Yes, as the Fox stated, USA postage went up just recently and quite a significant rise. I was buying just small collectables/ornaments but have had to curtail my buying since the rise as the cost now just for 1st class international is prohibitive for me. The items I usually buy are not worth the shipping cost. If you have friends in the States who can ship it to you after you've purchased and had the item sent to them to send on to you I believe it is a lot cheaper.
Not only have postage costs gone up but many sellers will only post using premium services such as Priority or Express International as they provide tracking/insurance that is acceptable to paypal in the event of a dispute. These services are at least double the cost of First Class postage.
I recently had the mind boggling experience of finding a sticker in the USA for $2.99. It would have gone in an ordinary envelope for maybe $1 postage but the seller wanted $64.00 for postage...and they did not give combined postage discounts.
Yes, too right unfortunately, Lyndal. There are a lot more US sellers who will only post with Priority or Express now as you said. If the item is something I really like I will ask the seller if he/she would post 1st class international but even then sometimes the difference between the 2 shipping rates is negligible as was the case when I enquired about a tablecloth of all things. The difference between 1st class and Priority was something like 40 cents. Postage was going to be a minimum of about $36.00.
I've seen several US items that in the past I would have bid on...but with some sellers only offering postage at $49....ouch! I'd have to be the only bidder (and with a low starting amount at that) to make it cost effective.
From what I hear, Annie. The UK is upping their postage shortly too. If more Aussie sellers had the sort of things I like I would certainly buy in my own country in preference to OS but have found on many occasions the US in particular has more variety. Ebay used to be a great place with heaps of Aussie sellers who had quirky, unusual collectables - all sorts of eclectic thingies but that has changed markedly over the years. I'm sure others who have seen the changes over the last few years will know what I mean. Probably has something to do with Ebay's price rises etc. and all the items from China.
I have thte same issues with availability. If I could find everything in Oz...great. Unfortunately the best place to find collectables from my childhood is the UK, and for my other main interest it's the US. Sometimes I'm lucky to get an item from an Oz seller but really, the range of items simply isn't here.
