Phoenix Gold Phorum

I haven't shipped international before what is the etiquette for buying and selling. Do you use a escrow account or is the money sent and then the item gets shipped????? Just trying to avoid any problems. For both parties involved

When I sent something to didierpg I just set it up with paypal and shipped it usps. It took some time to get through customs but it finally got there!!

I've always paid sellers in the UK and USA via paypal and then had things sent through regular post. USPS is WAY cheaper than UPS for international shipping.

I know a lot of people are loathe to deal with international buyers, but if you're a seller, common sense should tell you wether the buyer is a serious buyer or trying to scam you.

As long as the money comes into my paypal account, I ship all the time! No real issues. Had one guy in the past put up a stink about a laptop that I had that did not have a working LCD. The guy knew this to be true, but then when he got it gave me a bunch of hooey that the lappy didn't work...I told him it was sold as is...and the LAPTOP does work, the screen does not....etc...
Anyway he was fine with it for a few months, then tried to file a paypal claim...I was like thats BS...anyway needless to say I won, plus it was past the time.

I've never had any problems with most international people.
Just let them know the time frame of you shipping, when you ship, and any confirmation shipping/tracking numbers. Also let them know that you are not responsible if it gets lost etc. I've never had a lost package yet.....knock on wood....

But once it leaves USA, you generally can't do anything and USPS can't won't do much for you either.

same with ups and fedex (of which are friggggginn expensive....usps as stated is the way to go).

You may also confir with your buyer, that if they want insurance etc. As with insuring an item, you have protection there, but they may pay in fees brokerage fees and import tax etc stuff like that at the border.

So again confir with your buyer....you can try sending it as a broken item, or one that was repaired etc.....Gift w/ low value....under $50....

But again doing so, you may not be able to declare an insureable amount. The higher the amount is, the more tax and fees have to be paid etc.

from the UK, pharosparcel.com has excellent prices. I use them regularly in the mean time.

From the US, USPS is the way to go, but tracking is essentially non-existent. I had some techflex posted recently from furry letters and the extent of the tracking was "it left our facility". They didn't know when it arrived, either. Transit time was around 5 working days from TN.

UPS' tracking is fan-fuckin' tastic. Their express services are also that. I had a present.. bought tuesday afternoon over the phone, delivered to my parents wed am, pickup less than 90 mins after deal gone through with pharos, delivery is scheduled for friday a.m. between 10 and 11. They called me to confirm that, too.

When I bought my sub from CSS, TNT shipped. They were great, too, even if they "couldn't find" a six storey twin-stair block, where there's only a school on the other side of the road ?!. They dealt with customs nicely.
TNT were also ultrafast from NL to here. UK post is flaky; sometimes stuff is here overnight; my heatshrink: ordered via the 'bay on Sunday, here on Thursday via regular post is pretty good. Germany is a lot worse and significantly more expensive.

Fedex are currently handling a package from the UK here and their tracking is so bad it's not funny. It's probably left the UK; I don't know.

Customs: They are a pain. We have to pay at this end, generally at least VAT ("Sales Tax") of 15% in the UK, 19% in Germany, 22% here. They will also charge on the delivery charges in many EU countries.
The limits are being raised to €150 at the end of this year, so if it's less than that they won't bother any more. This is v.good

Payment: PP has us by the short'n'curlies. They twist on the transfer fees - they'll take a slice when you move from any currency to another - but you can run balance amounts in all currencies if you want.
There are other systems out there - in the EU, it's just a regular transfer cost within the Euro zone - so I can transfer to Germany for peanuts, it just takes three working days to arrive.

Packing:
- for amps and similar, wood is not to be underestimated.
- for speakers, those clips they are delivered in is great.

just because it comes in its original box, please assume nothing about the suitability of that box for shipping: i.e. add it into another box and bubblewrap between them!

The worst part is that stuff can move - if you have to, FFS - use expandy foam, old blankets, camp mats, whatever it takes. It won't be expensive and it's a lot less hassle than dealing with an unhappy buyer.

HtH.

Bret

quick update: Fedex (at least in the UK) have a sister company called fedexuk.

Now, the seller has screwed up because it's not being delivered to the address I requested (that's another story); but, talking to the Finnish operation, they have no idea how to see the status of this parcel.
The UK op has "information" such that it "left security to go on a trailer" .. and that was three-four hours after it arrived.

I have no idea where this is, I cannot see anything and ... well, it's pretty chaotic. Not good.

Bret

Thanks for all the info guys I may be shipping to Italy soon just have to figure out all the cost involved now.

ok got a question ....... what is the deliverance between Priority Mail® International and Priority Mail® International Flat-Rate Box any one know??? it is the same description for both on the USPS sight

priority mail / first class is pretty quick. Thing is, they might decide to work with "volumetric weight" (so 12" x 18" x 6" might only weigh 2lbs, but their "average" for that is 5lbs, so they'll charge you for 5, not 2).

A flat-rate box avoids this, but also means you might get charged more.

Small and light --> use priority
large and light --> use flatrate box IF it fits
small and heavy --> flatrate box may well be the better deal, check any weight restrictions.

does this help? they do this pretty much everywhere, it's not just USPS.

Bret