posted on August 28, 2004 10:53:57 AM new
I've suddenly been inundated with letters requesting that I open auctions to international bids. Below is the form letter for such requests. It isn't quite right somehow. Any and all advise would be quite welcome!
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Hello XXXX,
Thank you for your inquiry. I can ship to <insert country here>; however,
the following conditions apply:
1) Payments must be made through BidPay (www.bidpay.com ~ A Western Union Company).
No PayPal on international shipments.
1) International shipments must be sent Air Mail or Global Priority. The shipping price for this particular item is $XX.xx via <insert the least expensive of the aforementioned options >.
2) The declared value for the customs forms will be the amount of the high bid. (Not "gift".)
3) Returns only in the case of misrepresented items.
My apologies for having to be so picky about international shipments. International bidders are great, but the policies of other companies make it too risky to do business internationally otherwise.
Kind Regards,
me
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posted on August 28, 2004 10:58:43 AM new
I think it's pretty clear! I'm wondering if you want to put the shipping amount in the form letter (customized of course). Would that be the total S&H due? Buyers may want to know that, too. I would leave that out and invite further questions of them; those who want to know the shipping in advance could then e-mail you. (Shipping around the world varies quite a bit unless you can use the global flat-rate envelopes.)
___________________________________
"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. You can see
that when you think how the friends that really listen to us are the ones we move
toward, and we want to sit in their radius as though it did us good, like
ultraviolet rays.
"Our communication skills improve when we can open to be aware of the needs of
the other person. When we listen, we can release the filters that serve our
own needs for security and receive the message with our compassionate heart.
And when we speak, we can choose words that the listener is able to receive.
True communication happens when we harmonize with the other individual."
-- Brenda Ueland
posted on August 28, 2004 02:08:49 PM new
i think the form sounds good, but i would leave the shipping amount out. i only sell internationally when asked, on a case by case basis. it's worked out well so far.
posted on August 29, 2004 06:55:53 PM new
Thanks Roadsmith and rarriffle! I'm thinking my response may be scaring them off. They all seem to write early in the auction -- while bidding is still ridiculously low -- but most never bid. Yes, the price includes handling too ($0.00 USD ). Your suggestion of leaving out the shipping price altogether is a good one. It will save the time of looking it up, especially since not that many of them seem to be bidding anyway.
Teach, thanks for the info:
Not that surprising, perhaps.Now that we havethe ability to block non-U.S. bidders, many of us *are*.
Ah...that makes sense! I was wondering what was going on.
Send them my way. The more bidders the better. If I could to find, invent, or create high demand items in large volume, I wouldn't mess with international either. Alas! Such is not my lot in the eBay portion of life.
-----------------------------------
One learns in life to keep silent and draw one's own confusions. --Cornelia Otis Skinner
). Your suggestion of leaving out the shipping price altogether is a good one. It will save the time of looking it up, especially since not that many of them seem to be bidding anyway.