US reshipper experiment

[TerraHertz]

Not actually a WTB or sell, but relevant to those outside the USA who are looking for test equipment to buy from the USA and find the shipping costs hair raising.

In the last week I've started an account with USA bulk re-shipper http://www.shipito.com/
I have one large parcel on the way to them, and another soon.
Their advertised shipping rates are much better than the other usual suspects.
See here: http://calculator.shipito.com/en/

In the process I've already learned a few tricks and risks to doing this, and more may arise.

I'll keep you guys informed on how this goes.

[jancumps]

What I'd like to know from your experience is:
Does it make sellers suspicious that you are a scammer?

[AlfBaz]

I've always wondered how feasible it would be to "crowd fund" a create from the US

[Fraser]

In the UK we used to 'group buy' a shipping container run to ship Mini Mokes back from Australia. 4 in a container for only around GBP1500, all inclusive  That's only GBP375 each 

I was asked by a buyer to ship a heavy piece of test kit to Romania using a UK-Romania shipping service provided out of London. A courier collected the item that weighed 25kg and it arrived in Romania within a week ..... all for a total cost of GBP27 door to door. Amazing value. I have no idea what would have happened if the parcel had gone missing though.

These bulk parcel shipping companies seem to be more common theses days. China Sellers use a lot for their distribution in the UK.

I just ordered a 10kg parcel from Canada. That cost me GBP90 via Canada Post, but at least its tracked and receiving it is far more important than saving on shipping. Its horses for courses really. I had a GBP600 receiver that I sold stolen whilst in US customs, so parcels can even go missing when travelling through what could be considered 'safe hands'. 

[digsys]

In the last week I've started an account with USA bulk re-shipper http://www.shipito.com/
In the process I've already learned a few tricks and risks to doing this, and more may arise. 

I used to use them for a while. These are my observations -
It can add a few days to a week to shipping time, especially if a weekend in-or-out is involved.
Their available shipping options (in my time) were either damn cheap and took app 2 weeks plus, or pretty high and were
still often slow (bulk shipping?).
IF you use the Cali office, you CAN be stuck with tax forms !! as your destination is technically in Cali !! I spent 2 weeks once
proving I didn't live in Cali, then STILL had to get export clearance !!
The system worked, but in the end, I gave up. I switched to finding sellers with saner shipping options (then emailed the rip-offs
to explain how they lost a customer) or using friends in USA.
If you do a lot of multiple drops and combined shipping, then it pays off quite well and worth the hassles.

[Shock]

What I'd like to know from your experience is:
Does it make sellers suspicious that you are a scammer?

I had to reread this a few times to understand what you meant.
I use freight forwarding and no, sellers don't care as long as it's a US address.
In a way it's even more reliable for them as you can request the package opened and items photographed on receipt by the company, safer for you and them.
But if you went into detail with them saying "oh I'm using freight forwarding and don't live anywhere near you" anyone would be suspicious of that automatically.

[WarSim]

What I'd like to know from your experience is:
Does it make sellers suspicious that you are a scammer?

I had to reread this a few times to understand what you meant.
I use freight forwarding and no, sellers don't care as long as it's a US address.
In a way it's even more reliable for them as you can request the package opened and items photographed on receipt by the company, safer for you and them.
But if you went into detail with them saying "oh I'm using freight forwarding and don't live anywhere near you" anyone would be suspicious of that automatically.

Over the last 20 years only very few USA companies had a clue about shipping.  Most where beyond stupid.  They enter into contracts without even knowing their incoterms. In short almost all of me are incompetent in the area of shipping. 
 
Because I am in Canada I have found a select few USA that I am willing to buy from, and seek out Canadian and European sources instead.  I have made several direct from European purchases cheeper than via USA.  Yes some of the direct from Europe purchases where USA products. Of course the exception is the few equally stupid European sources who only ship to Canada via USA.  Lately I have found Asian sources that will direct ship to Canada far faster and cheeper that shipments from the USA. 

I certainly understand the need for the shipping companies mentioned. When the only source is in the USA, it is very important to ship across boarders with someone that has a clue. 

There is an obvious severe problem when shipping across an ocean is cheeper and faster than shipping across a land boarder. 

