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XXX Country Buyers Only

Feb 6, 2009

    1. I have yet to actually sell anything - locally or internationally - but I do have some buyer experience, I've run a few local group orders, and I've heard a lot of feedback from other people on my local forum, as well as here on DoA. As such, I've formed something of a opinion, though I will admit that it will probably change once I start selling internationally myself.

      1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?

      I don't think I would initially, but I know that - as a Canadian citizen - there are some issues with shipping internationally from Canada. Our post system likes to give us the finger on occasion.

      The only reason I can see that I may refuse to sell an item to someone I find trustworthy otherwise is being requested to mark down a package's value to avoid higher taxes and fees. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it and, in the unfortunate event that something is lost or damaged due to postal negligence, both of us would end up pretty screwed. I don't think I' have a reason to refuse shipping internationally for any other reason right now. That being said, I would refuse to ship something locally for the same reason. It's not an issue of location.


      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?

      I know a few reasons, all of which I can understand. There are a lot of issues with the prices of shipping internationally - some buyers, even those who have been forewarned of high costs, balk at the idea that shipping even the smallest parcels from Canada can cost what seems like an arm and a leg. There are also some issues with postal services in certain countries that some sellers feel are unreliable, and they feel uncomfortable dealing with those postal outlets, so they simply don't ship there.

      There are many more reasons, I'm sure, but these are the most common I've heard of so far. It may seem unfair to international buyers who fall in love with an item, but in the end, a seller has the right to do whatever they can to "protect" themselves when shipping out pricey items.


      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?

      I don't think it's a case of being too lazy or unmotivated to familiarize yourself with international shipping requirements. It's really a case of what works best for you, as a seller. If you don't want to ship internationally, I don't see why you should feel obligated to. It's true that you're narrowing your buyer field, which may mean that items take longer to be purchased, but in the end its the seller's decision.

      I've also heard many, many stories of international buyers backing out of a sale based on the price of shipping, even when they were given an estimate, or were warned of high fees ahead of time. It's unfair for other buyers, perhaps, but I don't see why a seller should come under scrutiny simply because they wish to avoid situations like this altogether.


      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?

      I don't see why it would, for me. I don't think it'd be fair of me to judge a seller based on where they will or will not ship a package; there's probably a reason they decided that was the best choice, which is probably none of my business.

      If I did want to buy from an international seller who didn't wish to ship internationally, though, I wouldn't feel badly dropping them a line to say if they find little or no local interest in the item, I'd be more than happy to take it off their hands if they would be willing to ship it to me. The worst they can say is "Thanks, but no thanks!"​
       
    2. I live in the US and have never had any problems selling and shipping to international buyers. I think that people read horror stories about international shipping and just don't want to take the risk. I don't mind marking down the value of an item for customs if it is a relatively inexpensive item (under $100. or so), if the buyer requests it, but if I am shipping something of greater value, I prefer to insure it for the replacement cost, unless the buyer is willing to accept the responsibility in case of loss. I can understand that one bad experience can ruin everything for a person, but I have always had pleasant transactions. If the people involved can discuss the shipping issues and come to an agreement, I just don't have a problem with sending stuff anywhere.
       
    3. its up to the seller to select his/her customer base....
      sometime its a problem selling to certain countries where there is a high percentage of fraud cases....where using stolen credit card etc....this will cause problems with the seller/company paypal account.

      credit card charge back,reversal and external charge back will give the seller alot of problems.
       
    4. shipping insurance and claims is also a headache...some countries are not even covered.
       
    5. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      I wouldn't refuse to sell outside of my country but there are some I would not sell to, knowing the state of the mail and the likely hood of problems with the postal system.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?

      Sometimes it has to do with the state of the postal system in the other country or your country. Or the lack of affordable trackable shipping.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?

