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Thread: Shipping News - sorta

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    Default Shipping News - sorta

    Pointless request to a parochially minded group
    Last edited by Empty_of_Clouds; March 14th, 2020 at 03:34 AM.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    But as an ebay purchase, doesn't that become difficult for the third party when there is something wrong with it and you want to return it, or the package never even arrives? Would you be happy to lose all of your money and have no pen?

    Firstly, you would need to have someone's address in your ebay account, as your address, and it would be unconfirmed. The ebay seller might even refuse to send to an unconfirmed address, but if he did he would be covered by ebay and PayPal. You wouldn't be covered by anyone because you had the pen sent to a gift address within the US.

    For a saving of only $18.80? Less than $20? Why even think about it? It's nothing.

    I've actually done this for a US buyer who wanted some Exacompta cards in orange and the only seller who had any was in the UK and only posted to the UK. He put my UK address in his ebay account and bought them. They came to me and I sent them to him. It was a 2kg parcel. It cost him a lot of money and he gave me extra for the inconvenience. He received the cards. Sadly he then forgot to take my address off of his ebay account and bought some ink samples from Scotland and I had this surprise delivery.

    One of the reasons why I never buy from US sellers on ebay while I'm in the UK is because the shipping costs are too high. That's the way it is. It's better to just not look at their items and move on. There is always another pen.
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    $37.70 postage from US to New Zealand sounds about right:

    Screen Shot 2019-12-09 at 7.58.49 AM.jpg

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Shipping outside the US is stupid expensive for some reason. The cheapest option is USPS First Class International which is around $15 last I checked (assuming say 4 or 5 Oz)

    If you bought a few items from a few sellers and the US person put them all in one box that would save even more money
    Last edited by azkid; December 9th, 2019 at 07:53 AM.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    I have shipped to your part of the world before. Its $15 uninsured and it takes however long it takes. I've had a pen take a month get to Australia before. The $37 sounds right for a speedy shipment and a bit of insurance on the package as well.

    Really sucks.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Hi David
    trying to send you a PM but your inbox is full.
    M

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    The US postal service is a bit expensive, specially for international parcels. The $37.70 quote includes tracking and insurance up to $200. I don't know about import duties in NZ but I guess you have to factor in that extra cost.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    Well, it was just a thought. I forgot about the issues around potential returns.

    As for other responses, there are more ways to send than just Priority Mail. Also, $20 may not be significant to others but it is to me.


    Anyway, I'll drop the request.
    USPS 1st Class International probably doesn't offer the required insurance for the items, and might take too long, especially at this time of year. So that's probably why the ebay seller won't use it.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    David---

    I sent you a PM.
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Hello David, sent you a pm too.

    cheers

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    PS: "First Class" in the US is basically the same or similar to every other countries very basic standard parcel, and it's not something I would trust for international shipment of valuable goods. If the options are offered/advised, and the buyer still opts for the cheapest, then losses are on the buyer imo. Not to mention that AU/NZ hasn't really ever been friendly to sellers (takes forever to the point that a claim may be filed, and customs usually causes complaints from buyers when the seller won't falsify the purchase price [which is illegal to do so]).

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    As for other responses, there are more ways to send than just Priority Mail. Also, $20 may not be significant to others but it is to me.

    How much are the pens priced at?
    Last edited by KBeezie; December 10th, 2019 at 08:04 AM.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    That's some allegation there. Got proof of any of it? Customs here don't get involved until the price of an imported item goes above USD$260 (NZD$400).
    2 years of having sold used film cameras and other collectables for a local camera store a few years back , with a small chunk of sales going to the AU region mostly (and a couple to NZ). And many international buyers wanting us to undervalue the gear especially if it was over 300-400 USD, and getting pissed when we tell them it's against the law for us to do so and can result in us being black listed from shipping goods to said country if caught. And no less than 4 times something being sent to that region has ended up taking 4 to 6 months to deliver when the customer opted for the cheapest possible option, resulting in eBay claims of non-delivery only to have it show as deliver after the claim was found in their favor.

