XXX Country Buyers Only

I live in Hawaii and there are many smaller retail stores online that refuse to ship outside of the continental US. Except for furniture items (where freight=item price), this annoys me to no end, since we are still in the same country! Yeah I know the shipping will be higher, yeah I'm used to it, yeah I'll cover it--but you won't give me the chance!

So for me, it is personal. And I sell to anyone anywhere as long as USPS will ship to that country and somebody can communicate with me in English. The cost will be significantly higher (mostly the registered mail fee) and I will say so up front. But I won't ban a foreign buyer and I will give that chance. Because sometimes, even your expensive choice is better than no choice.

 

I think a lot of US sellers have reservations about selling to Canada and Mexico because of the supposed potential of fraud, therefore limiting sales to US only. You just hear a lot of horror stories about people running scams in the media, and it scares people. Once something crosses a boarder, you have a lot less options to recover your losses.

That being said, its not like you couldn't get ripped off here in the good old US. My husband lost something on ebay due ot a scam by someone out of NY. We did have an investigator call us and give us all the guys info (address, phone #, everthing) so we could pursue it on our own, but we live way across the country, so we just had to call it a loss. NYPD wouldn't do anything about it, cause it was under their minimum to warrant their concern, and I'm sure they have better things to do than be troubled about our ebay losses.

I've sold to people in Canada, and haven't had a problem. However, I bought from a seller out of Canada, and it turned out to be illegally copied stuff (and crappy quality to boot), and there was nothing I could do about it. He shut down his accounts (having done it to several people) and disappeared in the wind. Not saying I would never buy from a Canadian again (cause I've talked with some that are awesome), but it does lend to the fear of getting scammed from across the boarder.

 

I feel your pain! While I've never shipped anything to Hawaii or Alaska I have to charge so much more than to the lower 48 states. Anything big I ship by UPS since the postal rates have gotten so high but I can't use that service to Alaska or Hawaii since it costs just as much as USPS. So when I offer US shipping for a flat $15 fully insured with tracking, I can't offer that same deal to our two newest states & I really feel badly about that.

 

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

Nope, never have refused anyone. Even on ebay, i always ship worldwide, cause not everyone interested lives in the same country/etc as i do. Ive shipped things to canada, usa, japan, uk, spain, Australia , and a few other places. I havent had a problem with anything i sent out...and i dont think ive ever had any problems with receiving anything that was the fault of the postal system or whatnot.

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

People may restrict to certain places maybe because the package might get lost, had trouble with that countries postal system before (i heard italy has some problems? (Only heard tho from others on ebay)
Also a lot of times people complain about paying customs fees from the border.
I buy a lot of stuff from rightstuf and suppose to get free shipping, but i know that whenever it comes in, that i owe money for the customs stuff (not from 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?

Thats actually a hard question to answer. but im sure it does. I charge a bit for shipping because it really costs that much for materials and shipping out that item. Im sure people are not educating them self as to what they can or cant send etc.

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

It does, i cant buy stuff from someone who doesnt ship to canada. But, i have actually convinced many people to ship to canada.
Someone offered free shipping on ebay but limited the area to selling to the USA only. I wanted their item so i contacted them saying that id pay shipping if they sold it to me, they agreed and everyone was happy in the land of Ebay lol


Actually same with with paypal actually. some people wont take paypal CC (which is what i use, but the odd time i use the balance) But i have convinced people to sell to me since i would cover the paypal fees (4%). It sucks but i have to do it since i had problems before going thru the bank account way.

 

Yeah, not that it includes me or anything... but ive seen tv commercials and whatnot... saying that she will ship for free to anywhere in the continental USA...leaving out poor hawaii and alaska.

In Canada: it seems to happen a lot to the territories (NWT, Yukon and Nunavut). Like the phone company that my mom has said free long distance calling to anywhere in Canada. in fine print it said (not including Northwest territories (not sure about the other two territories)). its sad that were not included

 

i have no problem shipping my items to anyone, anywhere, as long as they are willing to pay the proper mode of shipping with track and trace, or..... they are fully aware of the consequences of choosing an untraceable mode of shipping, if it gets lost, damaged, or stolen i will "not" issue a refund, under any circumstances, and i make that clearly understood at the time of the sale.

i also, make it clearly understood, that if i mark down the cost of the items, for customs purposes, same thing applies, i will not issue refund if there is any problem of any kind, other than that.... i don't see a problem.

it "does" take a bit more of an effort to ship international, but i don't mind doing it.

 

And yet, it varies from company to company. So many claim they can't ship to Canada, or charge an arm and half a leg. Yet Emory from Junkyspot can send a huge box, traceable, from the US for under $10-20, and it gets here in a couple of weeks, if not faster...
is a mystery to me

My private beef are those who will not ship to PO Boxes. Hellooo? while the economy has basically destroyed the rural lifestyle, there are still a few diehards who have no street address. Now that I live in town, I at least have a street address...but my mail doesn't go there. And I wonder how shocked they would be to discover their fancy courier service becomes...Canada Post.
(unless, the freight handler notices my name and hands it off to my husband when delivering the regular order for the store...because there is an upside to not living in a large, urban centre)

 

I live in the US and I would buy in my own country and overseas (Europe and Asia), but I've had so many problems I've stopped buying and shipping to Europe all together.

