Of course, I specifically stated I only ship to the US, and I suddenly have questions from someone in Russia and China wanting me to make an exception.
Of course I can refuse them, but has anyone had luck shipping out there?
The only way I'd ship something out there would be with proper insurance. But if something goes wrong, I keep wondering who in the world would take care of that claim. USPS or whoever they use in the other country? And them I'm trying to imagine just how long it would take that claim to go through.
If you gotta ask, you've already answered you question, IMHO. It'd be a cold day in hell before I'd do that, unless I really knew the person on the other end of the transaction.
Well, there's that .0001% chance of sending it that I was curious about, but you're right. I already pretty much made up my mind. I suppose I just wanted some support. .
The only way I will ship anything valuable to someone unknown in China / Russia (or anywhere else other than US and Canada) is by using FedEx with full insurance and the buyer will have to pay for that.
I'll ship anywhere in the world. But they are going to do a bank transfer and it'll be a month before I ship. They also will accept full responsibility if it doesn't get there. The USPS insurance is only good to the US border. Once it's in another country the USPS won't accept responsibility. Who can blame them?
Byebye Flybye! Wave to your lens before you send it. I find all chinese characters looking like we write swearing in cartoons. You now know why Don't even take the risk, we warned you!
eosfun wrote:
Byebye Flybye! Wave to your lens before you send it. I find all chinese characters looking like we write swearing in cartoons. You now know why Don't even take the risk, we warned you!
geez, eosfun, we don't understand what you mean by the swearing comment. can you please help us understand what eosfun you are having?
Hmmm...well your city/state location indicates that you are on the "Surface of the Sun" and you're worried about shipping an item to China or Russia!
No seriously, don't do it...if your ad was quite explicit about shipping location, no need to complicate your life now. Sure, there's every possibility that it might be ledgit, but reality shows that it's likely a scam.
I sold an older lens on eBay to a buyer in China. He payed via PayPal and I sent it US mail international. Had no problems and got a nice thank you email when he received the lens. The lens wasn't a big ticket item so I didn't worry about the risk. Sometimes you get lucky.
Just make them pay for registered mail and you will be covered. I've been scammed twice shipping overseas and lost out on my products plus the money received from paypal because of this. The last auction where this happened the overseas buyer filled out a paypal complaint for not receiving the goods three days after the auctions ended and the next day after I marked them as shipped online. The dollar is really weak right now so many people are legitimately looking to save money buy purchasing from the US, so it is not necessarily a scam. This type of scam is just one of the many reasons I refuse to use paypal anymore.
Flybye wrote:
So I just sold an old 70s lens on eBay
Of course, I specifically stated I only ship to the US, and I suddenly have questions from someone in Russia and China wanting me to make an exception.
Of course I can refuse them, but has anyone had luck shipping out there?
The only way I'd ship something out there would be with proper insurance. But if something goes wrong, I keep wondering who in the world would take care of that claim. USPS or whoever they use in the other country? And them I'm trying to imagine just how long it would take that claim to go through. ...Show more →
Well those certainly are danger countries, nearly as risky as shipping to Nigeria, well not quite but....
They just have so much hacking and scamming going on. Not that they don't have legit users and it's sad for them but it is a risk.
What do their profiles look like? Location? What have they bought and sold recently? How much stuff? How recently? Do the accounts look like they are hacked? etc.
Since it is an old 70s lens and possibly lower ticket price range they might be legit though, the old stuff can be pretty popular in Russia and perhaps China. So maybe it's OK. If it is like a 300 2.8 IS or 24-70L or whatnot then I would be much more worried.
. 
Don't even take the risk, we warned you! 