Why some sellers don't sell their lights outside US?

[Praxis]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

I will ship overseas, but generally only for more expensive items ($100+). The amount of time necessary to fill out customs forms is pretty much the same regardless of the cost of the item. I hate spending 30 minutes filling out forms for a $20 item.

Also, I will only ship overseas if the buyer knows what he/she is doing. They have to pick up the actual shipping costs and use a USPS service that comes with tracking. They also have to be okay with me getting insurance for the full value of the item. If they don't want to do that, no deal.

As far as post offices go, my local one about a mile away is pretty good. Usually a short wait and the 4-5 staff there all know me. The regional post office a few miles away, on the other hand, is a real nightmare. Rarely more than one or two clerks in duty and hugh lines. The regional PO's hours are much better, but I try to avoid that place at all costs.

 

[wykeite]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

I personally have no problem shipping outside the US. I always give the buyer the option of the exegerated insurance that is normally associated with shipping something out of the US. They always decline............ (Big snip).

I believe it is incidents like this that keep people from wanting to ship out of the US. At least if you ship something in the US, you can purchase a signature confirmation for less than $1 if you choose.

Can't remember the offer of exagerated insurance:tinfoil:, thank goodness it arrived safely and quickly(6 days to the UK). One of the good guys here.

I will ship overseas, but generally only for more expensive items ($100+). The amount of time necessary to fill out customs forms is pretty much the same regardless of the cost of the item. I hate spending 30 minutes filling out forms for a $20 item.

Also, I will only ship overseas if the buyer knows what he/she is doing. They have to pick up the actual shipping costs and use a USPS service that comes with tracking. They also have to be okay with me getting insurance for the full value of the item. If they don't want to do that, no deal.

As far as post offices go, my local one about a mile away is pretty good. Usually a short wait and the 4-5 staff there all know me. The regional post office a few miles away, on the other hand, is a real nightmare. Rarely more than one or two clerks in duty and hugh lines. The regional PO's hours are much better, but I try to avoid that place at all costs.

I see no problem with your terms.

********************

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you have with USPS perhaps Royal Mail and Post Office aren't so bad:devil:.

Anyway, cheers to those that sell international from the U.S.

To those that don't, you could have sold it for more y'all :nana:.

 

[photonwave]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

Can't remember the offer of exagerated insurance:tinfoil:, thank goodness it arrived safely and quickly(6 days to the UK). One of the good guys here.



I see no problem with your terms.

********************

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you have with USPS perhaps Royal Mail and Post Office aren't so bad:devil:.

Anyway, cheers to those that sell international from the U.S.

To those that don't, you could have sold it for more y'all :nana:.

Well, I have two locations - USA and UK. This way I can at least handle the EU at a decent cost, and service the CONUS cheaply as well.

Trying to get a location in Australia next.

 

[LightBen]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

There are several reasons why my business does not ship outside of the USA and Canada:

When selling a wide variety of items, it becomes an enormous hassle to determine the postal regulations in other nations. Some countries require certain types of goods to be insured for their full value, whether your customer wants to pay for insurance or not. Other countries have insane regulations. Going from memory, Italy officially bans the importation of any toys not made wholly of wood, any bells or musical instruments, clocks and clock parts, albums of any kind, typewriter ribbons, etc. It becomes a burden to check for these sorts of regulations for every item sent to every foreign customer.

Returns (if the seller allows them) are a hassle.

VERY often, buyers become angry when you quote them the true cost to ship to their nations. A shipment that costs $12 in the US can easily cost $50+ to a foreign nation. This does not even take into account the additional time it takes for the seller to complete any customs declarations.

We have lost money too many times on shipping to foreign nations. You might get an initial quote from the USPS of $10 to ship an item and pass this along to your customer. Then you learn that you MUST ship that particular item via a specific service to comply with postal regulations and, by the way, the shipping is now $30.

I am willing to make exceptions for certain customers and certain items, but generally it's not worth the hassle.

