Why CONUS only ?

P

pute

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Dear US sellers,

I'm not sure where this thread belong. I wanted to put it in the for sale forum but the rules indicate that we should do no talking there.

I was very happy when I found out about this forum, however I'm a bit disappointed that most personal seller here refuse to ship oversea (mostly CONUS only!).
I live in Paris (France) and I see all those interesting sales and cannot participate.
Often, dealers are using USPS, and they can deliver to France, with insurance!

So, my question is, if the buyer is ok to pay for the extra shipping costs (incl. insurance), as you, the seller have the money before you ship the knife (and thus don't take any risk), why are you refusing to ship oversea?

I'm sure there is a good reason, maybe that would take you much more time, maybe some of you guys had some trouble with customs.. I don't know, and that's exactly why I ask, please tell me :)

Thanks for sharing your experience!
 
Personally, I have no problem shipping overseas orto Canada as long as the buyer/trader is willing to accept that things get lost often and there's little that can be done about it. France isn't really a big deal and most of the UK seems to have there ship together (haha, get it?) but I'm hesitant to send anything to Russia or the middle east. Wait times are also a problem for some people. Stuff coming from Japan or Australia seems to take FOREVER but packages from Texas or Alaska take a week at most to arrive at my front door.
 
Blais said:
Personally, I have no problem shipping overseas orto Canada as long as the buyer/trader is willing to accept that things get lost often and there's little that can be done about it.
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Well if there is an insurance, at least the buyer can get his money back (most of it as there always is some currency conversion and/or paypal loss), is'nt it ?

Thanks for the information Blais!
 
For me, I'm always afraid that customs will seize the knife. Also, there is the issue of real vs declared value.

GregB
 
GregB said:
For me, I'm always afraid that customs will seize the knife. Also, there is the issue of real vs declared value.

GregB
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Once again, that's what the insurances are for. Moreover if the buyer wants a lower declared value than the real value then it's his choice and he can complain if there is a problem and he is only reimbursed of the amount of the declared value.

I do understand your point: it's more complicated, but in my humble opinion it's the buyer who will assume the complications anyway.

As soon as the seller takes an insurance (that the buyer pays of course) and is ok to fill a claim if there is a problem (the buyer cannot fill claims) it's fine, there is nothing much he can do!
 
Every time I've shipped overseas (Germany, Lithuania, Thailand, Taiwan to name a few) I always ask the buyer for instructions for shipping to their respective country. Never been burned yet, and don't expect to be. As Pute said, if my buyer uses PayPal and picks up any extra cost for shipping to his/her country, (and I follow their specific instructions) there should be no problem on either end. The issues with long wait times and things getting hung up at customs are usually well known by people in those countries receiving items from the U.S. and elsewhere. As for value, that's determined by buyer and seller on "used" product. If one sells as a dealer, then obviously market value prevails. Most of the folks I've shipped to, even in Canada, ask for the declaration form to be labeled as "gift" and valued at $50 or less. Let your own moral compass be your guide on that one.
 
I am one of those USA only guys. The reason is because in post 9/11 America writing " hand tool" or " camp tool" on a customs form does not guarantee that the knife will pass customs. THis then presents hassles between buyer and seller as to who is responsible when knife does not arrive.

Although I would believe the French postal system to be fairly reliable many countries postal systems are rife with theft..another reason not to ship over borders..

Just me policy to avoid problems.

Ren
 
I had the same problem when i first discovered the forum as well,but as time has gone on i have found more and more willing to ship international.It doesn't help when morons from outside the USA try to screw over respectable forumites.This makes it even harder for the non-conus members to get a deal.It is a trust thing and hopefully after you have established a few deals word will spread and feedback be placed that will help for future purchases.
You might also try to get yourself a friend on the forums from the US who you can have an item shipped to and then he can forward it to you.
In some ways i am grateful that many choose not to ship outside conus as my addiction and overdraft could be substantially more by now,but the other side of the coin is i have missed out on some awesome knives and the sellers on potential sales.
There are at least 10 knives i am interested in right now but cannot buy due to the conus only clause,but there are always others.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that insurance is NOT always available.

Shipped a knife to Australia this week. The US Postal service only allows insurance up to $44- not much on a custom knife!

Fedex, UPS, and DHL all cost about $80 to get it there. Ouch.

So I sent it Registered Mail (which requires a signature on delivery) and crossed my fingers. I'm nervous!
 
and we should remember it is still supposed to be fun.. no need to get grumpy if it's conus only ...i've missed out on loads blades that i wanted...

that Karma chick will roll around and you will end up with the knife you deserve

:D :thumbup:

cheers

ug
 
Every time I have shipped overseas, the transaction has had no problems. I have shipped all over the place. The buyer just knows that after it leaves the US, I am not liable.
 