[Corporate666]

What I'd like to know from your experience is:
Does it make sellers suspicious that you are a scammer?

As a sell, such things do concern me when I run into them.

The problem is that buyers will always disclaim any responsibility if it's going to cost them any money.  So if I, as a seller, ship it to some other address than your registered address and it never arrives, virtually all buyers will want to open a dispute.

As a seller, if I can't prove you got it, then I lose the money.

So it's win/win for the buyer, lose/lose for the seller.

Of course, that only holds when the shipping address is different than the billing (or eBay) address.  If someone adds the forwarder as an official address, as a seller I have no problem with it.

[TerraHertz]

Lesson #1 is, don't buy some small items from one seller then switch your ebay shipping address to the USA reshipper for one more large, heavy item from the same seller, then try to change the earlier item's shipping address to the same re-shipper to save some money due to combined shipping.

It messes up ebay's anal-retentive micro-managed invoicing system rather spectacularly.

That one was my fault, and I've certainly learned not to do that again. Hopefully it's sorted out now.
It turns out you (the buyer) can alter the ship-to address of an item after buying it but before paying. It's down the bottom of ebay's  'pay for item' page, though badly worded.

The next one, is some sellers require a US phone number on the ship-to address, even for USPS parcel post.  So despite that you're asking them to ship to practically next suburb in California, there has to be a phone number - ebay *insists*, by not letting you pay the invoice till there is.

I was considering paying some money to a service like http://www.tollfreeforwarding.com/california-phone-numbers.html (gives you a real phone number in the State you want.)
But their terms of service were kinda terrifying.
Next idea was just to use one of the phone numbers they list as available for rent, and so what it if doesn't work. Not like USPS is going to be calling it anyway.

In the end the seller suggested just entering 888-888-8888, and lo and behold, ebay accepted it.

So far (with two sellers) I haven't noticed any tendency for them to think I'm a scammer. Their listings both said 'ships world wide'. The main problem has been they are both high volume sellers, and that makes their attention span gnat-like, with little motivation to deal with 'problems'.

Next experiment (if these two work) will be to try a simple purchase with no 'changing address' dramas.
Then after that, a purchase from some seller that specifically says 'ships to USA only', but isn't selling anything with legal limitations on selling overseas.
It will be very satisfying to be able to get around those guys, and whatever their problems are - xenophobia, can't be bothered to prepare customs forms, etc.

[TerraHertz]

What I'd like to know from your experience is:
Does it make sellers suspicious that you are a scammer?

As a sell, such things do concern me when I run into them.

The problem is that buyers will always disclaim any responsibility if it's going to cost them any money.  So if I, as a seller, ship it to some other address than your registered address and it never arrives, virtually all buyers will want to open a dispute.

In this case I'm not asking them any such thing. I have set the reshipper as my primary ebay shipping address, and clearly explained to the seller  that the address is a re-shipper.
Also I wouldn't try this with any US seller to reshipper transport that doesn't include a tracking number. I think shipito doesn't even accept parcels that don't have tracking numbers - you are supposed to tell them you're expecting a parcel to arrive for your account, by giving them the parcel's tracking number before it arrives.

As a seller, if I can't prove you got it, then I lose the money.

So it's win/win for the buyer, lose/lose for the seller.

Of course, that only holds when the shipping address is different than the billing (or eBay) address.  If someone adds the forwarder as an official address, as a seller I have no problem with it.

Another safeguard is that I can ask shipito to take a photo of the parcel when it arrives, and email me the photo. I can even request they open the parcel and photograph the contents. I'm going to do that the first few times, till I get a hang of how this goes. The photo-fee is small, and well worth it.
[/quote]

[WarSim]

What I'd like to know from your experience is:
Does it make sellers suspicious that you are a scammer?

As a sell, such things do concern me when I run into them.

The problem is that buyers will always disclaim any responsibility if it's going to cost them any money.  So if I, as a seller, ship it to some other address than your registered address and it never arrives, virtually all buyers will want to open a dispute.

As a seller, if I can't prove you got it, then I lose the money.

So it's win/win for the buyer, lose/lose for the seller.

Of course, that only holds when the shipping address is different than the billing (or eBay) address.  If someone adds the forwarder as an official address, as a seller I have no problem with it.

