I take offence - or why are so many for sales listed at CONUS only

foxx said:
Can packages be insured through UPS, Fed Ex, or other companies when sent to Canada?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. Though I would be willing to take that risk and responsibility and extra cost. I know I might not be the majority but it would be nice if posts could reflect how open a seller is to such offers instead of flat out saying NO to outside US borders.

I find insurance a scam in most instances anyhow.
 
In my profession, I ship goods in and out of the country frequently and a majority of the time, and I mean huge majority, someone wants a break on customs declaration values. I wont perjure myself and declare a value something is not because I don't want to worry about dropping soap. After reading these few posts and understanding more about how paypal operates, I don't think I will be shipping any personal sales out of CONUS. I agree it isn't worth the headache either. Before I would ship internationally if I knew the person well enough here, but I don't trust the middle men at all now. Thanks for enlightening me. Sorry OP if that offends you. No hard feelings.
 
I have responded to several threads like this over the years, but here goes again:


  • A seller has a right to sell on the terms he chooses; the buyer has the right to buy on his or her terms.
  • Selling outside the US requires the completion of a customs declaration. This creates the following issues:
  • Extra time to complete the form. It is pen and paper, not electronic.
  • The package must be accepted at the post office in person. The seller has to wait in line, which averages 40 minutes in my area.
  • Buyers often ask the seller to undervalue or mis-state the package contents to save VAT or other issues. I'm not going to commit mail fraud.
  • Customs is known to confiscate knives. The buyer can then file a recovery complaint through PayPal since it never got there.
  • Tracking using USPS isn't available outside the US.
  • All of this might be avoided by using FedEx or UPS, you might say, but then it gets expensive and the buyer wants the seller to bear the cost.

In sum, shipping outside the US is more time, trouble and expense. Every time I've tried it, I regret it. Foreign buyers, no matter what they agree to up front, get frustrated with the expense and non-trackability. I get emails like: "Where is my package? If it doesn't get here soon, I'm filing a PayPal complaint."

I get tired of buyers who think it is their innate right to have me ship to them.
 
I used to live in Canada, love the Country and the folks to the North. the rare occasions I sell something it is usually in a condition and at a price that selling is already set to be as easy and hassle free as possible.
IF I KNEW that there was no way a glitch could occur I would be glad to sell to a neighbor in Canada. I wouldn't go much past that though.
Call it familiarity or whatever but I don't really consider Canada a Foreign Country (of course technically it is) and certainly not overseas.
 
To save some typing time ;) here is my take on some internation issues I posted in another thread...

International shipping can be a curse that is clear but for those of us outside the US it is a fact of life that has to be navigated. Some of it can really come down to economy (as risk v reward) by way of example $40US shipping on a $110US knife does not make great economical sense. I always negotiate the shipping arrangements individually with the person I am buying from so each party knows what the expectations are. This of course relies upon the good character of each party and therein lays the issue in most cases. I can only be 100% honest and rely upon the same from the other party. Just recently I was shocked when a $400 blade was dropped in the post to me from the US solely based upon our agreement as to price and shipping arrangements, I had not even 100% established how payment was to be made as the seller did not have paypal, we were not known to each other prior to this either. Needless to say that not only did I receive a great blade safe and sound the seller had payment arriving about the same time as I had the blade. If only everyone were so honest I guess.

A couple of point on shipping knives to Australia...

1) There are basically NO restrictions on fixed blade knives. Daggers/knives with TWO sharpened edges are a little grey (enough so that I just would not have one shipped) and any knife with a "knuckle duster" type grip is a no no. In the past six months I have had in excess of 30 fixed blade knives shipped here and NONE have been so much as opened by Customs far less held up. EVERY package entering Australia is X-Rayed/scanned so it is not like they don't know the contents.

2) Some of mine have been marked "camping tool" not at my request but as a matter of practise by those shipping, if asked (or when I remember) I always state that the package should be labelled "fixed blade knife" as this is 100% accurate and is not actually news to Customs.

3) Folding knives are creating many problems out here right now, so much so that I DO NOT have any shipped to me here direct. If I am to purchase a folder from outside of Australia (I try NOT to) I have it shipped to a friend in the US and arrange the international shipping via him as if I strike the dreaded "flick knife" ruling from Customs I have an option for it to be returned to the person who shipped it (ergo my friend so as not to put the original seller in a position). I am now in possession of a video of exactly how Customs test a knife prior to classifying it (this came direct to me from Aus Customs so it is 100%) so I also ask my friend to check a knife against this prior to shipping.

4) In relation to declared value, I ALWAYS say that this should be the full/real cost of the knife. Here in Australia I am not liable for any additional taxes/charges/costs of ANY description until such time that the value of the goods (including shipping) exceeds $1000Aus. No point in NOT being 100% truthful about this either.


Just in addition to all that, USPS Priority provides tracking from receipt to delivery. I can follow a package sent from the US to me here as it makes its way (inexplicably sometimes) around the US and then into Australia, in and out of customs (see about about them x-raying EVERYTHING) and then on the truck and to my local post office... once I go sign on the little machine to collect it the info will update and show the date/time and person who collected it.

All that said, it REMAINS entirely the perogative of the seller to sell to and ship where they choose. I don't take offense to it but I am certainly VERY grateful to the folks here (and on other sites) they WILL ship to me down here... :) :)

Andy
 
I have had the same problems as everyone above. for canada... it's the import tax and the under declaration that makes it hard to insure. customs is strict with the flick knife rule.