      I think that when a buyer is very upfront about what they want it leaves it in the sellers hand. If i'm going to ship out of country i'm not going to decrease worth, or fudge on the details. I want it insured for the full amount and trackable. The one time I broke a deal and allowed an out of country seller to ship it out which ever way they liked, it ended up arriving insured for 100 rather than 600$ which I had paid, and it was lost in the postal system for three weeks. before it arrived in some battered condition. but I feel it was fault for not working out the exact details. Because I live in chicago and the mail system in my area is total crap. I usually pay more for trackable on even the smallest items.


      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?

      Not overly much. I find that in most cases if its something I really want, I'm willing to work out shipping arrangements, including paying extra for a better shipping service. Most sellers I have delt with are willing to ship to me, so long as I take on the extra costs.
       
    6. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?

      I have not refused to sell internationally, but recently I have listed many of my eBay items in the US only; however, if an international buyer messages me about an item, I will get a shipping quote.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?

      It is a bit more work to ship internationally if you want to cover yourself as a seller... if something happens with the mail, it is the seller that has to track the package down and deal with the postal service. Also, if something goes wrong, legal recourse is more complicated in international commerce. If something happens in the mail and the buyer does a charge back, the seller has lost money and the item, or is looking at a lot to time spent trying to recover one or the other of those things.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?

      I think the 'angry buyer' is a big one. Paypal has made it way easier to buy and sell internationally, but they want a shipping method with online tracking, which means expensive shipping. I am not sure, but registered mail does not have online tracking... it has tracking but you need to go into the post office (that may have changed, I have not sent registered mail in a while).

      Registered mail in the US still adds $10.10 on top of the normal shipping charge, which is crazy if you are buying a low priced item. International Priority Mail Flat Rate Packages do not have any sort of tracking, only regular International Priority offers a tracking number. And it cost almost as much as EMS now.

      Example: a 10 oz large envelope via International Priority (w/ tracking number), to Canada is $19.00 USD. Crazy!! Canada is closer to me than New York!

      I have been looking up postal info lately (in case you can't tell :sweat ) but I haven't made it to Paypal's policy on registered mail/ certificate of mailing etc.

      So far I have been very lucky even shipping to Italy, (except for one time where it took 3 months for the package to arrive, but the person was patient and didn't try to get her money back), but if I have a bad experience I may change my policies.

      Mostly, I feel bad telling an international customer that their little item will cost $19.00 usd to mail, and I have been trying to figure a way to ship inexpensively to oversees (or cross border) buyers without getting stuck holding the bag if something happens during shipment.

      As for customs requirements, I state that the buyer is responsible for finding out the customs requirements for their own country.


      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      No... if they are in my country it doesn't affect me, and if they are in another country who won't ship internationally, they won't sell to me anyway.
       
    7. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      No, I haven't actually. I have tended to sell inside the UK, but that's basically because clothes go to meets and they get first pick before they're sold elsewhere. For a doll I'd prefer not to sell outside of the UK, simply because of how much it would cost to ship.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
      Costs of Shipping, Fear of lost in Transit and sometimes it can just be a preference. Mostly, I think it's just easier for them.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?
      Both Educations are needed as a base anyway. Having a price quoted then double-checking by going to the postal company website can help verify if you are being ripped off. Shipping charges are high for bigger and heavier packages.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      Not really, I buy if I like the item and if their feedback is good. Nothing about countries. I like to look for European sellers in any case, but that hasn't stopped me from buying from outside the EU.
       
    8. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      I have refused to ship large items via USPS International in the past, and will continue to do so. Small things that can fit in a 'birthday card' type envelope are one thin, and generally get delivered. However, due to personal experience in trying to ship large items to nearly every major country in the world, I do not use USPS. (I don't use them at all if I can help it, and I prefer FedEx.)

