Shipping overseas. Don't want to be scammed

Over Kill said:
I am selling a knife and a man from Russia asked if I would ship it to him. He is paying via pay pal and has unconfirmed address I don't believe you can confirm it in Russia. Any way it is a 375$ transaction and he has asked me to ship it under these guidelines:when shipping please put in a custom form "camping tool" or "camping folder" and not big value.


Any advice asa would be a big help.

Buyer also has no feedback on blade forums.
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With regard to underdeclaring the value; that is a question for your conscience.

Your biggest risk is simply getting scammed. Buyer gets the knife, tells PP that he did not, PP takes money back from you, and you have to try to prove to PP that it was delivered.

Once I had a "I'll take it" from a member with only one post, that one. I said we could make the deal only if he allowed me to transfer the money from PP to my bank before shipping his knife. He had to trust me, and agreed. Everything went fine, and I never heard from him again; he never posted again. If he had been in Russia, I would not have done a deal.
 
I said we could make the deal only if he allowed me to transfer the money from PP to my bank before shipping his knife. He had to trust me, and agreed.
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This infact could end up being worse for you. If there is a dispute pay pal will try to get the money back from you and if you don't give it to them; COLLECTION AGENCY


It's to the point that I will only take international money order for countries like Russia. This also gives you more freedom to play around w/ the customs form. If not the price of the good at least what you call it ie "camping tool." It is the only scam proof way to do this and puts all the risk on the buyer which you must explain to them and insist on express shipping. Is it me or does it seem like half the Russian postmen are thieves.
 
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I don't understeand the part about Paypal takeing money back from you ,but I'm not very good at this internet banking and stuff . My first knife bought from this forum was payed by money order ( I don.t know if I call it write but not sure if I can say the company's name ) . The knife (ASH1 ) was $410 and I ended up paying close to $500 but for that time this was the only option for me because I had no paypal account and I was glad the guy accepted this tipe of payment
 
vladdracul said:
I don't understeand the part about Paypal takeing money back from you
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If you do not recieve something you bought with paypal and your credit card,
You call your credit card and have the purchase reversed, it's called a charge back.
I have had to do it twice over on Ebay.
Your only protection as a seller to avoid fraudulent chargeback is to have proof of delivery.
If you do not you will loose the dispute....
 
Did,t knew that , don't know the laws of electronic commerce and stuff like that but that would not be possible in my country under the civil an commerce laws .
 
I've shipped all over the world many times and received Western Union money transfer without a problem. I don't do it anymore too risky, North America only for me. IMO
 
I buy knives from these forums on a regular basis, and I usually do ask the seller to declare the value as lower than the actual price for one simple reason: the Finnish VAT policy is insane. The VAT is 22% for anything exceeding $50. Even on gifts. (on the other hand, we have free health care, free education and universities etc..) However I understand if the seller doesn't feel comfortable doing this. In that case I wish them good luck with the sales, or prepare myself to pay the VAT.

The Finnish customs is very flexible though. If they do check the proper value, I just go to the customs and pay the VAT and that's it. According to Finnish customs policy the VAT and possible tariffs are completely the buyers responsibility, and the seller is never contacted, whatever he declares. I have never had problems with deliveries, however I have been scammed by US sellers a few times. I have paid for the balisongs, but they were never shipped and there was no communication after I sent the payment ..but that's another story. I don't think there is too big a risk in shipping to Northern Europe.

The declared value is a matter of negotiating the actual price for the knife. I could always offer that much less, but I don't feel comfortable doing low ball-offers either.

In the end, I guess its a matter of what one feels comfortable with. Have to respect that.
 
If I am the legal owner of the knife, I have legal right to sell the knife to my liking.(In other words, I and only I decide the price to sell or buy the knife)
and the same thing for the insurance.
If I buy a knife for $ 200 but I think that is worth more, I will insurance for more, right?
If I sell the same that I just bought ($200) for $ 50, How much insurance I have to put on it?
Declare one thing for another is against the law; but the insurance is to my liking because I'm legal owner of it & I do, decide what I like whit it....
including the price and insurance.
 
Kurodrago, you are correct. the seller alone decides for what he sells the knife. The buyer can however make an offer for what he is willing buy the knife for. This can lead to a negotiation. This is a quite common practice is business. I reserve the right to make an offer on a knife for less money or for other terms of sale, even if they are not exactly the same as what the seller originally stated. The seller can easily refuse to sell, and that's fine.

Some laws are seen by some people somewhat irrelevant, for example jaywalking is quite common. It is still most definitely against the law, at least in my country. Of course all laws SHOULD be respected, but it just isn't reality.
 
Philo79 said:
Kurodrago, you are correct. the seller alone decides for what he sells the knife. The buyer can however make an offer for what he is willing buy the knife for. This can lead to a negotiation. This is a quite common practice is business. I reserve the right to make an offer on a knife for less money or for other terms of sale, even if they are not exactly the same as what the seller originally stated. The seller can easily refuse to sell, and that's fine.