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    The significance of the $20 saving is not connected to the price of the pens. It's significant by itself.
    It's very significant if you wish to ensure it's delivery with some measure of having a paper trail, especially if we're talking about something where $20 isn't even 10% of the total value you're entrusting to be shipped. And the overall nutshell is, from US to AUS/NZ, you're not going to get a bargain for shipping and the seller isn't going to have really any control over that except perhaps to inflate their price to cover the shipping just to give you the illusion that you got a savings on shipping cost.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post

    Shipping from NZ to the US, for this kind of package size, costs around USD$12 and is insured up to around USD$165. Paying a bit more for the shipping ups the insurance to around USD$1300. It is curious that this tiny country offers cheaper shipping plus insurance, whereas the giant economic entity that is the US does not.
    You actually get a better and safer service ordering from us than we do from you. Go figure.
    That's only for untracked items less than 250NZD in value. If you want tracked, or if the pen(s) are worth more, the cost is north of 50 NZD, which is borderline extortionate.
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post

    Shipping from NZ to the US, for this kind of package size, costs around USD$12 and is insured up to around USD$165. Paying a bit more for the shipping ups the insurance to around USD$1300. It is curious that this tiny country offers cheaper shipping plus insurance, whereas the giant economic entity that is the US does not.
    You actually get a better and safer service ordering from us than we do from you. Go figure.
    Actually, countries don't get to set their own international mailing rates. I had originally written this back on January 30, 2019 in the Mystery Ink #23 thread:

    I think this post will be OT, but here goes---

    Overseas postal rates are not set by the individual country you are living in, but by an international body called the Universal Postal Union (UPU) which is part of the United Nations. The idea is that the more developed countries would pay more in international postal fees and subsidize the fees of less developed countries in order to enhance trade. And YES, there are a LOT of politics involved in how far up or down your country's grouping is. (Please note this is only for INTERNATIONAL rates, not rates within your own country.)

    "How the current UPU Convention determines terminal dues is based on a complex classification of individual countries according to their level of economic and postal development. In 2012, the Doha Congress organized its member countries into six groups, for the purpose of defining terminal dues and other charges. In general, the higher the group number of a country, the less the Post charges for the delivery of inbound international packages and the less it pays for the delivery of packages sent to countries in the categories with lower numbers.

    Group 1.1 includes the United States, Japan, Australia, and most of the world’s other developed economies, as well as most of the overseas territories belonging to Great Britain and France.

    Groups 1.2 and 2 apply the same terminal dues schedule for inbound and outbound letter post. Group 1.2 includes more recently advanced countries, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

    Group 2 consists of countries with mid-size economies such as Cyprus, Hungary, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, and Saudi Arabia.

    Group 3 includes still emerging economies such as Argentina, Bosnia, Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Gabon, Cuba, Kazakhstan, as well as the People’s Republic of China.

    Groups 4 and 5 apply the same terminal dues schedule for inbound and outbound letter post. These groups generally include least developed countries, but they also include countries with substantial economic potential such as Egypt, India, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria, and Vietnam.

    The appearance of China, the world’s second-largest economy, in the Category 3 grouping highlights a fundamental flaw in the UPU ranking system for terminal dues. That ranking is defined by a “postal development index” based on the level of postal service within that country. This overlooks the fact that a country such as China may have a relatively low level of domestic postal development for historical reasons — in China’s case, its modernization came after the era of paper-based communications — but may actually be a major player in international commerce, particularly e-commerce."

    So while sending a 3 ounce packet (85 grams) of pens from China to Austria is cheap, sending the exact same packet from Austria to China is very expensive as far as international mail rates. Customs Duties are something else entirely. And insurance is an add-on that each country can charge whatever they want for.

    All the Best.
    Last edited by junglejim; December 10th, 2019 at 10:40 PM. Reason: spelling, as usual...
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Slightly off-topic, but still related at least tangentially, is this cautionary tale. The US Postal Service keeps changing the services it offers and what it calls them and charges for them, but a few years ago, around this time of year, I sent a small parcel from the US to a London address in the UK by what they were calling International Express. The service was insanely expensive ("Global Express Guaranteed," today's equivalent service, would cost $134.90 for that package), but I wanted to get the package delivered within a week and a half, and the next quickest method of shipping took one to two weeks. The guarantee included the promise that if it took longer than three business days to deliver the item, the shipping charges would be fully refunded. So, I shipped it, and it took almost a month to get delivered. When I applied for my refund, they refused to pay it, saying that they'd delivered the parcel to England within three days, which was what they'd guaranteed. They indignantly pointed out that they had no control over how long it might take a foreign post office to deliver it from there. Of course, this was never mentioned on the posters offering the service, just that they guaranteed that your parcel would be delivered within three days or you'd get your money back.