-Ben

 

[KD5XB]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

As far as post offices go, my local one about a mile away is pretty good. Usually a short wait and the 4-5 staff there all know me. The regional post office a few miles away, on the other hand, is a real nightmare. Rarely more than one or two clerks in duty and huge lines. The regional PO's hours are much better, but I try to avoid that place at all costs.

Go try and buy a couple of IRC's -- International Reply Coupons -- from any of them. If it's like the Post Offices in my area, you'll get answers ranging from "those are no longer used anywhere" to "yes sir, how many do you need?" IRC's are supposed to be available anywhere there is a demand, but some of the postal employees will tell you anything to keep from selling them.

 

[wykeite]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

There are several reasons why my business does not ship outside of the USA and Canada:

When selling a wide variety of items, it becomes an enormous hassle to determine the postal regulations in other nations. Some countries require certain types of goods to be insured for their full value, whether your customer wants to pay for insurance or not. Other countries have insane regulations. Going from memory, Italy officially bans the importation of any toys not made wholly of wood, any bells or musical instruments, clocks and clock parts, albums of any kind, typewriter ribbons, etc. It becomes a burden to check for these sorts of regulations for every item sent to every foreign customer.

Returns (if the seller allows them) are a hassle.

VERY often, buyers become angry when you quote them the true cost to ship to their nations. A shipment that costs $12 in the US can easily cost $50+ to a foreign nation. This does not even take into account the additional time it takes for the seller to complete any customs declarations.

We have lost money too many times on shipping to foreign nations. You might get an initial quote from the USPS of $10 to ship an item and pass this along to your customer. Then you learn that you MUST ship that particular item via a specific service to comply with postal regulations and, by the way, the shipping is now $30.

I am willing to make exceptions for certain customers and certain items, but generally it's not worth the hassle.

-Ben

Thank you very much and goodnight Sir.

 

[Illum]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

Increased liability in terms of items getting lost, delays in transit, seizure in customs [you should see some of the things that gets sold in the US...]

Higher shipping per pound weight means less revenue...for such matters some company simply prefers to deal with domestic markets. the US of A has always been accustomed to domestic commerce...that'll change in the coming decade in which US may be forced to accept a new scope of global commerce...a topic too political to sustain peacefully upstairs

 

[wykeite]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

Increased liability in terms of items getting lost, delays in transit, seizure in customs [you should see some of the things that gets sold in the US...]

Higher shipping per pound weight means less revenue...for such matters some company simply prefers to deal with domestic markets. the US of A has always been accustomed to domestic commerce...that'll change in the coming decade in which US may be forced to accept a new scope of global commerce...a topic too political to sustain peacefully upstairs

Please expand if you can, it doesn't make much sense at the moment. In fact it's drivel and hasn't anything to do with the OP.

 

[Apollo Cree]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

A buddy of mine was trying to ship a package to someone in Saudi Arabia. He put the correct mailing info on it.

Apparently, because it didn't have a "zip code" at the end of the international address, the idiot operating the mail sorting machine would type the zip code on the return address in, and the package would come back to his own address. Apparently, the operator has to enter a zip code within a certain time or he gets a reprimand, and he doesn't get any reprimand for routing the package incorrectly.

He had to go to the post office three times, check with the droid behind the counter, verify the addressing was correct, and leave it at the counter. The package kept getting returned to his return address.

 

[photonwave]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

A buddy of mine was trying to ship a package to someone in Saudi Arabia. He put the correct mailing info on it.

Apparently, because it didn't have a "zip code" at the end of the international address, the idiot operating the mail sorting machine would type the zip code on the return address in, and the package would come back to his own address. Apparently, the operator has to enter a zip code within a certain time or he gets a reprimand, and he doesn't get any reprimand for routing the package incorrectly.

He had to go to the post office three times, check with the droid behind the counter, verify the addressing was correct, and leave it at the counter. The package kept getting returned to his return address.

