Whats the deal with CONUS only?

[Gorilla Monsoon]

Have shipped to the Great North numerous times without any problems whatsoever. The package has to sit in Chicago for a day or two, pass customs, but there are a whole lot of cool Canadians out there who I've had nothing but positive experiences with. Given my preference, I’d prefer to go CONUS for simplicity sake, but won’t hesitate to ship to Canada. Overseas is a different animal. I’ll certainly buy COG or Audio Kitchen or FKT gear, but id be really hesitant to guarantee shipping over the pond. Japan is out of the question.

 

[taliesin]

Some Americans don't know Rush hasn't been touring for years?

Okay fair point.

 

[KellyC]

A solution to your immediate problem is a company called BonVu (Bonvu.com). They specialize in exactly what you are asking for: Handling shipment of individual items overseas. They built up their business to help Europeans buy items on US Ebay. But now they provide the service almost worldwide, either direction.

It works like this: They are in Austin, TX. When you buy the bass, you have the Seller ship the bass to BonVu in Texas, which they should be willing to do. BonVu checks the packaging, does all the Customs paperwork, and books it on a plane to your country. At your end, you can pick it up at the airport, or they will have your local delivery service take it to your door. You pay BonVu for the whole deal, including any Customs or Import Fees. They will tell you the total price up front, before it ships, and you can do quick estimates right on their web site.

This service sounds expensive, but amazingly enough, it's usually less expensive overall than if you process the shipment yourself directly through one of the shippers (UPS, FedEx, DHL). They work with all the shippers, and have good rates with them.

And, most important, they know what they are doing handling all the paperwork through Customs. They do it all electronically, and it's all cleared through Customs at the other end, before your shipment leaves Austin. If there's some hangup, your bass sits in BonVu's warehouse while they clear it up. It doesn't disappear into a Customs dept forever. They ship a lot of individual musical instruments, and are completely familiar with all the rules and laws and import fees, etc. You'll get a straight answer up front from them on the total cost.

I've used BonVu's service maybe ten times to ship basses to England, Germany, Spain and Japan. Very simple and trouble-free, and not expensive.

Also, if you are selling a Bass in the US, and get an inquiry from a potential buyer in Europe, you can quickly get a quote on the full price to ship it to Europe. Let the buyer make the arrangements with BonVu and pay for it. Then you just ship the bass to Austin.

So you charge for the instrument and the cost of shipping to Austin, and let them take if from there?
Does the seller open a case with BonVu first, and then BonVu sends you some kind of identification label for you to ship it to them?

 

[moon-bass]

I've never had an issue shipping past CONUS - however, when selling I'll limit free shipping to CONUS, but I wouldn't hesitate shipping anywhere if the buyer paid.

The way I see it is that gear can be limited outside of the US and I feel like doing my part to help fellow musicians get hold of gear they wouldn't normally be able to get easily or cheaply. I have a guitar playing friend in Australia that tells me how expensive and difficult it can be sometimes.

 

[Wasnex]

Not sure if this has been said. CONUS is short for contiguous United States. Hawaii, Alaska, and US territories are not CONUS....CONUS only includes the lower 48.

So limiting delivery to CONUS does not necessarily primarily about border crossings, although the added complication and risk posed by international shipping is probably part of the concern. International shipping often requires extra paperwork and may incur additional costs and delay.

AFAIK Shipping out of CONUS tends to be significantly more expensive. As the cost of shipping increases it becomes harder to make a profit, because of the potential for the buyer to ask for a return. Ebay, Reverb, and PayPal tend to side with the buyer more often than not. When a return is done, the seller is on the hook for shipping both ways and the item may be returned with damage. I get the impression some unscrupulous buyers may actually fabricate damage to facilitate the return.

My impression is shipping to the US from some countries may actually be fairly inexpensive...possibly even less than domestic US shipping. Shipping from the US to other companies tends to cost significantly more from what I have seen.

