[Skylab]

Eneloquent is right on. Shipping overseas is a MUCH bigger hassle than shipping domestically. First, anything heavy requires the very long, detailed customs form. And where I live, it means waiting in line, as opposed to domestic US mailing where I can use the automated machine, or using UPS, where they will literally come right to my doorstep and get it.

Next, there is the issue that I, for one, will not falsify customs documents. And yet, almost every international buyer asks for this - "please mark as gift". Guess what? It's NOT a gift! So I will not mark it as such!

And finally, there is the issue of cost. Shipping overseas is much more expensive, for heavy items, and in many cases, the economics does not make sense. Take for example the Ming-Da amp I just sold. In the US, it costs about $15 to send it via UPS. Overseas, the shipping would be $60 or more. Does this really make sense for a $300 amp?

Anyway, it's just silly to suggest this is somehow people having a closed mind. I have made some great friendships on head-fi with folks outside of the USA - for this, the internet is great. But for buying and selling - it solves nothing. I have done a LOT of international shipping - but the only thing I really don't mind shipping overseas are tubes - because they are nice and light weight

Lastly - this is in the wrong forum

 

[Leto Atreides II]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eneloquent /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you're not trolling. If you are, you should be very ashamed of yourself, as I'm wasting very earnest and well meaning words here. Foremost, this is not a strictly USA phenomenon; Anecdotaly, almost every FS posting that originates in the UK, is UK only. Granted this is a smaller number of posts than the majority which come from the USA, but as a percentage, the UK seems to be less interested in international business. Probably because their taxes can get so ridiculous. As what I presume is our second largest user base, they have the luxury of being discriminatory in their selling practices without cutting themselves off at the legs. Those in even smaller markets - such as specific countries within eastern asia - would be unable to sell anything if they were so restrictive. In conclusion, it seems to be that if you are in a large enough market that you can probably sell your item without going outside your country, most people prefer to do that. Now, to consider why; Time Customs I'm fairly certain those two sum it up. It has nothing to do with racism or international bias, and has everything to do with expense and convenience. A transaction conducted within your own country will always be faster, and less complicated, than one that crosses international boundaries. Shipping is slower, and if it's not slower it's much more expensive. For a seller advertising a price with shipping included, their $10 cost to ship within the USA just became at $25 cost to ship to their buyer in Japan, so they've lost $15 off what they wanted to get for the item - or they pass it on to the buyer, who feels jilted because the price went up just for them being foreign. Worse still is the nefarious evil that is customs. All of our person-to-person trading is theoretically legal, within the country that you live, but it can quickly become "grey" in the eyes of the shipping or receiving nations customs officers. Nobody wants to be involved in a transaction where the goods are seized by customs and held ransom for some exorbitant tax fee. The buyer is obviously upset because they paid for something they didn't get, and now have to pay more than they planned - and if they aren't blaming the seller for "disguising" the item better, they're wanting their money back for something they didn't get and may feel is the sellers fault. Meanwhile, the seller is either forced to give back the money, and then try and get the item returned from the clutches of whatever customs agent decided to "confiscate" the goods, or they're out an expensive item AND their money. Meanwhile, the for sale thread turns into what amounts to "negative feedback." This is a largely unprotected marketplace that goes only on the basis of goodwill, trust, and its only penalties are in public damage to someone's reputation. Nobody wins when this kind of thing goes wrong - both the seller and the buyer are likely to be turned down in the future based on obvious evidence of a botched transaction in the past. In conclusion, or TL;DR - it's not racism, its risk from customs and inconvenience of slow shipping. Person to person international business is rife with both.

tldr indeed -- I should have just read this before posting.

 

[cck5]

speaking of which, ive buying trying to buy a corda amp from head-fi and im gonna need some luck.

 

[Leto Atreides II]

I would like to say thanks to all the international members who are willing to ship to the US though.