Hey! That sounds like my experience with DHL!

 

[QtrHorse]

Re: Why some sellers don't sell their lights/stuffs outside US?

Can't remember the offer of exagerated insurance:tinfoil:, thank goodness it arrived safely and quickly(6 days to the UK). One of the good guys here.

That's because I have never had anyone ask for insurance or delivery confirmation that was out of the US. I leave it up to the buyer. I almost always list the terms in my FS threads. I give the buyer the option of insurance and delivery confirmation. Only a few US buyers even choose the option.

Yes, you were one of the many non US buyers that had no problems. The one incident that I listed is the only one in my entire time selling items.

I have actually had great luck with shipping times out of the US. Many of the items I recently shipped have arrived in 6-7 days. I consider that fasat shipping for out of the US.

 

[uknewbie]

International Shipping - What's so hard???

I recently contacted Bob at RMSK to try the already difficult task of actually buying a product from Peak. No joy as he will not ship to the UK, as this is too much hassle, apparently.

What is the problem here? This seems annoyingly common, especially when posting from the USA. What year is this?

China ships items all over the world in enormous numbers, and shipping across Europe is now easier than ever.

Do companies just have so little need for business nowadays that they can turn it away?

How hard is it to fill out a little slip and take your sales to the post office, or have them collected?

I would gladly pay the extra shipping costs!


:shakehead :shakehead :shakehead

 

[Norm]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

I've had no trouble (if you discount slow delivery) dealing with Peak direct. Talk to Curt Or Robyn.
Norm

 

[beerwax]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

i get all sorts of stuff from all over the world but hardly ever fom the usa cos they dont like to . but sometimes someone there will and for the same shipping costs the rest of the world charges. ive seen surveys of americans where they are asked if they know where country 'x' is and you get somefunny answers.

 

[brembo]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

I just checked USPS rates for a 5x8x2 (inch), max 4 pounds and it's ~13 dollars. So it's not too bad. I do not know anything about customs or tariffs once it leaves the US however. For a laugh fire up UPS international delivery...whoa expensive.

uknewbie-

If you are wiling to do the research for what kind of customs paperwork/fees are involved I would have no problem being the intermediary for a international shipment. Ship to me, then I'd turn around and ship to you, no upcharge on my end, just cover all expenses.

 

[Napalm]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

Laziness and their internal market being large enough to sustain them.

Nap.

 

[mvyrmnd]

Laziness and their internal market being large enough to sustain them.

Nap.

I think you're on the money. The rest of the world have to ship globally in order to be able to sell their stuff. There isn't a huge market in Australia for $500 torches . If I want to sell a light an any reasonable amount of time, I have to be willing to ship overseas. Folks in the U.S. can simply not bother because there's enough of a market locally.

I don't know how the system works over there, but for me to ship internationally only requires one extra piece of paper and a bunch of extra dollars. The process is no more difficult than sending a birthday card to my mum.

 

[Z-Tab]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

A lot of people and companies, when scammed, are scammed by international buyers. That's a big part of it. There's a general feeling that shipping internationally puts the seller at greater risk, and when dealing with Paypal or Credit Card companies, that is almost always true; very few buyers are willing to pay the $30-40 premium to get tracking that is available within the US for less than $1. When dealing with large companies, or sales agents, that concern is lessened.

Obviously, there's not a greater number of scammers internationally, the system is just easier to exploit.

 

[Sparky's Magic]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

4Sevens ship internationally, have some fine products and charge NO freight. These guys provide an excellent service, superb after-sales back-up and are at all times helpful and courteous.

I had occasion to return a small 'light; no hassles, just friendly old fashioned service. They replaced the light and refunded my return freight from Australia! I'm sure on this deal they would have lost money: What they did get is a return customer and a pretty happy one at that.

 

[FlashKat]

Re: International Shipping - What's so hard???

It also depends where you live in the U.S.A, since some post offices are very busy. I have to wait in line for an hour sometimes to ship internationally.