Receiving International Shipments via USPS?

[frotog]

We're way off topic now but just for the record...USPS does not meet the standards necessary to protect the seller from paypal's INR claim or SNAD claim. Their international registered mail is a joke. Not only is it not available in most countries outside of the US but it does not require a direct signature from the recipient - it's merely an indication that the package was dropped off. Furthermore, there's no guarantee that the carrier in the recipient's country will fill out the forms and put the info back into his country's postal system computer network. In any event, for items worth more than $250 international registered mail does not satisfy the requirements necessary to cover the seller's butt. Best bet is to pay the extra cash for an international carrier with a homogeneous track and confirm service that includes an electronic signature (think UPS, FEDEX, DHL). As a frequent seller to foreign countries I've personally confirmed this in a conversation with a manager from Paypal.

[sandermarijn]

Best bet is to pay the extra cash for an international carrier with a homogeneous track and confirm service that includes an electronic signature (think UPS, FEDEX, DHL). As a frequent seller to foreign countries I've personally confirmed this in a conversation with a manager from Paypal.

How much is typically the difference for international shipping from the US between using USPS and one from UPS, FEDEX, DHL? Say US to Europe, Japan or Australia.

In 'my' country the difference between TNT (sort of USPS counterpart) and UPS, FEDEX, DHL is *huge* (100 euros or so difference), if you're an ordinary private consumer sending just one package a month.

[frotog]

You're right - it is a huge difference. On the order of 3x. But when selling a several thousand dollar item it's worth it to both parties involved. However, with ebay now placing surcharges on shipping costs in addition to the final value fee and with the added cost of paypal's international money transfers, I'm seriously reconsidering selling internationally. If you haven't scared potential buyers off with the high shipping cost, you'll end up taking a 15% hit in transaction fees. You just can't win...

[Dan Fromm]

frotog, have you considered setting the starting bid at the least you'll accept for the item plus shipping fees plus 15% of that total? I haven't sold on eBay for several years, when I did always set the opening bid so that if the item got only one bid I wouldn't feel sorry for myself. There's no reason to set yourself up to lose.

[Fragomeni]

I agree that increasing fees as well as changes in shipping options of various mail carries is making selling internationally a bit more of a challange. I just sold a tenor saxophone a week ago to a gentleman in Greece. Getting this thing shipped was a bear. I've sold and shipped many saxophones internationally in the past but it's been a couple of years and shipping this time was a bear. This is a very high price item and the only services that would ship it insured for its full value were UPS and FEDEX International but between the size of the package and the insurance the shipping rate would be about $450. The buyer opted to sign a shipping liability realease and have it shiped USPS Express Mail which in the past would have insured it for up to $2500 but that has changed. Now maximum shipping insurance to Greece is $650, a significant difference. In the past they would not have shipped the package Global Guaranteed but now they would accept it but the cost to ship would be over $500. This was the last of my saxophones so I don't have anything that large and valuable to sell anymore but if I did I would probably seriously reconsider shipping internationally.

As a follow up to my original post. The Leica package arrived yesterday! Interestingly USPS's tracking still says the package hasn't arrived in the United States yet. I'm so happy that I don't have to worry about it anymore (a welcome end to my "hysteria") but sure enough USPS's tracking as usual has no relevant connection to the actual movement or delivery of the package. That may not be that big of a deal to some others but I still think that is hugely problematic when dealing with high value items. Of couse the obvious solution is what many have echoed in this thread, just pay the higher cost for the shipping service that provides what is needed. I'll gladly do that in the future.

[frotog]

Good news Fragomeni! I hope you kept at least one of those horns for yourself....I still have my conn chu alto - love the way it plays... Happy New Year!