 

[cck5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leto Atreides II /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would like to say thanks to all the international members who are willing to ship to the US though.

im still pretty sure its easier for them to ship to us since its more common, than for us to ship to them.

but what do i know.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Meh, I'm happy to ship international, but I agree that it's more of a hassle. If I felt the way Skylab did, I would just jack up the price for international folks that included shipping, insurance, and some fee for the hassle of shipping international. Nothing unfair about that - if somebody wants to buy something from me overseas for $70 more than what someone in CONUS would be paying for it, then I don't really care.

 

[Zeroblade]

It's just as much a pain, to be honest, but there's so few people interested in X (headphones, pens, watches, etc.) niche hobby in the Philippines, and a lot of other smaller countries, compared to the US. That means that if we want to either move things fast or get a fairer deal on the sale, we have to be able to ship internationally AND price lower to keep competitive.

EDIT: Rather, price lower within reason.

 

[Marximus]

It's definitely the costs for me. I shipped a pair of headphones on Monday for under $14 across the country. Yesterday, I shipped a pair to Europe, and $39 was the cheapest. The high-end costs would have been $240 (!!). For that much, it should be next-day, insured, with a free Rolex watch.

 

[Arctia]

I'll gladly fill out the forms and ship overseas if you want me to.

But you will be paying for shipping and insurance. Honestly it really doesn't make sense to ship a $200-300 item when you're paying $60 on shipping and insurance alone. It's your money, so...

And I'm not even sure if insurance means anything when you are shipping overseas. Of course don't ask me to track anything for you because I have no power to do that once it leaves the US borders. Heck it's already difficult to track things within the states.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cck5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif , i remeber filling out the form, but dont remeber what i wrote why,, whats ear99?

That it is exempt for shipping out of country. Please feel free to google it.

My point was exporting is actually quite complicated and more so than most people think.

Even if you document, the buyer assumes Customs issues, would Paypal see it that way if the item get seized?

 

[dasmb]

Disputes of any kind are the reason many businesses are reticent to sell overseas.

Customs of course, but also payment disputes, legal disputes (in cases where the local government has copyright, patent, safety or other requirements), warranty and insurance claims, returns, etc.

Most transactions will go smoothly. But because the complexity and the increased amount of physical handling of products, the risk is much higher for international shipments. I would never fault a company or an individual for not wanting to enter into a risky transaction, or for asking for additional compensation and decreased liability if they do enter into one. That's not racism, nationalism or any of that -- it's just common sense.

I mean, heck. I know France has some serious limitations when it comes to volume settings for headphone output. If I sold headphone amps and received an order from France, I'd want to know if I was liable for action under that law if an amp was seized. I could spend a couple hours to learn the letter of the law (in a foreign language). I could also spend a few thousand dollars having an export lawyer do it for me. Or I could cancel the order. Which would you do?

 

[ford2]

I have been buying car parts from American E-Bay on and off for the last 10 years and have never had a problem,nor has the seller ever had a problem posting to Australia.
A headphone will cost around $50 to Australia,most of the time it arrives just as fast as interstate parcels do here.
If the buyer is willing to pay the postage costs I do not see that it is a problem,it only takes a little time to fill in the form,I have sent gear to China with no problems although there postal system can be a bit slow.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Australia is pretty easy to post stuff to. Other places are not. I think most of the time people put CONUS ONLY is because they know it will sell. I mean what would you rather do? I'd much prefer a local sale because it's hassle free.

 

[tisb0b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eneloquent /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shipping is slower, and if it's not slower it's much more expensive. For a seller advertising a price with shipping included, their $10 cost to ship within the USA just became at $25 cost to ship to their buyer in Japan, so they've lost $15 off what they wanted to get for the item - or they pass it on to the buyer, who feels jilted because the price went up just for them being foreign.

I disagree, international buyers assume there is going to be naturally higher shipping costs and thus account for it, when they make an offer on a particular piece of equipment.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Well umm I've only tried to sell 3 things on Head-Fi and some guys ask if it is included in the price.... Shipping internationally from Aus costs a bomb.