Another eBay gripe

[Tribune]

Sure some of you may have come across this at some time, but I just want to vent.

Seller lists a great looking phone at rock bottom starting price. 
But seller only lists phone on US eBay.com, does not come up on "worldwide" when using other eBays 
Seller does not ship "internationally"  - some sellers in the US consider Canada international, some don't. 
But . . seller does not accept messages or questions submitted from either eBay.ca or through eBay.com. 
Phone is one that I'd dearly like to bid on as it's one on the list for my collection. 

Potential buyer very frustrated at what seems like either intentional obfuscation or just good ol' traditional laziness on part of seller. 

Potential buyer rapidly coming to the conclusion that most eBay sellers are crooks, ignorant, lazy - or all of the above. Or maybe potential buyer is just behaving like a phone junkie who can't get their fix. 

[Adam]

That's the way it is for everyone.  I have stopped looking at ebay.co.uk, lots of fun phones there, but the majority of sellers there only ship locally.

Even within eBay.com, this is a problem.  I frequently like phones that sellers in Canada are selling, but the shipping charges to the US are prohibitive.

[HarrySmith]

If any of our "foreign" members want a phone that is only listed here I would be happy to purchase said phone and forward it to you.

[Tribune]

That's a very kind offer Harry
I'll send you a private message later today about the phone.
Thanks
Mark

[HarrySmith]

You are welcome Mark.

This goes to all our other members also. If there is a phone you want and the seller will not ship international or wants some outrageous price for international shipping I would gladly buy the phone and ship it to you. Any regular size phone can be safely packed in a medium flat rate box with no problem so that would proably be the least expensive method. You can get flat rate pricing right from the USPS website.

[Dennis Markham]

I was going to make the same offer, Harry beat me to it.  I find that shipping to Canada is a little bit more expensive than shipping in the same box to the USA.  I recently shipped to Vancouver in the box that ships by weight.  It was about $25 to ship a heavy Model 500 in that box.  I don't know if the Flat Rate boxes cost more to do International Priority Mail or not.

But again, if one of you sees something in the USA and they won't ship, just let me know and I'll buy it and ship it to you.  You have to pay twice for the shipping however, from the seller to me and me to you.

I think some are afraid of Customs form.  I use the Postal Service's on line Click-n-Ship and it brings up the forms for you.  Very simple.

[NorthernMan]

It is frustrating to see an item you want and willing to pay a little extra for and find out it ships only to the USA . Most times when i ask nicely though they say yes we will ship to Canada. I think a lot of American Ebay sellers believe that their own market is big enough that they don't need the rest of the world. Guess what ....... they are absolutely right . I don't blame them
at all . Right now with the increase in the Canadian dollar more Canucks will be looking to spend  in America.
           Personally i can't wait till the our petrodollar gets back over $1.10 USD then i am  coming shopping for all those colored phones i've been waiting to get.
            On the issue of shipping prices i always add the price of the item and the shipping to make my final bid. If the shipping is too high i lower my bid for the item. IMO ..... high shipping prices bring lower selling prices and so it all ends up pretty much the same for the seller and buyer.
             

[Tribune]

Yes, I think the issue in my case was that the seller was not permitting any e-mail contact so it was impossible to open negotiations.

As for the cross-boarder phone trade, I'm more than happy to reciprocate and help secure Canadian phones for forum members in good standing south of the 49th parallel, at least for the parts of the year I'm in Canada.

Work looks like it may take me to Europe for 5 months of the year in summer - hey, may be fill a sea-can full of GPO sets and ship them over LOL!!!

[AE_Collector]

hey, may be fill a sea-can full of GPO sets and ship them over LOL!!!

I'll have one of each of the two tone 700 series, the two tone green and the gray/brown combo!

Terry

[AE_Collector]

Personally i can't wait till the our petrodollar gets back over $1.10 USD then i am  coming shopping for all those colored phones i've been waiting to get. 

Yes but it just doesn't seem to be able to get over $1. It keeps trying but can't do it for some reason. I did manage to buy a couple thousand US a few days ago at 99.5 cents though. That should keep me going for awhile.

Terry

[elmwood]

I live in Buffalo, and it costs me less to ship something to Nome, Alaska than just across the border to Fort Erie.

After ordering curling gear from north of the border, I realized it would be cheaper for me to drive up to Toronto and pick it up myself.

[Tribune]

hey, may be fill a sea-can full of GPO sets and ship them over LOL!!!

I'll have one of each of the two tone 700 series, the two tone green and the gray/brown combo!

Terry

I'll see what I can do. May be ask GPO706 to hunt them down, and I can bring them back for ya. Looks like I'll have some weight anyway though. Want to bring back the pair of WWII "F" Mk.2  magneto field telephones that I used to have as a kid. Still upstairs in my parents attic. Those boys weigh a ton though!
Look like this one for sale on German eBay right now. http://tinyurl.com/FMk2FieldPhone

[AE_Collector]

I'll see what I can do. May be ask GPO706 to hunt them down, and I can bring them back for ya. Looks like I'll have some weight anyway though.

Thanks for the offer, not that I wouldn't take you up on it but these days when it is all you can do to get through an airport and hopefully still make your flight, the last thing you want is overweight luggage! I hate flying anywhere now.

One day I'll get back to the UK to do some more exploring and maybe I can line someone up to locate some stuff for me before I get there.

Terry

[AE_Collector]

I live in Buffalo, and it costs me less to ship something to Nome, Alaska than just across the border to Fort Erie.

After ordering curling gear from north of the border, I realized it would be cheaper for me to drive up to Toronto and pick it up myself.

Yeah you guys in the USA have it good as compared to Canada post rates. There are a few other little differences as well. In the US you can send a package up to 13 ounces as first class (inexpensive) mail and it doesn't seem to matter how large the item is. Here too we can use first class postage for packages and theigh can weigh up to 500 grams which is over 17 ounces. Great! Only problem is that the package can't be any thicker than 20mm which is around 3/4" so that it can fit through a mail slot. So if you have to mail a  small package even if only a few ounces but it is over 3/4" thick you have to use parcel post which starts at around $10, I think it might even be more like $11 now. Oh and no "Media Mail" rates here either.

Enough griping (for now!)

Terry

[mariepr]

...I think some are afraid of Customs form.  I use the Postal Service's on line Click-n-Ship and it brings up the forms for you.  Very simple.

Bingo.  As a seller, I had a Canadian buyer blow a gasket because he had to pay VAT and Customs fees.  After mentioning this on another site, I got all kinds of unsolicited advice such as I never should use UPS, should have used a different classification, etc.  The whole experience was so bad that I just won't ship overseas rather than deal with that again. (Ebay has since revised its policy regarding negative feedback over Customs fees.)

Click and ship sounds nice, but I'm not home during the day to wait for carrier pickup.  The post offices that I use in New York have no place where ready to go packages can be dropped off - one has to get in line for a clerk and that negates any convenience.