Why do a number US sellers who are members refuse to post to members overseas (1 Viewer)

[Desertkiwi]

Lots of interesting replies here. Thanks for sharing your experiences guys.

I've brought from US sellers both via ebay and TF many times over the years and never been disappointed. Most US sellers are wonderful blokes and very accommodating. TF members in particular. :salute::

Lets face it international shipping costs are expensive and the covid era has screwed us all when it comes to postage prices.

I'm used to waiting a month or two for stuff to arrive these days. That's the downside of living at the bottom of the pacific I guess. ^&grin

My point being is please don't discount us ANZACs when asked to ship down south.

Cheers Toddy

 

[tryfon]

Same, here and ebay 20 years, agree, countless US sellers,

my question was, I am perplexed when few, only a few, TF members will not sell outside the US


the forum itself speaks volumes, we are all passionate collectors who love history and member's and as such should never be an issue posting international, especially Australia, UK, Canada, New Zealand and West Europe, never issues with postage. Again we re all embers and would be nice to be able to purchase from any member here, not excluded because we are not in the US

 

[mikemiller1955]

I sell International...
lots of good people in Australia...
some of my favorite posters on Treefrog are from there...
Australia's postal service has reciprocal final destination tracking with the US...
so you always know an item is actually delivered...that's big...
if a buyer and a seller agree on the postage cost...it's just business as usual...
I know a few people who don't ship overseas...
but I think it's pretty safe...
I also think the Covid slow down on delivery is slowly vanishing back to normal...
you may have an anomaly on a very slow delivery now and then...
but I think it's getting better...

 

[tdubel]

I sell International...
lots of good people in Australia...
some of my favorite posters on Treefrog are from there...
Australia's postal service has reciprocal final destination tracking with the US...
so you always know an item is actually delivered...that's big...
if a buyer and a seller agree on the postage cost...it's just business as usual...
I know a few people who don't ship overseas...
but I think it's pretty safe...
I also think the Covid slow down on delivery is slowly vanishing back to normal...
you may have an anomaly on a very slow delivery now and then...
but I think it's getting better...

True words....... Except for right now, there is an issue with posting to Australia and New Zealand through the USPS. I am hoping it is resolved quickly as I have two very kind Aussies waiting on me now!
Tom

 

[mikemiller1955]

right now...
I have a buyer who's Ebay profile says he is based in Russia...
he purchased a building on August 15th...

when he outbid the other buyers I was disappointed that I now had to mail to the Russian Federation...
but then I noticed his shipping address was to an auto shop in New Jersey, USA...
I was relieved to see that I only had to mail to to New Jersey...

I assumed he was having me ship it to a domestic friend of his in the USA...
and he would then have it re-shipped to him by his friend in the USA...to him in the Russian Federation...
the item was delivered 3 days later to the auto shop in New Jersey on August 18th...

once it arrived in NJ 3 days after shipping...
I assumed it was inspected for damage...
and the deal was done...a successful completed transaction...
I thought no more about it...

I never heard anything from him until 3 days ago...
almost 45 days after I successfully shipped the item to New Jersey...

he sent me an email back that the item arrived damaged...
45 days later!!!

I asked why he didn't contact me 45 days ago when the item arrived in New Jersey...
and he said that was none of my business...
our conversation via Ebay's message system deteriorated when he called my work "artisinal" (homemade) which it was...
and insulted my integrity by saying I knew it was damaged when I shipped it...

I told him there was no damage when packed and referred to the pictures in my Ebay ad...
he replied that I used stock photos and the pics were duplicates of other auctions...

I had sold about 30 buildings of similar design in the last 60-90 days...but all were uniquely original in some fashion...which is true...

he called me a liar and demanded a full refund...original postage included...plus a refund on his return postage...

I told him I was blocking him from further communication and would not consider a refund of any sort...
as in my mind I had successfully delivered the package to New Jersey 45 days ago...
further that it could have probably damaged by his friend...or in the re-shipping process to Russia...
I told him I should have been notified on August 18th...when it arrived...of any damage...not 45 days later...

just an update on this transaction...
it's been about a week since posting the details in the above transaction...
buyer left me an ugly negative feedback...
I called Ebay and they promptly removed it...
I'm hoping this is the end of it...
we will see...

 

[jazzeum]

just an update on this transaction...
it's been about a week since posting the details in the above transaction...
buyer left me an ugly negative feedback...
I called Ebay and they promptly removed it...
I'm hoping this is the end of it...
we will see...

I hear the KGB is on its way to Galveston.

 

[mikemiller1955]

got a feeling I'm gonna get screwed on this...

the buyer was denied a refund by Ebay...on the item he purchased from me on Ebay...
after being denied...he filed a claim with his financial institution to award him a refund...
Ebay sent me an Ebay message to respond to their inquiry...
all they allowed me to do was enclose a pic of the item that was undamaged...
which is still posted in my "sold items" posted on Ebay...
I wasn't allowed to tell the true story of what happened...
so I got a feeling his bank/credit card will refund him and debit the funds from me...

