NEVER ship eBay goods without tracking!!

Two things for me I'd like to mention. (talking about cd's here)

1 - anything over $50 I usually include tracking just as a gift to the buyer and myself...I made more than I expected on the auction so a few extra bucks doesn't bother me.

2- I learned long ago to never include the jewel case and to ship with a slice of cardboard for protection in a photo mailer...nobody ever tries to steal a mailer that looks like a book of pictures or postcards. For those corrupt postal services in some Euro countries it makes a huge difference. If it looks like a cd in a bubble mailer there's a good chance it will be stolen.
Jewel cases can be bought in any place in the world...it's worked well for me. The only problem I've ever had was from another friggin' Canuck who would NOT return the disc (I offered to pay for return shipping) but the ****** gave me a neg feedback only because she was perpetuating that typical "if I complain maybe I'll get a free cd bulls**t". My one and only neg feedback in 11 years.

anyway, it's up to the seller and I respect (now, pissed me off before) when a seller just won't ship outside the US...but it does bother me a little when US sellers lump Canada in with places like Italy. Vancouver is less than 3 hours from Seattle but yet we're considered 'International'. kinda sucks but hey...there's another copy of the same album somewhere else.

Now, I never buy cd's from ebay...only vinyl. And I whole-heartedly thank all US sellers that do ship to Canada. Canada has one of the best Postal systems in the world and after 11 years on eBay I have NEVER had an item NOT arrive.

 

me too

 

With our current A$ 110% rate of exchange against the US$ I think that although it's good for us (as buyers) the Americans (in times of austerity) are subject to it costing them a hell of a lot more to buy from Oz as it did a couple of years ago when it was hovering around 70% or so. There are less people buying from us now. Especially when you consider how exorbitant Australia post pricing is whatever the exchange rate. So less to claim "I didn't get it". lol. Having said that, I never had an LP "lost' going to USA. But a few here in Oz went AWOL.

 

This is an excellent point. It seems like it is much less expensive for items to be shipped from other countries to the USA with tracking than the reverse. From my understanding, Paypal only acknowledges Express mail or equivalent from the USA to international destinations as adequate proof for tracking purposes.

 

sorry Fabio no offense meant to Italians themselves...quite a few of my buyers are from Italy because I have no problem shipping there.

 

+1

 

It is not cheap AT ALL to send fully tracked parcels to USA from Australia believe me!
Even for a 1 x LP parcel UNDER 500g (1.10LB) a parcel with full tracking is A$60.70 (US$65.45).

PLUS Due to USA security measures we now also have this extra charge:

"Articles over 500g and all ECI and EPI services will be subject to an additional $9 security surcharge and may face transit delays of up to 48 hours."

So thats A$69.70 (US$75) FOR ONE SINGLE LP TRACKED FROM OZ to USA.


So you have my sympathy...

 

Pesky Italians eh haha

 

How many others have used the services mentioned above with good results?

 

I've learned to buy from only 100% feedback + long term account sellers. Obviously not a full-proof plan, but it helps cut out the crackpots.

When receiving ANYTHING, I film my opening it. I clearly show the sealed package, take many pics, then I video me cutting into it, very carefully, clearing away the tape and opening up the package, withdrawing the contents and then ensuring it is what I bought and that it came in the condition it was advertised as. Once, I received a new album but the package was dinged coming from the UK. One slab was a bit dished. The seller was cool, I sent the pics, she was willing to do a full refund and I asked if she was cool with me playing it through. She agreed, I filmed it and it turned out the vinyl played fine, just a bit warped. I got a bit of a refund on my shipping + a discount next time I buy.

I'm a repeat buyer with her shoppe now. Yet, regardless of whom I'm purchasing from, I always go through this tedious process just to cover my back.

All this online buying and selling can be a crapshoot and ideally it ends better than not more often than not. Best though is to always get secured shipping + sig and then do the pics/vids just to be sure.

 

Uh oh big brother is watching! Maybe you should post them all on Facebook just for the hell of it?

 

Not a bad idea, not Facebook though, I'm terrified of that company

Setting up my own site though, showing the clips, that could be a riot. Or on Youtube. Mind you, I'm not much of a banterer, so perhaps I need some audio tracks overlaid, something crisp, intelligent and fun.

 

Maybe a bit of Video scratching!

 

no problem , I understand your point of view: shipping from US to Canada is not comparable to shipping to Italy, if only because they are neighbors.
My personal experience, as italian buyer, is quite positive: among 1200+ purchases only a dozen of parcels had delivery issues, less than 1% (it could be better!). Sometimes the parcel came back to the seller, sometimes it's gone lost (stolen?), sometimes, maybe, the seller was not much honest. Anyway, everyone has it's personal experience: if someone refuse to ship to Italy I don't blame him: I assume he (she) had a bad experience.

Turning to the topic, my suggestion would be
if the item has a cheap value the seller can address the risk of an untraceable shipping
if the item is very expensive the buyer should pay for a traceable method, even if expensive (if you are willing to pay $300, you can easily pay $330).
if the value is in the medium range seller and buyer could agree to split the cost of a traceable shipping for their peace of mind

let's not forget that the seller can absorb (totally or partially) the cost of shipping in the selling price

 

I did buy a Taylor Swift CD from Hong Kong off of eBay and the CD arrived safely. They did provide tracking info as well.

 

You must have a lot of time on your hands. Oops, I just noticed you're in Ottawa. That explains it, you work for the federal government.

 

I do! At least the federal government part

 

Thanks Fabio, I just spit tea all over my keyboard.

 

As I said, I've never had to claim so I can't say how the process goes. Another member here did just make a claim on one of them, and reported progress in the last two pages of the "No More insertion fees" thread.

 

It sounds like a big deal but it really isn't. I grab a handycam, start rolling and its all good. The photos I would take regardless for insurance purposes. It is about an extra 10 minutes to get it all captured properly for my own protection as a buyer. As a seller I do the same mind you, again for protection. It is GREAT in winning claims against couriers who would rather NOT have to deal with an overactive OCD music fan

 

I've had so-so luck selling from eBay.ca internationally (and crappy luck from ebay.com). That way I can put $25USD as the ONLY USA shipping option, and get rid of the $3.00 option. The only problem is, about 50% of my sales end in non-paying US buyers from people who win the auction and then ask me about the "cheaper shipping options." Infuriating.

If you're in Australia, sell on the .au ebay...the visibility isn't nearly as good as selling on .com but if you have targets/32XD/DCCs/SACDs or similar niche items you'll still show up in searches under "results from international sellers." You can set the terms of sale in a more reasonable way than selling from an international location through .com

I echo the comments of many of the "ship within yer own country" people. I've been selling exclusively on Canuckaudiomart to Canadian addresses for awhile. I've had problems here, and while I always give a refund without hassle & don't believe for a second I was EVER scammed by a forum member; it became too pissy for me to be out money for the sale AND lose my item (I only had 3 things lost in the post, but two were Miles Davis Cookin' DCC Gold & Hendrix: Axis no re-1. It still makes me sad to think those are gone). I might try selling again here, but only trackable shipping- although I can't imagine many people are going to want to pay $25 to ship a $40 disc. Maybe I should start a thread here for Canadian addresses only, I'm sure that'd go over well

 

I have had almost all good experiences buying items located in Asia. The one exception was an item from mainland China. I purchased a Beat Street Target CD from a seller there and thought it had been lost. I filed for and received a refund. Fortunately, the item eventually arrived after three and a half months from when it was shipped!

 

Maybe he didn't get it? And he HAD to file a claim within a specific period of time in order to get a refund.

Maybe if the record arrives, he'll re-send the money to you?