      Generally speaking, if someone is courteous enough and understanding about being International when they PM me for a purchase, I am willing to work with them and discuss things. Most of the time, it's an agreeable exchange and the item goes out via the method and cost agreed.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
      Costs can be prohibitive, and service can be lacking. It can take 3 weeks for mail to move between US and Canada... and that's less time than I could drive up to Toronto physically. Largest peaceful border in the world, and a small box can't pass through in a span of two days.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?
      I cannot count the numbers of times that I have been taken to task for USPS rates. I'm over educated in US Export and Schedule B rules, and I do go investigate the recipient country for the proper Harmonized Codes to help Customs know the proper tariff level to apply to the inbound parcel. And yet, I'm always overcharging the recipient... even though I can provide a full receipt for me being charged the cost.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      Well, if they don't ship internationally, that is the choice they make. I don't hold it against them; this is a 'free' market. I do ask courtesy, and sometimes I will ask just on the offchance that they might be willing to ship to an understanding party. Sometimes they say yes... sometimes they say no. But it's their choice to sell, just as it is mine to buy. ^_^

      Though, I do wonder at the success of 'debate' here...
       
    9. I will usually ship things I sell to Europe, Canada or Asia, but I prefer to sell and trade within the US where I can. Some of the reasons are listed below.

      For the foreign countries, the shipping in each case is more so I can't offer "free shipping" because I won't know exactly how much shipping is till I go to the post office and see options available for the specific country. If I am looking to trade and the trade partner is in a foreign country, we have to each pay a large shipping (like over 10 dollars USD, usually) on top of the trade. In some cases I've noticed the person there is taking advantage of some cheap shipping method or shipping through their work while I ship at full price from US so I feel like I get the worse of the deal. There are also issues with extra Paypal cross-border transaction fees in some cases.

      In the case of group orders I run, shipping to foreign buyers is often so prohibitive that it wipes out whatever savings the person could realize by being part of the GO, and in some cases would drive up the cost of the order for all the participants. Therefore some of my orders have been "US buyers only" especially where it's a popular enough item that people in other countries can run or join their own. It's much easier to have foreign people in your GO when there's a "direct ship items to purchaser" option like Denny has offered for the Minimee GOs, where people get their shipment directly from Minimee company rather than it all having to go through me and get reshipped.

      Although Canada is close by, its postal system seems to be pretty awful. I have had way more trouble with shipping to and receiving from Canada than I have with a number of the Asian countries. For example, it's not uncommon to have items take three weeks to arrive, as the person above stated. I've actually experienced this and was very worried that the doll was lost - I believe he showed up at about 3 and a half weeks, which was just ridiculous in my mind considering that Canada is next door. There are entire sites full of horror stories regarding Canadian shipping of ebay purchases, etc. For that reason, I don't cut Canada a special break for being close to the US - it's just as hassley to ship there as it is to ship to Europe in my mind, both of which are worse than shipping to Asia.

      Finally, I will not send things uninsured or mark them less than full value for insurance purposes because I don't want to be on the hook when country X loses the item. I'm sure that would turn some people in countries with high customs off from buying from me, right there.
       
    10. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      I have around Christmas, yes.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
      For me it isn't even the cost considering the buyer pays it, not me. The issue with mailing outside the US around Christmas is that within the US I can go into the post office whenever I want and use the automatic kiosk. So rather than face the mad rush right before they close I can stroll in there at midnight and take my time. I can't do that with foreign packages. Also, around Christmas traffic is worse and I quite often can't even make it to the post office during the work week, which means the only time I could mail a foreign package would be on Saturday. Generally speaking I think the seller is aware that if they won't ship internationally or to certain countries this is cutting down their ability to make a sale. If they chose to make that decision then it's something they're willing to face.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?
      For some people it may be but not necessarily for me. Like I said, I don't pay shipping, the buyer does. I can give them a photo of me weighing their package and a screenshot of what the USPS website says their shipping total would be if they like. If they don't want to pay the shipping then it's off to someone else. And as far as seller education goes, it's really not that complicated to ship things to foreign countries.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      Well obviously if they won't ship to the US I'm not buying from them. :XD: But I'm not going to blacklist a seller because they won't ship to a country that isn't mine.
       
    11. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?

