What shipping service do you use to ship internationally? What service offers the best rates along with tracking/insurance options?

 

Thanks in advance for the replies, my wife and I are long term sellers on Ebay and have shipped things via the USPS but recently have had problems with buyers claiming items haven't arrived or they let the stuff sit in customs and we get it back after 3-6 months. Of course Ebay requires us to refund the buyer in all cases since they claim they didn't get their item. Just wondering how others deal with this. 

^^^^ Good points and ideas...

Ouch!  On big expensive items then definitely I'd use tracking and as a buyer I'd expect it as well.  I guess the only other protection is to screen your buyers using their feedback.  If they've bought over 100 items with 100% feedback for example you'd be surprised if they tried to pull a fraud move.

 

eBay hasn't allowed sellers to give anything other than positive feedback to buyers for a long time - it's also against the rules to leave a buyer a positive with negative-sounding language.

 

Overall, this has been a good thing (too many terrible sellers holding buyers hostage with threats of negatives) but in the case of evaluating a buyer's honesty by using eBay feedback, it's no longer any kind of viable option. "All positives" are all any buyer gets.

eBay hasn't allowed sellers to give anything other than positive feedback to buyers for a long time - it's also against the rules to leave a buyer a positive with negative-sounding language.

 

Overall, this has been a good thing (too many terrible sellers holding buyers hostage with threats of negatives) but in the case of evaluating a buyer's honesty by using eBay feedback, it's no longer any kind of viable option. "All positives" are all any buyer gets.

 

Really?  Oh man that is whacked!  I had no idea they stopped that.  It does make it harder to narrow down the bad buyers.  I guess you could go on total number of buys and if they've had quite a few then ok it, plus maybe check there last 10 to see if they did receive a positive, or do sellers not even bother leaving that now?

Really?  Oh man that is whacked!  I had no idea they stopped that.  It does make it harder to narrow down the bad buyers.  I guess you could go on total number of buys and if they've had quite a few then ok it, plus maybe check there last 10 to see if they did receive a positive, or do sellers not even bother leaving that now?

 

That's not a bad idea - most sellers will leave feedback, but some only after a buyer has left it for them (fear of negatives, we just rely on great customer service and leave it when they pay). Might not be fool-proof, but better than nothing.

Sounds like it's time to switch to Bricklink or the upcoming Brick Classifieds 

 

Though Ebay will still have the biggest market...

eBay hasn't allowed sellers to give anything other than positive feedback to buyers for a long time - it's also against the rules to leave a buyer a positive with negative-sounding language.

 

Overall, this has been a good thing (too many terrible sellers holding buyers hostage with threats of negatives) but in the case of evaluating a buyer's honesty by using eBay feedback, it's no longer any kind of viable option. "All positives" are all any buyer gets.

 

I just submitted a blog article on some of this today but it is pretty stacked in the buyers favor.

A question for people that have bought/sold from the U.S. to Europe: did the buyer have to pay Value Added Tax? I've read that in my country every purchase from outside the EU and above

Regarding VAT taxes when shipping from the U.S., I know that the UK is very "good" (or bad, depending on if you're the poor sap who has to pay them) at collecting all the various taxes and fees through their customs.

 

Other countries vary as to how diligent they are and how much they charge when they are diligent -- ask around amongst your friends and family and you'll likely find out what the trends are for the Netherlands.

 

For imports into the U.S. I rarely buy anything but when I have it's been low dollar (under $50) and I've not had to pay any import taxes. The real problem with purchasing outside the U.S. is usually the shipping fees.