I have had 2 knives lost overseas... one to germany and one to malaysia... (I took the hit and sent $ back to buyer) and it has made me wary with selling overseas hence I prefer to sell conus unless I know u.
 
For me, it is the additional hassle of shipping out of the US, filling out customs forms, higher shipping costs (I prefer to cover shipping costs), and risk of loss/seisure of package.

I'm curious - is there a Canadian knife forum similar to Bladeforums where the membership is heavily Canadian? I'm curious if there is the same issue where the members prefer not to ship to the U.S. It would be interesting to see if reluctance to ship out of country is a common theme. My guess is that it is.
 
LightGuy said:
I'm curious - is there a Canadian knife forum similar to Bladeforums where the membership is heavily Canadian?
Click to expand...

I don't think that there is... and it wouldn't be the same caliber as this. If there is I sure haven't found it yet.
really though... hassle of customs form? not that big a deal is it? and shipping costs aren't that much greater... maybe $5 from what i've experienced. I'm more than willing to cover extra. It just demoralizes me when I see a seller totally unwilling to consider outside purchases.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Some countries will find themselves outside my comfort zone, though. No sales to Somalia! :p
Click to expand...
LOL!

Yeah, and to hijack your thread slightly :D, I understand how you feel. It really irritates me when sellers refuse to ship to New York City (however seldom it may be). Knives that are illegal, I understand, I don't even have the desire to break the law, but some sellers refuse to ship knives that are perfectly legal to NYC, simply because they choose to be ignorant to the law, and avoid the headache (though that they will never even encounter one, shipping knives that are legal). Right on the front page of true north knives, it says we will not ship to any of the five boroughs of NYC. A Sebenza is legal to own and carry in NYC, the detent is too strong to open it by centrifugal force (lol trust me, I've tried), so why wouldn't they ship it? It's really a double-sided arguement, because seller will always have the right to choose who they WILL and WILL NOT ship to; this is America after all. But at the same time, how can you justify excluding an entire group of people, based on their location? Seems unjust. DO NOT mean to call TNK out in any way though, I'm sure their a great group of guys and would be willing to work with residents of NYC if the issue arose, but it just kind of puts me off when I see "will not ship to New York City." As a current New Yorker, it kind of makes me feel like a second-class citizen, so I get where the OP is coming from when he says it "totally turns him off".
 
Interesting responses. I also have shipped to and received items from China, Japan, UK and Australia much faster then to and from Canada. What's the problem up there?

While it's true that Canada is not "overseas", it might as well be.

RE: customs forms. If you use PayPal's multi-order shipping, you can fill out and print customs forms. You still have to go to the post office and stand in line.
 
UffDa said:
Interesting responses. I also have shipped to and received items from China, Japan, UK and Australia much faster then to and from Canada. What's the problem up there?

While it's true that Canada is not "overseas", it might as well be.
Click to expand...

I dunno. I've always had excellent shipping from USPS, across border. I've had packages come in a very reasonable amount of time, and tracking goes to the border which is usually most of the way for me. I find it very odd you say you ship to China faster than Canada. I don't think i've ever had to wait more than a week for any US package... but I guess mileages vary. Plus I don't think i've ever gotten anything from arizona.. so maybe that's it ;P Being in NB, Canada, might be almost a worst-case situation. Wanna test it out? looking to part with anything? heh.
 
Too many people get too offended over too little. There are plenty of things in this world that are truly offensive, but this isn't one of them.
 
powernoodle said:
Too many people get too offended over too little. There are plenty of things in this world that are truly offensive, but this isn't one of them.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you powernoodle. Like I said, I don't take offense easily. This just irks me, but after reading all of this thread I can empathize and understand the sellers viewpoint a lot more. I'm sorry. I just hate missing out on great knives, you know?
 
I'm glad if somebody will post stuff to me from the US to Europe, not yet had a problem with delivery. USPS boxes seem to take a lot longer than lowly padded envelopes for some odd reason, they also attract more interest from customs...

One trend I see here, most complaints/problems from US sellers seem to involve Canada rather than Europe. Really strange, it's only across the border not the ocean and several other countries! Must be something to do with 1776....:D:eek:
 
I list CONUS when it is I who is paying the shipping costs. I will ship anywhere but once it's outside the CONUS the cost and risk shifts 100% to the buyer.
 
I'm in Canada and I'm all right with shippers not sending to any location they choose not to. Sometimes it's frustrating but most shippers have legitimate reasons and probably a few bad experiences. There is usually a work-around if I want something badly enough like having an item shipped to a friend's address in the CONUS.
 
Hiker Boy said:
... There is usually a work-around if I want something badly enough like having an item shipped to a friend's address in the CONUS.
Click to expand...

I've heard of an interesting problem that can generate.

Say you bid on a knife, US to Canada sale. You pay with PayPal. You ask the seller to ship to your US friend. You complain to PayPal the knife never arrived in Canada. Huh? Yes, PayPal wants proof of delivery to your address on file with them. The seller is stuck with taking legal action against your US co-conspirator for whom he does have proof of delivery.
 
This may be a stupid and/or naive question.... Is this a porfit motivated issue or availability? I assume most if not all knife makers have dealers in "foreign countries" so getting knives shouldn't really be an issue.
Is this particular issue about better deals, availability, what is it?
Just asking in the interest of understanding the whole story.
 
Simple. It's easier to ship CONUS, even if incramentally so. Also, there are plenty of CONUS buyers, so my analysis ends there. I am sure it's frustrating.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top