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Hi- I’m hoping someone can guide me- I just sold two items on e-bay to international bidders and have never shipped overseas before. I don’t take bids from overseas- at least one girl asked the other just bid. They have both asked for me to ship the item as a gift to save on customs which I refuse to do- I’m not putting my family’s well being and my freedom on the line- there have been people that went to JAIL and had big fines for doing this it is fraud. I haven’t heard back from them but I’m hoping they can be understanding of that. At least I sure hope so, I think it’s pretty bold to ask someone to commit fraud for them!!
Anyhow I don’t even know what forms to fill out or anything- and I don’t live near the post office. I’m hoping I can calculate approximate postage via the usps.com website but again have only ever done that for packages in the US. How does everyone else go about shipping over seas? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Here’s the USPS page on international mail and customs forms. You can even complete the form online it looks like.
Also I believe there’s a way to block international bidders on ebay, but I’m not 100% sure on that.
I’ve shipped overseas several times before without incident. You simply fill out one of two types of customs forms either at the post office or online, and other than that it’s no different from domestic shipping (at least as far as USPS is concerned, I’m not sure about other carriers). I’d definitely recommend insurance though, and make it very clear to your bidders that you won’t be responsible for a refund if the item is damaged in shipping. Make sure your dragons are well packed, and that’s all you can do.
I’ve always checked off the ‘gift’ part on the customs form. I’m not sure what, if any, extra process goes along with marking your package as ‘goods’. This might be for retailers, and there might be different shipping forms if you were a business. The best recommendation I could give you would be to go to the post office and ask to make sure. Either way you, as the seller, makes the rules when it comes to shipping method.
As for discouraging international bidders, when you list your item I think there’s a way to have your item listed only on the North American Ebay, and not ebay.uk or Ebay’s other sites. But if you didn’t have international shipping rates posted in your shipping calculator, both of your bidders should have at least asked if you would ship to them before you bid.
Best of luck to you, I hope it turns out well!
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Every time I’ve had to send something to another country I always checked the ‘gift’ box… I didn’t know there was anything wrong with it? o.o; I know the one time I didn’t check the ‘gift’ box the buyer ended up having to pay $30 in customs fees to the post office (they were in Germany). O__o;;
technically, unless you are genuinely sending a gift, you are not supposed to check it as a gift. People do anyway, but a special word of caution to those that sell items then ship them overseas as a ‘gift’, this is indeed a type of fraud as you are trying to avoid customs on goods that have been sold or bartered for. You may never get caught, but it’s not a good risk, especially if you are a good seller and include an invoice in the box.
That said, you can indeed fill the forms out online. You will still need the special clear envelope the forms go in though, and I believe that an official US Mail Carrier (or someone at the post office) must stamp them. For me, it’s just much less headache and heartache if I go to the post office.
Depending on where you are shipping you may not be able to do insurance. Again you will need to talk to someone at your post office.
Unless you are ready to shell out an arm and a leg for registered international post, tracking tends to be 50/50 at best on international shipments, as once it leaves the US they are not obligated to scan the item. It all depends on where you ship to and if the postal carriers are having a good day or not it seems!
Not to scare anyone off of international shipping. But I have had problems with it before, and there is not often a lot you can do about it.
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My art: featherdust.comLegally, I cannot check the gift box, but I am a business. However, for one or two items, it’s probably no big deal (although you never heard me say that). The USPS website will walk you through the figuring of postage for international shipping. You will have to ship it Priority International Mail if it is over 4 lbs. Size doesn’t matter for international packages. There is a large-sized customs form to fill out. The post office will help you with that when you go there with the packages. Just box them up and get them ready. Put a label on them and go to the post office. You will get help. Don’t worry.
I get alot of items shipped form the US to Canada and it doesn’t really matter if the gift box is checked off or not….customs goes by thethe value of the package, at least thats what it seems like to me, I always end up paying customs if the total value is over $50.00.
Also just a suggestion make sure you get tracking number just in case the package gets lost… 😀 and make sure to package the item really well to prevent it from any damage…. 😀Marzena
Blah, I didn’t know that. *flails* Though I don’t usually ship to other countries (besides Canada) anyway, costs too much.
Great, something else to be paranoid of. *whimpers* 😳
PaperCut wrote:Every time I’ve had to send something to another country I always checked the ‘gift’ box… I didn’t know there was anything wrong with it? o.o; I know the one time I didn’t check the ‘gift’ box the buyer ended up having to pay $30 in customs fees to the post office (they were in Germany). O__o;;
If it’s not really a gift then that’s fraud and if you’re caught there is jail time and a hefty fine- not something I’m willing to risk 🙁
The other thing that’s annoying is I believe the only way they can pay me is paypal? And now paypal has that stupid 21 day hold thing and the only reason I was selling these 2 was because I needed the money like now for a bill that’s already overdue. If someone in the US bought them and shipped a money order I would have had the money in less than 3 days or so 🙁 Kind of a PITA and I *just* bought the one and lost like $50 on it 🙁
tatt2dcowgrl wrote:The other thing that’s annoying is I believe the only way they can pay me is paypal? And now paypal has that stupid 21 day hold thing and the only reason I was selling these 2 was because I needed the money like now for a bill that’s already overdue. If someone in the US bought them and shipped a money order I would have had the money in less than 3 days or so 🙁 Kind of a PITA and I *just* bought the one and lost like $50 on it 🙁
That PayPal rule doesn’t go into effect until May 1st. They can pay for it, and you’ll get it right away.
Greater Basilisk wrote:What? PayPal is going to start holding money for 21 days? 😯 Why?
Only if you have a feedback score of (I believe) 95% or less. It is to help protect buyers from sellers that have a less than perfect track record (though from the buyer’s point of view, oftentimes a negative is unfairly left for them, etc).
It is a bit controversial but in the end it is eBay and Paypal (owned by eBay) trying to protect buyers when a seller has had negative feedbacks.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com
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