I am even wary of buying high dollar items from international sources. I tend to limit such purchases to low value items such as parts, rather than buying a bass or cab. I bought some knobs from Israel and it took over a year for them to arrive. By that time, I had been refunded and bought what I needed from another source. So essentially the seller got screwed and I have a few extra knobs I may never need. Also fixing the amp was delayed by several months.

For the knob purchases, tracking went dead after the package left Israel. I have made a few other small international purchases where delivery was fairly fast.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

So you charge for the instrument and the cost of shipping to Austin, and let them take if from there?
Does the seller open a case with BonVu first, and then BonVu sends you some kind of identification label for you to ship it to them?

If I'm in the US, and someone in Spain contacts me and wants to buy one of my basses, then I get their address info and go on BonVu's web site. I enter the specifics of the shipment, size, weight, contents, and destination address. From their site, BonVu will give me an estimate of the total cost to take it from Austin to the buyer's address in Spain.

I contact the buyer, and tell them that number. If they agree to the deal, then they pay me for the bass and FedEx shipping to Austin. Then the buyer sets up an order with BonVu, letting them know that the bass is on the way to them. I ship it right to BonVu's address, with the buyer's name on it. Then I'm done.

When BonVu receives it, they check it out and get back to the buyer. They work out the details of the paperwork, which shipper to use, how they want to receive it, etc. Then the buyer pays BonVu online, and they process it. As soon as the Customs paperwork is cleared, BonVu puts it on the next plane to Spain.

The other great thing is that the service is surprisingly fast. BonVu itself is right at the airport and they have arrangements with all the shipping companies and the airlines. It can be on a plane an hour or two after the Customs clears electronically. I've had basses delivered to the buyer's door in Europe the next day after it leaves Austin. And for less cost overall than if I had to deal with UPS/FedEx/DHL directly. It's a very good deal.

 

[Engle]

Are Traynors sought after in the US? I have a nice sounding 200 watt Traynor bass combo!

People like the newer Traynor tube bass amps.

 

[ardgedee]

Are Traynors sought after in the US? I have a nice sounding 200 watt Traynor bass combo!

I doubt there's a huge demand but they have a rep in some circles. iirc Traynor also makes the lowest-cost all-tube heads at the moment.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Whats the deal with CONUS only?

 

[Lowlou17]

I don't usually ship anything outside of CONUS. I did sell a hard shell case from the early 80's, it was for the Fender re-issue, and shipped it to South Korea since the buyer was willing to pay the shipping. The buyer did ask me to state a lower sales price and I refused. I told him it was either going to be done legitimately or not at all. He agreed. Believe it or not the least expensive shipper was the good ol USPS, go figure! It was shipped priority and insured. It took 2 weeks to arrive in South Korea and another 2 weeks to clear customs. The buyer did receive the case and was ecstatic. I was pretty happy too as I sold it for my full asking price. The main reason I avoid shipping outside of the CONUS is to avoid hassles with false claims and clearing customs. I have made a note of BonVu and will check it out as an option next time I list something for sale. Thanks for sharing the BonVu option!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Shipping to Alaska and Hawaii via USPS doesn’t cost more due to universal service, but it will take longer to get there. Puerto Rico may be included in that but I’m not certain.

 

[Lowendtech]

Hmm, I might ask what's the deal with Long & McQuade refusing to ship to the States.

Long & McQuade covers the warranty through their store network before they involve the manufacturer. They also do 30 day money back if you are unsatisfied for any reason.
These are company policies.
They can’t honour these if the item is in a different country.
Especially true for used items on Gear Hunter.
They will ship anything from store to store across the country so if you know someone in Vancouver and there’s something you want in Halifax, it can be shipped to where your friend lives and then he can ship it to you is one workaround.
There’s lots of US stores that won’t ship to Canada either as a general rule. But there are workarounds there too.

I have run into the “Cont USA only” when trying to buy stuff here on numerous occasions and it used to drive me crazy.
I’ve gotten over it. Mostly. Seeing as there’s not much I can do about it.


