XXX Country Buyers Only

I sell all over the world with my ebay account. I don't really mind, provided they pay the postage they want.

Though, turning it on its head a bit I must admit I would prefer to buy dolls from the UK at the moment, Customs are charging the wrong (proven) amounts to us, and its getting a joke now. Sadly though, they are not as common over here as they are in USA :<

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you? I have not personally but I understand why people would not.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
First International shipping is very expensive. Second it is very difficult to track if the receiving country does not scan the package into the system. Yes, that does happen more often then I care for. Third it is very easy for a package to get lost from Country to Country because all Countries have their own postal system. They are owned differently, operate differently, and may not have the same ideals as others. By ideal I mean not caring about your package. I know many will not ship to Countries that do no have EMS.
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? Because they are un-informed or mis-informed about shipping options in their own country? Like I said above International shipping is ridiculously expensive. And it is possible the buyer does not know this when they originally want to buy something. Here in the US, every Country is different price was as well as what weights cost what. You can have two packages that weigh exactly the same but two different sizes and the larger size is way more money to ship even if it is the same weight. Some Countries the US will not guarantee the package because of previous issues. In addition many Countries charge customs fee's. So many people want you to mark the package down in price which is illegal and if caught you could serve jail time. So many do anyway and if a package gets lost the postal service may decide not to pay you the true value because you marked it down. So if the package doesnt arrive. You cannot collect your true amount and then the buyer is mad because they want their money back which you either have to eat or say sorry this is all I got back. See the problem.

4. Does a seller&#8217;s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them? Well, yes if I am wanting to buy and outfit from China and they will not ship to the US I have no choice. I wont be able to buy the item which in return means I cannot buy from them period. It becomes a cannot buy not a dont want to buy.

 

It has to do with the reliability of the other postal service. My boyfriend ships a lot of resin sculpts that are not BJD. Italy is notorious for their postal service stealing mail. Within his resin hobby (primarily Godzilla and table top gaming) recasts are a really big problem. Most of these recasts come from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand. For that reason, he refuses to send sculpts to those countries. That and their postal services have no tracking method so it's really easy for them to say they never got the product when they most certainly did. With those countries, ship at your own risk.

 

Although I've never sold or bought any dolls, I have sold and bought through internet sites like eBay. As a buyer, I prefer to buy within Canada, because it keeps the shipping costs low, and I receive product faster. As a seller, I've never had a problem with shipping anything within my own country, but almost every time I ship to US or overseas I get complaints about missing items or how long it is taking. I've had to issue refunds to people overseas who said they never received an item, and I have to take their word for it because once it goes out of Canada Post I can't track it any longer.

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
No and I never would. I'm located in New Zealand and have to resort to reselling dolls internationally. I know that shipping overseas from New Zealand can be expensive so I sometimes subsidise the postage charges to help the sale go through.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
Some of the reasons could be: fluctuating exchange rate, more work involved in shipping overseas, security of shipped item (some countries don't offer tracking), seller is asked to falsely fill out customs paperwork to avoid paying duties etc.

3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision?
Yes. I've come across sellers who won't ship international because of past experiences where they've been dealing with inexperienced overseas buyers who've quibbled about expensive shipping costs and wanted the customs documents to be filled out for less than the value in order to avoid/lower customs duties. As an overseas collector I accept that my location means that it's a more expensive hobby for me. I know that I'll pay higher shipping & insurance costs and that I may have to pay customs duties sometimes.

4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
Definitely. Sometimes I'll ask a seller if they would consider selling to an overseas buyer. I often refer to my feedback threads to show that I'm a serious buyer and also let them know that I'm well aware of what the shipping costs are likely to be and what I would like the customs documents to state.

 

I disagree with you. For Hongkong, Singapore and Thailand, EMS can be tracked, so I dont know where you got the idea they have no tracking method. If you mean registered mail, with a given number, most registered mail cant be tracked even USPS registered mail out of USA cannot be "tracked" point to point. Registered mail from Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, USA, you get a number but you cant track it online point to point.

For shipping to Italy, I use to ban shipping to Italy because of a certain buyer who was in denial of Italy's mail problems and upset with me for suggesting Courier.

Since then I have shipped to Italy by EMS , for dolls, as long as they knew it would take ages to clear over due to their italian customs, it was fine. They received the dolls and since then I no longer have problems shipping to Italy.
It arrives but it takes a long time. It takes a faster time if you provide a "customs number" on the ems form of the buyer and if you "declare" actual cost and not "gift" but its all up to the buyer.

Spain is also notorious for taking a long time by EMS but they arrive. They just take their very own sweet time, sometimes akin to a sea mail's speed.

 

You have to use the destination country post site to track your packages once they arrive there. It works like that for registered airmail all over the world.

On the subject, I don't mind sellers not willing to ship abroad, but I greatly appreciate them caring to put such disclaimer in the thread title, instead of adding it as a fine print at the bottom of the page. I actually think this should be added to Marketplace rules.

