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.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I saw quite a few for sale from Aussie stores, both on and off eBay for way, way, WAY less than $200. In fact, all were under $100 and most had free postage. Small price to pay knowing that it's actually going to arrive, customs isn't going to seize and destroy it and it's brand spanking new with no potential diseases for the rats.

Obviously Michelle loves her pets, I can't understand why she would be willing to risk their health for the sake of a few dollars. Not to mention risking losing her money. Their life span is short enough as it is (average 2 years), without throwing in added risks.

No way I'd buy anything that would remotely put my sheep at risk. Everything they get is brand new. The shearer who sheared them last November had to agree to use my shears with my blades, because I wasn't risking him bringing anything in with his own shears. If I go to the local show and check out the sheep, I always have a shower and get changed when I get home before I go near mine. A lot of sheep at the show are tame, so I do pat them. It's highly unlikely I'd bring anything home on my hands or clothes, but I still won't risk it.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

but it wouldn't be the same . . . . . it wouldn't smell of rodent p!ss or poop!

p!ss and poop on a rat trail = patina on antiques

[i-love-my-sheep]

Of course! I should have thought of that!

My friend in the US who has got the pet rats has a similar thing to what Michelle wants to buy. He started off with the basic one, like what was suggested above, and then bought new additions for it when he had a few spare bucks. He's now got a whole tunnel system going right through his house. No way he could have afforded to buy it all in one go, but a few bits every few weeks made it quite affordable. 

[padi*0409]

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@k1ooo-slr-sales wrote:

but it wouldn't be the same . . . . . it wouldn't smell of rodent p!ss or poop!

p!ss and poop on a rat trail = patina on antiques

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On top of that though the US ones come with a blender attachment as well that puts a bit of a sting in the tail..................

couldn't help myself slr..........slaps head vigorously.........

Kinda like a rat-run Thermomix - one gadget does everything........kind of...........

[lyndal1838]

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@michellebartley wrote:
I think you are thinking of a cat run. or do you mean cat enclosure. At least my meece enjoy all these nice ebay items,. And I do too. Otherwise I wouldnt be buying them would I. Hee Hee Hee....

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Rat run, cat enclosure, rodent playground....call it whatever you want.   You are wanting to buy a used piece of animal equipment from the USA which has the potential to be seized by Customs or if it does slip through you could kill your animals by introducing disease, not only to your own mice or rats but to others as well.

If Customs seize the parcel you will not get any money back for ebay/paypal/the seller.

It is very nice that your mice enjoy the purchases you have made for them on ebay, but wouldn't they enjoy the Australian version just as much or even a brand spanking new one that has not got the potential to kill them?   How do they know that the items are imported just for them?  Do they write a thank you note to the sellers for their lovely imported playgrounds?

To be perfectly blunt....have you thought about the ramifications of this purchase?

[i-love-my-sheep]

She's already said she's not a greenie, so doesn't really care about any impact of biological hazzards. I'm not a greenie either, but I still care about native animals having diseases introduced from overseas.

[lyndal1838]

Well, she did not buy it.....it has been relisted but the seller has not fixed the calculated postage.  It will not work at all.  I really don't think the seller is interested in shipping to Australia but will not say so straight out.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I noticed that too Lyndal. Hopefully she has taken notice of what's been written in this thread and will buy a new one locally.

[michellebartley]

I have that particular Habitrail but bought it from Gumtree. I have seen it new for around $90.00.I think I have around $800.00 worth of Habitrail. The only really valuable pieces are from USA & UK which are totally not available period to buy in AUS and I have triple checked that a million times. Im scaling down a bit now but I would not sell the Ebay bits I bought. Impossible to come by. You can buy a small range of it here but thats it. You cant even get any unusual cool add ons or spare parts in Australia either.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Onselling is not the issue. Importing it is. If it gets seized by customs, of which there is a high chance, you lose your money and risk a fine. Not to mention your details get flagged and any other international purchases will be scrutinised.

If you google what you want, there are some very cheap online stores (not eBay) in the US that will post to Aus. I had to wade through them all when I was looking the other night. Most of what they had was not much more than what you were looking at on here.