As a matter of interest, a guy in the UK messaged me to see about a used item in Edmonton. I’m in Ontario. So I ordered the item (pedal) and am checking it out for a week to see if it’s good to go and then I’ll ship it to him and he’ll pay my expenses. Easy peasy.
Weirdly, it is a UK made pedal. Lol.

 

[Jack Butler]

For me it’s an irrational concern that Canadian money is not real, is in fact just colored Monopoly money, and I will only be able to spend it on hockey equipment, Rush tickets and Poutine.

For me, the risk way outweighs the reward, especially when the potential reward is zero, and the risk is high. Most stuff I sell I have reasonable expectations and can move it pretty quick conus. So there's no incentive to ship worldwide but there is risk. Last time I shipped to Canada it was an attenuator. I sold it for $80, plus $20 shipping. After about 3 weeks, the buyer complained he hadn't received it. After a number of phone calls, I found out it was stuck in customs. Canadian customs had determined it was an "electronic item" and imposed a $75 duty on it(an $80 item). The buyer refused to pay the duty(even though he said he would), as did I. That was about 5 years ago. It's still sitting there in customs as far as I know. The main point is, the item would have sold anyway, so there was zero incentive for me to be subjected to that. So I do conus only, and all my items sell in less than a week.

 

[Jeff Elkins]

What does Long & McQuade carry that you can’t find in the USA?

Not my statement originally, but rare, reasonably priced pedals from a (then-)defunct Canadian maker.

 

[KellyC]

If I'm in the US, and someone in Spain contacts me and wants to buy one of my basses, then I get their address info and go on BonVu's web site. I enter the specifics of the shipment, size, weight, contents, and destination address. From their site, BonVu will give me an estimate of the total cost to take it from Austin to the buyer's address in Spain.

I contact the buyer, and tell them that number. If they agree to the deal, then they pay me for the bass and FedEx shipping to Austin. Then the buyer sets up an order with BonVu, letting them know that the bass is on the way to them. I ship it right to BonVu's address, with the buyer's name on it. Then I'm done.

When BonVu receives it, they check it out and get back to the buyer. They work out the details of the paperwork, which shipper to use, how they want to receive it, etc. Then the buyer pays BonVu online, and they process it. As soon as the Customs paperwork is cleared, BonVu puts it on the next plane to Spain.

The other great thing is that the service is surprisingly fast. BonVu itself is right at the airport and they have arrangements with all the shipping companies and the airlines. It can be on a plane an hour or two after the Customs clears electronically. I've had basses delivered to the buyer's door in Europe the next day after it leaves Austin. And for less cost overall than if I had to deal with UPS/FedEx/DHL directly. It's a very good deal.

That's really a genius business model, thank you for sharing!

 

[bassballs27]

Anyone saying CONUS only can consult me. I’ve got hundreds of successful transactions with Americans.

 

[Bass Viking]

Anyone saying CONUS only can consult me. I’ve got hundreds of successful transactions with Americans.

Probably because you're good to deal with. Unfortunately, not everyone is like that. A lot of the complaints here are about how difficult buyers complicate things when shipping outside the USA.

 

[bertthebassist]

I shipped one Bass USPS from Bethlehem PA to Toronto, Canada on December 1, 2020.
It arrived Mid-February 2021.
I could have driven it there in 8 hours.

 

[bassballs27]

Probably because you're good to deal with. Unfortunately, not everyone is like that. A lot of the complaints here are about how difficult buyers complicate things when shipping outside the USA.

Deals are a two way street. People do forget that you “buy the seller” when you buy something. Both have to be knowledgeable. Many have followed my lead with great success. In fact I get lots of questions all the time from American friends on here.

I think a lot of the problems come from anxiety. And a lot of that anxiety is inexperience. Try getting in touch with someone who knows the ropes.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Probably because you're good to deal with. Unfortunately, not everyone is like that. A lot of the complaints here are about how difficult buyers complicate things when shipping outside the USA.

What I also see is that many issues are derived due to the various intermediaries that are involved during these transactions.