Ebay - Does not ship outside US - How to solve it?

[Yansi]

Hello!
Sorry for such small offtopic thread, but I have a small "problem" with an ebay seller. I want to buy some item (~$200 or thereabout), but the seller does not want to ship outside US. Is there any way around it? What would you recommend?

The only simple enough way I could possibly come up with is that some kind and willing person might buy the item for me in the US, relist the item again on ebay including shipping outside US (to Europe) and I would then buy it from him.  (Is anybody in the US willing to help me doing it this way?)

Or is there any much simpler solution to it, that wouldn't double me the price up?

Thank you for help!
Yansi

[bingo600]

Use a reshipper

I use : https://www.shopusa.com/

[rstofer]

And some things can't be sent to some countries, reshipper or not!
I would expect that most eBay sellers aren't working with the State Department on every sale of technology destined for a foreign country and probably just sell within the US.

So, part of the answer to your question depends on what you are buying and where it is being shipped.

[Yansi]

There is no restriction on exporting that item outside US. The seller is just... well.. US.

bingo600: How does such thing work with ebay? (seems it does not!) Also the shipping cost is about $60, which is not an insignificant part of the item cost. Normally that would almost sure cost like half that.

[PartialDischarge]

Just tell him about the benefits of offering the global shipping program. The seller only has to ship locally to KY, and ebay takes cares of the international shipping and customs in most places. Still many sellers don't offer it  .

[Yansi]

Tried contacting him again. Hope he will at least respond.

Still anyone from the US members here willing to help? 

[SeanB]

Just tell him about the benefits of offering the global shipping program. The seller only has to ship locally to KY, and ebay takes cares of the international shipping and customs in most places. Still many sellers don't offer it  .

GSP can mangle a parcel at times, there are enough horror stories on the EEVBlog about them repacking stuff that was fragile in essentially a plastic bag, when originally it had been packed properly to survive transit.

Willing to take the lottery ticket?

[Yansi]

Had used the Global Shipping Program quite few times, no problems yet! Knock knock... So willing to take the lottery again.

But still, he does not offer the GSP (waiting for seller's answer), what else can I do with it?

[magetoo]

Use a reshipper, like bingo600 suggested.  He sends the package to "your address in the US", and the company forwards it to you.

It's more expensive since you'll be paying for shipping twice, but if the seller won't do it any other way, it's an option.  Reshippers might also offer a service to repack multiple items in one package (for a fee), or help get costs down some other way.  I know some also offer to buy things from stores or Amazon, so if there are other things that are especially cheap in the US it might be worth it.

[Yansi]

The reshipper bingo600 suggested seems unusable for ebay auctions.

Don't know any others, nor have experience using them. Can someone suggest reshipper applicable for ebay auctions?  As far as I know, you can not change the shipping address when purchasing from ebay - so someone (or the reshipper) has to buy the item for me.

Thanks
Yansi

[PartialDischarge]

Just tell him about the benefits of offering the global shipping program. The seller only has to ship locally to KY, and ebay takes cares of the international shipping and customs in most places. Still many sellers don't offer it  .

GSP can mangle a parcel at times, there are enough horror stories on the EEVBlog about them repacking stuff that was fragile in essentially a plastic bag, when originally it had been packed properly to survive transit.

Willing to take the lottery ticket?

Yep willing. As far as I know and had experience with, they do not repackage, they just resend to a different shipper with added documents outside of the box

[magetoo]

The reshipper bingo600 suggested seems unusable for ebay auctions.

Unusable how?  I don't see anything to suggest they won't deal with auctions, and nothing else obvious either.  From the seller's perspective it's just an address, and Ebay lets you set up multiple shipping addresses (last I checked).

[Yansi]

Winner winner chicken dinner! Finally I have successfully managed the seller, so he offered the GSP! 

But was a lot of work, he's not very communicative and seems not to trust europeans. 

[TheSteve]

I use a US shipping address with my ebay account yet I am not located in the US - so it is totally possible.

[Yansi]

Okay then, I have thought that ebay always forced a single shipping address... and that always was not recommended to ship anywhere else than your address, as the warranties (buyer protection) would become void.

But who knows, might have changed. I use the ebay seldom for many years, cannot keep up with the changes (if there are any).

[magetoo]

You may be right about their rules, I'm not a heavy buyer on Ebay either.  Glad to hear things sorted themselves out.

