topic Re: to post to the USA or not? in Selling

to post to the USA or not?

clickbaitoz — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:07:12 GMT

This is one of those ;what would you do?' posts.....

i completely forgot i even had items listed but amazingly someone in the USA bought an item on Monday, i have msged them saying i don't know if or when i can post it but will let them know. I've been recovering from bronchitis so don't want to go out to shops etc more than necessary. But posting it is not too much of a problem as i found i had a prepaid postage label so i can go & post it in a red post box instead of having to go into a post office.

BUT since nothing is really predictable & some borders have already shut down with possibly more to come, i don't think i could be sure they will even receive it? From what i know items posted within Australia will still get through border blocks as post is an essential service, but i'm not sure about items going overseas

i cant really afford to lose the $27 total they paid me if it gets lost or turns up to them in 3 mths time etc. Should i take the risk & post it or just issue them a full refund?

Re: to post to the USA or not?

porcelain_dolls_by_me — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:09:53 GMT

We are posting letters and small parcels to USA every second day of so and no problems at all. Delivery may take up to a week longer though

Re: to post to the USA or not?

ramcycle2010 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:27:08 GMT

The United States is not currently one of the countries listed by Australia Post, which are known to have delivery service delays. If it were me, I would send it.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:43:56 GMT

I have always found posting to USA very good.

Only lost one in a hundred plus.

On average 7-10 working days.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

tentrees123 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:56:44 GMT

I've struggled with that dilemma also and took the reluctant step and shut down international shipping. I can't really afford the reduction in sales - nearly 50% of orders are international - but I can't afford the angst either and customers can't be blamed for wanting to get what they paid for.

With international flights severly reduced and some stopping end March I think already slow deliveries will stall for a while - so says my crystal ball. Package posted on the 13th March still hasn't left Australia (going to USA). EBAY may help with slow delivery/item not received claims at this time -may- but if you aren't shipping with tracking you are vulnerable.

Decided to cancel and refund an Etsy order today as shipping is untracked and I'll be able to afford refunds even less in a month or so.

Sorry to be negative but personally I would cancel and refund -don't forget to have transaction cancelled otherwise you'll be paying the eBay fees but since its been days you won't be refunded your PayPal fees 😫

Re: to post to the USA or not?

tentrees123 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:00:24 GMT

I've never hesitated to ship to USA in the past but these are different days

Re: to post to the USA or not?

tentrees123 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:12:34 GMT

@ramcycle2010 wrote:
The United States is not currently one of the countries listed by Australia Post, which are known to have delivery service delays. If it were me, I would send it.

Out of interest have your packages been moving? My 13th March shipment still hasn't left Australia, tho one sent on the 16th has at least been scanned and origin post preparing shipment (think I'll stop posting anything on a Friday from my little rural PO)

SOrry -I meant this for the post above yours!!

Re: to post to the USA or not?

ramcycle2010 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:17:38 GMT

I was just about to reply to you, I've not been experiencing any delays so far, but I realise this is likely to change. Recent orders sent to the USA, UK, Japan & New Zealand have all been delivered on time in the last few days.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

tentrees123 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:18:23 GMT

@porcelain_dolls_by_me wrote:
We are posting letters and small parcels to USA every second day of so and no problems at all. Delivery may take up to a week longer though

Are your packages moving? One of mine is showing nothing after 13 days 😥 another took 10 days for the 'preparing shipment' scan so at least that's something

Keep safe and well everyone and please look out for each other

Re: to post to the USA or not?

clickbaitoz — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:22:59 GMT

i am tending to think same, there's no saying what is going to happen in the USA, its changing daily. Also i hate to say but i find American buyers to be a bit demanding at times, and they also don't reply to msgs much either. I would love to be confident that they would be patient enough to wait for longer than normal for their item but if they're not & file a dispute i lose my $.

Also forgot to mention before that i am sending Economy Airmail as a large letter so there is no tracking. I sell magazines usually for less than $20 so sending with insurance etc really isn't worth the hassle, occasionally if i sell items on auction & they go over $40 i will offer it.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

ramcycle2010 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:40:48 GMT

Little rural post offices can be a problem, I know mine is. I always insist they do a lodgement scan for my packages, even when I'm not using a tracked service. As much as I hate having to go in and deal with the useless staff, that lodgement scan gets the parcel in the system and on its way overseas much quicker than if I just put it in a red post box.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

chameleon54 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 10:40:34 GMT

I,ve just had my first INR claim from the U.S in a long time. I,m also getting quite a few expensive sales to the U.S at the moment. $200 jobs from very low feedback buyers which is making me a bit nervous.

I am messaging the buyers explaining that delays should be expected, I,m sending everything to the U.S with tracking and also photographing the customs declaration / postal address and sending the photo to the buyers so that there is an ebay record of what address the item has been sent too.

I,m still expecting some of these to turn around and bite me on the bum though and have actually left extra money in my paypal account for when it happens..

Re: to post to the USA or not?

lupercal — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 13:37:17 GMT

My overseas items were taking 5-7 weeks a few weeks ago BEFORE this got really bad. As of a few days ago I've just blocked all overseas countries. Will selectively reinstate them if and when I change my mind. Bit of a dillemma, because a lot of my highest value sales traditionally go overseas, but at the moment I just don't want the stress of totally unpredictable deliveries and impatient buyers starting overdue items claims

Re: to post to the USA or not?

clickbaitoz — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 13:13:36 GMT

I've decided to take a chance & post it, that's if the buyer agrees to be patient lol. I msged them & just said that there would probably be postal delays either here or in the US or both & could they assure me they wouldn't file an INR for at least a few mths.

They do have excellent fb, not that necessarily indicates much since sellers can't leave negs but more importantly, they leave great fb for sellers. Alot of buyers don't even bother leaving fb at all nowdays so i figure hopefully that means they are a nice & reasonable buyer lol.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

aussie-picker — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 22:51:46 GMT

Im still posting to the US ,
50% of my sales go there . As long as you have tracking and buyers are well aware and happy about any impending delays I see no issues at the moment anyway.
Post to the UK has been ok too at the moment.
Quicker than sending something to Sydney from Vic really.

Re: to post to the USA or not?

clickbaitoz — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 05:50:15 GMT

as i said, i don't send with tracking as its not economical. Anyway i got a reply from the buyer who said they actually work for the US post & they that they were confident it would get to them. I take back what i said about Americans lol

Re: to post to the USA or not?

digital*ghost — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 06:48:10 GMT

Just thought sellers should be aware Aus Post have announced delays of 2-4 weeks for mail to the US (as of this week), which could mean delivery timeframes of 2 months or so for some services. This is due to both flight availability and government restrictions, so I dare say the delays will affect all shipments to the US, not just those via Aus Post.

I would personally recommend sellers using letter post or untracked to either significantly adjust expected delivery times where possible, or even consider disabling international shipping if you don't think your customers will contend with these new delays.