International Deliveries

That's quite weird about the way bank transfers work for you.
For me it's simple: I'm the only one that can initiate a transfer of money out of my account, and I must fill and sign a form to do that. There is now way to do it electronically, at least that's the policy of my bank.
 
sculver said:
Hi Kevin,

You are correct that it is not easy for someone to draw from your bank account. But it is not impossible, according to the bank CFO that I spoke to. Making a withdrawal from someone's bank account electronically is done by using an ACH (Automated Clearing House) transaction. To initiate an ACH, the originator has to get written, verbal or electronic authorization from the account holder. This is where the loophole is in the process. All the originator has to do is to provide something showing that you agreed to the withdrawal by a recording from a telephone conversation, a document with a signature or by presenting something showing that the account holder agreed by checking an “I Agree” button on a web site. All of these things are easy to forge or falsify. Once the transaction is done, it is up to the account holder to prove that they did not give permission for the transaction. I have actually had an ACH drawn on my account by a non-profit organization who claimed to have a recording of me agreeing to make a donation over the phone.

If the unauthorized transaction originated in the US, federal banking laws make it fairly simple to get your money back; after you prove that you did not authorize the transaction. However, if the ACH originated outside the US, the process for recovering the money can be much more complicated and there could be no cooperation at all from the bank where the ACH originated.

Yes, there are risks in most all financial transactions and true is your statement that not taking risks puts you at a disadvantage. I only meant to point out that there are some risks in giving out your account information for wire transfers, for those who were not aware.
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You are right Steve, I have hear of it happening.
No matter how secure or well prepaid the system, there's always someone out there that will find a way to beat it.
 
sculver said:
Where do you go to find out about each country’s regulations and what paperwork is necessary for your shipments?
Click to expand...

As far as a reference guide for individual country requirments both DHL and Fedex have small (relatively speaking) guides that they are often willing to share with larger customers. The thing about customs regulations though is that they are always changing, so even if you happen to get your hands on a guide this year don't assume that it's still accurate five years from now.

Basic requirments are always the same (well packaged, detailed commercial invoice, SED (Shipper's Export Declaration) for anything valued over $2500. Special documents and restrictions/prohibitions very widely and required a detailed resource (like one of those guides). A word of caution though. As we saw from Marcel's thread, sometimes no matter how well prepared your shipment is or how thoroughly documented, customs can - at whim - simply choose to be difficult, so insurance is a must (IMO).

It would be damn near impossible to list individual country requirments, but if anyone ever needs any info they can just send me a message and I'll get them the info they need.
 
Flavius,

For the sake of our convenience, we have these systems set up so we can do business over the phone, via the internet and by mail. It saves us the time required to do face to face transactions. But like anything, it can be abused by the determined crook. The risk is actually quite small, but still there. I would not be too concerned with a transaction in the US, but I would be very cautious about giving my information to someone that I didn’t know, in a country whose banking industry was not controlled by US or EU regulations. It appears to me that the only truly safe transaction is by Western Union money transfer.

thepaintedbird,

Thank you for the information. That is exactly what I hoped to see posted on this thread. I have had some experience with international shipping, but it was a number of years ago. As the customs regulations are ever changing, I couldn’t be sure today of the requirements of the countries that I have previously shipped to. The USPS web site suggests that your post office has all of the information, and forms, required to ship internationally. However, my local postmaster was clueless when I asked him about international shipments; and they have none of the forms required. You can fill out and print the forms from the USPS web site, but the forms (if I understand correctly) need to be attached to the package in a special envelope; which my post office does not have. Thank you for the offer to assist folks with individual country requirements.

By the way, the guy in Sumatra has continued to try to buy my knives. He sent me enough information to make me start to think the he MIGHT be okay to deal with. I ran an address check and authorization on his credit card; it was denied.:thumbdn: NOW, he wants me to try another credit card!:rolleyes: I will tell him Western Union, or no deal.
 
Steve, I have sent a number of knives overseas with little trouble, all through the post office, your post master isn't doing his/her job. I ship all mine out of a small one person PO and she has the custom forms and special envelops. I ship Express mail and it's easy.

But more impressive is, I have sent close to 100 boxes of W2 tool steel overseas with absolutely no problems with delivery's or payments. All USPS and all PayPal.

With that said, I've had more trouble getting paid (for knives) than delivering the packages. I've been waiting on payment from a guy in South Africa for a month now and it is very aggravating. This one guy might just stop the flow of Hanson knives out of this country.
 
Hi Don,
Thanks for your rely. As you and several others have stated, most of the typical types of transactions are safe and reliable. I think it is better to know the potential risks of some transactions so one can make an informed decision about what type of transaction they choose to make with some customers.

Yes, my Postmaster is not much help. I’m sure that I could go to a larger Post Office nearby and get all of the forms and assistance that I need for a shipment.

I hope you get your money from the customer in South Africa soon. It would be a shame if your fine work was not available to all who would like to own some of it.