 

I would prefer to buy my stuff from within the EU because customs are ripping us off in as much as they don't translate the dollar price back to pounds sterling before working out the duty on an item, thus overcharging us by about a third. Quick example: Something costs £100 so Customs charge us £33 pounds duty. $100 = £62.81 so the duty on it should be £20.73, and NOT £33 so yeah, we do get ripped off by HM Customs and there is very little we can do about it.

If I can, I would rather buy stuff from an EU company like Think Pink! even though their VAT rate is higher than ours. It's a simple choice for me - 1.5% more on Dutch VAT or 33-40% more on Customs duties? No brainer, really.

So unless I cannot get it through an EU supplier, I will prefer not to get it from outside the EU.

Phil.

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
I generally prefer to ship within the US and say so in my sales thead, that being said the only bjd I have rehomed went to go live in Norway. For dolls as long as the buyer is willing to pay shipping costs for a traceable method I don't really mind filling out the customs forms etc. if I am doing a clothes clean out sale and get eight international inquiries for items that are $1-$2 each then I am a bit more reluctant to sit there and fill out that many customs forms for a ton of individual small items.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
Customs, possibility of packages getting lost/stolen, filling out customs forms, bad past experiences and for me the ease of buying postage online when shipping within the US instead of trying to figure out how much a package will cost to ship to Australia (I don't own a postal scale so I try to use the priority boxes as much as possible).

3. Do you think buyer education plays a part in the decision?
Yes, I think it does. One bad past experience can sour shipping overseas for someone unfortunately.

4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them? Yes and no, if it was an individual selling a doll on the forum then I would probably just pass on it if I wasn't in there preferred shipping area without a second thought as another of that doll is bound to pop up eventually. If it was a company that decided that they would sell dolls within their own country and I really wanted one of their dolls then I would find a way to work around it somehow.

In theory I prefer to buy dolls from within the US but I buy quite a few from Japan.

 

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

Yes I have on both accounts. Of course, I usually put "International contact me" Then I decide from there.

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

I've shipped to Canada before and it took a month to get there. A month. Do you have any idea how much worry there was for me for that? I don't care if things are insured, I'd rather things not get broken/lost. Plus there's the shipping cost involved, if I'm selling a something for 20 or less, I just don't think it'd be worth it. Of course, if someone wants to negotiate, I'll do it. but I just think sometimes the shipping ends up outweighing the benefit.

3. Do you think buyer/seller education plays a part in the decision?

As a matter of fact yes, but not like you might think. Buyers often don't realize the hassle it is to ship internationally. Shipping internationally is a pain and usually has to be done at a post office. Not everyone lives near one. The US, for instance, is closing many of it's satellite locations. I'm lucky that I have a full service post office next to my work, but even they have talked about closing. In which case, I couldn't ship internationally as it would conflict with my work schedule. I'm sure this is similar in many countries. Plus there are restrictions, time, and cost. (Ladies at the post office who growl at you when you bring international packages...)

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

How so? I mean if they say Japan Only, clearly I can't buy from them. I know many people in the States use a proxy buyer to get what they want off Y!JA <.< I suppose I could use that outlet but in all honesty it's too expensive, and even if I didn't need a proxy I'd like to be able to speak the language of my seller/buyer. Since I only speak English at the moment.

 

As a buyer, I often wonder why some sellers are reluctant to sell outside their own country. Us buyers from Scandinavia has very little little choice when we want to buy dolls; we have to buy from abroad because there are extremely few dolls for sale in our own countries.

Many of us have a 100 % feedback from Ebay that goes years back.

Good reasons to sell to sell internationally ;

1. Very reliable postal systems (can speak for Scandinavia(Norway, Sweden and Denmark) only );
In my years of collecting dolls; I have NEVER had anything go missing and NEVER had anything damaged in transit (most of my dolls are either fragile wax dolls or bisque dating far back).

2. For those who are worried about false Paypal claims; International wire transfer using our banks IBAN and BIC codes. This is a risk to the buyers, though, as there is no recourse for the buyer, should anything go wrong and items are not received (I have only paid this way when I have trusted seller explicitly, or if they have been well known dealers with a good reputation (here it pays to do your homework as a buyer!).
The buyer should, of course, pay the banking cost of the transaction.

3. I see very often on Ebay, sellers who refuse to ship internationally; they loose a whole market thus gain fewer bids, and a lower price, on their items (Scandinavian countries has been little affected by the world economic crisis) and this makes little sense to me.

4. With regards to the cost of shipping; most of us are fully aware that the cost is higher to ship and willing to pay that cost.

5. Most of us (again; can generally speak for Scandinavia, only) speaks and writes good English (thaught in schools from 9 years of age...), so language problems are eliminated.