Some laws are seen by some people somewhat irrelevant, for example jaywalking is quite common. It is still most definitely against the law, at least in my country. Of course all laws SHOULD be respected, but it just isn't reality.
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I got done for jaywalking in NYC 2005 and still aint paid that one. :yawn:
 
Mathieu85 said:
Hi y'all! I'm from europe and I order blades from the US on a regular basis. I have purchased several Busses on this forum as well! (you can check my ratings)

I have almost always asked the seller to "fake" the import statement. it is actually a very common thing to do, or to ask for :-) Of course if he was not ok with that, I accepted it! and I would NEVER ask the seller to pay the taxes like idahoskunk mentioned in this thread...this is just ridiculous!!! I mean, no US citizen is responsible for tax laws overseas...however it makes a difference when I order a Busse for 400$ and I have to pay 80$ taxes or 20$...I MEAN COMON, EVERY OTHER TIME I CAN BUY ANOTHER BLADE WITH THE SAVINGS :-)
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All this is true enough. But simply because a thing is "a very common thing to do", doesn't make it "right." Lying about the value is in reality "tax fraud" and if they authorities chose to pursue it, the seller would be liable and potentially face criminal charges, fines and/or jail time. I also will not lie about the value since that is what I am going to insure in case the item "goes missing." It is simply not good practice to lie about the value and it is certainly not truthful.
 
steelnut said:
If you do not recieve something you bought with paypal and your credit card,
You call your credit card and have the purchase reversed, it's called a charge back.
I have had to do it twice over on Ebay.
Your only protection as a seller to avoid fraudulent chargeback is to have proof of delivery.
If you do not you will loose the dispute....
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I always ask for proof of delivery when shipping items of any value really. Yeah, it might require the buyer getting off work early to pick up his package at the UPS office, but, in the end, I feel better and if the guy isn't trying to run a scam, he should feel better about my concern for the safety of his investment as well. :) :thumbup:
 
steelnut said:
If you do not recieve something you bought with paypal and your credit card,
You call your credit card and have the purchase reversed, it's called a charge back.
I have had to do it twice over on Ebay.
Your only protection as a seller to avoid fraudulent chargeback is to have proof of delivery.
If you do not you will loose the dispute....
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Great explanation but I would add one thing to sum it up

If the BUYER did not send the Paypal as GIFT

I see a lot of deals here stating the seller will accept
paypal as "GIFT" otherwise buy should add 3 percent or whatever,
I would never check "gift" as this is like sending free money.
I would pay the 3% as peace of mind.
HOWEVER,I have dealt with many true hogs here
(ie. people with intengrity) and
would actually have no problem sending cash ahead of time.
(no,I dont really send cash in the mail :) )

Now why was this in the Busse forum? :confused: ;)
 
The thing with these threads is that they always seem to undermine the ability for those of us abroad to do a deal whether buying or selling and most of what is said is simply not thought through.

If the buyer is abroad and you are worried about a paypal payment being re-called via none receipt .... send it with a tracking number method which will confirm receipt. End of problem.

If there is no tracking ability to the country sent to .... and that is remarkably rare if you check the USPS web site .... then get the money sent by way of Western Union transfer .... this negates the PP possibility of transfer recall ....

If you are buying from abroad ensure that the parcel is sent to you with a tracking number which is advised to you so you can track it .... pay by paypal and if not received then you can claim your payment back and the tracking number will corroborate that you have not received it.

It could'nt be simpler really .... just needs thinking through.

One further point on the buying from abroad and import duty .... there is a difference between goods manufactured abroad and entering the USA for the first time .... and those made in the USA and originally sold to someone abroad and which are subsequently coming "back" into the country .... they have had the relevant taxes paid on them at the point of the first sale .... either by Busse or by the Company Store .... they are not therefore being imported, they are being returned to their country of origin as tax paid items ....
 
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While its no one's fault that some of us dont live in USA, I at least want to thank those that are kind enough to do business with their fellow knife enthusiasts abroad and simpathize with their situation.
Worried about PP? Ask for a Western Union money transfer. Hard cash in your hand right there, and the buyer pays the fee. No worrying about a PP dispute. Once you have the money in your wallet there's no problem in sending the bought item.

Davor said:
The buyer in Russia is asking you to put camping tool to avoid any issues at customs or possibly having it stolen. If someone at the post office in Russia sees knife, it will probably be stolen. I would request the same on my shipment if I lived overseas.
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Exactly. Also, if someone in an office sees a knife that has a declared value twice his salary you may lose your knife.
I once bought a silver facon, WITHIN Argentina, I still asked the seller to delcare little money and not the 3000USD the knife was worth.(yes,it is THAT nice, ask kindly and I may post pictures:p.. ok, here it is link) decaring a few bucks, they probably think its another princess plate facon, otherwise they understnad its solid silver worth a lot of money.
Used items, specially a knife of such a peculiar niche like Busses, no one is going to be surprised if they see a 50- 100 dollar value (other than considering it expenise by their own standards since they donr know what Busse or INFI means!) As long as the buyer takes the risk of a lower insured value, I dont see the harm.
Again, thanks to those of you that are willing to keep us in mind.

FerFAL
 
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Hi all,something I thought might be important, and to cosider is,what if a felony crime is committed with that knife and you lied on the form to help the recipient get it, someone might steal it from him and commit a crime.Could you be an accessorie to the crime? I say lie about nothing.Just my thoughts here.
 
walnutbear said:
Hi all,something I thought might be important, and to cosider is,what if a felony crime is committed with that knife and you lied on the form to help the recipient get it, someone might steal it from him and commit a crime.Could you be an accessorie to the crime? I say lie about nothing.Just my thoughts here.
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of course that would be the senders fault :confused:
 
walnutbear said:
Hi all,something I thought might be important, and to cosider is,what if a felony crime is committed with that knife and you lied on the form to help the recipient get it, someone might steal it from him and commit a crime.Could you be an accessorie to the crime? I say lie about nothing.Just my thoughts here.
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Thats like saying the guy that sells guns is responsible for what the new owner does with that gun...you didn't think that post through.
 
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