      I've not sold doll stuff, but I used to sell antiques on Ebay, so I'm very familiar with international shipping and I've never restricted myself to one country or a select few countries. I've always made sure to calculate shipping costs for all areas and make the costs clear on any auctions. Customs forms here in the UK take bout 2 mins max to fill in and the post office will give you a whole roll of the things if you ask, so I've always been happy to post anywhere and have.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?

      After hundreds of my own international transactions, often fragile and valuable items, too, I have no idea why people do this.3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?

      As I said, I've always given the shipping charges in the auction details, and if it wasn't an action I'd still give them. If someone bids or states an interest then they're agreeing to pay that. No-one's ever complained about a shipping charge, and even the very largest heaviest item to the most far flung destination has only been £40 (It was a huge antique glass vase that went to Australia, BTW.) I've never had any trouble with customs anywhere.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?

      Yup, cos I don't see the point in needlessly restricting yourself to one country and it annoys me.


      Out of all the fragile items I've sent I've only had two breakages, and only one of those was an international parcel. I've never had an item lost or actually needed to claim on the insurance (the breakages I've had were luckily not high value), and I've used both the postal service and couriers.
       
    12. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?

      I currently am happy to send packages Internationally and have even sent things including some Pocket Fairies I've sold to Italy. However if I were to go back to selling on eBay I might be tempted to do US only since International tracking is such a pain and a buyer could easily leave me negative feedback for me insisting they have to pay for a method of shipping that involves tracking to protect myself. ~.~ Because of the cost of most doll items, buyers on DoA, at least for dolls, seem more willing to pay for EMS or the additional charge for Registered.


      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?

      I just want to state now, it's not just US people. I've seen a recent spate of sellers in the EU who have stated they prefer to sell to people in the EU only.

      Tracking is a real challenge on packages sent Internationally. In the past when I've sent items Internationally Registered tracking has not updated at ALL on-line other than to state the item has been received. I've had to actually call up the post office and escape from their awful voice mail system to get a real person to find out where my package was.

      Registered also takes in general 1+ weeks longer than airmail from here and I've had some impatient European buyers who want their item faster. Registered is generally very safe because every time a package changes hands it needs to be recorded, but it does slow everything down and sometimes you just need to be patient. ^^;

      Registered is also a pain in the butt for me personally, because you can't use any clear tape on the package and the only packing tape you can use has to be wet with a sponge and tends to not stick well, except when it accidentally gets water on it so it sticks to itself. ~.~

      EMS is usually terrific but most buyers I've had don't want to pay for it.

      For a lot of smaller items buyers just want to pay airmail, and then you have to hope nothing happens. ^^;; So far I and my buyers have been fortunate, but it does worry me and yes, I am always sure to let buyers know that airmail does not include any sort of tracking or insurance.

      When it comes to buying from International sellers, if something goes wrong (and I don't even mean a package getting lost, I'm talking about out and out scamming/stealing) it is much much harder to try to recover your money or even make some sort of case against them.

      I don't live in the EU and never have but I assume sellers who prefer to sell EU only are doing it because of tracking/insurance/or because they've had to pay huge amounts of VAT/customs on said item and don't think people outside the EU would be willing to pay the price they are asking in hopes of recouping some of their cost.

      While this has not been an issue for me, I think there can be language misinterpretations as well when selling Internationally.


      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?

      I think a lot of buyers know shipping will be more, but I think more of an issue is not all sellers necessarily want to mark down items and also need to sometimes educate themselves on how long a package might take to get to them.

      I think a lot of sellers know about customs requirements and its because of them and the risks entailed in shipping Internationally that they're not willing to do so.

      One thing to note for International sellers, people in the US rarely incur customs charges so people living in the US rarely if ever want their items marked down and would generally prefer items marked for the full value.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?

      Well, I can't buy from someone who won't sell to the US lol In the past when the dollar was stronger against the yen I use to bid on Y!J though a service because Y!J is full of sellers who do not want to ship Internationally and deal with the language barriers.
       
