CONUS only

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Nathan Gould

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I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but i didn't want to put it in whine and cheese in case it got out of hand.

I know some sellers can be quite specific about only shipping to CONUS, it does annoy me a bit but i'm not having a go, i just want to know what people reasons are for this? is patriotism? fears over lost packages? impost and export duties?

i would be interested to hear peoples opinions.

Nathan
 
I simplifies things for the seller. If you have dealt with international shipping some places can be rather daunting to ship a knife to and delivery isn't guaranteed. I've worked up to selling to a few places but sometimes it's just a hassle and too much of a risk.
 
It has annoyed me in the past, but i've traded with some great people from both the USA, and even a great guy in Saudi Arabia through these forums.

Our postal system doesnt offer tracking (until the parcel is signed for at the other end) but it does offer insurance.

I think some peoples issues stem from the fact that communication between buyer / seller is lacking, ask and work out what you're prepared to do for each other to ensure a smooth transaction, be it trade or sale.
 
mhawg said:
I simplifies things for the seller. If you have dealt with international shipping some places can be rather daunting to ship a knife to and delivery isn't guaranteed. I've worked up to selling to a few places but sometimes it's just a hassle and too much of a risk.
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ah, i see in the UK it;s no more difficult to send a knife to the US than it is to most other places, a smal form needs to be filled out but it only takes about 30 seconds.

i understand that sellers are worried about loss, but would this stil be a problem if the buyer agrred to accept liability?
 
It's a combination of cost & tracking. I'm not totally sure why CONUS, because shipping to Alaska & Hawaii falls within the US Postal Svc., except that maybe because they have to ship it priority instead of 1st class, which costs more (I'm only guessing on this, BTW).

However, shipping outside the U.S. raises issues that one just doesn't have to bother with if staying within the U.S. Some considerations are that one can ship 1st class CONUS for "around" $2.50 with DC tracking (Delivery Confirmation), & priority starts at under $6 with DC tracking. One also doesn't have to fill out any "customs" forms & worry about it getting "stopped" on its way. I just don't ship outside the U.S., so maybe you can educate some of us, but it is believed that tracking a package is not as accurate, or can't be done (Depending on where it's going), &/or cost quite a bit more, so people just don't bother because of all the reasons together.

I do understand that it can be frustrating & that "probably" most packages get delivered just fine, but the shipper is responsable for the package getting to where it needs to go & many just don't want the possible hassle of dealing with that when it goes outside of one's country.

I can not speak for anyone else, but I've never heard the "Patriotic" reason been given.

Hope that helps & I'm sure someone much more experienced about this will chime in.
 
Mostly fear over lost packages---bad things happen to packages once they cross certain borders. I, as an example, have never had a successful transaction mailing to Canada. Either the item was broken on arrival or the recipient got mad at me because I wouldn't lie on the Customs form. For the most part, you lose the ability to track a parcel unless you use a service like UPS or FedEx, and they aren't cheap.

I had a fellow from Israel bid on a knife on eBay and I did a little research--UPS or FedEx wanted $100 to ship there. The Post Office was $30, but I finally just cancelled his bid because the problems aren't worth it if (when?) the package doesn't arrive. What if he (rightfully) complains because he didn't get the knife and PayPal takes the payment back? It wasn't my fault, but now I have lost both the knife and the payment.

Better just to avoid such problems. Even if you got them to agree to hold you harmless that doesn't mean they actually won't file a claim. In fact, that sounds like a pretty good scam to get some knives for free!
 
Ease of shipping. Cost of shipping. Timely shipping. Fraud! That would be my guess based off of what I have read in many situations. I have heard of some good results but many people do not want to deal with the extra work and worries involved in dealing with Customs and the possibility of fraud.
 
Nathan Gould said:
ah, i see in the UK it;s no more difficult to send a knife to the US than it is to most other places, a smal form needs to be filled out but it only takes about 30 seconds.

i understand that sellers are worried about loss, but would this stil be a problem if the buyer agrred to accept liability?
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+1, being too much of a "hassle" between enthusiasts?? really?

I've paid and done over and above what was required to make sure a trade went through successfully, partly to maintain a good relationship between purchaser / trader, and partly because I'd like to make sure I have a good reputation on the forums, and represent my country.

But i understand if thats too much of a hassle for others.
 
