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Archive 2012 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?

  
 
Steve Park
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


I just received an offer to buy my lens(Contax N 24-85mm converted to Canon EOS; https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1079677/0#10299564)...the offer came from a brand new member, with ZERO POSTING/FEEDBACK.

He said he'll pay for the PP fee as well. Please advice me what precautions do I need to take?
USPS only let me buy max of $675 insurance for International Priority mail package.
Thanks for your advice, any advice is welcomed.

Steve



Feb 12, 2012 at 06:47 PM
anthonysemone
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Steve,

ask for his phone #, hard street address, city, province, etc. ask him in a telephone conversation where he has feedback on other sites, if any. from what other folks on here, on either side of the border, shipping to/from can be a pain the ass or not a problem. USPS appears to offer the most reasonable ship rates, but I don't know. Make sure the buyer has a PP verified address. Make sure you get signature confirmation on the shipment. take a cell phone picture of your packing up the lens and sealing the package. As has been said here many times, everybody on B&S started at zero feedback.

In the years I've been on FM, I've had exactly two transactions with folks in Canada. One was so royally f'd up, no fault of the buyer, but rather of Canada Post, that, in combination with the other, I decided that I wouldn't do it anymore.

YMMV, and no affront intended to our Canadian brothers and sisters.

tony



Feb 12, 2012 at 07:29 PM
vilimo
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Would recommend that he pays you through regular paypal. As Tony had mentioned, a phone call would be nice and during that phone call, you can tell him that you will be sending an email to the original email address from paypal and expect to receive a reply before you send the lens out (but don't tell him what that originating paypal email address is). True that the email account can be hacked but there is only so much precaution that you can do. Another option is to take the money out of paypal immediately and wait to send the lens after it is securely deposited in your bank account (3 days I think).

Good luck.

victor



Feb 12, 2012 at 07:58 PM
Steve Park
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Thanks for your advices, Tony and Victor.

I agree everyone has to start from ZERO. Only that doesn't have to be me with my $1200 lens. If I was selling $200 lens to anyone in CONUS, I'll just get signature confirmation, wouldn't even bother with insurance.

I have my only checking account tied to PayPal, and I heard(from other members) PayPal can withdraw money from my checking account without my consent afterward, not sure if this is true, but scary!

Going through the paper work and hair raising wait period is bad enough, this may not be worth the trouble...



Feb 12, 2012 at 08:14 PM
anthonysemone
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Steve,

+1 to villimo.

also, if it doesn't feel good to you, then, don't do the transaction.



Feb 12, 2012 at 08:32 PM
Steve Park
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


anthonysemone wrote:
Steve,

+1 to villimo.

also, if it doesn't feel good to you, then, don't do the transaction.



Sell or not to sell...



Feb 12, 2012 at 08:34 PM
vilimo
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Steve,

True... that is a tough one . The situation that I had was when I sold my 40D (good thing it was only of $450). The buyer had no feedback and very limited posting history and furthermore, he paid using his wife's paypal account. I had to pm him a couple of times to get him to respond to the email that I sent (not telling him the email address though). Good thing it worked out well.

As for paypal taking out the money from checking account, I have heard about that too but do not have any personal experience to say whether this is true or not.



Feb 12, 2012 at 09:06 PM
vilimo
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


One more thing... only ship it to the verified address on paypal. As for the shipping carrier, may want to look into UPS ground or FedEx ground...they ship to Canada and their rates is not too bad compared to USPS. On top of that, you will get tracking too.


Feb 12, 2012 at 09:08 PM
bin
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Unless you really need to to sell, I wouldn't do it. If I were in your situation, I would just tell the buyer to hold out a couple of weeks/months (or whatever is comfortable to you) and if it doesn't sell here in the US by then, then you will get back to him.

Look at it this way: if something bad happens, can you afford to lose $1200? The answer to that will determine what you want to do.

Good luck!



Feb 12, 2012 at 09:14 PM
Steve Park
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


vilimo wrote:
One more thing... only ship it to the verified address on paypal. As for the shipping carrier, may want to look into UPS ground or FedEx ground...they ship to Canada and their rates is not too bad compared to USPS. On top of that, you will get tracking too.



Thanks for the info.

I've sold a few lenses to Canada, just as expensive as this one. Shipped via USPS International Express mail package. With Express, it may cost a lot more, but it's the only way to buy full insurance, and insurance cost is much cheaper than International Priority mail.With insurance, less than $10 more, but I get full coverage.

Anyway, I asked for the cell phone number(it's needed to fill out the customs form) and home address. Let's see how things will turn out.

Steve

Edited on Feb 12, 2012 at 09:27 PM · View previous versions



Feb 12, 2012 at 09:14 PM
Steve Park
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Binh Ly wrote:
Unless you really need to to sell, I wouldn't do it. If I were in your situation, I would just tell the buyer to hold out a couple of weeks/months (or whatever is comfortable to you) and if it doesn't sell here in the US by then, then you will get back to him.