[boffin]

I use a US shipping address with my ebay account yet I am not located in the US - so it is totally possible.

I ship to my US mailbox enough that I know the ZIP code for Blaine (98230) off the top of my head.

[nctnico]

I have used Shipito once but one of the problems is that Paypal does not allow to add an address outside of your country. So the seller must use the Ebay provided shipping address.

[djos]

For Aussies wanting a trustworthy service from a big reputable organisation, Australia Post offer ShopMate for US to Aus reShipping:

https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Disclaimer: I work for AusPost (IT) but dont represent them in anyway, shape or form. 

[TheSteve]

I use a US shipping address with my ebay account yet I am not located in the US - so it is totally possible.

I ship to my US mailbox enough that I know the ZIP code for Blaine (98230) off the top of my head.

365 H Street?

[free_electron]

last time i tried that it went bust. on a  200$ piece of equipment ( a function generator) the shipping was 283$ and there was so much customs paperwork i gave up.. you need to know all the classifications and other blabla. it's simply too much hassle. experienced equipment brokers know how to do it. but for a small fry who has never done it. it'd take half a day just getting the paperwork done...

[nctnico]

last time i tried that it went bust. on a  200$ piece of equipment ( a function generator) the shipping was 283$ and there was so much customs paperwork i gave up.. you need to know all the classifications and other blabla. it's simply too much hassle. experienced equipment brokers know how to do it. but for a small fry who has never done it. it'd take half a day just getting the paperwork done...

Sorry but you overcomplicated things and/or got informed wrongly! All you need to do is fill out a simple form stating the name / model number and value of the item. Some couriers want you to supply an invoice but that basically has the same information. The customs people at the other side figure out which tarifs apply and so on.

I just checked: last time I received something from the US the customs declaration form said: 'telecom equipment', quantity, weight and value. That's it. No classifications, tariffs, etc (those boxes where left empty).

[Yansi]

last time i tried that it went bust. on a  200$ piece of equipment ( a function generator) the shipping was 283$ and there was so much customs paperwork i gave up.. you need to know all the classifications and other blabla. it's simply too much hassle. experienced equipment brokers know how to do it. but for a small fry who has never done it. it'd take half a day just getting the paperwork done...

I have dealt with customs in our country (somewhere in central EU) quite a few times (items from china or US). Most times, the paperwork is done within 15 minutes (plus the trip to the exchange post office). It is not easy for a newbie, but if one can look up on the web how to do it and benefit from others' experiences, then it is simple both for you and for the customs.
Also, the customs handle the item classification themselves. Here you just need to tell them what it is and that's it, they'll do their shit.

But am not sure, how much complicated is to work with customs in other countries like US.

[Bryan]

Had used the Global Shipping Program quite few times, no problems yet! Knock knock... So willing to take the lottery again.

But still, he does not offer the GSP (waiting for seller's answer), what else can I do with it?

Not sure why, but a lot of buyers bash the Global Shipping Program. Guess because it hits you with the tax and duty up front. But in terms of cost I have found it offers much cheaper shipping rates than what sellers offer when they only ship USPS.

[wraper]

Not sure why, but a lot of buyers bash the Global Shipping Program. Guess because it hits you with the tax and duty up front. But in terms of cost I have found it offers much cheaper shipping rates than what sellers offer when they only ship USPS.

Global shipping program is cost effective if you ship a heavy item. As of low value, low weight items, it is useless. Not only you will pay more for shipping but also will be charged with taxes, which otherwise won't be charged because the value is under the customs limit. Also it sucks for those countries with high value limit before you get charged with taxes, like Australia.

[CatalinaWOW]

last time i tried that it went bust. on a  200$ piece of equipment ( a function generator) the shipping was 283$ and there was so much customs paperwork i gave up.. you need to know all the classifications and other blabla. it's simply too much hassle. experienced equipment brokers know how to do it. but for a small fry who has never done it. it'd take half a day just getting the paperwork done...

It is difficult to follow the letter of US law.  I have tried, and like free-electron, gave up.  Here is the deal.  It is really easy if you meet a couple of requirements.  First, that it cost less than $2500.  Second, that it violate no export control regulations.  The second is the zinger.  It turns out that in most cases this isn't a problem either, but it is hard to figure that out.  The customs web site lists half a dozen agencies to check with.  Most of those don't have easy to check lists or anything.

