PayPal USA can't verify the FOREIGN delivery addresses. Even though you may be Verified and your address Confirmed at your end, you're not Verified and your address isn't Confirmed at my end. Without Seller Protection ALL the risk is on me.
   1. When I sell International I specify USPS International Insured Priority Mail. That costs +/- $35 to Canada, +/- $45 to EU / Australia, +/- $60 Russia / Asia - versus $11.45 for a Domestic Delivery buyer. In many countries you must also pay Import Duty and I refuse to lie on a US Government document and state the item is a gift.

[ChrisPlatt]

My experience is that the shipping cost tends to be ridiculous, at least with tracking and insurance.

There, you illustrate my point exactly.

And most muricans seem reluctant to ship anything, even cheap objects, without insurance.

Why should we assume that risk? Without insurance if item is lost or damaged which party would you expect to absorb the loss?

I have pretty much given up looking for stuff sold out of the US even if they should offer to ship internationally.

That is the most rational choice. It is not economical for you to shop from US sellers.

Chris

[keruili]

The thing I find interesting is that the perspective I'm hearing here is that these issues only exist for Americans. I have shipped internationally with insurance and no issues. I would do it again.
As much as people might want to laugh off Asian sellers, they actually sell quality items (do your research, right?) and often they ship for free the identical items that American sellers both sell for more and charge unbelievable shipping rates on. Not sure who buys those items and why they would pay so much more, but from my experience it appears to be a waste of money just for some elusive assurance that buying US guarantees a good product. It is similar to people I know who refuse to shop at our Canadian Superstores and insist on paying higher prices at other stores for the exact same items. They are paying for atmosphere and the mistaken idea that all the Superstore sells is knockoff no name items. Where did that thinking come from anyway in this age of outsourcing?

[micromacro]

As much as people might want to laugh off Asian sellers, they actually sell quality items (do your research, right?)

It depends what you are buying from China and from whom. There is no secret that domestic sellers are re-sellers, and that companies order their merchandise with their logos from Chinese factories.

If you know what you buy, you can buy the same quality "no-name" from the same factory. Or you can buy the same product "no-name" again, but way lesser quality. Yes,do your research.

No one laughs about Asian sellers. However, I don't like when American seller actually is the seller in China, and my item ships out of there from no-name factory pretending to be on American land.
If I want to buy from China directly, I will. That ebay "cheating" is extremely annoying. And amazon's as well.

[keruili]

Stuff like this (eBay item #160818473779) makes me laugh. Six metal cribbage pins for $4 is OK, but over $33 for shipping from Vegas. Does that include tracking and insurance? 8P
This is the kind of thing, even though a slightly extreme example, that I run into all the time. It is also the biggest reason I don't shop the US most of the time. It is such a headache as a buyer.

[micromacro]

When you check another option it will be:
US $7.70
Canada
USPS First Class Mail Intl / First Class Package Intl Service

[dadipentak]

The thing I find interesting is that the perspective I'm hearing here is that these issues only exist for Americans.

That is interesting--I would expect to hear similar attitudes from other countries. Based on a recent purchase, I gather that shipping to the US from Canada can be a major pain in the butt. I also figured that Europeans would rather deal within the EU (and think I've seen evidence of that in the Marketplace.)

Mind you, it's not that I haven't done international deals--I have and most have gone very smoothly. It's just that I have to be very comfortable with the deal, the counter-party and the context before I'll agree to an international transaction.