|
Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Feb 16, 2015 20:33:12 GMT
its easy to say if the package gets lost o well its the customers problem, but then as a seller what does it look like when X customer posts allvoer the internet that he bought an item from you and never recieved it and you refused to compensate them. ive had enough problems with US postal losing packages ehre in the CONUS and REFUSING to honor the insurance because the driver who lost it said he delivered it. Not worth the hassle. then you have to wait up to a month for the item to arrive and the customer to say Ok it arrived undamaged and im happy with it before you can even spend the money without fear of having to do a refund after youve spent it.
|
|
|
Post by Insane on Feb 16, 2015 20:39:20 GMT
Hello forum people, In the classifieds you often see U.S residents only. And i wonder why? I life in Europe The Netherlands to be precise. I've ordered dozens of swords from the U.S. and Canada without problems. Shipping for an average blade sets me back around $45,- So why are people reluctant to ship overseas? You have to bring it to the same postoffice so what's the problem with a sender abroad? What's the difference? Lack of experience doing it is generally the reason why people don't want to. They don't have any experience with it and don't want to learn. It is easier to just say CONUS only and not worry about international shipping.j That's what i was thinking and exactly the reasson why i started this topic. But i've seen some interesting anwsers
|
|
|
Post by randomnobody on Feb 16, 2015 21:58:21 GMT
Last thing I sent out was a small box that I'd been meaning to get to the PO for weeks, three to be exact, but as I ride a scooter and it's winter time in central Virginia, the weather is kind of unpredictable. Winds up to 30mph, heavy rains, ice, snow, temperatures in the teens, all mean I'm not going anywhere unless it's work and even then they'll be happy if I show up whenever I roll in. Finally got over my initial fears of creating an online account and looking into buying postage and printing shipping labels online. My primary concern was getting the dimensions and weights wrong; granted I have several tape measures and a pretty accurate scale, but I always worry somebody else's will disagree with mine, ya know? Took a couple of days to figure out the system, get my label printed, and learn how to schedule a pick up, but as soon as I did, the very next day the mailman came and took it right off my porch and it was at its destination three days later. Now, for international stuff...I've never done it before, so I would prefer to go to the post office and be able to ask questions and verify that everything is correct before trusting the USPS to get whatever to wherever, and currently I am having my very first ever experience with a lost (inbound) package. Needless to say, if I'm ever mailing anything else again, I'd rather keep it in the same landmass. That way, at least I know it's, well, in the same landmass, somewhere. I buy internationally pretty often, though, and I'm glad the Euro countries think the USD is strong because let me tell you, the GBP and JPY are laughing at us. That aside, the forms that come in are scary and I'd rather just skip them. I can barely read one, I'd hate to have to fill it out for myself. All that to say, yeah, mailing has gotten a lot easier...but I'm still put off by it. I can only speak for me, though...
|
|
|
Post by LG Martial Arts on Feb 17, 2015 0:22:00 GMT
just a quick anecdote: a buddy of mine sells knives/gear for a living and was recently told AT THE POST OFFICE (San Antonio TX) that he couldn't ship out knives because it was against P.O. rules for that city (they have ridiculously harsh knife laws in S.A.)... he had his brand's name on the package, so he had to go back and repackage it in another box. Mind you, he'd been selling/shipping out knives for a while, but mostly online, not in person. It wasn't until he went inside the P.O. that he was told NO. Oh, and he was shipping in the CONUS.
|
|
|
Post by randomnobody on Feb 17, 2015 0:30:05 GMT
Oh yeah, that reminds me, a few years back I sold a couple swords and as my sister was running out I asked her to take one to the PO for me. They ran the standard routine of "Anything hazardous" etc. and she, being the honest sort, conceded "Well, it's a sword..." PO asked if I had a license to mail swords, she said no (I don't, what IS that, anyway?) and refused to accept it. A few days later my mother took it in and simply answered "no" to the ol' "anything dangerous" query and they took it no problem at all.
Post Offices are weird.
|
|
Scott
Member
Posts: 1,675
|
Post by Scott on Feb 17, 2015 2:37:13 GMT
If someone doesn't want to deal with international postage that's up to them. Less hassle, but less potential sales too. Reposting services can give a way around that though. As far as customs issues go, I think that's the responsibility of the buyer. You need to check what you are/are not allowed to bring into the country, and check you have any appropriate permits. Sorry, but you can't blame the seller if customs confiscates your purchase because it's a prohibited import.
|
|
|
Post by L Driggers (fallen) on Feb 17, 2015 4:38:13 GMT
Feel sorry for you if you really have lost that many packages. So for out of the 100's I've shipped they have lost a one. I let overseas customers know up front I won't be reponsable for seized packages. I've shipped a lot overseas haven't any problems yet.
I will and do take care of my customers.
|
|
|
Post by Insane on Feb 17, 2015 6:58:24 GMT
Oh yeah, that reminds me, a few years back I sold a couple swords and as my sister was running out I asked her to take one to the PO for me. They ran the standard routine of "Anything hazardous" etc. and she, being the honest sort, conceded "Well, it's a sword..." PO asked if I had a license to mail swords, she said no (I don't, what IS that, anyway?) and refused to accept it. A few days later my mother took it in and simply answered "no" to the ol' "anything dangerous" query and they took it no problem at all. Post Offices are weird. They Are Weird!!! I once was trying to send a sword and the lady said "It's too long" So i made a joke that i hear that more often, but asked what do you mean? I ship these more often??? She said well we have new regulations and i can't ship anything over a meter and this package is 106cm. I said what the Heck, how is that possible??? We had a debate and after a couple of minutes she said "well i could post it via larger package but then you need to pay the larger package price. How much is that is asked? She said 12,50 (instead of 7,25)........... So basically the regulations for shipping had changed, it just to be 125cm X 50cm as a maxiumum for small parcels. But the idiot had me believe that i couldn't ship anymore?????
|
|