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

[AaronG]

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.

I've been very happy with 4sevens. I wish they sold all the stuff I wanted just because of the free shipping and great service

Usually that little slip of paper comes with a premium handling charge because the shipping charge is usually five times more than the actual shipping charged by USPS.

 

[z17813]

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.

I think this is a fair point. A friend of mine who lives stateside often has to wait 60-90 minutes at his post office. I don't blame him for not wanting to deal with the stuff around. Living is Australia I'm always happy to see people shipping internationally, but I don't blame them if they aren't willing to, usually there is someone else willing to take my cash.

 

[Morelite]

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

I have mailed several lights internationally and have done all the shipping online with USPS and just dropped them in the mailbox with no need to visit the PO.

 

[fivemega]

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

I have to wait in line for an hour sometimes to ship internationally.

This is very small part of international shipping problem from USA.

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.

While you can get delivery confirmation inside USA for $0.80

Also, shipping to some countries are too risky to worth their business.

I have mailed several lights internationally and have done all the shipping online with USPS and just dropped them in the mailbox with no need to visit the PO.

And if buyer claims that he hasn't receive the package and opens a paypal dispute? Can you track the parcel? Do all international buyers willing to pay premium for insurance or tracking service? USPS doesn't even offer some services to few countries simply because their postal service is not reliable or safe.

 

[bansuri]

Re: 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.

That it is a hassle is not apparent. Ask him. He is a member here also, look in the Peak subforum.

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

I can only speak for myself, 1 ebay sale took months to arrive to Australia, my loss. An order from Cutter took a little over 7 months to arrive. As a private individual I'm unable to absorb any losses as I don't sell that much.

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

RMSK is a small firm that sells some lights for Peak in the US, China is a country.
Bob is not in Europe so he will not benefit from the new ease of shipping there.

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

Doubtful, more than likely it is a matter of risk factors and cost.

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

Not hard at all, it's doubtful that is the problem.

I would gladly pay the extra shipping costs!


:shakehead :shakehead :shakehead

Your collection of Straw Man and other invalid arguments have gotten you no closer to your goal, Contact CPF member DUMDUM for answers regarding RMSK shipping or member Curt R and browse around here.

Or you could go all CPF member Jimmy1970 on the issue and start your own store and be the EU distributor for Peak! We know there is at least a small demand in the EU and elsewhere, you would of course get samples and promos........

My guess is that it is primarily a question of risk/reward, not laziness.

(for the record, this post wouldn't have read much differently if it had been a thread about UK ONLY sales. People have their reasons.)

 

[HarryN]

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.

I am afraid that your example just makes it all that much more obvious why people don't ship internationally. Wire transfers to AUS are ridiculously expensive and shipping costs are roughly what you would expect for shipping something literally around the world. That being said, I have a supplier in AUS that is absolutely fabulous and it is worth my time and money to keep working with them.

4Sevens obviously takes their image quite seriously, so they were willing to loose money on doing business with you to keep all customers happy and retain corporate good will. Other companies also take their image quite seriously, and they seen long shipments as more likely a loose - loose.

My personal experience is that if you are going to do business in a continent, you really need someone there working for you. It can be a part time person, but there are just too many opportunites for things to go wrong even when you are trying really hard.

 

[bedazzLED]

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

Ordering Peak lights and getting them delivered to Australia is no problem.

I just contacted Peak directly, spoke to Robyn, ordered the lights I wanted and 4 weeks later they arrived.

There is only one dealer I have ever had a wee problem with; he who shall not be named; everybody else has been fine.

 

[uknewbie]

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

RMSK was used here as an example as my most recent instance of this issue, they are by no means alone in this regard.

This does seem an issue common to the USA however, as I have no issue getting things shipped from China, quite often with free delivery.

Just frustrating that there still seems to be a blanket ban on shipping anywhere outside the US by some companies, when others are happy to do it.

Incidentally, some time ago I started a thread about best places to buy in the UK, in case anyone would find it useful who has not already seen it.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?316218-Buying-options-in-the-UK

 

[Samy]

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

I have purchased from GoingGear.com, 4Sevens.com & last week Zebralight.com and all have been pleasant to deal with. It takes 2-4 weeks for a light to turn up, but it's worth the wait as such lights are simply not available in local stores. If a U.S.A online store doesn't charge extra and ship to Australia, then i consider it laziness. GoingGear.com charge extra for shipping to Australia and rightly so and are absolutely fantastic to deal with. I bought my Klarus and also my TK-41 from them this year & it only took about 2 weeks. They will get my repeat business.

cheers

 

[uknewbie]

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

I have purchased from GoingGear.com, 4Sevens.com & last week Zebralight.com and all have been pleasant to deal with. It takes 2-4 weeks for a light to turn up, but it's worth the wait as such lights are simply not available in local stores. If a U.S.A online store doesn't charge extra and ship to Australia, then i consider it laziness. GoingGear.com charge extra for shipping to Australia and rightly so and are absolutely fantastic to deal with. I bought my Klarus and also my TK-41 from them this year & it only took about 2 weeks. They will get my repeat business.

cheers

Exactly.