So, if you are shipping a few dozen resistors the form is simple.  If you are shipping an HP3458 you bust the $2500 limit and get to play by a whole different set of rules, part of which is registering yourself as an exporter.  And if you are exporting a rubidium clock or something like that you have to figure out if someone has decided that your clock (purchased from a source outside the US) can be used to develop advanced weapons and is therefore export controlled.  The things that are controlled are often not obvious, and sometimes silly.

People who have exported sophisticated technical gear from the US have followed one of several paths.  They just ignored the law, and got lucky in not breaking it or not getting caught.  They spent a lot of time and effort figuring out if  their export was legal.  They hired professional help (expensive).  Or some combination of these things and a calculated risk.

I sympathise with those who have decided that the US market is a large enough playground, and just choose not to ship international. 

The OP has solved his problem.  For others with the same problem one path would be for you to do the research to find if there are restrictions on the export of your item to your country.  With that work out of the way it would be easier to convince someone to ship directly to you.  Either using Ebay's service, or some other possibly better, possibly cheaper service.  But my experience is that shipping is another whole can of worms.

[Someone]

Not sure why, but a lot of buyers bash the Global Shipping Program. Guess because it hits you with the tax and duty up front. But in terms of cost I have found it offers much cheaper shipping rates than what sellers offer when they only ship USPS.

Global shipping program is cost effective if you ship a heavy item. As of low value, low weight items, it is useless. Not only you will pay more for shipping but also will be charged with taxes, which otherwise won't be charged because the value is under the customs limit. Also it sucks for those countries with high value limit before you get charged with taxes, like Australia.

It works great to Australia, you only pay customs fees and taxes above the $1000 threshold otherwise the get it to you for just the cost of shipping. The upfront payment saves time and the issues of dealing with the local couriers, but the GSP tends to be a bit slow which is how they get the low rates.

last time i tried that it went bust. on a  200$ piece of equipment ( a function generator) the shipping was 283$ and there was so much customs paperwork i gave up.. you need to know all the classifications and other blabla. it's simply too much hassle. experienced equipment brokers know how to do it. but for a small fry who has never done it. it'd take half a day just getting the paperwork done...

It is difficult to follow the letter of US law.  I have tried, and like free-electron, gave up.  Here is the deal.  It is really easy if you meet a couple of requirements.  First, that it cost less than $2500.  Second, that it violate no export control regulations.  The second is the zinger.  It turns out that in most cases this isn't a problem either, but it is hard to figure that out.  The customs web site lists half a dozen agencies to check with.  Most of those don't have easy to check lists or anything.

So, if you are shipping a few dozen resistors the form is simple.  If you are shipping an HP3458 you bust the $2500 limit and get to play by a whole different set of rules, part of which is registering yourself as an exporter.  And if you are exporting a rubidium clock or something like that you have to figure out if someone has decided that your clock (purchased from a source outside the US) can be used to develop advanced weapons and is therefore export controlled.  The things that are controlled are often not obvious, and sometimes silly.

People who have exported sophisticated technical gear from the US have followed one of several paths.  They just ignored the law, and got lucky in not breaking it or not getting caught.  They spent a lot of time and effort figuring out if  their export was legal.  They hired professional help (expensive).  Or some combination of these things and a calculated risk.

I sympathise with those who have decided that the US market is a large enough playground, and just choose not to ship international. 

The OP has solved his problem.  For others with the same problem one path would be for you to do the research to find if there are restrictions on the export of your item to your country.  With that work out of the way it would be easier to convince someone to ship directly to you.  Either using Ebay's service, or some other possibly better, possibly cheaper service.  But my experience is that shipping is another whole can of worms.

Step 1, check the Wassenaar Arrangement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassenaar_Arrangement
http://www.wassenaar.org
For electronics, only high end optical or RF gear is likely to be on the list. Its not unique to the US, all international trade through the signatories has to follow it.

Step 2, if over the exporting limit pay a courier to deal with all the export paper work. Offer it as the only postage options to international people (or the GSP which does the same thing).

[CatalinaWOW]

Step 1, check the Wassenaar Arrangement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassenaar_Arrangement
http://www.wassenaar.org
For electronics, only high end optical or RF gear is likely to be on the list. Its not unique to the US, all international trade through the signatories has to follow it.

Step 2, if over the exporting limit pay a courier to deal with all the export paper work. Offer it as the only postage options to international people (or the GSP which does the same thing).
[/quote]

I'll stand by my comments. 