In the thread about Marcel’s problems with Dutch customs, Kevin W. suggested that Marcel could have / should have used a customs broker. I had not considered using a broker for a knife shipment. Can anyone explain what exactly a broker does to facilitate getting a shipment through customs? How does one go about obtaining the services of a broker and approximately what does it cost? Who typically deals with the broker; the exporter or the importer?

Also, I know very little about CITES documentation. The CITES web site is not much help. I make a lot of knives using ivory for the handles and do not know how, or where to secure the documents for shipping these materials.
 
this won't be of any help, however i thought i might post it here. it is the answer of a well known american maker of not so cheap knives to my question how he'd like to be paid. he has been in the business for decades. btw, i live in europe.

"I am as well amazed at the honesty and integrity among people in the custom knife industry. I once sent a folder to Sweden and the customer sent me twelve 100 dollar bills through the mail in a Christmas card. I always send my work out on approval before any payment is made. To this day I have not been ripped off. If only every one was this way it would be a much better world!"

best regards,
hans
 
brightred said:
this won't be of any help, however i thought i might post it here. it is the answer of a well known american maker of not so cheap knives to my question how he'd like to be paid. he has been in the business for decades. btw, i live in europe.

"I am as well amazed at the honesty and integrity among people in the custom knife industry. I once sent a folder to Sweden and the customer sent me twelve 100 dollar bills through the mail in a Christmas card. I always send my work out on approval before any payment is made. To this day I have not been ripped off. If only every one was this way it would be a much better world!"

best regards,
hans
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A few years ago I bought a knife from a Texan maker and paid him in $100 bills in an Easter card :) It was the only form of payment he wanted. I was a bit affraid it might get lost or stolen but went along.
Turns out he sent the knife the same day I sent the money, and I got the knife at least one week before he got the Easter card. He eventually got it and everybody was happy.
 
I've been down this road a number of times....getting burned on a couple of them. Due to that I have researched and developed the following policies for shipping overseas:

1. Payment must be made by International money order (made out in US funds) or Paypal ONLY.

2. No products will be shipped until the payment has cleared and is in my bank account.

3. Shipping will ONLY be via USPS Global Priority Mail, with tracking and insurance.

4. All tariffs, taxes, or import fees are the responsibility of the buyer.

My suggestion is to ALWAYS declare the actual value of the item you shipped. I had one knife disappear on its way to Trinidad, and it took nearly 5 months to collect the insurance on that item, and had I not declared the actual value, it would have been a severe loss.
 
I buy knives from all over the world and have them shipped to Australia, and my suggestions would match Ed's exactly. Those procedures are no problem to me at all.
Greg
 
sculver said:
In the thread about Marcel’s problems with Dutch customs, Kevin W. suggested that Marcel could have / should have used a customs broker. I had not considered using a broker for a knife shipment. Can anyone explain what exactly a broker does to facilitate getting a shipment through customs? How does one go about obtaining the services of a broker and approximately what does it cost? Who typically deals with the broker; the exporter or the importer?

Also, I know very little about CITES documentation. The CITES web site is not much help. I make a lot of knives using ivory for the handles and do not know how, or where to secure the documents for shipping these materials.
Click to expand...

Customs brokers are generally used at the import end. They clear the shipment and make all payments of taxes, duties and any other fees such as storage at a bonded warehouse. The fees they charge are based on the value of the item being imported. Some use a flat rate system, some use a percentage based system. They all have a minimum charge, so if the item being imported isn't worth very much, Customs broker's fees can be very high in comparison to the value of the shipment. The best thing to do is to contact a few Customs brokerage firms and check on what it is they do for you, and what they charge for their services.

The link below is where you will find information on CITES.

http://www.fws.gov/international/
 
Thanks guys for the replies,

Ed,

I've had a couple of customers, (who I never finalized a sale with) that were asking me to ship the knives with the contents declared as no value, I assume to avoid taxes and duties, and they did not want it insured. The payment was to be in my account before shipping and they were willing to assume all risk of loss and damage. What would you tell a customer who asked for this?
 
Hi Steve!

I've had the same request(s). I make it very clear that if I do something like that, then they assume full responsibility if the shipment is lost or damaged. That meaning that if the package gets lost, they are out the money and the knife. If they agree, and still insist on doing it that way, then I will respect their wishes. This situation occurred with me on a shipment to France. It was not a high dollar piece ($500 hunter), and the client wanted it declared as a gift, with no insurance, and the package never arrived. He was upset, and asked if I would be willing to make a replacement at a reduced price. I reminded him of our agreement concerning shipping, and politely told him no. A month later he re-ordered a knife, but this time HE insisted on a full declared value and insurance.

Sometimes I think that mail thieves look for packages that do not have insurance, delivery confirmation stickers or the likes, and take those. Every maker has to decide whats right for them, but if the client is willing to bear the total risk, then I will do as they wish.
 
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