This place is littered with friggin Aussies

Str8Edg

Str8Edg

Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
1,173
I just sent off yet another package Down Under to a super cool forumite; one of maybe 6 packages to date. Tomorrow I'm going to mail a package with eight Busse's in it that all came from different transactions to another Aussie I converse with behind the scenes regularly. He has them shipped to me, and I just send them along for him. Why? Cuz noone he buys from can be bothered to ship to his home; and he's willing to pay the actual shipping.

This is because apparently there's a myth that shipping outside CONUS is tricky, difficult, unsafe, a lot to deal with, etc. I don't know where this started, but I am here to say that after shipping worldwide, to no less than a dozen different countries, there is but one extra step in shipping international.

Here's the big snafu in the deal: you have to fill out a customs form. Wow. You actually have to fill out a whole index card sized form including both addresses, the contents, and the value. Oh yeah, and sign it.

I just thought I'd start an open discussion about why hardly no one is willing to ship outside CONUS. I've actually sold more knives to Australia alone than all the other countries (including U.S.) combined. There's a huge demand down there that is going almost entirely ignored. Whenever I list something for sale stating "ship worldwide for actual cost" I get an onslaught of PM's.

There's really nothing to it. For any sale you have to go to the PO anyways, and fill out the label, right? For an international there's one extra step; a customs form. I grabbed a stack off the shelf one day, and now I just fill them out when I get the address.

I just thought I'd throw this out there as something for you to think about next time you 72-hour bump your own for sale thread. You might consider opening up the availability to the world audience and see what happens. I'll bet you your knife won't last the day.:thumbup:
 
It's a plot.

They are trying to switch the earth's magnetic field so that the water will swirl the right way when they flush their toilets.

Don't let the Aussie's win.
 
Damn the Man said:
I just thought I'd throw this out there as something for you to think about next time you 72-hour bump your own for sale thread. You might consider opening up the availability to the world audience and see what happens. I'll bet you your knife won't last the day.:thumbup:
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Absolutely! I have missed out on many a deal myself,but i have also made a few deals with some good forumites and received an offer from one to act as a go between mailing address.However i have missed out on some very good knives.I console myself with the idea that if all knives were available to me i would need 4 jobs and three credit cards.
 
With shipping to Australia, I have shipped many items without any problems. They are great to deal with and I simply state that I cannot be responsible for it's safe arrival. I also suggest Express which offers tracking, but not sure as to how good it is. The customs forms are easy to fill out and it may take a minute or two longer at the post office, but they don't drill you on anything. I say, ship to the Aussies!!! :thumbup:
 
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Thanks for posting this. These are a few of the items that have made their way down here from the States. Honourable mentions to Damn the Man, Busse Collector, Progunner and others.

For what it is worth I will put a few thoughts here on this issue.
At first I did not understand why people would say "Conus only" but now I have realised some different things.
One of these is that a seller may be prepared to ship to several countries but not several others. To post these inclusions and exclusions in a sales thread can appear to be discriminatory and may cause offence. Unfortunately there are several countries I would rather not ship to but I would not like to single them out with mention. (or by omission, do the same).

Shipping to Australia is probably most safely done by using the USPS Global Express system. This is trackable and insurance can be increased as is necessary.
Without going into to many details (and I read a lot about people preferring not to lie on Customs forms); As charges do not come in under about $800USD, it is unlikely you would be asked to do this.
With all shipping, and especially if people want to use a cheaper shipping option, eg. the very reasonable pre-paid Global envelopes, I would make sure that they fully understand that all responsibility is theirs. This is the only fair option and is what I put to Ebay buyers. Once I post, I can't be responsible. If they want insurance, tracking etc, then it is their responsibility to ask and to pay for it.
The USPS website is quite good and has very useful calculators for all services.

Finally and briefly, Australian Customs. For a start, (and assuming someone asked you to send an illegal import), unless it is a major smuggling operation, they are not interested in the origin of the item: only the person recieving it.
Most items, by far and away, are okay.Especially in the Busse, SRKW, SY line.
Some items which are not available to the general public, are available under two different "permission to import" and "collector exemption" schemes.
Many Australian buyers, including myself, hold these exemptions.

Once again, I would state clearly that all responsiblity for import is on the buyer. I for one, am always quite glad to accept this.

I know the system quite well, having imported knives, and other items for many years now. If anyone would like any further information they can feel free to email me.
 