Start with your first link which tells you nothing about whether what you are doing is OK, only tells what Wassenaar is.  So after spending a few minutes there chalk the wasted time up to experience and go to the second link, which I haven't fully digested, but in just a preliminary quick scan add to the optical or RF gear possibilities the following.  Inspection equipment and control equipment for composite materials.  High temperature electronics.  Low temperature electronics (these two are ok is specifically designed for automotive use.  That doesn't let oilfield equipment, high altitude gear, space gear, arctic gear, cryogenic gear or other similar gear off the hook.)  High speed, high resolution A/D converters.  High efficiency solar cells.  That is in the first 65 pages of the 224 page document.  And doesn't touch the issue of sanctions or other locally generated controls.  And doesn't identify other gray areas like high power thyristors or fast power switches which are also in the first 65 pages.  And doesn't address the fact that you have to through this again every time the Wassenaar group revises the list, which appears to be something like annually.

So, by my standards, what you are recommending is a quick read and take your chances.  In your quick read you only found optics and RF gear.  Or maybe you decided that only the RF guys have use for high speed, high resolution A/D converters.

I assume that step 2 works, but don't know if it really changes the situation.  If the fees are so large that no one wants to buy, what is the difference from a vendor saying they don't want to bother.  I have run into this several times personally, and see comments on this forum all the time indicating that shipping costs make importing impractical or not worth it.

[Someone]

I'll stand by my comments.

This isn't a US specific thing, sellers all around the world are dealing with it ok and not complaining. The US is different that they have enough of a domestic market that you can ignore the rest of the world, but the items on the restricted or dual use list are pretty obvious to anyone who actually uses the equipment and knows what they're dealing with, you don't get caught out for sending old scope probes, but you could get snapped for sending a particularly low phase noise and agile oscillator to Iran for instance. Its not a matter of trawling though the document over and over, you quickly know that 99% of test and measurement equipment is not restricted and put that up for international sale, if you think it might be then just list that domestic only by caution. We're irritated by the US sellers who put the big disclaimers on EVERYTHING that they won't sell internationally for export restrictions when they haven't even made an attempt to understand what is and isn't restricted. For instance:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reel-of-PCB-Components-MFG-No-RC1206FR-07383R-Qty-on-Reel-3900-/112021514904?hash=item1a1500aa98:g:VRYAAOSwLnBXWELy
warning warning, these may be export restricted! For 383 Ohm 1% resistors.
Ebay seems to have installed some geoblocking doohickey so I can't search US domestic sales only right now.

[CatalinaWOW]

I'll stand by my comments.

This isn't a US specific thing, sellers all around the world are dealing with it ok and not complaining. The US is different that they have enough of a domestic market that you can ignore the rest of the world, but the items on the restricted or dual use list are pretty obvious to anyone who actually uses the equipment and knows what they're dealing with, you don't get caught out for sending old scope probes, but you could get snapped for sending a particularly low phase noise and agile oscillator to Iran for instance. Its not a matter of trawling though the document over and over, you quickly know that 99% of test and measurement equipment is not restricted and put that up for international sale, if you think it might be then just list that domestic only by caution. We're irritated by the US sellers who put the big disclaimers on EVERYTHING that they won't sell internationally for export restrictions when they haven't even made an attempt to understand what is and isn't restricted. For instance:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reel-of-PCB-Components-MFG-No-RC1206FR-07383R-Qty-on-Reel-3900-/112021514904?hash=item1a1500aa98:g:VRYAAOSwLnBXWELy
warning warning, these may be export restricted! For 383 Ohm 1% resistors.
Ebay seems to have installed some geoblocking doohickey so I can't search US domestic sales only right now.

I agree that the US is a special case because of the large local market.  Sellers in the rest of the world need to branch out.  Also because the US probably has more restrictions on exports than most countries.  For a "land of the free" we aren't so much.  Most of the world isn't trying to punish someone for disagreeing with us politically.

I am sure it is frustrating and silly to see things like resistors listed as export restricted.  But it is a mirror of the problem from within the US.  Because of the large market the US is one of the richest sources of stuff like this.  The candy store is there, but closed. 

I agree, that once you have come up to speed on export controls it isn't a huge problem, but having recently climbed the hill, it is daunting here in the US.  If you just go fat dumb and happy, trust the shipper it isn't a problem.  But if you try to go directly to the government sources (which you should since that is where the controls come from) the information is complex, difficult and time consuming to track down, and clearly not aimed to make it easy.  It is no wonder that our balance of trade is negative.

