Why are so many opposed to selling overseas?

Why do some sellers even say they only ship to the lower 48 states?
I can't see that at all, I've sold knives to people in Hawaii and besides taking a couple of extra days, didn't see any difference in shipping/bother and I'd think Alaska wouldn't be any different.
In fact a flat rate priority box is the same price in all 50 states.
 
Harry Callahan said:
The way I look at it may sound a little biased. We have what, four knife factories here in the states? Twenty out of nineteen knives are imported. So the way I see it, the rest of the world has plenty of supply. Just kidding....

The real reason I don't (and would NEVER even consider) shipping a knife overseas? Simple. You people have governments that make California look like a free country. Not only would I run the risk of becoming an international criminal, I'd run the risk of getting ripped off by your taxing freakshow customs agents. Even if I was tripling the money potential (which isn't even close to possible) it wouldn't be financially worth it. And since I don't know you, I'm not gonna be inclined to do anything out of "friendship". So no profit potential, no buddy motivation, and a potentially explosive legal hassle has me thinking, erm.... Get your OWN knife. Heck the dam factory is over there any-freakin-how. Cheers.
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An interesting point of view..........
 
Only problem with selling to Russia I ran into, was the post office told me no insurance or tracking available. I've had vastly more people from Russia ask me to ship to them than anywhere else overseas. The only proof i could get was by registered mail, which made shipping cost go from about 13 dollars to well over 20. So, I've declined to accept bids on eBay from Russia. Their policy is without proof the item was delivered- I am liable if the item doesn't get there.
 
jill jackson said:
Why do some sellers even say they only ship to the lower 48 states?
I can't see that at all, I've sold knives to people in Hawaii and besides taking a couple of extra days, didn't see any difference in shipping/bother and I'd think Alaska wouldn't be any different.
In fact a flat rate priority box is the same price in all 50 states.
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Thank you! I always find it weird as well when people say they are only interested in selling to people located in the 'lower 48'. I mean it's their prerogative so they don't really need a 'good reason' to not ship to a particular place. But like you said, flat rate boxes work for all 50 states. :D

I haven't had experiences shipping items out of the US, but as long as the buyer has a positive feedback record (and it's legal there) I wouldn't be opposed to it.
 
jujigatame said:
It's not you (the folks in other countries), it's me.

I would feel like complete crap if there were a case where an overseas buyer agreed to take all the risk regarding delivery and by some circumstance ended up with no knife while I still had their money. Seriously, it would bother me to no end no matter how good natured the buyer might be about it. I would hate to have that hanging over me with no real recourse available. It is my fear of that situation, regardless of how small the chance might be when all the proper planning and vetting is done, that prevents me from sending knives outside the US. Even in a few cases where I dealt with an intermediary party in the US who then forwarded knives on to someone overseas I sweated everyday until I got confirmation it was received safe and sound. Like Esav said, the stress can take a toll. I truly prefer to preclude the possibility altogether.
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:thumbup: I agree, I think that most of the times the risks outweigh any advantage. Of course one can take precautions like asking the buyer to state he will bear all the risks, use PP's "sale of services" option (no buyer protection)... However, bottom line, no decent seller wants a nice blade to go missing.
And the paperwork is a major PITA (for example, there are different Customs forms depending of the service one uses).
Hell, I don't even ship to NYC anymore.;) However, I agree with Jill, I can't figure out why some sellers are only willing to ship to the 48 lower states.
 
Its a trend that's a bit worrying to be honest. I see it more and more. Fortunately there are still plenty of folks out there that are willing to go ahead and make the extra effort, god bless em. And I have a very nice collection of blades because of these people and I thank them for keeping an open mind. I am also quite willing to ship overseas and I have shipped knives to people in Japan, Russia, Australia, Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and the USA (so many times I've lost count) with never a problem. But people have the right to say yay or nay and I respect that. Hell, I'm lucky that there's a pretty healthy knife culture in my own country, so its not like I'll never be short of blades to choose from. But the reality is the US leads the world in knife manufacturing and any self-respecting knife nut will want a good selection of US-made knives as part of their collection.
 
I read about how many "ConUs only" deals get screwed up also. The risk is the same, and yes insurance can be purchased, at least to Canada. I must admit that there have been a few times that I have felt that that some BF sellers are isolationists, and of course that is their perogative, It just is not a "hassle" to ship outside the USA unless a hassle constitutes 1 minute of your time. Just sayin...
 
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tendy said:
I read about how many "ConUs only" deals get screwed up also. The risk is the same, and yes insurance can be purchased, at least to Canada. I must admit that there have been a few times that I have felt that that some BF sellers are isolationists, and of course that is their perogative, It just is not a "hassle" to ship outside the USA unless a hassle constitutes 1 minute of your time. Just sayin...
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See, the problem is that insurance does not really work when Intl. buyers ask you to put a low value on the Customs form, maybe even describing knives as something else.
The thing is, if I go to my local USPS office and openly declare an Intl. shipment as containing knives, chances are the Post Office employee will not let me ship them. Most postal workers assume that there are restrictions to importing knives in foreign countries. Hell, there are even some that think shipping knives is illegal within the US...
So what you may see as a 1 minute hassle usually involves lying on an official form about the contents and the value of a package.
 
I've declared knives as tools, which is true. Depending on the knife I've declare it as a cutting tool, gardening tool, or camping tool.

I don't do this to bypass any laws of the destination country, I do it to prevent customs employees stealing it; and I feel that I'm still being truthful in my description.
 
LorenzoL said:
See, the problem is that insurance does not really work when Intl. buyers ask you to put a low value on the Customs form, maybe even describing knives as something else.
The thing is, if I go to my local USPS office and openly declare an Intl. shipment as containing knives, chances are the Post Office employee will not let me ship them. Most postal workers assume that there are restrictions to importing knives in foreign countries. Hell, there are even some that think shipping knives is illegal within the US...
So what you may see as a 1 minute hassle usually involves lying on an official form about the contents and the value of a package.
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Simple solution. Dont lie. I wouldnt sell to someone asking me to lie on a Federal document. If they dont like it that way, tough!!! I never ask the seller to do that, its poor manners and buyers etiquette. Labeling the item as a Camping tool, Hunting tool is totally fine.
 
Regarding shipping insurance etc: It may not always be simple the other way around, either. I was at the post office a while ago, asking about options in case I need to send something to the United States.

No insurance available, I was told. Something to do with USPS and our postal service not having a proper treaty and agreement about it, and claims from here would not be accepted if something goes missing.

So it's very unlikely that I would want to sell something of higher value to the USA. Some Moras maybe, nobody gives a damn if they go missing. :D
 
If someone is going to pay from another country.. I do the whole thing about me not being responsible once it leaves my hands, your responsiblity for lost package... etc.. and I also will only accept paypal gift as there is no protection for them at all if a package is lost... I do my part, and they take the risk on their part. So far so good, hopefully it will continue as such.
 
I have a not small collection of custom made knives from many countries, some of them from USA (two of them from BF guys). I have never had an issue with sellers, nor with mail or customs. Simply I accept seller's conditions and, if he ask for, I pay through MO. In this way all the risk is mine. Fortunately in my country knives are legally accepted and our postal service is coordinated with USPS and most of european PSs so, having an order number I can track my parcel all the way. If in a future transaction any seller/buyer rips me (knock wood for not), I think that I prefer to loose my money/knife since neither the most expensive knife pays more than a few hours of lawyer services :D
 
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