I've had to many problems with getting items and the people I've sent stuff to getting items. I bought a doll for someone who lived in England using whatever the equivalent to EMS is and the package took a month to arrive. And I sent a package to Russia using EMS and it took two months to arrive. I also bought something from Poland using EMS and it took a month to arrive also.

But when I buy from an US, Canadian, of Asian (anywhere in Asia) buyer I always get my package in a week or less.

 

I have shipped all over the world, thereabouts, and have had no problems. However, I insist on EMS because we both can track it. Anything else makes me lery. The forms I don't mind using!

I even helped a lady here from Norway I think order stuff that would only ship to a USA address, and I only charged her the fees paypal charged me. In fact, she wants me to do it again later on. I don't mind sending stuff out to anyone who wants to buy it!

 

And I need it I usually have no problem with asian company's but so many sellers in the US refuse to ship over sea's....and most of us are more then willing to pay the extra charges.

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
I have never sold anything, but I would not refuse to ship. if the buyer are willing to paythe extra shipping charges then there are no problems

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
I really don't know....

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 have stated, I really don't know. Maybe the sellers don't want to bother with filling out the forms. I had to fill out three diffrent forms to ship a head to get a face up, and I only used 2 extra minuts to do so

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

 

There was a thread about this topic in the GD section a while back... I posted some thoughts there, but I think they're still relevant here.

Personally, I do ship internationally and I have not refused a sale yet... but I will admit I have considered changing that policy before. The main reason for this is that my local post office has a kiosk for domestic packages. I can use my debit card and pay for the postage as well as adding Delivery Confirmation or Insurance... all just by pressing buttons at this machine, then the kiosk prints a shipping label. I stick the label on the package and drop the package into the bin. It's MUCH faster, in and out in 5 minutes, maybe 10 if someone else is at the kiosk. The kiosk is in the same area as the PO Boxes, so it's available 24/7.

For International packages I have to go to the post office and wait in line, which usually takes anywhere from 30-45 minutes. (Even if I fill out the forms beforehand). Since I work from 7:45am-5:00pm every Monday through Friday, that means I'm at work for the majority of the time the post office is open. I either have to go during my lunch hour and sacrifice that time, or I have to go on Saturday when the wait can easily be over an hour. For a larger sale, I'm willing to do that. But for a $15 pair of eyes, it seems like more hassle than it's worth sometimes.

I'll still continue to do International sales, but I can see why some people wouldn't want to. As long as it's posted up-front in the sales thread, I think it's the seller's right, for whatever reason they choose. I have come across sales of items I was interested in, only to see them listed as "EU only". I just click the back button and see if I can find the item elsewhere.

 

My experience is the same as yours. I will sell internationally, but I know it's going to be much more time consuming. (I have one of those post offices, too, where, if you have to get in line, bring some knitting or a novel, it's going to be that long a wait!)

I have had only one negative experience shipping internationally thus far. German customs was careless when they inspected a head and scraped the face up. Fortunately, the buyer was understanding. I felt badly and refunded part of the purchase price and just took the loss. How much can you claim for a damaged face up with the insurance? I suppose, you could consider it a total loss, and quote the price of a default face up from the company, but it didn't seem worth the hassle to try and put the proof together.

 

shipping prices can vary greatly due to many things, the weight, the dimensions of the box, priority, express, local carriers, private shipping companies, how much packing is used can increase the weight, insurance, how fast you want it delivered.
i can ship a package to the same destination, but depending on these variables, the price can vary widely. i have had many discussions with my customers as to these very things when considering how much i am going to charge it is rarely the same every time.

 

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

I've never refused to sell outside Australia and never would.

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

Concerns that potential buyers won't pay shipping costs.

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've never sold anything on DoA, however I have had people refuse to buy things due to shipping costs. I find this extremely annoying as I always include a link to the official Australia Post shipping calculators so potential buyers can see for themselves that I am only charging shipping fees. I offer buyers the choice of registered or regular airmail. I've shipped items to the USA, Brazil, Portugal and other international destinations and have yet to have a problem. Additionally if the postage quoted is higher than what I am charged then I always refund the balance.

One thing I do find is that a number of buyers don't seem to look at shipping information outside of the listing even when the information is linked to an official website.

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

Totally. If somebody refuses to ship internationally then I obviously will not buy from them. It's frustrating though because if it is an item I really want then I am willing to pay the shipping costs - even now when the Australian dollar is floating around 65cents US. I don't see why I should be unable to buy an item that I am willing to pay for in the requested currency (including shipping)

 

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

Nope, never had. In fact, more than half of the people who bought from me were all out of country.