Ebay did say...
if that happens...
to contact them and contest it...

and even if I lose in the arbitration between his financial service and Ebay...
sometimes Ebay will step in using their "buyers' selling protection"...
and absorb the refund with no charge to me...

what a scam from this guy...
we will see...lol...

 

[Warrior]

got a feeling I'm gonna get screwed on this...

the buyer was denied a refund by Ebay...on the item he purchased from me on Ebay...
after being denied...he filed a claim with his financial institution to award him a refund...
Ebay sent me an Ebay message to respond to their inquiry...
all they allowed me to do was enclose a pic of the item that was undamaged...
which is still posted in my "sold items" posted on Ebay...
I wasn't allowed to tell the true story of what happened...
so I got a feeling his bank/credit card will refund him and debit the funds from me...

Ebay did say...
if that happens...
to contact them and contest it...

and even if I lose in the arbitration between his financial service and Ebay...
sometimes Ebay will step in using their "buyers' selling protection"...
and absorb the refund with no charge to me...

what a scam from this guy...
we will see...lol...

The only positive aspect to this is it's a scratch built building, whatever you sold it for, in reality you are out the materials and your time if you want to factor in your time, at least it's not going to be a total loss like if you were an actual toy soldier dealer and the dealer took a hit as it was actual product from his inventory.

Just try to look at it like think of all the money you've made on scratch built buildings over the years on the Ebay selling platform.

And I don't get how his credit card company can come after you for the money, he paid with Paypal, not a credit card, it might be linked to a credit card, but it's not an actual credit card.

So, how does the credit card company plan on getting the money from you on this?

Makes zero sense to me, unless Paypal comes after you and debits your account the amount of money this guy claims he's out.

All I know is if someone buys something, has it shipped to a US address, then forwarded to a foreign address, they've got some set of balls blaming you for the damages as they have NO IDEA at what point the damage occurred.

That is not right, not cool, total bullshit and not fair at all.

 

[mikemiller1955]

The only positive aspect to this is it's a scratch built building, whatever you sold it for, in reality you are out the materials and your time if you want to factor in your time, at least it's not going to be a total loss like if you were an actual toy soldier dealer and the dealer took a hit as it was actual product from his inventory.

Just try to look at it like think of all the money you've made on scratch built buildings over the years on the Ebay selling platform.

And I don't get how his credit card company can come after you for the money, he paid with Paypal, not a credit card, it might be linked to a credit card, but it's not an actual credit card.

So, how does the credit card company plan on getting the money from you on this?

Makes zero sense to me, unless Paypal comes after you and debits your account the amount of money this guy claims he's out.

All I know is if someone buys something, has it shipped to a US address, then forwarded to a foreign address, they've got some set of balls blaming you for the damages as they have NO IDEA at what point the damage occurred.

That is not right, not cool, total bullshit and not fair at all.

George...that's a good point...after everything is said and done...it's labor and material...but still...I hate to see $200 pulled out of my account...

I'll be honest...I don't completely understand it either...

none of what I did violates any of Ebay's rules...so far now 4 different reps have told me "case closed"...til this happened today with his credit card...

my USPS insurance and postage that I purchased...which expired after 30 days...is now well past null and void...

I purchased that postage from Ebay...
the way I see it...
if Ebay doesn't cover me on this...
I bought the postage from Ebay...
I'm gonna remind them that they were the agent that sold me my USPS postage with insurance...
it's illogical that they could concievabley rule against me after 45 days and also tell my insurance has lapsed...

 

[theBaron]

Why do a number US sellers who are members refuse to post to members overseas

there are many members on the forum , and with you many years, from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and European countries.


Yet I am perplexed for fellow collectors who have same passion as us all do not sell outside the US, why ?

Boil it down to this: It's a pain in the ***. All fellow collectors and passion aside, it can be a real pain in the *** to deal with selling and shipping overseas.

I've run into this now, as a buyer. I bought some figures from a seller in Germany. Turns out, he doesn't have a PayPal account, he wants me to use a bank transfer to his bank and account. Bank transfers across national borders are relatively common in Europe, but here in the States, the average account holder doesn't do them all that often, if at all. And they can be expensive.

It's a pain in the ***.

So don't take it personally.

Prost!
Brad

 

[egonzinc]

Lets assume the buyer wants to pay the high postage. The actual process of mailing is easily 10 times slower. You have to fill a customs form which the USPS attendant has to enter manually in his system. Grt the forms in a clear plastic envelope, which then goes on the parcel.
Tracking information is also not reliable.
Other than that uf I'm selling here or on eBay and the buyer asks me if I would ship international, I always say yes.

 

[mikemiller1955]

this arrived on my doorstep today (Sunday)...
I have a 2nd case open with Ebay on this...
sold on August 15th...I mailed it to New Jersey...arrived August 18th...
his mailing address was New Jersey...actual buyer is based in Russia...
no complaints...done deal...successful transaction...mailed to New Jersey safely...

a month and a half later...
he says it damaged...
he replied to me off of Russia Ebay...not USA Ebay...

