Thoughts On Selling Out Of Country

[BradleyS]

I have an E-Bay listing selling a Native American Flute. I have received an offer ($520) from a buyer in France. Shipping USPS is about $42.
I have read of scams where the overseas buyer pays for the flute and then claims non receipt, as the USPS tracking stops when the item enters the country.After filing a claim, E-Bay will always side with the buyer. The buyer then has his money returned and the item free of charge.
This potential buyer is listed as being an E-Bay member since 1999 and has 100% positive feedback with 688 transactions.
Would y'all ship?

[kkrell]

No. I've had problems just sending CDs to France. While maybe it's supposed to, tracking did not get reported on my USPS shipments. I did receive the items back after a 2-3 months as undeliverable. I believe the recipients were notiifed to pick the packages up at Customs, and refused to do so, perhaps because of the duty/VAT/taxes/delivery agent clearance charges. I actually have not had the same problems with any shipments to UK, Ireland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, etc.

eBay does have a global shipping program, which might mitigate your responsibility to an eBay customer under their limited circumstances. You should check whether there is any better protection for you in regards to claims of non-delivery. You may still have to accept returns if the item is 'Not As Described", and may lose the outbound shipping charges.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by BradleyS

This potential buyer is listed as being an E-Bay member since 1999 and has 100% positive feedback with 688 transactions.
Would y'all ship?

Any purchases from the US included among the transactions and/or in the buyer's feedbacK?

[BradleyS]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Any purchases from the US included among the transactions and/or in the buyer's feedbacK?

Yes, he has numerous purchases from the US in the past month.

[Silly Moustache]

I am in the UK.

I have bought three relatively expensive guitars from the USA, and many smaller items, such as BC picks.

Two of the guitars were bought via US ebay from private individuals who advertised them as CONUS only.

I convinced them to ship them to me and all went well. These were shipped via DHL, FEDEX or some such, can't remember now. Tracking worked as expected.

The BC picks were sent USPS (tracked". One pack (three or four) went missing, and BC sent me replacements. They believed that they didn't get much further than their own local post office.

The third guitar was sent by a specialist dealer in the north west. They din't follow my shipping instructions (a simple statement on the box for HM Customs (as arrange by me with HM Customs ... that made the import charges a great deal higher, but the box arrived in time as expected.

There is no reason why the French buyer should be any more dishonest than an American buyer.

Why not ship your item with a shipper that can track it to destination?

Form a dialogue with the buyer, phone him if necessary, get a "flavour" of the person. I do that with sellers and buyers and, yes, some I have refused.

If you have his destination address you can check it out on google maps which may give you useful info and probably even check that he/she actually lives there.

However, if you advertised your item as CONUS only you can refuse the sale abroad.

[BradleyS]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I am in the UK.

I have bought three relatively expensive guitars from the USA, and many smaller items, such as BC picks.

Two of the guitars were bought via US ebay from private individuals who advertised them as CONUS only.

I convinced them to ship them to me and all went well. These were shipped via DHL, FEDEX or some such, can't remember now. Tracking worked as expected.

The BC picks were sent USPS (tracked". One pack (three or four) went missing, and BC sent me replacements. They believed that they didn't get much further than their own local post office.

The third guitar was sent by a specialist dealer in the north west. They din't follow my shipping instructions (a simple statement on the box for HM Customs (as arrange by me with HM Customs ... that made the import charges a great deal higher, but the box arrived in time as expected.

There is no reason why the French buyer should be any more dishonest than an American buyer.

Why not ship your item with a shipper that can track it to destination?

Form a dialogue with the buyer, phone him if necessary, get a "flavour" of the person. I do that with sellers and buyers and, yes, some I have refused.

If you have his destination address you can check it out on google maps which may give you useful info and probably even check that he/she actually lives there.

However, if you advertised your item as CONUS only you can refuse the sale abroad.

The potential buyer did e-mail me initially and asked if I would ship to France.
He also requested that I declare the value of the flute at $100 to avoid excessive Custom fees.
I checked with FedEx and the shipping fee was about $240.

[buddyhu]

I have never had problems buying of selling on eBay (or Reverb, or AGF). Nonetheless, when I sell, simple is better. I would be reluctant to sell overseas. And while I understand why someone would ask you to record a lower value for customs, that would elicit additional reluctance.

I’d pass on this sale if I were you.

[Rev Tim T]

I used to sell a fair amount on ebay. I finally made it a practice to never sell out of the country. The first time I sold out of country I was burned. I mde it a policy at that point to never ship out of the U.S. again. I was selling a camera and a person from overseas begged that I sell to them. They had all positive feedback and begged me. So I gave in and sold it. Was burnt a second time. I hate to be a naysayer but with the current policies on ebay where "the buyer is always right" I will never ship outside the country again. Just my feelings. Sorry.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by BradleyS

He also requested that I declare the value of the flute at $100 to avoid excessive Custom fees.

Yellow flag. Um, IMO, a man who would ask you to be dishonest to his government could possibly also be dishonest to you.


Bob

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Yellow flag. Um, IMO, a man who would ask you to be dishonest to his government could possibly also be dishonest to you.


Bob

Yes, not a good move.
Like Silly Moustache I've bought several guitars from the USA without a problem.
However, Australia Customs did ask for 'proof of purchase' in one instance and were happy to see the PayPal transaction with buyer and seller details and purchase price all matched my paperwork.

[BradleyS]

Thanks y'all, I appreciate the feedback.

[BradleyS]

Thanks for the responses.

[kkrell]

Originally Posted by BradleyS

My Father told me that the most valuable things you have are your name and integrity.

Both can be changed