All these problems and risks are overcome by many good companies in the USA, so does make you doubt them when presented by others.

Just seems lazy and/or poor customer service.

I have a Jetbeam RRT-21 coming just now from Bug Out Gear for example. No issues, paid the postage for international shipping, simple.

I think if I ran my own business I would happily sell to anyone willing to buy

 

[uknewbie]

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

Your collection of Straw Man and other invalid arguments have gotten you no closer to your goal, Contact CPF member DUMDUM for answers regarding RMSK shipping or member Curt R and browse around here.

I did email Bob, when I asked about why he did not ship internationally he replied.... too much hassle. That was it. Nothing else. Not interested in explaining what hassle, expressing regret, suggesting alternatives, nada. You are not from the USA? Not interested then.

Oh and I have tried both your other suggestions, to no avail.

I would probably never buy from Peak now even if they did get a proper website and shipped abroad as their attitude to selling is so poor.

 

[uknewbie]

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

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.

Thank you, a very generous offer. You are the type of person that makes this forum really work.

:bow::bow::bow:

 

[Samy]

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

The other option is to get one of the USA address forwarding services.

cheers

 

[calipsoii]

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

As I understand it, there is nothing so hard about shipping internationally from the US except that the package has to be dropped off in person, and that can sometimes take a while. Other than that, the USPS is one of the premier postal systems in the world and the thought of ordering something online and having it arrive in 2 days absolutely blows me away.

 

[Changchung]

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

I am not in USA, but I think that the problem is UK, I send a watch to a costumer Jun 13 and he did not receive it yet, I send a lot of item to USA and maybe take a little longer that a regular international shippment but not so long. BTW, the costumer open a paypal complain and their take my money, and I am sure that he will receive the watch soon...

 

[jackbombay]

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

I sell my homemade product all over thew world and only charge the actual chipping cost to anywhere outside the USA, but I will say that international shipments are notably more likely to get lost and more likely to get damaged in transit than domestic shipments, with the latest round of lost/delayed/late packages I've starting to get pretty bummed about shipping internationally.

My $.02

 

[LuxLuthor]

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

This same topic was discussed at length 1-2 years ago. Only the high end USPS Express Mail International or Global Express shipping is trackable. Without confirmation tracking, there is no way to prevail as a seller in an insurance claim. Those methods start at $35 for the first pound.

There are a number of countries (Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, or China (with PayPal Premier account)) that have dramatically preferential laws in the event that a claim is filed....especially if PayPal was used for purchase.

If the international buyers are willing to pay the $14 Priority Mail International (not all are), we can include the customs form in the printed label and hand it to our local postman. For First Class, we must waste the time, gas money, and time waiting in line at local post offices that have abysmal service. My round trip mileage is 14 miles, plus at least 90 minutes to get there and wait in line. You may see that as laziness. I see it in terms of significant uncompensated expenses.

Even with Priority Mail International, we have nothing to give either party reassurance if they don't receive it in a timely manner. If some companies (GoingGear.com, 4Sevens.com, Zebralight.com, etc.) are making it look easy you can be sure that they are doing enough overall volume to make the cost of losses/refunds justified. It is unrealistic to expect smaller businesses or custom modders to provide the cheerful service once they have been burned from international sales gone bad.

For me personally, the straw that broke selling the custom battery packs I used to weld internationally was three of them sent to a person in Malaysia. After a month they filed and won a PayPal dispute, claiming non-receipt since all I had was the proof of shipping. A month later they sent me an email that they received them and had a question how to charge them. I replied that I would be happy to respond once they sent the payment back again...this time as a "Payment Owed" PayPal category. I never heard from them again, and never got their payment. That was it for me. I'm sure Peak, FiveMega and others have their own experiences.

 

[dandism]

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

Yup, it comes down to the price being too high for trackable shipping. Some people are fine with paying extra, most think it's too expensive.

 

[uknewbie]

Yup, it comes down to the price being too high for trackable shipping. Some people are fine with paying extra, most think it's too expensive.

I don't think in many cases it is as this is never offered to find out if the customer is willing to pay or not.

 

[brembo]

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

Thank you, a very generous offer. You are the type of person that makes this forum really work.

:bow::bow::bow:

The perk in it for me would that I could "inspect" the light before shipping it on.