Tips on shipping internationally?

[jordan novice]

Anything I should be extra careful about? I know for domestic transactions to ship insured with signature confirmation and confirmed addresses to be as safe as possible.
What precautions do you take when dealing with international buyers?

 

[fenixconnexion.]

use usps, mark as a gift, value as low as possible, and description as "used shoes/clothes or whatever" so they can dodge customs

 

[mplsdunk]

don't do it, straight up. nothing good will come out of it.  

 

[jordan novice]

Noted. Good look. 

 

[jordan novice]

Personal experience?

 

[mplsdunk]

yeah some dude in ukraine tried to get me. i have shipped to brazil and israel and it went well. my boy has been tried numerous times by international scammers.

 

[fenixconnexion.]

my word of advice was strictly for Canada, since I'm Canadian, but you should have no problems with it.

 

[donpoppa]

Originally Posted by ElijahDukes

use usps, mark as a gift, value as low as possible, and description as "used shoes/clothes or whatever" so they can dodge customs

dont do that. ship EMS if you mark as a low value and it gets lost or stolen you only get refunded for that value.
edit - canada is save to put a low value
 

Originally Posted by MPLSdunk

yeah some dude in ukraine tried to get me. i have shipped to brazil and israel and it went well. my boy has been tried numerous times by international scammers.

the ukraine is sketchy when shipping. usps doesnt have a deal with them so once its shipped you cant do anything but hope they get it no real tracking or anything. also you cant make a shipping label online when shipping there you have to go inside a post office.

 

[WhatisLove]

I'm assuming that you received the money through Paypal...

If that is the case, the only way that you'll be protected is if you use USPS Priority International or USPS Express Mail International (EMS) AND if the total payment received was $249.99 or less.  These services USUALLY provide the tracking/delivery status that is necessary to fight off any Paypal claims that can be brought against you.  Just make sure to ship to the address listed on the payment details screen.

If it is $250 or more, you will need to use USPS Global Express and require a signature to be fully protected (you could also use UPS and/or FedEx's service that provides the option for a signature... but it has to be "online viewable" to qualify for full protection).  Obviously, these services are very expensive, and no one will want to pay for them.

These services provide tracking information that you will need.  USPS First Class International is the cheapest, but doesn't provide ANY tracking/delivery updates... so you won't be protected in any way using that.  You are taking a chance no matter what if you ship via First Class... the item could actually get lost, and you'll be out for that... or the buyer can just claim they never received it, and you'll be out for that too.

Marking the item as a "gift"/with lower value doesn't really do anything to you... all that does is help the buyers avoid customs duties and such.  It is your call how you want to go about doing that, though... as it's technically not legal to mark the value lower than the item's true value/marking as a gift when it's really merchandise.

 

[tim teufel]

dont do it

 

[iluvjordanxi]

I have a buyer from Brazil who wants to buy my 3gs Iphone. The thing that is bothering me is that his paypal address in unconfirmed and his address is ridiculously long. When I tried to print out the shipping label, paypal told me the address needs to be limited to 45 characters. What should I do? Also what should I put under price value? Should I put the amount the guy paid for the phone or should i put it somewhere low between the 10-25 range to avoid customs?

 

[WhatisLove]

Originally Posted by IluvJordanXI

I have a buyer from Brazil who wants to buy my 3gs Iphone. The thing that is bothering me is that his paypal address in unconfirmed and his address is ridiculously long. When I tried to print out the shipping label, paypal told me the address needs to be limited to 45 characters. What should I do? Also what should I put under price value? Should I put the amount the guy paid for the phone or should i put it somewhere low between the 10-25 range to avoid customs?

Usually you can cut and paste some of the first address line to the second address line.  I've had to do that plenty of times.  If it's still too long, you'll probably just have to delete a few characters and hand-write it on the label.

There are VERY FEW international addresses that will show up as "confirmed".  In fact, if I remember right, there are only a few countries (besides the USA) that Paypal even does confirm (I know that I personally have seen a few Canada and UK addresses that were confirmed... but that might be it).  Additionally, if the transaction is done through EBAY, the address will automatically count as "confirmed" (whether it actually is or not)... but you still would need to ship the item via USPS Priority International (at the very least; or any higher service) to take advantage of that (because that is the only way you would get any sort of tracking/delivery status information). 

If you're sending it through USPS First Class International, it won't matter what you do... because you're completely at the mercy of the buyer.  If the buyer wants to scam you by filing an "item not received" case, they can... you will have no proof to give Paypal.  I'm not saying all international buyers who want USPS First Class International WILL scam you... I'm just saying that it can definitely happen.

