jcolwell Offline Upload & Sell: On
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Don't you just hate when an international bidder screws your Ebay auction | |
The costs for insured and tracked shipping outside of North America are high, especially for items worth more than $1000, which is the max. Canada Post coverage for shipping outside of Canada. For international shipping, it's important to use a delivery service with guaranteed delivery within a month. Any shipment longer than 45 days puts the seller in severe jeopardy, as the buyer can file a claim for undelivered goods (before the 45 day limit for claim submission expires), and get a refund - then the item arrives. Seller ends up paying for the shipping and buyer gets the item for free.
Consider a lens that sells for $1800. Example minimum costs for insured shipping with tracking from Canada are shown below (med. size box, 2 kg).
to Canada, Canada Post Expedited, $53
to USA, FedEx Ground, $96
to UK, FedEx International Economy, $217
These example costs to the US and UK do not include local sales tax and possible import fees that the buyer has to pay on delivery.
I once had to eat the insured shipping expenses for sending a $3800 lens to an FM member in the US; he refused to pay the local sales tax (which I warned him about), and back it came. I sent him a full refund and I haven't offered an item on FM B&S since then. eBay might have some annoying 'features' (many of them, in fact), but it's far more reliable than any other methods for selling to a remote buyer.
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