I asked why he waited so long to contact me...
I assumed...but couldn't prove...he had his receiver in New Jersey...re-ship it to him in Russia...
and told him it arrived to the address he posted safely...
and was probably damaged when he re-shipped it to the Russian Federation...

he replied:
"I am tired of your nonsense about some kind of Russia and other shipments.
Apparently you have a rich imagination to present these accusations to me."

claim was opened...Ebay sided with me...case closed...

he then asked his credit card to intercede and refund him...

case opened again...
awaiting response...
this was on my porch today...

check out the tape on the box...
you can't buy that at Walmart in New Jersey...
what a scam...
still waiting on ruling...

 

[mikemiller1955]

received 2 emails from Ebay this morning...

Hi Michael,​

A decision has been made about the dispute that was filed by xxxxxxxxxxx. The dispute was found in the buyer's favor.​ As a result, you owe $218.23 plus a dispute fee of $20.00 to eBay. We will recover this amount from your account. ​ We’ll charge your bank account for funds you owe.​ [FONT=Arial !important]Hi Michael,[/FONT]​ [FONT=Arial !important]This is a notice to inform you that we will be debiting $219.61 from your bank account ending in xxxx to cover the outstanding fees and expenses. We will process this transaction within 3 business days. If your pending and available funds become sufficient to cover any or all of this amount before you are charged, we will debit your pending and available funds and then deduct the remaining amount from your bank account. [/FONT] ​

 

[mikemiller1955]

this morning...I called Ebay and spoke to someone in their "dispute department"...
they told me not to worry...that Ebay will step in with Ebay's seller protection...
they believe this guy was scamming me...

and as they have already ruled in my favor...
and the buyer's financial service ruled in his favor...
they will cover the cost of the refund 100% for me...

no refund cost to me...
they even gave me back the $20 dispute fee...

so everything worked out fine for me...
Ebay stood up for me and recovered my monies...

the bonus is I got my parcel back too...though slightly damaged...

Ebay really took care of me...

 

[Hunter Rose]

Glad to hear this worked out with you. Any idiot with a shred of common sense can see that item was re-shipped to Russia, then shipped back from Russia when it was damaged by the international shipment.

As George mentioned, seems eBay has discovered sellers are crucial to their profits. 5-10 years ago the answer from eBay would have been, "It's your responsibility, so sorry." to the seller. It's a good thing they've finally woken up to some of these buyer scams.

 

[mikemiller1955]

seems eBay has discovered sellers are crucial to their profits. 5-10 years ago the answer from eBay would have been, "It's your responsibility, so sorry." to the seller. It's a good thing they've finally woken up to some of these buyer scams.

ty...
I have always heard that Ebay sides with the buyer...
and they actually did on my original case...

but his financial institution...credit card or bank...whatever...
sided with him and demanded Ebay return the monies...

that Ebay stepped up...protected me as a seller...and ate the loss...
I'm delighted with the results...
I got paid and got the product back...

 

[mikemiller1955]

ty...
I have always heard that Ebay sides with the buyer...
and they actually did on my original case...

but his financial institution...credit card or bank...whatever...
sided with him and demanded Ebay return the monies...

that Ebay stepped up...protected me as a seller...and ate the loss...
I'm delighted with the results...
I got paid and got the product back...

2nd line...
actually meant to say....
and they actually did not on my original case...
they sided with me...

 

[tryfon]

I started this thread about members not selling to fellow members, nothing more

Firstly we are all members

Secondly you can rely on members as majority of us are collectors and passionate

Thirdly as above combined you will make sales even more so, I have sold to fellow US members and yes find it off putting when someone from the US says No to International
even to Australia,

Not talking about ebay but at least sell to members, there are many here from the US I purchased from and No Issues.

 

[cnq]

I started this thread about members not selling to fellow members, nothing more

Firstly we are all members

Secondly you can rely on members as majority of us are collectors and passionate

Thirdly as above combined you will make sales even more so, I have sold to fellow US members and yes find it off putting when someone from the US says No to International
even to Australia,

Not talking about ebay but at least sell to members, there are many here from the US I purchased from and No Issues.

I've tried to buy from members here before but no one is willing to ship outside US even to Canada so I gave up buying here.
I guess it's just too much hassle to fill out paper work at post office shipping outside US for them.

 

[Warrior]

I started this thread about members not selling to fellow members, nothing more

Firstly we are all members

Secondly you can rely on members as majority of us are collectors and passionate

Thirdly as above combined you will make sales even more so, I have sold to fellow US members and yes find it off putting when someone from the US says No to International
even to Australia,

Not talking about ebay but at least sell to members, there are many here from the US I purchased from and No Issues.

IMO, the issue has nothing to do with we're all members and we're all passionate, no one is questioning that.

As others have mentioned, shipping internationally has its good and bad points; lately, it's more good than bad with massive delays, customs opening and manhandling items, items arriving broken or packages going lost.

Since mostly all the members here do not sell items professionally, perhaps there are those who prefer not to deal with all the hassles and issues associated with shipping internationally and for ease and simplicity, prefer to sell to collectors within their own country.