An even better solution is the seller can learn how to ship properly so a re shipper is not required. Until the seller/shipper regains the confidence of the buyers, the sellers concern is moot. No buyer should never be expected to pay 200% handling charges, due to the shippers shipping contract. 

As an eBay seller had a clue about their shipping contracts and communicated the shipping terms to the buyer properly. eBay will not go against the contracted sale terms. They only step in if the expressed contract differs from what happens. Unless a different term is agreed upon shipping is assumed to be DDP or DDU. 

Billing address and shipping address is different for many reasons. For example the administration building is commonly separate from the shipping/production buildings. Occasionally the same building can be given multiple addresses. Before you assume, large companies do buy from eBay when the have to. To explain "big" is over 12,000 employees. First pass search is usually a short email asking for shipping info. If the answer is "UMM" or BS they are not asked again unless a second pass is required. If they all fail the two passes the process is suspended, or redesign is started. Once in a long while a good seller is found and they go on a search first list. 

[kaz911]

I have used www.myus.com for many years. But they are not very good any more. Their shipping rates have just become reasonable (lowered them 20% a few weeks ago) but their customer service, package check-in time, ECCN "export reviews" and their multitude of fees makes them quite expensive and VERY SLOW compared to some of the other ones.

So I'm actively looking for new shipper.

[TerraHertz]

So far it's going well on the re-shipper side.
Two large boxes already on the way to Oz from CA, both via TNT economy. Another one at Shipito about to be sent.
They are very fast at opening boxes, taking pictures of the contents, and then getting the thing back out the door via the chosen shipper. Their website structure is a bit odd, but works. The stuff for displaying and choosing shipping options with all the current prices works really well. Prices are dynamically fetched from the different carriers, given parcel size and weight. The estimated shipping time for each is also shown.

Amusingly, today when setting up for re-shipping a smallish box (about 6 lbs), TNT express was a little cheaper than TNT economy.
To give an idea of what this costs, for that parcel the cost to get it from the reshipper's warehouse in CA, to Sydney Australia is $56.74.
Consisting of:
Processing Fee: 1 package (up to 30lbs)   $2.50
Special requests:   $1.00  (three photos of the box contents, emailed to me. This is also needed before contents insurance is available)
Postage: $53.24  Consisting of: Carrier $51.05 - TNT express, which will get here in (from memory) 2-3 days, plus Bank fee 4.3% $2.19 (paid total via PayPal.)

Early next week I'll find out if this stuff actually arrives, intact.

One slight hitch is that to re-ship items sent to them via ordinary USPS mail, I have to physically post them a filled out and witnessed 'Application for delivery of mail through agent' form. For things like manuals, that get sent via USPS media mail, that's essential. Oops... already have one manual on its way to them via USPS, but the form is still on my desk here. This will be interesting.
But this was my fault, for not reading the 'how to' well enough.

On the up side, the feeling of not having to plead with insular US sellers who won't consider posting overseas, is liberating.

[TerraHertz]

An update.
Earlier this week the first three boxes arrived. Everything went perfectly, and I'm extremely pleased with how well this is working. Typical actual transit time from CA USA to Sydney: 2 to 4 days via TNT economy, which is the cheapest option! Also these were large heavy parcels, like 30" x 24" x 14", 50 lbs.

I've also been able to buy items from US sellers whose listings say things like "I do NOT ship overseas. Don't even ask!" and that's a great feeling. You just set your ebay primary shipping address to the US reshipper (which looks like an ordinary commercial address), bid and pay via paypal. The seller doesn't even seem to see that you're not in the USA. You can get photos of the unpacked item when it gets to the reshipper, so if you want to keep up the illusion you can give ebay feedback at that point.

The next stage of this experiment is to send several smallish items to one of the re-shipper's warehouses,  have them consolidated to one box, then shipped to Australia. This is now underway.

One goof so far was my fault - when switching from one re-shipper warehouse in California, to one in Nevada (to avoid CA sales tax on an expensive item, and also since the NV site allows more space for storage for consolidation) I messed up entering the address in ebay. So a couple of ebay items ended up being shipped out to a garbled address. Low value items, and hopefully they'll return to sender, and I can get them re-sent. A dumb cut-n-paste mistake on my part. Fixed in time for several other items. Note to self: when doing stuff late at night, double checking isn't good enough. Triple check!

