New to Selling Overseas, need help

JohnWN

· #2 · Apr 30, 2010

FWIW, Indonesia is a locale that many people will not ship to under any circumstances

KVN said:
I've done numerous transactions on Ebay mostly in the U.S and Canada. I stop selling internationally because I got jipped a couple of times because there was no tracking number. Now I sold a watch to a person in Indonesia and was wondering how can I ship to make sure he doesn't file with Ebay saying he never received it?

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If it is offered, then I believe Express Mail is the only option because a) it is trackable and b) it automatically is covered for insurance.

Indonesia is on my banned list of places to sell to, as is Italy also, I dont understand why so many packages to Italy go missing....

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kvn

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 30, 2010

Man, makes me wish I didn't sell it but, he sent the payment as a gift so if it does come up missing he can't file for it. But yea guess I'll do express and get all that tracking an insurance for it and keep all the reciepts for it. Thanks for the input.

KVN

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time

· #5 · Apr 30, 2010

Technoman said:
I dont understand why so many packages to Italy go missing....

I send de many packages to de Italia, and nothing go missing.

Seriously though,
Indonesia is a risk. I never had problems with Italy, it just takes longer to clear customs, and they are vigilant against fake watches.

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kvn

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 30, 2010

but I should be safe since he sent it as a gift right?

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time

· #7 · Apr 30, 2010

KVN said:
but I should be safe since he sent it as a gift right?

Yeah.
Send it with a tracking number.

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kew

· #8 · May 1, 2010

KVN said:
but I should be safe since he sent it as a gift right?

Maybe check the buyer's reputation on the forums. If he isn't known, then he could be out to rip you off with funding from a stolen credit card which later might bite you.

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anzac1957

· #9 · May 1, 2010

I would use insured mail/shipping to most places now. I have lost two watches sent to the US and now only ship with insurance at the very least.

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minidriver

· #10 · May 1, 2010

I have sold a few watches to Europe (UK, Ireland and Norway) and never had a problem shipping them with USPS International First Class parcel service. But this doesn't mean shipping outside of North America comes without risks. These watches were not more than $100-$125 in value, so if one go lost during the voyage or at customs was not a huge deal. Anything over, say $500, would be cause for concern. I don't know if I would be confident about shipping a $2,000+ watch overseas. Like others have said, there are many scammers and con artists posing as legit buyers so always proceed with caution.

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DaveOBrien

· #11 · May 2, 2010

Shipping from CONUS overseas is pretty expensive and a real hassle. This is one of the reason you see CONUS only on sales posts and I know it really pisses off our European and Asian watch members/brothers.

I try to offer sales outside of CONUS but I know it will sometimes be more expensive or up to 50% of the cost of the watch. Recently I sold a watch to a nice guy in the Netherlands for $250. It got hung up in the Dutch customs for over a month. I had just refunded the $250 to the buyer when the watch showed up without the nice leather 2 watch carry case and extra nato's. (Timefactors case). Dutch customs must have been looking for explosives in the leather case similar to the underwear bomber
and ripped apart the case in search of explosives. This was right after that incident happened.

I was stupid and went cheap parcel and did not get insurance, never again.

Result was a somewhat happy ending. Told the buyer he could either return it or have it for a $50.00 reduction for $200.00. Since I had sold the watch (PRS-5) at a loss at $250 anyway I kinda wanted the watch back but the buyer took the deal for $200.00

Lesson Learned: Never ship overseas without insurance and always wait to quote shipping price if outside of CONUS.

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kew

· #12 · May 3, 2010

DaveOBrien said:
Shipping from CONUS overseas is pretty expensive and a real hassle. This is one of the reason you see CONUS only on sales posts and I know it really pisses off our European and Asian watch members/brothers.

I try to offer sales outside of CONUS but I know it will sometimes be more expensive or up to 50% of the cost of the watch. Recently I sold a watch to a nice guy in the Netherlands for $250. It got hung up in the Dutch customs for over a month. I had just refunded the $250 to the buyer when the watch showed up without the nice leather 2 watch carry case and extra nato's. (Timefactors case). Dutch customs must have been looking for explosives in the leather case similar to the underwear bomber
and ripped apart the case in search of explosives. This was right after that incident happened.

I was stupid and went cheap parcel and did not get insurance, never again.

Result was a somewhat happy ending. Told the buyer he could either return it or have it for a $50.00 reduction for $200.00. Since I had sold the watch (PRS-5) at a loss at $250 anyway I kinda wanted the watch back but the buyer took the deal for $200.00

Lesson Learned: Never ship overseas without insurance and always wait to quote shipping price if outside of CONUS.

Although I don't find shipping overseas a hassle, I would have to agree with you regarding shipping to the Netherlands. I have shipped three parcels there. Two of them went "Insured Airmail" and another went EMS - a very expensive option here.

Both of the "Insured Airmail" parcels took over a month to arrive but the EMS parcel was delivered fast. On the first occasion with "Insured Airmail", the buyer would not wait for postal investigation/insurance claim and raised a dispute with paypal. I refunded him on the condition that he pay if the parcel arrives. It did arrive and the buyer made payment. The Paypal system is a little unfair as it circumvents the natural course of postal investigation/insurance and leaves the seller wide open without any protection even though the seller purchased insurance.

