Just Venting about Paypal & Buyer

[painthistorian]

We usually ship par avion up to $150 and hope that the person is honest which for the most part is the the reality, only twice have I had to refund at this level..above this, you have to factor $15 to register item..usually I charge $10 to a person and eat the $5 as part of doing business, especially hockey cards......which Canada loves as much as baseball...the US and Canada post offices should have a Canada/US tracking joint delivery confirmation, charge accordingly(lets say $5 is fair) which will generate a new income and split this equal, the post office industry benefits and it would be a win win...I guess no one has taken the initiative!

[DixieBaseball]

Howard - Even though you don't have tracking #, you do have a Receipt from the USPS, that should show your shipment to that location. (Typically the tracking number is under that itemized shipment) That should be proof... Perhaps you don't have your receipt and if so, you may be out of luck. I typically get a delivery confirmation (Green Label) receipt and my USPS receipt where I paid is double the info to show proof of shipment.

Best of Luck, J

[byrone]

It goes both ways, folks.

As a Canadian, I ship to the U.S. knowing full-well the (unfair) rules that Paypal and Ebay have in place.

If I ship anything of value, I must have signature delivery confirmation to defend against Paypal claims. Either I charge the buyer the cost for this service or I figure it into the price of the item.

I have had many U.S. buyers file claims, nothing too costly, but that's the way the world works.

It would be unwise to stop mailing items to the U.S. because of a few bad apples, especially when insurance can be purchased and signature delivery is available.

Remember, there is a big market in Canada, and to just write the entire country off due to a few bad deals is not a good idea, in my opinion.

[Buythatcard]

I don't want to write off a whole country because of a few bad apples. Until I come up with a better way to ship, then I will ship outside of the U.S.

So far, I think the best way is to tell the buyer up front that they will be responsible for a portion of the S/H costs if its over a certain amount.

I can't include the S/H costs into the price of the item because I start off all items at .99.

[jester]

As a Canadian and someone who lives in a foreign country, I appreciate the sellers that do ship worldwide. Many times I have wanted to bid on something only to be rejected because they will not ship outside of USA. Most of us are willing to pay the tracking fees and myself, I insist on on it. The only problems I have had are with sellers who refuse to ship with tracking (for some reason) and say they cannot ship with tracking to my country.
Jeff

[bobbyw8469]

Bottom line - Internation shipping IS expensive! I charge $20+ (depending on the value of the card). If the buyer still wants to pay it, then I will sell it to them. Most of them balk at having to pay that high of a price, but I tell them it is to protect BOTH the buyer and the seller. International buyers that don't wish to pay, are just looking to scam anyway imho.....my 2 cents.

[baseball tourist]

I don't sell much anymore but have ruled out selling/shipping beyond Canada and the US as the tracking costs associated with international postage make the transactions unpalatable to many buyers. I ship with tracking only now but before I made this a rule I have had several US and a few Canadian buyers claim the items haven't arrived, yet strangely they didn't return to me. Of course eBay/paypal forced me to refund.

[Bilko G]

The rules are the rules and i don't mean to be a jerk, but you "gambled" on the rules and you got burned. It sucks, but its the truth. Did the buyer receive the card or not? Its really anyone's guess, but when you see a brand new Ebay account buying from you (especially on a $100+ item), whether or not its to Canada you get appropriate tracking, or you risk losing the card, that is a fact of doing business on Ebay.

I also don't think its fair (to Canadians and yourself) to "cut them off" from making future purchases from yourself, do to this one negative experience (you said it was your first). From now on just make a cut off amount that you can't afford to lose (some US sellers do $25, some $50, some $100 etc.) and then advertise and charge the appropriate shipping charge to get it registered to Canada. Problem Solved. Just be upfront with the registered shipping charges and you will find that on items of decent value, most Canadian buyers won't have a problem paying the charges and if they do they won't bid as you have the price advertised up front.

Considering that the US/Canada are connected to each other and our relations are so close, i wish there was a way that our two postal systems could better work together and be more reasonable on the (registered) shipping prices especially.

Like someone else mentioned, Canada is a huge market for Sports Cards as well, 2nd only to the USA. We love our Baseball and Hockey cards just as much as you guys