Nicest item so far: a HP 8018 serial data generator. Item cost US$40, postage in USA to shipito $30, total shipito fees for getting it from them to me in Sydney Oz via TNT: $199.21
Photo of it below, with the covers off.

[AlfBaz]

shipito fees for getting it from them to me in Sydney Oz via TNT: $199.21

Do you have a guesstimate of the weight for that package?

[TerraHertz]

shipito fees for getting it from them to me in Sydney Oz via TNT: $199.21

Do you have a guesstimate of the weight for that package?

WEIGHT : 32.40 lbs.
DIMENSIONS (L x W x H)  : 24.00 x 24.00 x 13.00
Sent from Hawthorne CA to Sydney Australia.

The only way to attempt juggling multiple shipments is to keep a running log file of all data on each package as it goes through the system. Otherwise I'd lose track. Currently 10 parcels in action.

[TerraHertz]

My first consolidated package arrived today. I'm *very* impressed! The packing was carefully done and they took pics as they did it, which I could look at before having the box shipped. I'm finding their fees very reasonable too, and still find the quotes they get for international freight very low compared to what I was used to.

The best thing is you can individually select packing options for each item being consolidated. I chose to leave two in their original USPS boxes, and minimize the rest. Which they did exactly as specified.

This box contained 7 different ebay purchases, all of them with either free or very cheap shipping inside the USA, but for international shipping them individually would have cost several hundred.

The total shipito cost to Australia was:
Processing Fee: 7 packages (up to 30lbs)   $17.50
Repacking fee:   $14.00
Special requests:   $7.00  (photos of the contents of all 7 items)
Postage:   $144.27
     Carrier $138.32
     Bank fee 4.3% $5.95
TOTAL:   $182.77

Also a few of them were from sellers who didn't show international shipping as an option.

The nicest item in this lot was a Tek 308 Data Analyzer. Works, nice condition, just needs a clean.
Yes, I have probes for it.

[robrenz]

looks great but Is that total correct?

[AlfBaz]

looks great but Is that total correct?

I think the 2 sub-items beneath Postage show the break down of the postage cost.

So TH, when are you going to start offering this service to your fellow countrymen 

[TerraHertz]

looks great but Is that total correct?

I think the 2 sub-items beneath Postage show the break down of the postage cost.

Yes, that's right.

So TH, when are you going to start offering this service to your fellow countrymen 

Err... What? The idea of this thread was to tell them about it.
Though it did occur to me that there'll be a lag interval (years) where most Australian tech types still think shipping on large items from the USA is unbearably expensive. So there could be an opportunity to import gear, check it out, then resell locally for a profit.

But despite being short of cash that's not something I'm interested in doing. Life's too short.

[SeanB]

All the info is there, just do it yourself. Send an email to the same shipper, open an account and you will have all you need, just have a ready Paypal account to pay with.

[pelule]

I shipped an $200 bought InCircuit Emulator from a US seller, not wiling to ship outside the US.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg1158231/#msg1158231

I used ShipTo/FedEx Economy for the pakage
  weight: 30.90 lb
  size: 15.70" x 20.30" x 19.70"
cost      $128.56 (+$70 VAT at German custom, handled by Fedex).

MyUS:   $149,80 (offers also Budget for $76.95)

viabox: $243.47

I am very satisfied with ShipTo. When using FedEx it is the cheapeast out of my view.

/PeLuLe

[TiN]

Item cost US$40, postage in USA to shipito $30, total shipito fees for getting it from them to me in Sydney Oz via TNT: $199.21

200$ for 22kg item? That sounds about similar if not more to regular direct USPS/Fedex from USA to me (Taiwan). Are Oz pricing that much higher to go this extra trouble with reshipper?

I think I've paid about 190$ for box with 3458A and some other stuff, with USPS Express (to TW, again).

[Shock]

This thread is 4 years old.

[TiN]

No, it was just my buddy visited local USPS office and sent stuff to me Keithley units I collected also were around 70-120$ range US to TW.