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

Even though I never refused anyone before, I can understand the sentiments of those who do not wish to ship out of their country. Things can get lost and it's even worse when the buyer did not want insurance, or unreliable post systems, longer delivery times and all the stress that can cause. And there was this instance where I sold a doll that I offered partially free shipping to that someone out of country wanted to buy from me. I felt that it was unfair if I changed the sales policy just because they were from another country and I could tell that this buyer was really scraping pennies to buy the doll so I complied with some loss of profit for me. Were there many instances when I chose an international buyer over a domestic one? Yes; I purely sell based on first come, first serve. Did that make it easier than if I chose a domestic buyer? No; though the postal system here is pretty secure, but I can never be sure what will happen once it is out of country, which adds the anxiety and insecurity to the waiting times.

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 one thing, if they are outraged at the shipping price then they don't have to buy from me. (Though that has never happened as of yet because shipping small items to other countries are about the same price as it is to ship domestically here. o_0 ) And it only takes me about 10 more minutes to fill out a customs form so I don't see what's there to stop me as long I can tell the buyer wont be inclined to hold me responsible for their choice of not wanting to insure the item should it get lost. And if a seller doesn't want to ship out of country I don't see anything wrong with it because it is the seller's choice to where they want to sell their item. So I don't see it as the seller avoiding education, per say, but more staying in a range they are comfortable in.

 

They get a discount, I don't know for sure if the postal place still does it but a few years back I had a friend whos dad had a company and he got discounted / free shipping with the postal place. XD I am not sure how the whole thing works but that might be why the shipping is cheaper from them.

 

I have to say, when I see a 'US only' shipping notice, I usually PM the seller and politely ask the seller if Canada would be ok. Most are fine with shipping up to me as long as I pay the extra bit for it. As for limiting where I sell, that would be silly for me since most of my buyers are in the US. And it is fun knowing where some of your packages end up or come from.

 

Okay, see, you need to understand Canada Post a little better. When I lived in Canada, the only mail system I hated more than USPS was Canada Post. Newfoundland is not THAT remote, yet if I was sent anything from the States, anything at all, from a letter to an overnighted parcel, I'd have it in no less than two weeks. Two weeks. Oftentimes, even longer, because Canada Post demands all the same dumb holidays USPS takes but they seem to have this BLOCK about working on Saturdays like the USPS, so that just knocks down the deliverable days even further. It once took a letter six days to hop the Bay--yep, six days from Halifax to western Newfoundland.

No one wants to deal with Canada Post, seriously. Given that so many people sit there and start shrieking in the Problem Transaction forums at the first sign of trouble, I know *I* wouldn't want to deal with that nonsense were I to sell things online (and I have discovered that I only like selling in person, after a horrendous overseas transaction in 2008 where my honesty was questioned, someone had a fit about two small pieces of string, and both parties are, I believe, trying to pretend each other does not exist now that the transaction is finally completed).

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
That was never something I made a habit of. But people would ask if I shipped internationally and I would say "Yes, but you will be responsible for all actual shipping costs and you WILL NOT hold me responsible for anything once the package leaves the United States Postal System" and then they never would get back to me. *shrug* It's a moot point as I decided to no longer sell anything online, but before the transaction that decided that, I never refused international transactions.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
Because they know and feel safe with their country's postal system. Were I to ship something to Canada, I'd make sure that the other buyer knew darn well they weren't seeing their stuff for probably a month. When people have shipped from Canada to me, friends who don't know about Canada Post say things like "but you bought that doll a week and a half ago!" "Yes, but it's Canada Post and it hasn't left Ontario yet according to the tracker. I won't see it til the end of next week, I'm sure. I just have to wait." Also, I believe that many European sellers want to stay within their own continent because otherwise shipping is ridiculously expensive and a hassle to chase down your package if it goes lost 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?
They could. I would always look up things on the postal websites and give the buyer choices with prices, and link them to the sites if they asked to see that I wasn't trying to fleece them. Seller education? I doubt it's about customs, really.

4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
If they are in another country from me, yes *grin* Otherwise it doesn't signify to me...sellers do what they want!

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
I wouldn't do so. I would make sure that the buyer KNEW that it would cost an arm and a leg to ship overseas, but if they are willing to pay that, then I am willing to ship ^-^

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
Cost. That's the biggest. Other than that? Maybe language barrieres if the item gets lost, unrelaible postal services are another option. But I'd say the largest is cost.

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 people perfer to stay "in-country" because it's easier, faster and cheaper. I don't really think buyer education has anything to do with it personally.

4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
Never thought of it. Obviously if they're in another country and won't ship to me, then that does influence the decision to buy (or technically, not buy) from them But I don't think that if they're in the US and I am and they say "I will not ship to Poland" (or wherever) that doesn't make me not buy from them. It wouldn't make a difference to be honest. Just because I won't buy from them unless they ship to everyone really isn't going to make them ship elsewhere.