to post to the USA or not?

[clickbaitoz]

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?

[ramcycle2010]

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.

[chameleon54]

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..

[lupercal]

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

[clickbaitoz]

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.

[aussie-picker]

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.

[clickbaitoz]

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

[digital*ghost]

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.