Ebaying automobilia – ship abroad?
Discussion
Hi,
I’m selling a piece of automobilia and have had a query about shipping to Canada. I have no qualms with this in principle but I am aware that a lot of ebay adverts are clear that they don’t sell abroad and I assume there must be a reason.
So, assuming he has paid up front and he arranges all the transport (I’m happy to drop off at a depot), is there any reason why I shouldn’t send it? I don’t know if there will be any import duties, but obviously I wouldn’t want anything coming back on me.
Thanks
I've sold loads of stuff over the years, and most of it goes abroad.
I've always had to sort out the postage, with the exception of a couple of times the buyer has been from Japan, and they've bought through a middle man (where you send it to a UK address/shipping agent and they handle it and forward to the buyer). The first time it was a bit of a concern, but I googled the people involved and looked at their feedback and it went smoothly. They had a lot of requirements for the packaging, saying it should be well wrapped, have the sellers name and address on the outside along with the eBay item number.
The main thing with anything to do with eBay is cover yourself, get tracked postage, and if it's valuable insure it.
I've always had to sort out the postage, with the exception of a couple of times the buyer has been from Japan, and they've bought through a middle man (where you send it to a UK address/shipping agent and they handle it and forward to the buyer). The first time it was a bit of a concern, but I googled the people involved and looked at their feedback and it went smoothly. They had a lot of requirements for the packaging, saying it should be well wrapped, have the sellers name and address on the outside along with the eBay item number.
The main thing with anything to do with eBay is cover yourself, get tracked postage, and if it's valuable insure it.
addsvrs said:
Ebay do the Global shipping program which takes care of everything, i use that for all overseas stuff. Customer pays ebay the postage and you just send it to the Uk hub
I don't know what the UK depot is like but I've had horrible experiences with the American ones. They open and inspect the parcel and then just chuck it back together with a bit of gash tape. Most of the packaging seems to go missing!I've seen car parts and watches arrive rattling around a box with no protection in a parcel that barely resembles the photos the seller shows you.
The global shipping program is also known to be a bit lairy when calculating customs fees. I appreciate these are mostly issues for the buyer, but I've seen bad feedback left as a result of the seller using the global shipping program.
I've sold quite a few car related things overseas on ebay.
I now avoid the ebay global shipping program as things didn't go smoothly with it when I used it.
That was in its early days so could possibly be a lot better now. Maybe I should give it another try one day.
Of all the things sold overseas it was the matched set of 40dcnf carbs that had me the most worried.
With the combination of the price they sold for and the cost of a signed for tracked shipping to Sweden.
In fairness the guy paid as soon as I sent him the total cost. He did want me to send untracked so it was cheaper for him but I wouldn't due to the value so he paid for tracked shipping.
I now avoid the ebay global shipping program as things didn't go smoothly with it when I used it.
That was in its early days so could possibly be a lot better now. Maybe I should give it another try one day.
Of all the things sold overseas it was the matched set of 40dcnf carbs that had me the most worried.
With the combination of the price they sold for and the cost of a signed for tracked shipping to Sweden.
In fairness the guy paid as soon as I sent him the total cost. He did want me to send untracked so it was cheaper for him but I wouldn't due to the value so he paid for tracked shipping.
I buy stuff on ebay all the time, and it gets shipped to me in Malaysia, i know that certain people have agreed to ship to me after looking at my purchase history, everything I buy is for my Elan, the Carlton or my Bike, One guy shipped an entire Lotus Carton interior, 4 seats all panels and carpets, but he could see I'd bought related stuff an had feed back relevent to the item being bought.
I know PayPal is very convenient, but there have been scams attached.
Before it was around, I used to buy things from abroad by paying in dollar notes, sent by post. Dollars are acceptable currency, worldwide, available in $1, $2, $5 and $10, as well as $20, $50 and $100, so for many things you might buy it's easy to make up an envelope with only a few notes, so that it doesn't draw attention to itself. You have to accept that you will slightly overpay, but by no more than $1.
OK, cash in the post is risky, but how many envelopes DON't make it?
John
Before it was around, I used to buy things from abroad by paying in dollar notes, sent by post. Dollars are acceptable currency, worldwide, available in $1, $2, $5 and $10, as well as $20, $50 and $100, so for many things you might buy it's easy to make up an envelope with only a few notes, so that it doesn't draw attention to itself. You have to accept that you will slightly overpay, but by no more than $1.
OK, cash in the post is risky, but how many envelopes DON't make it?
John
I've sent eBay items abroad many times, the furthest probably being Australia.
Basically, you just need to minimise the possibility of any problems occurring once the package has left your possession.
Package things to the extent that they could survive a lot of abuse during transit (take pictures of the fully packaged item too before you dispatch it) and send packages with full insurance and tracking. Yes, it costs a little more, but it's highly preferable to the inevitable hassle should the parcel go missing, or should the buyer try to make any false claims about the parcel. I also like to pass on the recipient's email and phone no. to the courier, and print off a separate address label to attach to the parcel (alongside the one provided by the courier).
I used eBay's GSP once or twice, but I noticed it was slower and more expensive than other methods. Not used it since, but that was a few years ago, so perhaps it's better now?
Basically, you just need to minimise the possibility of any problems occurring once the package has left your possession.
Package things to the extent that they could survive a lot of abuse during transit (take pictures of the fully packaged item too before you dispatch it) and send packages with full insurance and tracking. Yes, it costs a little more, but it's highly preferable to the inevitable hassle should the parcel go missing, or should the buyer try to make any false claims about the parcel. I also like to pass on the recipient's email and phone no. to the courier, and print off a separate address label to attach to the parcel (alongside the one provided by the courier).
I used eBay's GSP once or twice, but I noticed it was slower and more expensive than other methods. Not used it since, but that was a few years ago, so perhaps it's better now?
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