[Yansi]

Oh my f* god.

Have recently ordered something other through the Global Shipping Program. However this time it seems to be a major screw-up by the destination carrier. The item is now marked delivered. I do not know whom it was delivered, nor do I know where. I do not know the person signed on the "proof of delivery".  Filed a complaint with the carrier already, but do not know what to do with ebay 

As it seems there is nothing to do on the ebay site with this.  Only can leave negative feedback for the seller - and it certainly is not his fault. (but might be his responsibility to dispute the delivery?).

This time a $400 worth item I payed about $100 including shipping and the GSP fee. Fucking pissed right now... 

[Jeroen3]

What part of europe are you in?

[Yansi]

Germany's neighbor from the east.  Why?  Usually there is no problem with delivery using such as DHL, GLS, whatever. This time it seems the delivery guy is a sort of transsexual idiot, as his (or her?) name is a girls name including surname (in our language we distinguish surnames for men and women), but on the phone he had a male voice.
So far I have been successful with the complaint - the package was delivered an hour ago. Still waiting for the response of the company, what was that shit all about.

As who would guess - the signature on the "proof of delivery" paper was or seems to be the signature of the delivery guy him/her/it-self. 

[CatalinaWOW]

Oh my f* god.

Have recently ordered something other through the Global Shipping Program. However this time it seems to be a major screw-up by the destination carrier. The item is now marked delivered. I do not know whom it was delivered, nor do I know where. I do not know the person signed on the "proof of delivery".  Filed a complaint with the carrier already, but do not know what to do with ebay 

As it seems there is nothing to do on the ebay site with this.  Only can leave negative feedback for the seller - and it certainly is not his fault. (but might be his responsibility to dispute the delivery?).

This time a $400 worth item I payed about $100 including shipping and the GSP fee. Fucking pissed right now... 

So you have identified another reason for someone in a large market to avoid international sales.  If a domestic US shipper screws up, I know who to go to.  If the Ebay global network screws up, Ebay is the only place I know to start, and you have said they are no help.

I am a small time Ebay seller.  I currently am allowing international sales.  So far it has made little to no difference.  Only a few international bidders.  Only one winning international bidder, and no problems.  I have had no problems with international sales here on this forum.  But due to the small impact that allowing international bidders on Ebay sales has made, it wouldn't take much in the way of problems for me to drop that like a hot potato.

I am sorry if this has a negative impact on the rest of the world, but this is a hobby for me.  If the fun leaves the house there is no reason to be involved.

[Yansi]

Allowing international sales is not to make you bigger sales out of nowhere, but to allow other countries with a piece of shit market (like ours) to buy interesting stuff. That's how I think about it.

[CatalinaWOW]

Allowing international sales is not to make you bigger sales out of nowhere, but to allow other countries with a piece of shit market (like ours) to buy interesting stuff. That's how I think about it.

I'll agree with that.  In fact, if I think about it, it is probably why I deal with international sales.  But it wouldn't take a very long run of bad luck to sour me on the experience.

[PowerNet]

For Aussies wanting a trustworthy service from a big reputable organisation, Australia Post offer ShopMate for US to Aus reShipping:

https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Disclaimer: I work for AusPost (IT) but dont represent them in anyway, shape or form. 

I have decided to use them too with Fluke products.

Do they ship DMM back to Oz ?


thanks

[GeorgeOfTheJungle]

I have a similar problem. A UK seller that won't post a beautiful vintage Acorn/Microvitec CUB CRT display to Spain. I'd need help from a kind british willing to receive it and repost to Spain. Anybody? Please! (send PM)

[djos]

For Aussies wanting a trustworthy service from a big reputable organisation, Australia Post offer ShopMate for US to Aus reShipping:

https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Disclaimer: I work for AusPost (IT) but dont represent them in anyway, shape or form. 

I have decided to use them too with Fluke products.

Do they ship DMM back to Oz ?


thanks

They'll ship anything that is available for delivery in the USA to a U.S. Address and forward it on to your Australian address. I used it to get my Apple watch band that an Amazon seller wouldn't ship direct and the service was great.

[BFX]

I don't know but I haven't this problem at all.
Lot of times happened that I bidding for item when seller had this restriction, but after I sent a message if it's possible to sent to me here to central Europe there was no problem. (Lot of times from USA/GB/Germany/France/etc.)