p.3 #1 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
One other point I'd like to make here that most of you probably don't know is that by shipping with a lower value invoice, or as a gift when in fact it was a purchase make YOU a smuggler. The US & Canadian government, and I'm sure a lot more are very interested in finding people that do this, and will prosecute them. This can be used by your buyer to force you to drop it when they apply for a refund. If you fight them they can threaten to turn you in. If you can prove that you shipped at the sale value you are off the hook, but otherwise it could be a real battle for you, while they pretend to be law abiding citizens just turning a bad guy in.
p.3 #2 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
Or... You could take a minute to see if the buyer or seller (foreigner or not) is a respectable and honest person and deal with confidence
I am very well aware of the scams people try to pull, but putting us foreigners in a hot spot is just not fair. Many of us are just regular dudes trying to get gear for our hobby at a reasonable price, and just because we have to do things differently than a US buyer, it doesn't mean it's automatically a red flag for a scam.
Btw, a US buyer could've done the exact same thing to you. PayPal ALWAYS sides with the buyer, that's why you have to "buy" the seller, not a particular item.
p.3 #3 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
I never sell outside of the US, period. (AK and HI are OK, if they pay extra for shipping.) FedEx, insurance, and Direct Signature mitigate potential problems.
p.3 #4 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
Just maybe the buyer is thinking exactly the same way about you.
He has over 200 feedbacks on ebay.
YOU can't provide him a tracking number, and have no insurance. And no signature required. Sounds like a lot of reasons why the item might not turn up.
Id ask for my money back too.
Even for local items i send, they get a tracking number, and signature required, it covers both parties.
p.3 #6 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
If you ship outside the US, you must do two things above all else. #1 Ship UPS fully insured to declared value with adult signature required for delivery #2 Require the buyer to provide his VAT ID and enter that information on the shipping invoice.
p.3 #7 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
Vertigo2020 wrote:
If you ship outside the US, you must do two things above all else. #1 Ship UPS fully insured to declared value with adult signature required for delivery
I always do that when shipping within the US as well. It is very easy for any paypal user to use a credit card to pay for an item then call the CC asking for a chargeback. Paypal will side with the buyer 99.6% of the time.
p.3 #9 · Buy and Sell: US sellers beware on overseas transactions
cdnguyen wrote:
I can't tell if it's lost or not. The buyer told me he never received it. AFAIK he can lie to me and said it was never received. He said in the mean time he wants the money back and will ship the lens back when he received it. I got ripped-off need I say more.
Apologies in advance for my lack of understanding but according to what you write it is possible that he is telling the truth and he indeed did not get it. So why are you so sure got ripped-off?
As a personal note I'll say that the whole "CONUS only" issue makes it difficult for me - as a non US resident - to buy and sell stuff on the B&S forum. While I understand and respect your preferences I think that the rating of the specific FM'er should account for more than the place he lives.
