Ship cost from sellers USA

[michellebartley]

I enquired about some shipping costs for two items from the USA and sellers responded with: contact ebay Global shipping program for price. The listings had "may ship to Australia" on them. In my past experience with this, ebay have said "talk to the seller". So thats the end of that more or less. I mean you could probably commit to buy and get the invoice with ship cost on it, but gee, it could be a lot more than you want to pay for, and then, after, possibly having to ask seller to do a cancellation. No thanks.

[lyndal1838]

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@vicr3000 wrote:

It's not just because of the footstuffs and quarantine etc.

It's if one of the foodstuff parcels is in a container on an aircraft with just Pitney items, then when they come to PRE CLEAR

it through customs before it has even arrived, it can't be because the foodstuff will have to be inspected.

Which means the whole container will be set aside and the package taken out, thereby holding up the whole lot.

Far easier to just say, No, no food stuffs, pre clear each shipment, straight to the Pittney "Customs bonded" Warehouse

where it can be sorted and sent out.

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It is "just because of the feedstuffs and quarantine".   Pitney Bowes has a blanket policy....if one type of an item is not allowed into Australia then they will not ship ANYTHING of that category to Australia.  An example often quoted is knives.....Pitney Bowes will not even ship table knives to Australia just because some knives are not allowed.

[i-love-my-sheep]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

While you may have bought this brand of item before, have you bought it in Used condition?   I doubt that Pitney Bowes will ship it at all.

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That's a very good point Lyndal. Used could be seen as a potential biohazard (which is why my friend who has pet rats (and lives in the US) won't use anything second hand for his pets). We have very strict quarantine rules for a reason. Who's to say the person selling this second hand item (in fair condition) isn't selling it because their rats/hamsters died from some horrible disease? I think in some instances, it's worth buying new, even for the extra cost.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@michellebartley wrote:
No two different sellers. I think it looks in reasonable condition. Something like that to buy new would cost about $200.00 so its very very cheap and you cant buy a lot of that particular brand in Australia anywhere. I have bought that brand a lot off ebay and theres never been a problem with condition of it. I have also purchased some items from seller in USA and they told me flat rate shipping for one item or as many as you like.

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Michelle, I wasn't going to buy into this thread, but feel compelled to do so.

The points I'd like to make are;

- what you have purchased before is irrelevant

- you SHOULD NOT be buying used pet runs/habitrails from overseas

Here is my reasoning . . . . . .

You have no idea how well the used plastic equipment is cleaned and prepared for sending.  STOP THINKING OF YOURSELF and think about your fellow Tasmanians, and the native Tasmanian wildlife.

Tasmania has a unique position in Australia's fauna and flora due to it being an island state.  It has natural barriers against disease and pests.

YOU, yes YOU MICHELLE BARTLEY,  are putting at risk Tasmania's plants and animals by buying second-hand animal items from overseas.  I, for one, would think that buying that type of item new for $200 would be worthwhile, otherwise you are valuing Tasmania's fauna and flora at $200.

Great one!

[michellebartley]

I think you are way way way off topic. Quarantine checks all this for any type of contamination so in all honesty check your facts first before going on about this. Now you'll be saying clothing is contaminated, I have bought a lot of second hand clothing off ebay but its not contaminated(well Im still alive and well) I think I had a similar argument about this in a previous thread a long time ago. And I'm not a greenie and I really dont get involved with saving forests etc. Quarantine do a good job so if you have gripes contact them.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Michelle, does it have to be that exact one, or would something like this work?

http://www.wayfair.com/Habitrail-by-Hagen-Habitrail-Ovo-Dwarf-Small-Animal-Modular-Habitat-62612-HGE...

[i-love-my-sheep]

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@michellebartley wrote:
I think you are way way way off topic. Quarantine checks all this for any type of contamination so in all honesty check your facts first before going on about this. Now you'll be saying clothing is contaminated, I have bought a lot of second hand clothing off ebay but its not contaminated(well Im still alive and well) I think I had a similar argument about this in a previous thread a long time ago. And I'm not a greenie and I really dont get involved with saving forests etc. Quarantine do a good job so if you have gripes contact them.

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How do they do that? Are they going to take swabs and spend several weeks waiting for results from tests of countless diseases? Then we'd have you on here complaining (again) about your item not arriving within the estimate.

Clothes don't generally have rodents and other animals living in them, where there could be diseases that could decimate the native animal population. How do you know this broken item has been cleaned and disinfected properly? Were you aware that there are plenty of diseases that aren't killed by regular disinfectants? Even if the seller has cleaned the inside surface, have they cleaned inside the many cracks and breaks, where microbes would be having a party?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@michellebartley wrote:
I think you are way way way off topic. Quarantine checks all this for any type of contamination so in all honesty check your facts first before going on about this. Now you'll be saying clothing is contaminated, I have bought a lot of second hand clothing off ebay but its not contaminated(well Im still alive and well) I think I had a similar argument about this in a previous thread a long time ago. And I'm not a greenie and I really dont get involved with saving forests etc. Quarantine do a good job so if you have gripes contact them.

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**sigh** now I wonder why I bothered replying . . . . it's like reasoning with a brick.

Quarantine do not check every parcel that lands here in Australia.  They do have sniffer dogs go over parcels, but this is for looking for drugs.  It is not unheard of for buyers to ask sellers to simply mark parcels as "Gift".  Hopefully the seller of that item will mark it as "Previously USED rodent amusements" should you choose to bid and do win the auction.

Hopefully someone has contacted quarantine to let them know that Michelle from Hobart is considering buying used rodent hampster habitrails

Spoiler

padi, no hidden stingers here

[padi*0409]

Michelle, as to how good quarantine checks are - they must be really good when there's a nationwide recall of frozen berries from China, that are possibly resonsible for people contracting Hepatitis A - I wonder how many of those were innocent greenies, not many I suspect, just normal people like us................well some anyway.

As to your importing used rodent cages/playpens - I wouldn't even buy one from a swapmeet in my local area, way too risky IMHO.

Edit, slr you're using more fingers than I am stoppit stinger.

[padi*0409]

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@i-love-my-sheep wrote:

Michelle, does it have to be that exact one, or would something like this work?

http://www.wayfair.com/Habitrail-by-Hagen-Habitrail-Ovo-Dwarf-Small-Animal-Modular-Habitat-62612-HGE...

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Nah, different one sheepie, no tape, no cracks and no dried food,urine or poo inside it.

Oh, and the colours are different so the rodents that see in black and white will get confused, but at least they may not die painfully  from some exotic American desease.

Sorry Michelle but you should not be even thinking about making this transaction, or any others remotely like it from overseas. 

[i-love-my-sheep]

10 bucks says she buys it...... Nah, make it interesting, one THOUSAND bucks! Probably pointless offering a bet, no-one would bet against me.