I'm one of those that have missed out on several items I would've bought because the seller wouldn't ship outside the US. I've even had one case where there was no interest for weeks yet the seller still wasn't interested. I don't even bother checking the for sale forums any more because it's just too frustrating.

Funny thing is I have several packages (not knives) a month coming in from the US and have done so for about 15 years now and in all that time I've only had 1 go missing from Amazon and that was covered by them.

FWIW USPS EMS is an excellent shipping method. Fast and trackable (the tracking is excellent BTW). Hopefully this'll give a few people something to think about.
 
I ship to anywhere...
One thing to remember is that the insurance from the US Post Office ENDS when they hand it over to the other countries mail system.....
 
more power to the ones who send to australia :thumbup: i always pay the full amount of express shipping , the seller holds the knife until my western union money order clears , and i accept full responsibility for the item as far as customs and what not go.
 
I have bought quite a few Busses and Rats here, the other forum and the 'bay and never had a problem with them coming to Japan. I always pay the extra for the insurance, don't ask for the value to be downgraded for customs and have never been hit for any extra duty. As to the insurance ending at the U.S. borders, it's the U.S I am more worried about given the good service here and the horror stories I have heard from friends from the U.S. But the CONUS only sales does limit my purchases making me think my wife is behind it all.:)
 
I have yet to have any problems shipping anywhere in the world. I always ask the buyer what they think the best way to ship to them is and they have always been willing to pay any extra costs. I was a little worried about the package I sent to Rok in Slovenia, but only because the address looked like some kind of secret code or something, it took a while to get to him, but it made it. I figure that if someone is buying a sheath I made for a knife that costs two to five hundred dollars, he is probably not going to screw me for a sheath.
 
My friend married a girl from Tokyo.
They wanted to know if Busse Combat was popular in Japan?

I keep asking her to find me a nice sword!
something fron the 12th century maybe:eek:
 
Bblake, that is a nice table set you got there. Congrats mate.

Sofar all my blades posted by our American friends have arrived without exeption and no hassles incured.
Thank you guys for thinking global. Cheers

And my thanks to Damn the Man for putting in a good word for us.
 
steelnut said:
My friend married a girl from Tokyo.
They wanted to know if Busse Combat was popular in Japan?

I keep asking her to find me a nice sword!
something fron the 12th century maybe:eek:
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There are a couple of good knife shops around in Tokyo but no Busses or Rats in stock that I've seen although they knew of them. They do seem to stock all the major brands but all new stuff so I guess that explains the lack of what we like.

On swords, if the swords are really good they may stop them being exported abroad - kind of preserving treasures as some of they cost a bundle and are antiques. Not sure how good the cheaper, newer ones are - probably not as hard wearing as AKs though!.
 
I have noticed really nice antique quality swords being sold on FleaBay out of Japan. Not cheaply!!!
 
I don't like to ship overseas because I am a Hog and I like to keep the INFI on US soil! :D No just kidding. Even though almost all my sales indicate that I will cover CONUS shipping, I will usually ship outside the US, as bblake and some others can attest. Most never ask because I suppose they assume I won't. I never thought to put a disclaimer in my sale threads saying I would ship outside the US for actual costs. My big thing with overseas shipping is not being able to insure the package 99% of the time. I also will not ship to folks who ask me to lie about the value of the contents on the customs form. I am not falsifying a federal form to save someone else money. If they want it bad enough, that is the price they pay.
 
Progunner said:
I don't like to ship overseas because I am a Hog and I like to keep the INFI on US soil! :D No just kidding.
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Ha! That's funny. I actually wouldn't blame anyone for feeling that way.
Soon, when some of my pieces return to the US as trades, I'm going to be able to work out exactly what the most travelled one is. So far several have done tours of the US and, after this, at least two have come to Australia via Europe.

As Damn the Man says, people who are finding it slow to move pieces in the States, might investigate shipping options. Just widens the market somewhat.

Progunner makes some good points too. I think (in the situations we are discussing) the onus is on the buyer to make it easy for the seller to complete the deal. This is best done if a buyer does their own research on shipping and costs, passes that on to the seller and makes it clear that they are willing to accept any risk.

And thanks for noticing Steelnut. I guess I've had to work a little harder than I prefer sometimes, but it makes the outcomes a lot sweeter. I'm starting to notice just how much anyone with a focused Busse collection has to work at it, wherever they live.
 
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