Overcoming Itl. Sellers Not Willing To Ship To US

[Puddington]

I always giggle at those that won't ship to Canada....it's their right and I respect that but the reasons are always fun....but the number one excuse I got was "we don't ship transatlantic........."

I mean; what is one to say about that........... ? I guess he don't ship transatlantic.......

[dieselfan1]

The fees from ebay and paypal are more if you ship international because it made the final price higher. Or am I wrong here?

[One of One-Sixty]

If it's something I really want, I will contact the seller first, and politely attempt to negotiate a deal. Usually an offer for a little extra money from a buyer will make a seller more cooperative. On the rare occasion I fail, I'll have the item shipped to a friend overseas. I think that happened once, IIRC.

Oh, and I've also dealt frequently with Plaza Japan. No problems whatsoever--a highly recommended seller in my book.

 Been there done that, the bonus is I am starting to learn German!

[ljudice]

I've had nothing but good results from Plaza Japan and Hit Japan...   - and from DM Toys!

For Europe - mostly Germany, just read their listings beforehand - there are some who are clearly willing to ship to the US and some who are not. Just find the ones who do.  After a while you will be adept at "Model railroading German" as a second language.

As David says - in doubt just write ahead - if you send a note in English - apologize up front for not using their home language.  Or even better, try to write it in German.

As my former boss (I worked for the Euro subsidiary of a big US company) told me - tri-lingual is someone who speaks 3 languages.   bi-lingual is someone who speaks 2 languages.  What is someone who speaks one language?  American.

Lou

[lock4244]

I always giggle at those that won't ship to Canada....it's their right and I respect that but the reasons are always fun....but the number one excuse I got was "we don't ship transatlantic........."

I mean; what is one to say about that........... ? I guess he don't ship transatlantic.......

You could point out to them that Canada is the big purple thing above the US on the map. A woman in Hollywood indignantly pointed this out to her colleague at a store we were shopping in. When we told them we were from Toronto, the colleague was shocked that Canada went as far east as NY State... her knowledge of Canada being limited to Vancouver. I'm not sure which was funnier  ;D

[wm3798]

How so .. stick it in the box, weigh it, and fill out the little customs form ..

International Priority Mail Flat rate Box up to 4 lbs is $13 ... and you can do it all online .. even the customs form .. mail man will even pick up at the door ..  good grief ... 

But John, you're not factoring in how lazy and cheap I am!

[Bob Bufkin]

Face it Lee - anything West of the Bay Bridge is foreign to you! ;D

[John]

But John, you're not factoring in how lazy and cheap I am!

but the buyer pays shipping ..  ???

[wm3798]

The buyer pays an amount TOWARD shipping... ;D

If I actually have to spend the amount they pay, that's like giving money away!

[TrainCat2]

FeeBay does NOT take into the auto-calculate the rules of the USPS. Example, A German buyer purchased $623 of merchandise and FeeBay calculated the shipping to $13 and change. The buyer immediately paid (even though I clearly state that all International must wait for an invoice) and balked when I had to break the purchase into two shipments because of the USPS < $400 rule.

I got a neg for doing the right thing. Sorry, International sales are the worst unless you know the people you are dealing with.

As for PlazaJapan, here were my questions I have sent twice:

Dear plazajapan,

I have two questions.

1) What are the dimensions of the Mini Size Locomotive? Please include the center-to-center distance between the axles.

2) what is the combined shipping for this Mini Size Locomotive and the Super Mini Size Motorized Chassis TU-DEKI1?

Thank you for your time.

[SirTainly]

Just a thought guys, sometimes sellers won't ship to the US because of the cost of shipping, I generally didn't ship outside of the UK because Royal Mail was so damned expensive for overseas items heavier than a couple of hundred grams. Just a for instance a greetings card alone is about $2 to send to the US, packages considerably more so. When you list this you get accused of price gouging on the postage costs - not worth the hassle.

[Dave Schneider]

While I understand that there can be problems shipping internationally, imagine how it feels when people in the US refuse to ship to Alaska. I have run across this problem even when people are using USPS Flat Rate services. I usually try to explain to them that although you can see Russia from Alaska, it is part of the United States. I sometimes have to add that Anchorage is number 3 in the world in terms of air cargo traffic. Some people relent, others refuse. Others try to tack on surcharges that have no basis in fact.

There are some exceptions to this issue. A notable recent case from MB Klein. I recently purchased about $150 in Walthers Cornerstone modular parts (temporary insanity, but a great price). The shipping to AK was calculated at about $40, but they paid more than $80 to ship it USPS Priority. This was partially due to overkill on their part with regards to packing, but they ate $40+ in shipping. I certainly didn't expect them to do this for me....I would have suggested Parcel Post.

Best wishes, Dave

[AlkemScaleModels]

I'd estimate about a third of my mail  business goes overseas, especially to UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Lately it's been more like 50 percent overseas.

I print the postage at home and if it fits in a flat rate envelope, no fancy customs forms are needed. The paypal mail system works well, as does USPS.com for international shipping. It is as easy as pie, though can be expensive. But with the Euro strong the pain is less on their end.

You can set up the paypal postage calculator to whatever rules you want. You can set up different rules for each country.  I assume that over a certain dollar figure it is going to be a USPS Priority mail flat rate box. If there is excess postage paid at the time of sale, I refund it when I ship. I err on the high side so there are no misunderstandings with hidden shipping charges.

I think the main reason many vendors don't ship over seas is the chance for fraud goes way up. If you get burned, there is little recourse.

[sizemore]

Ya know I keep trying to get them to send back some of the Shermans left in the Ardennes back in '45 but I keep getting hit with that customs thing.... Something about military weapons. Those things couldnt hurt a fly if it landed on it.

The S.

[Bob Bufkin]

Ya know I keep trying to get them to send back some of the Shermans left in the Ardennes back in '45 but I keep getting hit with that customs thing.... Something about military weapons. Those things couldnt hurt a fly if it landed on it.

The S.

Write it up as agriculture equipment and you'll have no problems.  The Soviets did it all the time.