Shipping US Only

[Doombear]

Many US sellers on eBay and the trade forum here won't ship to Canada, which seems puzzling.

Some US sellers have described their fear of shipments getting lost.
Yes, packages are sometimes delayed through customs, but I've received 99% of what I've ever ordered from other countries.

The mailing process is the same:
The sellers can bring it to the same US Post Office
There will be a Canadian address on the label instead of a US address.
The cost of shipping would need to be calculated regardless of where they are sending it.

This US-shipment policy has kept me from ordering all sorts of desired items.

[uther]

Kinda pointless telling us. As for reasons it runs the gambit from thinking 'enemies' will use their product to not wanting to bother with the hassle.

Some probably heard tales from other retailers about the complaints from canadians because of the absurd delay periods at the border.

[Johnny Vinyl]

People sell within their comfort zone, which is fully understandable. They also have this perception that shipping cross-border (US/CAN or CAN/US) requires all kinds of extra paperwork or documentation...it doesn't in the case of media.

I've come across sellers that only ship to the lower 48, but after an email most have been quite willing to ship to me in Canada.

Regarding product being held at the border....I've ever had that experience, although for some reason it seems that most packages from the UK arrive quicker than those from the US. Go figure, eh!

I've also NEVER been charged IMPORT DUTIES/TAXES from anywhere.

[honeylatte]

I've had to exclude all other countries plus Alaska and Hawaii. The reason is eBay only gives you around a 10 day to 2 week period to show delivery on the tracking status. Anytime after that, the buyer can file a claim against you. Of course you're going to lose the claim if the tracking doesn't show delivered.

I had to do this after a Hawaii buyer was too impatient to wait 2+ weeks for media mail, and started the claim against me. Luckily the item showed delivered on the 2nd to last day before she could finalize the claim (around 3 weeks at that point).

It's the impatient buyers who ruin it for everybody else. It's common knowledge that Hawaii mail can take an extra week or two, especially for media mail, with no updates to tracking while it's on the boat.

And eBay doesn't take into account the destination or shipping method for places like Hawaii/Alaska/Canada, allowing buyers to open claims on you asap. Postage is very expensive to places outside of the USA as well.

[uther]

Originally Posted by honeylatte

Postage is very expensive to places outside of the USA as well.

I am pretty sure ebay sellers charge extra for places outside of the USA as the OP already mentioned.

[Rhylliam]

I tend to check either eBay.com or eBay.co.uk and if it says they don't ship to Canada/internationally, I just contact the seller. Most of the time, they're willing to ship to us, so long as they can charge a few extra $.

[Doombear]

Yeah, I'll often ask them and some simply forgot to specify their shipping options.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Johnny Vinyl

People sell within their comfort zone, which is fully understandable. They also have this perception that shipping cross-border (US/CAN or CAN/US) requires all kinds of extra paperwork or documentation...it doesn't in the case of media.

I've come across sellers that only ship to the lower 48, but after an email most have been quite willing to ship to me in Canada.

Regarding product being held at the border....I've ever had that experience, although for some reason it seems that most packages from the UK arrive quicker than those from the US. Go figure, eh!

I've also NEVER been charged IMPORT DUTIES/TAXES from anywhere.

I've had the same experiences. Whenever I order items from the UK they arrive within a week, coming from the USA it takes about three weeks. Maybe the UK stuff gets through faster because they trust what's coming from our colonial masters.

I also have never been charged import charges for anything as far as DVDs or Blu-rays are concerned, and that includes stuff like box sets with declared values of $100. Which makes me annoyed at sellers in the U.S. who ship through that Global Shipment Program which makes you pay "import charges" or some such nonsense up-front. I don't know all of the ins and outs of that program, but there's absolutely no way I'm buying from any seller who uses that B-S because it's an absolute, no questions about it, RIP OFF.

Originally Posted by honeylatte

I've had to exclude all other countries plus Alaska and Hawaii. The reason is eBay only gives you around a 10 day to 2 week period to show delivery on the tracking status. Anytime after that, the buyer can file a claim against you. Of course you're going to lose the claim if the tracking doesn't show delivered.

I had to do this after a Hawaii buyer was too impatient to wait 2+ weeks for media mail, and started the claim against me. Luckily the item showed delivered on the 2nd to last day before she could finalize the claim (around 3 weeks at that point).

It's the impatient buyers who ruin it for everybody else. It's common knowledge that Hawaii mail can take an extra week or two, especially for media mail, with no updates to tracking while it's on the boat.

And eBay doesn't take into account the destination or shipping method for places like Hawaii/Alaska/Canada, allowing buyers to open claims on you asap. Postage is very expensive to places outside of the USA as well.

Funny, I've been selling on E-Bay for over ten years and while I do get the occassional e-mail from impatient buyers, once I explain that it takes about 3 weeks to ship that usually satisfies them. I've never had anyone file a claim for the reasons you specify. What shipping methods are you using to send your items?

[Tony208]

Blame the USPS price hike. You run the risk of "losing" the package when you ship USPS first class so the risk is even higher than before.

[uther]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Blame the USPS price hike. You run the risk of "losing" the package when you ship USPS first class so the risk is even higher than before.

'Risk' of getting a compliant about taking to long to deliver or something else?

[tylerdurden10]

I have never had a problem shipping to Canada, and lately it seems like the stuff I sell on ebay has been arriving there in record time! The last few items I shipped there, all orders arrived with 5 days which was unheard of to me a few years back when I shipped there. I guess the price hike at least helped with the shipping speed.

Not to mention you can track stuff to Canada from the US as well, so there really isn't any reason for me to deny a shipment to Canada.

[Me-Hostage]

I use to sale to people in Canada and UK, but not anymore. Not that I don't want to, but I rarely sale anything anymore. Whenever I buy from Amazon UK I get the items in about two weeks, sometimes less. I've bought from Canada too, and get it in about a week. I have never had any packages from outside the US lost. I used to order from Hong Kong. It would take about 4 weeks, but I always got the stuff.

It's sellers in the US I have issues with items getting "lost" without a tracking number, go figure. What's funny is when the description says "Priority mail with tracking on this item" and when you request the tracking, they say it didn't get shipped with one, which means they didn't even bother to ship it Priority - if they even shipped it at all.

[murphywmm]

I've never once had any packages get lost coming from the US. The delivery time varies - anywhere from 1-4 weeks. I just learn to be patient because it always makes it here in the end. Of course, if a vendor doesn't want to sell to me - well, it's their loss. As for customs charges - it's a bit strange... they seem to have become more lenient. When I first started ordering stuff from overseas around 2003 - if the item was a dollar over the $20 customs exemption, I would get charged. But the only time I ever get charged any extra fees is when it gets sent by a courier - I try to avoid that now. It's been years since I got charged any customs fees from Canada Post.

UK stuff arrives surprisingly quick - usually within 5 days. Same for Hong Kong. But Japan usually takes a month or so.