posted on February 17, 2003 08:17:43 AM new
Depending on what you sell, I would consider adding a line "Some items cannot be shipped to some countries, due to delivery problems, prohibitive cost or postal regulations. Others must use a specified service (i.e. UPS, Federal Express) that may result in a higher overall cost." That covers you for transactions that, for a number of reasons, cannot be shipped.
For example, many South American countries' postal services are notorious for package theft, so mailing a parcel there isn't a good idea. You'd want to use a delivery service, and depending on the country, that's going to automatically add tariffs and fees. And different items are banned in different countries - China and Indonesia ban the import of used clothing, and the UK bans the import of any cosmetic product that has been tested on animals.
This link will take you to the Department of Commerce website that discusses country-specific bans. (It's a poorly laid out page, but all the info is there.)
On the "declared value" thing ... I mark it as low as I can honestly mark it. At times, int'l bidders will seek out sellers and bid their auctions up higher than an item normally sells for, because other sellers in that category won't go international. I don't think it's fair to hit them on that higher price, so I'll go with the average price that item fetches from U.S. bidders, or (if I bought it retail) the price I paid.)
And I have ... very occasionally ... fibbed and marked something as a gift b/c the tariffs would be obscenely high otherwise. (like 8-9x the value of the item.) In that case, I omit any documentation of the auction and simply enclose a hand-written note card saying "here's the (whatever) I promised you. ... use it in good health! Hope everything is going well. Regards, (moi)." They always make the extra trouble worth my while.
I had bidders from Singapore and Wales who were both so grateful to me for this ... I even agreed to custom-buy several items for Jo (the Welsh woman, whose American husband was nuts for Love's Fresh Lemon cologne, not available in the UK, apparently) and we've actually become friends, so it's not that much of a fib, really.
[ edited by msincognito on Feb 17, 2003 08:40 AM ]
posted on February 17, 2003 08:38:07 AM new
I have alway sold worldwide and find that international bidders bid higher in a lot of cases.
I just recently starting use Global Priority for small items like jewelry and it's great. It $5.00 or $9.00 depending on the size and includes insurance up to $100.00 so I'm going to start quoting that.
Ditto on Japan - never had a bad bidder there.
I normally have about 1 international sell a month but I'm getting 1 or 2 a week right now????
Good luck
posted on February 17, 2003 09:03:22 AM new
I think it depends on what your selling. I sell motorcycles and motorcycle parts.
I've sold international since it was possible. Never had a problem.
I use Pay Pal for the smaller stuff and only accept CC's from Europe, Australia and Japan. International Money orders and tranfers for the big stuff.
I've sold 3 motorcycles to Japanese buyer. They are very good to deal with, Indeed.
Had one problem with a shipment not getting to the West coast fast enough. Buyer was upset. I explained I had no control over the shipping and that the item left here on time.
His secretary called and wrote a nice letter of apology. I wound up with a lot of Japanese buyers because of that. Like anyone else they are very loyal when treated with honesty and respect.
Amen,
Reverend Colin