Look at it this way: if something bad happens, can you afford to lose $1200? The answer to that will determine what you want to do.

Good luck!


The short answer is NO, Hell NO!



Feb 12, 2012 at 09:16 PM
sorpa
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Don`t do it!
A canadian wants to buy YOUR lens?
Mon Dieu, c'est incroyable, c'est inacceptable d`y meme penser! This world is turned upside down.
Who would`ve thought that a canadian could buy a lens? What to do with it?Shoot some ducks?
It is known that the lens will be used as a flint to lit up some bonfires up north.
Me thinks.



Feb 13, 2012 at 08:31 AM
DLP
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


I've sold to a Canadian in the past here in the same price range with zero feed back. However FM was a different place just a few years ago in regards to the buy/sell. We spoke several times and I was comfortable with the deal. As far as some of the advice you have been given don't count on signatures getting done if Canada Post gets involved which will be the case if you use USPS. Nothing changes with USPS International. Once the package hits the border Canada Post takes over. If your happier with International fees because of insurance I hope it turns out for you. If you've never had to deal with USPS insurance on an International package it's not a lot of fun.
Paypal has also changed a lot. I think today if I had a new International buyer with zero feedback for over $1,000 I would require the money via Pay Pal gift and not ship until I received the $$$ in my account from PayPal.
That way the risk is fairly = between a new buyer and seller as long as the seller has good feed back and has been an active FM member.

Dave



Feb 13, 2012 at 09:09 AM
Steve Park
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Gift is not an option for me...
I've had at least 10 transactions done with our FM friends north of border, will give this Canadian a trust. But I'm going to take all the precautions mentioned above and keeping my fingers crossed until I receive positive feedback from the buyer.
Thank you very much for all the inputs.

Steve



Feb 13, 2012 at 10:02 AM
Shasta
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


I think the trust goes both ways, I've purchased from Americans before, be afraid, very afraid. Joking aside I have always given my eBay info as well to sellers to ensure them. I personally as a buyer would never ask to be shipped as a gift and have purchased a few items around this price range, believe me I was just as nervous as the seller, no doubt.


Feb 13, 2012 at 03:09 PM
Steve Park
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Shasta wrote:
I think the trust goes both ways


I agree with you 100%. As much as I worry about the buyer, buyer worries just as much as I do, especially for those never bought anything here.

I had printed USPS Express mail International package with usps.com, but I'll have to send someone to with package PO to buy the full insurance.

Will update the outcome when everything is done and over. Thanks!

Steve



Feb 14, 2012 at 01:47 AM
DLP
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Steve Park wrote:
I have my only checking account tied to PayPal, and I heard(from other members) PayPal can withdraw money from my checking account without my consent afterward, not sure if this is true, but scary!



That is true but you gave your consent when you accepted the user agreement. I think if you asked around you would find that many who use PP frequently keep two checking accounts and keep a zero or minimum balance in the account they give to PP. In a case like this with a high value item and an International buyer that has zero feedback and has only been a FM member for a few days it would be fair to agree to ship after the $$ gets deposited in your account from PP. Usually 3 days. Then you can withdraw those funds so PP can not charge back your checking account. In the end it's not a lot different for the buyer than paying you via "gift" but with your feed back the buyer should have very little to worry about.
In either event I have to tip my hat to any established seller willing to take this risk and give a new FM member with zero feedback the benefit of the doubt for a transaction this size.
Dave



Feb 14, 2012 at 10:38 AM
Wahoowa
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


I don't think shipping via USPS Priority Mail International is enough if you use regular Paypal. It's tough to strictly follow Paypal policy. Package has to be traceable online and the signature confirmation has to be verified online as well. If you don't do UPS/FedEx route (both of which could be really expensive), the only option you have is USPS Express Mail International.


Feb 14, 2012 at 12:33 PM
Steve Park
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Lens shipped via USPS Express International mail package. Had to send someone to Post Office to buy the full insurance. I hear the Canada Post NEVER attempt to deliver Express mail package. Instead they just notify, then their website shows delivery attempt had been made...experienced, twice.

Steve



Feb 14, 2012 at 11:54 PM
neilvan
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Selling a lens $1200 to a member in Canada?


Steve Park wrote:
Lens shipped via USPS Express International mail package. Had to send someone to Post Office to buy the full insurance. I hear the Canada Post NEVER attempt to deliver Express mail package. Instead they just notify, then their website shows delivery attempt had been made...experienced, twice.

Steve


! I recieve Express Post from Canada Post all the time. My posty' is great, always has a smile on her face.



Feb 15, 2012 at 04:14 AM
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