    13. I would never refuse to sell to someone overseas... but I would inform them of the higher shipping rates. US-Australia, especially carries a hefty price.

      A seller's willingness to ship internationally only affects my buying if I live in a different country. =P
       
    14. I know this from both sides. When I lived in Japan, I'd get so annoyed when people wouldn't ship internationally or would only do so by insured EMS, even for a $10 item, and act like they were doing me a grand favour at that. Especially since I'd regularly send small items out for $3 airmail, but the same item to me would apparently cost $15. (A certain wig seller comes to mind.)

      But now I'm in the US, I don't have my own transportation to the post office and my father mails my parcels out for me. I can't always go with him, so I have to wait til he can get customs forms (if I don't have any) and then fill those out at home and have him mail the parcel another day. Also, I would really hesitate to have him take a large doll parcel to be weighed and such, I know he would not want to do it. And if the shipping is quite expensive, I might need to wait for the payment to clear before I could afford to send it as I keep most of my money in paypal and rarely have more than $50 cash on hand.

      Even so, I usually say 'US buyer preferred' rather than 'US only'. I have refused to ship expensive items to countries like Italy though. I'm sorry about that, but (in the most recent case) I couldn't take the risk of losing a $450 doll.
       
    15. I always offer to ship outside of my country because I live in the UK, and while the UK does have it's own bjd lovers, I wouldn't want to limit selling items/dolls to just within the UK when there are potential buyers in other parts of the world too. Besides, sometimes it's difficult trying to sell an item or a doll when you restrict selling to within one country only :sweat

      I can understand and appreciate that some buyers would refuse to sell items/dolls to people who live in certain countries because of custom issues or, perhaps that country's postal service is notorious for losing stuff or keeping stuff held in customs for weeks, etc. But generally speaking, for myself, I'll ship to any country in the EU and outwith the EU providing the buyer is aware of their own country's custom regulations and also their country's postal service's habits. If they're fine with everything (including realizing their item might get stuck in customs for seemingly no reason at all), then that's fine with me. I'd ship to them even if they lived in Italy (no offense to Italians, I've just heard that shipping to Italy can be troublesome compared to other countries in the EU >__< )

      As for shipping internationally being more expensive? I think generally most people realize that already. I never, ever state what shipping is going to be before I get a quote from the post office/courier service I'll be using to ship the item/doll with. I'll always give the buyer the chance to choose what kind of shipping they want to use too, stating quite clearly that the shipping price will be more expensive if they want the package to be insured and trackable.

      Unfortunately, I almost always undercharge people lol. I sometimes feel bad for charging the full amount for insured/trackable shipping - especially if the buyer has been extremely pleasant to deal with XD

      And for the final question... yes, a seller's willingness to ship internationally will always be an influence to me. Don't get me wrong, I love buying from other UK people and would definitely choose buying from a UK seller as opposed to a US seller if they had the same item for sale at roughly the same price. Like any other person, I want to avoid unnecessary custom fees that might get incurred if I got something shipped to me from the US or any country outside the EU. However, if no one in the UK is selling what I want, then yes... I'd definitely look to buy from other people in other countries and anyone who ships internationally gets my vote ;)
       
    16. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      i have never REFUSED flat out but if i have someone who is willing to pay whatever customs then i will, because i'm not going to send a $400+ doll in the mail without some kind of insurance and that usually turns people off.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
      they don't have the means to ship there, easier, faster, some times it takes forever to ship over seas and the people there don't want to deal with charges.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship
      internationally to avoid angry buyers saying &#8220;You&#8217;re charging how much for shipping?&#8221; What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?
      i personally do not know how too ship over seas, the only post office within walking distance to me is a usps so it's hard for me to ship anywhere but the US as i do not have a car to drive into town and ship a package via ems.

      4. Does a seller&#8217;s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      not particularly as the US doesn't charge customs fees ^^
       
    17. I guess I can only echo the sentiments of sellers here. Shipping overseas is expensive, so it's just easier to deal within your own country. I have, of course, sent many packages overseas and over the border from living on both sides of it (USA and Canada).

