Why do so many Americans refuse to ship things out of the country on ebay?

[Snow007]

I'm not trying to start a fight; I'm just looking for some legitimate reasons why people would choose to limit the number of potential buyers.

[quakana]

I have shipped outside the US...it's pretty easy actually. Not sure why most do not? Maybe fear of the unknown?

[Chasbo]

I have had both good and bad results shipping out of the states. The worst part is shipping charges. My favorite is the "hey, I am going to have you ship the guitar to an unconfirmed address in the states so I can get around customs. Lots of potential buyers get something then are not willing to pay the actual shipping charges for an item. Also, with international shipping, it's hard to get delivery confirmation, which means the buyer can say they didn't get it and paypal hits you with a chargeback if you can't prove you shipped it. It just gets to be such a pain that some sellers just forgo the hassle.

chuck

[Norton]

And there's the Indonesia thing.Lots of auctions have the "no sales to Indonesia" warning.Is it something about the Indonesian customs?

[Shawn Lutz]

Because its their right, as free Americans to NOT ship anywhere they don't feel like shipping. Whether it be because its pain in the ass for them to do so, or for fear of scams, the distance and hasstle it would be to fly across a big pond for a nice face to face, one on one meeting if deemed appropriate

[Wayniac]

Extra paperwork, shipping costs, people trying to get around VAT, scams, unconfirmed addies, etc...
But I have shipped to Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Finland...

[RobRR]

I dont mind shipping overseas... as long as they are willing to pay for it, Ive got no problem doing it.

[fett]

Because it's a hassle. I sold an RC car to a guy in Australia and based on the weight of the car, the shipping was $54.00. He just would not believe me. We went back and forth. He finally paid. Then he e-mails me to state he didn't realize how heavy the car really was. I will ship overseas if I think the item I am selling will get more money. Otherwise. No.

[Trev57]

All of the above. Basically, it's too much risk and hassle.

[followthereaper]

And there's the Indonesia thing.Lots of auctions have the "no sales to Indonesia" warning.Is it something about the Indonesian customs?

The problem with Indonesia is the scam that seems to happen often from buyers in that country. They use stolen credit cards when paying for stuff.

[caesar81]

I just bought my first guitar from outside the USA, Canada to be exact.

It's been in "clearance delay" for 8 days now, this is really pissing me off now. It's not the seller's fault either, it's Fricken' customs !! I have come to hate customs.

I don't get it man, it's Canada to the USA... I thought this would have been inspected quickly. But now I know the customs and the brokers are a bunch of lazy assholes that sit around doing nothing like the lazy bastards they are.

[missionguitars1]

One problem with over-sea sales is the product getting out of the country to the intended recipient, then said recipient telling his credit card company that they never received it, causing a charge-back (ie; money is lifted out of the sellers account and given back to the buyer's account). Without a signature/proof of delivery, the seller is screwed....

That being said, I've been selling internationally for 5+ years now, and I've never been screwed. As a matter of fact, with the weakness in the US dollar, I'd say half my sales are to overseas buyers!

[slayer]

I have sold 1 guitar out of the US and that was to Belgium and it was a Bank Transfer and I made sure it cleared and pulled the money out so no questions. Then shipped it USPS and it went smooth from there. I may have to ship my CS Soloist out of the country if someone wants it there as it doesn`t seam to be selling here. I may try Ebay and put shipping worldwide, but with many stipulations including No Indonesia. Jack.

[5074charvel]

I never had problems getting stuff from the US. Guitars are around $ 150 for insured shipping with USPS. It usually takes a week. I often ask sellers, if they would sell to me even if they have a US only restriction. This workes 95% of all cases as I have well establshed feedback. If a seller decides to rather sell only to US for less money, it´s fine by me as I always have a bunch of guitars on my watchlist.

All transfers must be insured or I don´t buy. I once got a CS Jackson with a broken headstock, so there´s no room to spare insurance.

I prefer to pay via PayPal because it´s a 1 minute thing but I have done transfers between accounts (most expensive) or sent Money Orders as well.

It takes more time to get stuff from Swiss actually.

[St.James]

Perhaps the answer you're looking for is, Americans are stupid and lazy?