As for the customs value, that is your decision.  If you want to be "nice" to the buyer, you can put a low value; however, the values that customs duties are charged for differ between countries, so Brazil's values might be different.  Legally... you're supposed to put the actual value of the item (of course, you can interpret that in a few ways... such as its current market value, price you paid, price sold for, etc.).  Most people would tell you that you should put the price you sold it for, though (that is, most people who are following the law).

 

[me no pass]

shipped a polo peacoat to the UK..use USPS

 

[iluvjordanxi]

Originally Posted by WhatisLove

Originally Posted by IluvJordanXI

I have a buyer from Brazil who wants to buy my 3gs Iphone. The thing that is bothering me is that his paypal address in unconfirmed and his address is ridiculously long. When I tried to print out the shipping label, paypal told me the address needs to be limited to 45 characters. What should I do? Also what should I put under price value? Should I put the amount the guy paid for the phone or should i put it somewhere low between the 10-25 range to avoid customs?

Usually you can cut and paste some of the first address line to the second address line.  I've had to do that plenty of times.  If it's still too long, you'll probably just have to delete a few characters and hand-write it on the label.

There are VERY FEW international addresses that will show up as "confirmed".  In fact, if I remember right, there are only a few countries (besides the USA) that Paypal even does confirm (I know that I personally have seen a few Canada and UK addresses that were confirmed... but that might be it).  Additionally, if the transaction is done through EBAY, the address will automatically count as "confirmed" (whether it actually is or not)... but you still would need to ship the item via USPS Priority International (at the very least; or any higher service) to take advantage of that (because that is the only way you would get any sort of tracking/delivery status information). 

If you're sending it through USPS First Class International, it won't matter what you do... because you're completely at the mercy of the buyer.  If the buyer wants to scam you by filing an "item not received" case, they can... you will have no proof to give Paypal.  I'm not saying all international buyers who want USPS First Class International WILL scam you... I'm just saying that it can definitely happen.

As for the customs value, that is your decision.  If you want to be "nice" to the buyer, you can put a low value; however, the values that customs duties are charged for differ between countries, so Brazil's values might be different.  Legally... you're supposed to put the actual value of the item (of course, you can interpret that in a few ways... such as its current market value, price you paid, price sold for, etc.).  Most people would tell you that you should put the price you sold it for, though (that is, most people who are following the law).

What does the price value do? Will it cost him money to retrieve the item from the Brazilian post office or would it delay the process of delivery? Since I did not ship the iphone yet, can you give me advice on what you will do if you were in my shoes to avoid getting scammed? What I was going to do was print shipping label from paypal and then ship it with usps.

 

[cwrite78]

im about to ship a keyboard to canada this monday.

dude wants me to put the full value for some reason (215 USD).. i thought anything over a certain value they had to pay?

 

[WhatisLove]

Originally Posted by CWrite78

im about to ship a keyboard to canada this monday.

dude wants me to put the full value for some reason (215 USD).. i thought anything over a certain value they had to pay?

They definitely do have to pay (to most provinces, looks like 5% of anything valued at $20 CAN or more that isn't a gift).

Maybe he has been caught having items undervalued before?  Maybe he will try to use the customs duty fees as an expense?

Maybe he's simply being honest?

Either way, I've never had anyone actually ask me to send at the CORRECT value.  It's always people asking for a lower value.  So that is unique/interesting to me either way.

 

[cwrite78]

yeah that's what i found weird.

i don't blame him tho, if things got lost i'd want the full money back. he also told me to add extra insurance.

makes sense, especially around the holidays usps/ups/fedex gets a little weird and starts misplacing stuff.

i have some other keyboard stuff coming in from china. it's incredible how FAST they ship.

i've bought stuff on a monday and was here on wednesday. but if i buy something from 2-3 states away, it's a whole week wait.

 

[WhatisLove]

Originally Posted by CWrite78

yeah that's what i found weird.

i don't blame him tho, if things got lost i'd want the full money back. he also told me to add extra insurance.

makes sense, especially around the holidays usps/ups/fedex gets a little weird and starts misplacing stuff.

i have some other keyboard stuff coming in from china. it's incredible how FAST they ship.

i've bought stuff on a monday and was here on wednesday. but if i buy something from 2-3 states away, it's a whole week wait.

Yeah, if it's through EMS (Express Mail), it's usually pretty good... they do have a semi-guarantee on the delivery time, though (to some countries).

All the cheap US domestic services don't, so don't get your hopes up for "2-3 day" First Class Mail or Priority Mail... ESPECIALLY around the holidays.

Still though... I've NEVER had any domestic packages ever go missing/permanently get lost.  I've had some packages get sent to the wrong address and take forever to get to where they were SUPPOSED to go... but never anything lost.  Maybe that's just my luck... but I don't think so.  As long as the stuff is addressed correctly/packaged decent, I think USPS domestic stuff is pretty reliable in terms of it getting delivered (eventually).