col
Lifetime Member
Posts: 329
|
Post by col on Jul 7, 2012 20:23:03 GMT -5
Just when you have found that great...eBay bargain .. you find the seller won't post outside of the USA....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2012 21:45:34 GMT -5
I've shipped cameras to Russia, Japan, Sweden, Israel, Australia and the U.K. The main things is to check credentials carefully first.
W.
|
|
mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
|
Post by mickeyobe on Jul 7, 2012 22:37:06 GMT -5
Just when you have found that great...eBay bargain .. you find the seller won't post outside of the USA.... It took me a while but I eventually learned to check for that chauvinistic, aggravating caveat before seeking more information. It was just one of the reasons I gave up on eBay. Mickey |
|
Berndt
Lifetime Member
Posts: 751
|
Post by Berndt on Jul 7, 2012 23:25:32 GMT -5
Partly understandable. Shipping cameras to overseas can bring some trouble, depending on the laws of the destination country ( which we mostly don't know ). My mother wanted to send me two cameras from Germany to Japan recently ( kindly donated by her friend and neighbour ). Oh oh ... first, nothing arrived for quite a while  We already thought, that the parcel must have become lost somehow, when we got a letter from the Japanese tax office. My mother declared everything as gift and also the value ... but ... it's not that easy  After a lot of phone calls and paper work, the tax office finally accepted the declaration, most likely just, because they didn't really know, how to estimate the value of those cameras. They looked "suspicious antique", but tax officers are not necessarily camera experts. However ... I wouldn't ship to overseas either ( at least not to an unkown customer ). Too risky. Later, he needs to pay a lot of tax and might not accept that ... and cameras are heavy. Shipping costs are quite expensive. So, it would only be worth for quite rare and expensive items anyway. The usual way is a kind of mass import and shipping via container. Many dealers are importing containers of old cameras from Japan ( often even Japanese cameras, which have been exported to the US long time ago ). All declared as "Junk", repaired and sold on the "japanese e-bay" Yahooauctions ( the original E-Bay is forbidden here ). So, I think, there is always some kind of local market for cameras. |
|
daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
|
Post by daveh on Jul 8, 2012 1:57:18 GMT -5
I found something I "needed" from an American shop a year or so ago at a reasonable price. It was only an accessory so quite small and light. The n trouble was they had a standard shipping charge for outside the US and Canada of (if I recall correctly) $40. Now I have bought a couple of books which have come from the States and their postage was only £3, so I felt $40 for something small and light to be a bit excessive.
It is a pain when the seller won't post to your country, but as Berndt says you can understand the underlying reasons.
|
|
hansz
Lifetime Member
Hans
Posts: 697
|
Post by hansz on Jul 8, 2012 16:49:39 GMT -5
If your country is not stated you can always use an intermediate. sometimes I use the help of my Zeiss Ikon friends to procure a cam on Ebay Germany that the seller won't sell abroad (NL is just to the W of Germany, but some people are more chauvinistic than others...:-)
For my Zeiss friends I do a lot... I agree though with others about the excessive cost to/from US and Canada...
|
|
jayd
Contributing Member
Posts: 43
|
Post by jayd on Jul 9, 2012 11:06:11 GMT -5
There can be many good reasons for sellers to decline to ship to certain countries especially those with a reputation of problems.
My suggestion is to establish some contacts with other camera people here in the US have the package shipped to that person then have them ship it to you I have done this for a camera friend, Figure out all the cost risk of a particular shipping method etc. ahead of time.
Many times the postal service is the cheapest international but insurance is quite expensive.
Jay
|
|
mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
|
Post by mickeyobe on Jul 9, 2012 12:21:24 GMT -5
There can be many good reasons for sellers to decline to ship to certain countries especially those with a reputation of problems. My suggestion is to establish some contacts with other camera people here in the US have the package shipped to that person then have them ship it to you I have done this for a camera friend, Figure out all the cost risk of a particular shipping method etc. ahead of time. Many times the postal service is the cheapest international but insurance is quite expensive. Jay Jay, That sounds like a good idea BUT. Based on the quotations I have had from US v/senders unless I am buying a Leica or its other rarified kin the cost of shipping is far too expensive in most cases compared to the value of the purchase. Whether it is because USPS rates are very high or because the vendors are attempting to boost their profits I don't know. Regardless of the reason(s) US vendors are losing a great deal of business from Canadians and possibly from other countries.. Mickey |
|
Doug T.
