question about shipping internationally
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:51 am
I don't sell tons of stuff on ebay, but every once in a while I will unload a bunch of stuff (sometimes Lego). The last two times I've listed items, they were won by bidders in other countries (I live in the US), which I don't have a problem with. The problem is, both times I've shipped the items to them, they never received them. I don't overcharge for shipping and I try to keep my shipping costs as close to actual as possible. Both times, the bidders wanted to keep shipping costs as low as possible, and the latest one the guy haggled with me to get the absolute lowest shipping rate possible, which was USPS First Class with no tracking order.
My question is, is the USPS really that unreliable when sending First Class internationally? One of the items was supposed to go to Mexico and the other the Philippines. Are some countries more reliable than others? As far as I know, I'm filling out the customs forms correctly, but has anybody had issues with things being held up in customs for a long time? I'd hate to have to list "US bidders only" when I sell stuff, but this has been a real problem for me and I hate giving out refunds because my stuff never gets there.
I know there is always the possibility with any order without a tracking number that it actually did get there and the buyer is claiming it didn't to get a refund and thus a free item, but I'm not going to go there and try pushing that. I figure if someone is ripping me off, there's no way I could prove it and nothing I could do about it anyway, so I just assume if they say it didn't get there, that it didn't.
Anyway, I'd be curious to know if others (not just those in the US) have had the same problem with shipping to other countries.
My question is, is the USPS really that unreliable when sending First Class internationally? One of the items was supposed to go to Mexico and the other the Philippines. Are some countries more reliable than others? As far as I know, I'm filling out the customs forms correctly, but has anybody had issues with things being held up in customs for a long time? I'd hate to have to list "US bidders only" when I sell stuff, but this has been a real problem for me and I hate giving out refunds because my stuff never gets there.
I know there is always the possibility with any order without a tracking number that it actually did get there and the buyer is claiming it didn't to get a refund and thus a free item, but I'm not going to go there and try pushing that. I figure if someone is ripping me off, there's no way I could prove it and nothing I could do about it anyway, so I just assume if they say it didn't get there, that it didn't.
Anyway, I'd be curious to know if others (not just those in the US) have had the same problem with shipping to other countries.