      Those customers who are already familiar with the costs of shipping internationally who are buying something are very easy to deal with. No trouble at all.

      However...

      I've had people agree to pay higher shipping costs to send items out of the country, and then when they find out how much it will be, it's suddenly too expensive. Folks say they don't want insurance, want the item devalued for customs, no tracking etc. to reduce the cost. It all comes down to a frustrating experience for all involved. You certainly don't want to put a $600 doll in the airmail with no tracking, no insurance, and devalued for customs (illegal). That's just a problem waiting to happen. You can have gone thru all the effort only to frustrate yourself, the buyer, and lose the doll and the money if it doesn't show up or shows up broken.

      It's just overall easier to have a positive and easy outcome when shipping 'locally'. Again, I don't mind shipping internationally, but folks need to be aware that sellers are not trying to intentionally gouge anyone on shipping costs and insurance. That's just what they are. (Insert shrug)

      PS, if you haven't seen it before, check out this video of handling of parcels on youtube. It's pretty neat! Packages go through a lot of wear and tear, and probably much more on longer journeys! I've seen a few that are much harsher than this. It's the price of the speed to get the package where it's going, quickly. That'll make you think twice about not insuring something. I know I pack all my doll-related things like a crazy person :)
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQReRnmCaqA
       
    18. I'm pretty certain that I will never ship a larger doll internationally ever again. The last time I did, it cost me £70. £70. Of course, I could charge the buyer to cover it - but who here would like to pay $103 just for shipping?
       
    19. 1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      I haven't sold anything yet, but I would be nervous about selling anything of value outside of the UK, even within the EU! There are a whole raft of problems that can arise from selling outside of your own country, but one of the main issues I consider is that if I sell an item to a UK resident and they start Paypal proceedings illegally against me (i.e. they start a false claim after receiving the doll or doll parts), I can start legal action against them and have a good chance of finding them. If they are abroad I'll have no hope, particularly if Paypal finds in their favour. As the buyer is resident in my own country that limits the language barrier problem and the legal problem in one swoop.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
      1. Some countries' postal services are more like black holes!
      2. Language barrier
      3. High shipping costs
      4. Potential losses
      5. False PayPal claims

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?
      I wouldn't be worried about angry buyers - if they don't want to pay that much in shipping, that's their loss. As for seller education? I find this thought strange. If I as a seller don't want to sell to anyone outside my own country it's really no one else's business, and I'm not too lazy to learn about international customs. It's not 'too much work', because I regularly send gifts and letters to my friends in other countries and I know how to complete customs forms, I just would appreciate the added security of knowing that the buyer has a UK address and if I have to have the police hunt them down I've got a good place to start.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      I couldn't buy from international sellers if they didn't...and if it was a UK seller, I would buy from them regardless because I'm based here.
       
    20. Aha, I used to live in Canada, so I feel your pain on this!

      1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
      No, I haven't. I wouldn't either. I mean, my first sale on her was to send a doll to Spain. I was freaking about customs the entire time, but she got there safe and sound.

      2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
      I think the hassle. I know around here, there's package sending machines outside our post offices. But the limitation on them is that we can only do within the US from them. Also, shipping to international countries is harder to peg with the shipping calculators for some reason.

      3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision? I.e. do people prefer not to ship internationally to avoid angry buyers saying “You’re charging how much for shipping?” What about seller education? Are sellers preferring to stay in-country to avoid educating themselves about international customs requirements?
      I think sometimes it could. I mean, I've had that come up when someone interested in my stuff asks. Thing is, if you're buying a three dollar shirt, sorry, but it's going to cost me x amount to send it, well, that's not *my* fault. As for customs requirements, I suppose some of them can be a little tricky, but I don't think it would be an influence into not selling to other countries.

      4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
      Not if they're in the US. It's their preference, but if I like the good and feel its priced right, I'll still buy.
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