The buyer for the second parcel I sent "Insured Airmail" showed a lot more patience even though it took over a month.

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TheTigerUK

· #13 · May 3, 2010

I receive and send quite a few parcel/packages to and from the states and touch wood, cross my fingers and say my prayers to the watch gods i have never had a single problem in receiving them, from the States to the UK tends to vary between 5 days and 14 days and i find for some strange reason the cheaper the shipping from the States the quicker i receive !! go figure that out ?

Recently i received a package that the seller in the States charged me $18 to ship and i received it in 3 (three) days and when i checked the postage he had paid less than $3 !!!!

A friend of mine often ships on for me when i have bought from CONUS sales only guys and never pays more than $10 shipping and again never a problem. O

Having said that none of my "buys" are for big $$$ and i have an agreement with my friend that if ever i have one go missing then it is totally my loss nothing to do with him which you can do with friends that you trust 1000%, my theory being that all the $$$ i have saved by cheap postage would cover any of mine if they were to get lost, i would still be pissed but not suicidal LoL

ps: I have twice sent/sold watches to Italy without the slightest problem, sent International signed for with full insurance but i have decided to quit while ahead with Italy

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robbie409

· #14 · May 3, 2010

"Buy the seller"

and

"Buy the buyer"

It's all about trust. And being a decent person.

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Isthmus

· #15 · May 3, 2010

Something worth mentioning, Although they are happy to take your money and say nothing, IIRC, the USPS specifically excepts watches as insurable items in most of it's international shipping products.

If you are shipping to a location with an unreliable delivery track record, then you should always go with a private shipping company, such as UPS or FedEx. They are expensive, but there is a service called ParcelPro which was started by the owners of TimeZone, which is specifically designed to allow you to ship through any of the major private shippers, by riding on their corporate shipping discount. Your items are fully insured (to full declared value, by ParcelPro's insurance company, and they specifically cover watches and Jewellery. Your price ends up being about 1/2 to 1/3 of the normal shipping cost charged by these companies.

ParcelPro's website is set up for commercial accounts (such as jewelery stores), but if you call them and explain that you are a watch collector, they will set up an individual account for you to use (I know because that's how I set up my account).

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kvn

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 4, 2010

Well I prepared all the paper work and was ready to ship the watch an straps but they closed the doors on me while still in the lobby. So I read more posts on here, did some research online, and I'll be giving the guy a full refund. It just seems so risky to ship there and I don't want this watch to be lost or my account to be suspended. I didn't know that your account can be suspended for accepting "gift" payments. I just feel bad if this was an honest buyer. I've been stressing over this for awhile since I really don't want to hurt my rep (new here but been online selling shoes on other boards and on ebay since 97). As stated I'm very new to this hobby and thanks for everyones input. I can rest easy that I will just refund him his money.

KVN

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theoman

· #17 · May 4, 2010

Gentlemen.....I'm here, the one that fellow KVN are talking about.

I do respect all the experience from all of you folks here. And watches is a hobby to collect and not making any advantage to rip somebody off or bite (@KEW) thru credit cards or whatever method of payment would be.
I have shipped in many watches from States and Europe, sometimes took a while to get here and everything its safe and it is not a banned place to ship to (@Technoman).
I am a sincere and honest buyer, my reputation (@KEW) shows on my ebay (graciaz215, member since 2002), WUS and TZ (oman) and all from all these forum I bought watches with green bucks (not trading).....

And for Robbie409....he has the right comment...."Buy the seller" and "Buy the buyer"...that what I always do for years dealling with watches.

I'm easy and friendly to reach via my email [email protected].
God Bless You all....cheers

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kew

· #18 · May 4, 2010

theoman said:
Gentlemen.....I'm here, the one that fellow KVN are talking about.

I do respect all the experience from all of you folks here. And watches is a hobby to collect and not making any advantage to rip somebody off or bite (@KEW) thru credit cards or whatever method of payment would be.
I have shipped in many watches from States and Europe, sometimes took a while to get here and everything its safe and it is not a banned place to ship to (@Technoman).
I am a sincere and honest buyer, my reputation (@KEW) shows on my ebay (graciaz215, member since 2002), WUS and TZ (oman) and all from all these forum I bought watches with green bucks (not trading).....

And for Robbie409....he has the right comment...."Buy the seller" and "Buy the buyer"...that what I always do for years dealling with watches.

I'm easy and friendly to reach via my email [email protected].
God Bless You all....cheers

Hi Joe,
Probably a good idea is to make contact again with the seller and provide some current references in order to reassure him. Indonesia isn't a "banned place to ship to" however it is regarded as a higher risk destination and one which many eBay sellers and online sellers do not ship to. I think this is mainly due to credit card fraud rather than postal theft.

That being said, I've shipped many parcels to Indonesia (not watches). Delivery has been slow and each parcel has been opened for inspection but they do arrive. As you have mentioned, reputation is most important but you may have to sell that to the seller.

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theoman

· #19 · May 4, 2010

For sure that we are in the process of solving what would be the best decision to make......
It's nice to have many friend from around the globe........cheers,

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NelsonE

· #20 · May 4, 2010

Shipping any watch overseas is a problem. UPS and Fedex will not insure watches past their basic insurance. USPS has very limited insurance based on the country and EMS will not insure watches period. Parcel Pro is the way to go. You really need secondary insurance for overseas shipping.

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