"Foreign" shipping when selling on TB

[derridiandrift]

Many of you are very experienced in buying, selling, and trading gear here on TB. I'm not. Besides taking the obvious precaution of waiting for full payment to clear before shipping, is there anything inherently risky about selling to a foreign buyer?

[Thornton Davis]

Define "Foreign". Are you talking about the US? Europe? Asia?

I've bought and sold instruments that i've shipped worldwide over the past twenty years and i'm also in Ontario.

There are some basic rules that you must follow to ensure that you don't get ripped off.

TD

[smo]

I've bought from all over, and I always insist on a few things, thanks to one fella trying to rip me off.

At least;
I like to get a phone number, full name, additional email address, home address etc. and always ask for additional photo's (think hostage photo's ) to make sure they haven't pulled the photo from the net somewhere.

Sometimes I'll test this info, by calling the seller, with their timezone in mind of course.
Buying from a seller with good (or lots of) feedback is usually a good move too, but not a guarantee, so still be wary!

If anyone refuses to give me personal info, gets cagey about questions, and if I can't call them;
I refuse to send them money. There's always gonna be another deal

[FL Knifemaker]

The ONLY way I will ship ANYTHING internationally is on the buyers FEDEX or DHL account. If they are serious about buying a bass or other item of value from the states, they can open an account. That allows them to provide me with all the customs forms, etc. It also allows THEM to track the item and handle any problems that might arrise. With my business, I ship internationally often and that's the ONLY way I will do it.

[derridiandrift]

Originally Posted by Thornton Davis

Define "Foreign". Are you talking about the US? Europe? Asia?

I've bought and sold instruments that i've shipped worldwide over the past twenty years and i'm also in Ontario.

There are some basic rules that you must follow to ensure that you don't get ripped off.

TD

Well, by foreign I mean any country outside of the one in which the seller resides. However, in my experience, I'm in Canada and I've had offers to buy from Europe and South America.

[peabody]

To be honest, I have shipped things all over the world and it is much easier than people think....at least shipping out of the U.S. I ship everything via Priority Mail International. It is reasonable, and the custom forms are pretty easy. There are no extra fees for the seller other than the extra shipping cost, which I pass on to the buyer. There are different size restrictions for different countries, so in some cases it is impossible to ship a bass without removing the neck. But in most cases, with the right box, it's not an issue. However, like most things, there are "bad" people out there who are looking to rip you off, so you need to know how to weed those out, but happens with domestic sales too.