I would have no problem shipping anywhere as long as the buyer is willing to accept all risks when it comes to loss, damage or theft. Insuring the package does not mean that the shipper will approve the claim. First off, they will require 90 days before declaring a package as undelivered. So the buyer must be willing to wait until the shipping company has declared the package undelivered. If the shipper states that the package was delivered, but the buyer never received it (delivered to the wrong address, left on the doorstep and stolen, etc.), the claim will be denied and the buyer will have to be willing to accept that. When it comes to damage, some shipping companies will claim that the knife was improperly packaged, even when this is not the case. If that happens, the claim for damage will be denied and the buyer will have to be willing to live with that. All of the previous scenarios have happened. So, as long as the buyer is willing to agree to accept all the risk, then I would have no problem shipping.

When I order something from another country, I always let the seller know that if something happens, I will accept that there will only be a refund if the shipping company approves the insurance claim.
 
I have shipped about 1/2 a dozen knives out of the U.S. and it was flawless each time. Of course it took longer but both sides of the deal understood this from the start.

However, there have been a few ocassions where someone wanted to buy a knife I had for sale here but wanted me to lie to customs as to what it was I was shipping. Needless to say I did not deal with them. This is the only problem I have had personally and I am sure this is the exception.

So what I will do, if I am up for shipping outside of the U.S., is let buyers know from the start that I will not lie on customs forms.

So far so good!
 
I live in Canada and have only had one problem with a shipment. It was never shipped so its not a USPS or UPS problem, only a dishonest seller. Bought it on another forum and now all my emails are unanswered.

I have probably made fifteen cross border purchases in the past year and not one was held up by Canadian Customs, lost in the mail or damaged. So 14 out of 15 is a good average. Better to be 15/15 !!

For all you CONUS sellers - if Canadian Customs confiscates it, I accept that as an issue only I have to deal with, not the seller. If its lost or stolen in transit, insurance covers it and we both have to deal with that.
 
Well most of the time it just costs too much extra and too much hassle...but I am always willign to do it as logn as the seller is wiling to pay the extra costs, and understands that the knife may not ever make it there...In other words there has to be an agreement that if it gets seized at custsom then there is nothgin I can do about that...

So most people are not willing to agree to both terms...most people have had problems in the past with shipping outside the US, so they just dont want to deal with the hassle...I agree it stinks for most members who do live outside the US...but thats just life I guess...I think the problem is that there are too many US members already interested in most deals which makes it just easier to deal with more local transactions...
 
pute said:
Once again, that's what the insurances are for. Moreover if the buyer wants a lower declared value than the real value then it's his choice and he can complain if there is a problem and he is only reimbursed of the amount of the declared value.

I do understand your point: it's more complicated, but in my humble opinion it's the buyer who will assume the complications anyway.

As soon as the seller takes an insurance (that the buyer pays of course) and is ok to fill a claim if there is a problem (the buyer cannot fill claims) it's fine, there is nothing much he can do!
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i do believe that if customs siezes/destroys/confiscates the knife, insurance won't cover it. i think the majority that dont send out of the conus is because they want a hassle free transaction and all of the reasons stated in the posts above would cause hassles, regardless of who is at fault.
 
tonydahose said:
i do believe that if customs siezes/destroys/confiscates the knife, insurance won't cover it. i think the majority that dont send out of the conus is because they want a hassle free transaction and all of the reasons stated in the posts above would cause hassles, regardless of who is at fault.
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I think your 100% right!
 
From reading other posts here where items got lost in the mail/shipment, even in the U.S., the general consensus is that it is up to the seller to make sure the knife gets to the buyer. Insurance or no insurance, the buyer paid for a product it's up to the seller to make good on the delivery. With that in mind, I would be reluctant to sell to anyone overseas with the customs issues/laws and greater chance of the item getting lost in transit. Am I right to assume this?

Cases in point:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=467003

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=466362
 
ive shipped many times outside the conus. i have a few guys i will ship to no problems. mostly i try and avoid it, but again, am not totally against it. i take it on a case by case basis. a good history here helps.

my main concern is for the customs laws where the buyer is. the fees can be expensive, and i wont declare the value for anything less than true. the extra shipping costs are also a factor.

if the buyer accepts these terms, then i normally will ship anywhere.
 
As a buyer, I had very few sellers that refused to sell me a knife because I'm in France.
I always:
- state clearly the desired method of shipping (USPS Global Express) and pay it fully
- ask for the item to be marked as "knife"; it's not illegal to import knives in France, so why lie about it?
- assume full responsibility if it gets lost

Some professional sellers are affraid of CC chargebacks. They shouldn't, a chargeback is almost impossible to do from France (the service is not offered, by VISA anyway); the only way to get a chargeback is if you prove someone stole your card or card number. The non delivery of the goods is not enough.

The only times I got chills is when the seller didn't use the asked method (USPS Global Express), either by mistake or to save a couple of bucks. I had no tracking number and got the knife after 5 weeks once (USPS GP). I was a sitting duck :) Thankfully the seller was honest and actually sent the knife, so in the end there was no harm.
 
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