Lifetime Member
Pettin' The Gator
Posts: 1,199
|
Post by Doug T. on Jul 9, 2012 13:09:29 GMT -5
I've shipped a lot of items overseas and never had a problem. When I sell an item on e-bay, I charge for postage only, and send it 1st class international mail. Up to 2 lbs. ( ca.1kg) isn't very pricey, but over that it can cost a lot. Customs regulations and processing time can be a test of one's patience as well  Sending just about anything "Down Under" is very expensive, but if the buyer is willing to take that into consideration, it's not a problem. Doug |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2012 17:45:22 GMT -5
I've been told it's almost impossible to ship to Mexico because the merchandise will be stolen out of the mail before it reaches it's destination. Maybe that's why I have never encountered a buyer or seller on ebay from Mexico.
W.
|
|
daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
|
Post by daveh on Jul 10, 2012 3:00:34 GMT -5
I've been told it's almost impossible to ship to Mexico because the merchandise will be stolen out of the mail before it reaches it's destination. Maybe that's why I have never encountered a buyer or seller on ebay from Mexico. W. Surely wait several years and that problem will have eased. By then all the Mexicans will have crossed the Rio Grande to have taken up residence in the USA.  |
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on Jul 10, 2012 6:29:45 GMT -5
While annoying I can understand why a seller might want to only ship within their own country. I can't understand some of the quoted shipping charges, as Doug says, USPS rates are quite reasonable. I think some sellers pad their shipping costs to cover packaging the item and time it takes at the post office to fill out the customs declaration forms etc. On another forum a fellow from OZ was looking for a roll film back for his Graflex and I happened to have what he was looking for. The cheapest way I could find to ship it, surface post, would have been more than the back was worth. Also from personal experience, that method is extremely slow as in 2 to 3 months to get there. In the end I had to advise him that it would not be worth it for him on those two counts alone. OTH I have ordered Items from overseas and had prompt delivery at a reasonable cost. You just can't win sometimes.
Bob
|
|
daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
|
Post by daveh on Jul 10, 2012 7:39:47 GMT -5
It wasn't expensive for me to send two (empty of film) metal 35mm cassettes with plastic cases to Berndt in Tokyo.
There is a little card shop locally which sells padded bags at about a third of the cost they are sold at at another shop. It seems to me that many times someone just makes the price up and it doesn't bear any relation to the true cost or worth.
|
|
|
|
Post by camerastoomany on Jul 10, 2012 10:32:48 GMT -5
I sympathise with Col. It has been a constant frustration to me over the years. Col and I live in the same Western Australian country town, 400 kms from the capital, Perth, the nearest source of secondhand equipment. Even there, little is on offer. The market has always been tiny here, compared to places such as the US, and Europe. If the new market is small so will the used market be small.
As others have pointed out, postage cost is high, however, the fact that one has to pay it or go without, means it is not difficult to ignore the high cost. I have had email contact with many sellers who won't ship to Australia and they tend to be somewhat patronising and tell me I obviously don't understand just how much it will cost or how long it will take to reach me. Well I do!!
A month ago, I considered bidding on a p & s but the buyer would not ship outside the US. Being in the mood to be a pita, I asked why not. He replied that it would cost about $40.00 to Australia. I suggested he investigate the USPS first class mail international letter rate. The upshot was he advised postage to Australia would be $18.00 if I won the auction. I did.
As to the idea of sellers not knowing who they are dealing with, that is surely irrelevant with Ebay. Feedback is available and a reasonable guide. A high number of feedbacks is also an indication.
Thats my rant!
|
|
Berndt
Lifetime Member
Posts: 751
|
Post by Berndt on Jul 10, 2012 11:03:06 GMT -5
I still think, the customs regulations are the biggest problem. Shipping costs can be asked and clearly defined between buyer and seller ... but customs regulations can be quite surprising. I remember another case, when my wife ordered shoes from Korea. She was so happy about the bargain, which she thought, she had made. In the end, she paid five times the price. Crazy ? It is ... but ... the minimum import tax will be set completely regardless of the price of the actual item. The important point here is just - those shoes have been made of leather. These are things, people usually don't know until they make the experience. Now we know, that shoes can be very expensive  So, here comes the risk ( especially for the seller ). Somebody might order an item for $ 1 and gets a heart attack later, when he needs to pay ... maybe $ 100 tax. The customs officers became smarter meanwhile and know very well, that everybody declares everything as "gift" anyway ... and then, they start guessing. The trouble starts here and the biggest problem is, that seller and buyer can not know, how much the buyer has to pay in the end. |
|
We already thought, that the parcel must have become lost somehow, when we got a letter from the Japanese tax office. My mother declared everything as gift and also the value ... but ... it's not that easy 
After a lot of phone calls and paper work, the tax office finally accepted the declaration, most likely just, because they didn't really know, how to estimate the value of those cameras. They looked "suspicious antique", but tax officers are not necessarily camera experts.