    I don't know why it took more than three weeks for the parcel to make it from Heathrow or Gatwick or wherever it landed to London proper, but I would guess it was a perfect storm of a bottleneck in Customs exacerbated by Royal Mail's Christmas rush in general.
    Last edited by calamus; December 17th, 2019 at 12:18 PM.
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    There are two things I want to add here, so bear with me.

    1. I have noticed that when ordering from the US the delivery time varies by location of the seller. East Coast postal services typically take considerably longer than those on the West Coast. At first I thought this may have been due to the West Coast being closer to New Zealand, but the difference in air flight times is really negligible. The other possible reason I can think of is if the East Coast is more densely populated, leading to a greater number of postings and thus slowing the system down. Beyond that I have no idea why there is this discrepancy.


    2. On a more ominous tone, I just bought a pen on eBay this morning (NZ local time) and was slapped witha $22 tax (Goods and Services Tax, GST). The law here has changed recently and the two most important changes from my perspective are that sellers who have sales in NZ that exceed $60,000 per annum have to be GST registered (and thus the customer has to pay GST), and that where before the customs and excise duty was not payable for goods valued at under NZD$400, this is now raised to NZD$1,000, which is an upside to all this.

    Anyway, I have written to eBay as I believe the seller certainly does not sell in excess of $60,000 and therefore I don't believe that GST applies. However, I now wonder if the tax office here is viewing eBay itself as the vendor/supplier and therefore will apply GST to all transactions conducted through it.

    In my opinion, while the intention of the new tax law seems reasonable, I don't believe it will lead to significant increases in spending in the local economy.

    Scary stuff.
    Last edited by Empty_of_Clouds; December 17th, 2019 at 07:42 PM.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    As to #1, I would hazard to guess that anything going out to the Pacific from the US East coast first flies across the country, goes to an overseas sorting facility on the West coast, and then eventually leaves and goes on it's way over the ocean. I doubt that flights carrying mail go to AU/NZ directly from the East coast.

    As to whether that makes any sense, I don't know, but please remember we aren't always happy with the P.O. within our own country. And yet, today I took two packages to my favored local office, everyone was pleasant and helpful during the busiest time of year, and my package to Ireland was only $14.50, of which I am thankful since it's already a gift!
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    I don't think anyone is always happy with their own pot offices.

    Flight time across the US is, what, about 6 or 7 hours? That might explain a delay of one day, but not of one week or more.

    It's just an observation, not something I would seek to try and change (as if, heh).
    Last edited by Empty_of_Clouds; December 17th, 2019 at 04:23 PM.

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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    Flight time across the US is, what, about 6 or 7 hours? That might explain a delay of one day, but not of one week or more.
    Don't apply logic. The big issue is that it flies across country to another distribution center where it can sit for a long time for unknown reasons. I've had packages from Northern California come to me, should be a simple overnight event but they go through this dreaded facility in Bell Gardens (Los Angeles area) that must be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bermuda Triangle. Truly, the package can languish for ridiculous amonts of time before getting on another truck and coming to my town. It's nuts, and no one can explain it.
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    Default Re: Shipping News - sorta

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    Flight time across the US is, what, about 6 or 7 hours? That might explain a delay of one day, but not of one week or more.
    Don't apply logic. The big issue is that it flies across country to another distribution center where it can sit for a long time for unknown reasons. I've had packages from Northern California come to me, should be a simple overnight event but they go through this dreaded facility in Bell Gardens (Los Angeles area) that must be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bermuda Triangle. Truly, the package can languish for ridiculous amonts of time before getting on another truck and coming to my town. It's nuts, and no one can explain it.
    Plus depending on the rate/price of the parcel, not everything flies.

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