All in all, it remains a mystery why selling abroad should pose a problem

 

^Totally agreeing with medici ;D


In general I really don't get why you wouldn't sell internationally. If the taxes are high or the shipping is expensive, well, that's the buyers problem, isn't it? I prefer to buy within EU (because the custom fees are sometimes up to 35-40% of the value on the package (once I got charged 60% of the value on a package from Japan D'': ) but I know this, and I would never ask a seller from the US or other place to mark a package down. The same with shipping - the closer I can find it, the better of course. But that's as a buyer. When it comes to selling? I'm glad if someone wants to buy, and regardless of where the person is living it should be up to who made the offer first, etc. If one wants to pay ridiculous shipping to Argentina and the other lives in my country - well obviously, one will have to pay more than the other, but that's for the buyer to decide if it's worth it.

 

Think Pink! is the European buyer's friend. They have loads of stuff there, including whole company ranges of dolls (although most are on pre-order). MSC? Check. Components? Check. Clothes? Check.

I am now of the opinion that I will only buy stuff from Japan / Korea / China if I cannot get it first from Think Pink!.

As for selling abroad, I will not send anything until the payment has cleared, so it makes no odds to me if it is within the EU or worldwide - as long as it has been paid for, I will ship it.

Phil.

 

I didn't read through the other responses before posting, so I apologize if any of this is redundant:

1. Yes, there have been rare occasions when I've limited my sales to US only. Keep reading to see why. Most of the time, I'm more than willing to ship anywhere in the world.

2. For expensive items, like our beloved BJDs, I always like to insure, especially if there is a PayPal transaction involved. Sadly, the USPS will only insure shipments to Canada for up to $675 and to most European countries for up to $650. Other destinations have much higher limits, but if I'm selling something for more than those amounts (unless it's only a little more), I'll limit the sale to only locations that allow for the full value to be insured. If the buyer is willing to pay Western Union Money Transfer and take on the risk of insufficient insurance coverage, I'll ship anywhere.

3. I think all of those things play a part for most people. For me, it's all about the insurance coverage.

4. I'm in the US, so most of the time it's not an issue. Luckily, most anyone around the world seems to be willing to ship to the US.

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
-Nope. It would mean less customers. I seldom have customers inside my country.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
-Because of shipping cost and the risk that the package may not arrive to the recipient.

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? Because they are un-informed or mis-informed about shipping options in their own country?
-Yes!

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
Most of my sellings or trades have come from outside my country (I'm living in Spain), so my answer is no.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
Probably it is because some sellers are afraid of sending some stuff abroad. But I think it is a buyer's 'problem' in fact, since the buyer is who has to bear in mind that he or she will have to pay that extra money for the item.
If you want that doll and you can afford its price and the international shipping costs, then I can not understand why a seller wouldn't want to sell it.

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? Because they are un-informed or mis-informed about shipping options in their own country?
Any buyer MUST know he or she will have to pay the shipping costs. If I want to buy a doll from USA, I have to understand shipping costs are going to be more expensive than if I'd buy that doll from my own country.
It's not that hard to be well informed about how much the shipping costs would be in case you should to sell/buy something to/from another country or continent.

4. Does a seller’s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
Sure. For me, it means that seller has been informed about the methods of shipping items internationaly, probably has sold or bought something to/from other country before, and I feel I can trust him or her.


.

 

1. Have you ever refused to sell outside your own country? Outside your continent? Would you?
Refused? No. Said that I'd prefer to ship domestically? Yes.

2. What are some reasons people limit potential buyers geographically?
Concern about parcels getting lost is one reason. Another 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 &#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? Because they are un-informed or mis-informed about shipping options in their own country?
I imagine that inexperience on the seller's part could play a role. I also imagine that a lot of sellers are concerned that shipping prices would drive buyers away.

4. Does a seller&#8217;s willingness to ship internationally (if stated) influence your decision to buy from them?
No. I've bought from sellers in other countries (and on other continents). Usually, though, I'd prefer to buy domestically.

 

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

I never heard of people asking for (in my case) US buyers only, but I can see why. It costs a lot to ship to the US, but not a heck of a lot to ship within the US. I can totally understand someone not being in the mood to fork up $50+ extra for someone.

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

Like I said, money.

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? Because they are un-informed or mis-informed about shipping options in their own country?

Like I said: I think if you're in a hobby where buying overseas is common, I think you tend to be a little more educated in that regard. If I was selling a doll, I'd prefer mailing it to someone in the US, just because it's easier, overall.

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

No. I sort of think that I'd be more inclined buying from someone in the US if I had the choice. It gets to me so much faster, as well as it's cheaper.

 

95% of my dolls over the four years are bought internationally, either directly from doll companies or here on DoA. But as a seller I'm more willing to sell dolls and items inside Europe or Scandinavia.

Here's an example of an outrageous postal fees here in Finland: I thought of selling my 70cm (4kg) doll internationally and I went to check up the postage fees to our post office. Posting a packet of that size to USA is more than 400 dollars on EMS. What kind of a buyer would say ok to that?

So I understand why someone might not be willing to sell a doll internationally to certain countries because of that. For other reasons I think the hassle of worrying about a doll when it's travelling to the other side of the world. I've sold only one doll to another country and I was worried sick but quite relieved when it got to destination location safely.