Nathan Gould said:
ah, i see in the UK it;s no more difficult to send a knife to the US than it is to most other places, a smal form needs to be filled out but it only takes about 30 seconds.

i understand that sellers are worried about loss, but would this stil be a problem if the buyer agrred to accept liability?
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If you use paypal, then the agreeing to accept liability means nothing. Let's say I sell a knife to a guy in New Zealand and he pays me through paypal. If I use USPS I can't get tracking or any form of confirmation. He can claim through paypal that he didn't receive it, paypal will ask me for proof that I sent it and since I have none, he will be rewarded his money back.

Something similar happened to me before and I swore off paypal for many years. I actually only started using it again recently. Those bastards took $300 from me and it all happened because the guy bitched at me because he had to pay $60 in duty cost or something and now suddenly claimed he never got it.
 
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I finally got to the point of CONUS shipping only due to numerous requests by International buyers to underestimate the value of the knife on the customs form. However, I certainly don't mind shipping International if everyone plays by the rules.
 
my experiences of recieving stuff from abroad in the uk is actually better than the stuff i recieve from within the uk! lets take a hypothetical example:

A seller advertises a knife, he or she puts up a fair price and i reply that i want to buy it- i say i'm in the uk, explain that the knife is legalto own and import and mention that i'll happily pay extra for international shipping and am willing to accept that there will be no tracking.

At this point the seller has to accept me on my word and the bit that can upset me is that by not trading with me it implies that my word isn't worth the same as that of someone in the US.
 
My main fear is customs and lost shipments. Even shipping something as benign as watch parts to Canada has run into problems for me in the past. US postal regulations show which countries will have a problem with what type of things and some countries give a statement as broad as no weapons. Well without more specific details I will not ship there. Paypal is a pain in the ass to deal with if you have any type of problem with a buyer and you must have a signature delivery confirmation to win a dispute with a buyer through Paypal and with international shipments this is virtually impossible. Sorry but most of the time it is not worth the potential for problems.
 
Hawaii is the same shipping usps with tracking and confirmation. You can even send it first class.
 
Nathan Gould said:
my experiences of recieving stuff from abroad in the uk is actually better than the stuff i recieve from within the uk! lets take a hypothetical example:

A seller advertises a knife, he or she puts up a fair price and i reply that i want to buy it- i say i'm in the uk, explain that the knife is legalto own and import and mention that i'll happily pay extra for international shipping and am willing to accept that there will be no tracking.

At this point the seller has to accept me on my word and the bit that can upset me is that by not trading with me it implies that my word isn't worth the same as that of someone in the US.
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I disagree, because inside the US the seller doesn't have to rely on ONLY your word. Even if I ship by the Post Office I can get official confirmation of delivery, which gives me documentation in case of a dispute. It's not your word that's lacking, it's the lack of documentation that I held up my end of the bargain.
 
All I need is proof of shipment and (if I don't buy insurance) I'll accept total liability. I think conus only should have exceptions. I've got almost 60++ knives/blades from the USA with not a single hiccup. Plus, all I need is the customs number and let me buy insurance and I'm good to go.

I know the hassle of insurance claims so my new policy is to give the seller a little something (say 10 bucks) over the total if he helps me file an insurance claim if my blades got lost in mail.

So in exceptional cases, what's the problem?

PS: almost 50% of my purchases are from sellers who are CONUS only dudes. After I state my assurances and with good feedbacks they are cool.
 
takao said:
Hawaii is the same shipping usps with tracking and confirmation. You can even send it first class.
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I think a lot of sellers quote CONUS only because of the additional cost over what their (assumed) shipping costs would be. I know I'm happy to ship to HI or AK if the buyer will make up the difference.

I learned my lesson about HI when I sold a laptop on eBay with a flat rate Priority Mail charge of $20. The buyer turned out to be in HI and I lost $20 on the shipping.
 
elkins45 said:
I think a lot of sellers quote CONUS only because of the additional cost over what their (assumed) shipping costs would be. I know I'm happy to ship to HI or AK if the buyer will make up the difference.

I learned my lesson about HI when I sold a laptop on eBay with a flat rate Priority Mail charge of $20. The buyer turned out to be in HI and I lost $20 on the shipping.
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I shipped a knife to hawaii 1st class with tracking and it only cost me like $10
 
I dont mind shipping worldwide,but if it's an amount over $100 i insist on priority or better Express so that there is some tracking.I usually check it off as gift so they dont have to pay a bunch of stupid tax..OT-OH,Did i just incriminate myself?:rolleyes:
 
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